The state of the universe.

If you'd like to sort this department listing by headline, author or date, please use the Slate search.

• Emote Control Why couldn't we tell that the balloon boy's parents were faking their distress?
  Chris Wilson Oct. 30, 2009
  
• The Fat Premium Congress toys with a silly plan to make Americans lose weight.
  Daniel Engber Oct. 29, 2009
  
• The Geek Defense Do criminals with Asperger's syndrome deserve special treatment?
  Erica Westly Oct. 23, 2009
  
• Too Big To Win Fat politics and the race for governor of New Jersey.
  Daniel Engber Oct. 19, 2009
  
• Facial Profiling Can you tell if a man is dangerous by the shape of his mug?
  Dave Johns Oct. 14, 2009
  
• Pork Spending A critical look at obesity and health care reform.
  Daniel Engber Oct. 5, 2009
  
• Glutton Intolerance What if a war on obesity only makes the problem worse?
  Daniel Engber Oct. 5, 2009
  
• Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Big Fat Asses … Does poverty make people obese, or is it the other way around?
  Daniel Engber Sept. 28, 2009
  
• Let Them Drink Water! What a fat tax really means for America.
  Daniel Engber Sept. 21, 2009
  
• Puff Daddies More Americans over age 50 are smoking marijuana than ever before. Are my parents among them?
  Daniel Engber Sept. 10, 2009
  
• Time-Traveling for Dummies A physicist looks at The Time Traveler's Wife.
  Dave Goldberg Aug. 13, 2009
  
• Seeking How the brain hard-wires us to love Google, Twitter, and texting. And why that's dangerous.
  Emily Yoffe Aug. 12, 2009
  
• Throwing Out the Wheat Are we being too tolerant of gluten-intolerance?
  Daniel Engber July 28, 2009
  
• Beyond BMI Why doctors won't stop using an outdated measure for obesity.
  Jeremy Singer-Vine July 20, 2009
  
• Hands or Paws or Anything They Got Masturbation in the animal kingdom.
  Daniel Engber July 16, 2009
  
• Jesus Goes to Bethesda Just how religious is Obama's nominee for director of the NIH?
  Chris Wilson July 9, 2009
  
• Bombs, Man-Apes, and Ancient Cities A history of science publishing in images from the archives of Nature magazine.
  Chris Wilson June 15, 2009
  
• Periodic Discussions Element 112 was discovered more than a decade ago. Why wasn't it given a place on the periodic table until now?
  Sam Kean June 12, 2009
  
• Explosions in the Lab What can be learned from the death of a young biochemist at UCLA?
  Beryl Lieff Benderly May 22, 2009
  
• America's Got Science Talent The biomedical research community goes bananas for $200 million in stimulus funding.
  Amanda Schaffer April 29, 2009
  
• Dark Sugar The decline and fall of high-fructose corn syrup.
  Daniel Engber April 28, 2009
  
• Swine Flu Here's what you need to know.
  April 27, 2009
  
• The Problem With 3-D It hurts your eyes. Always has, always will.
  Daniel Engber April 2, 2009
  
• My Own Private B.O. Forensic chemists examined my odorprint. Here's what they smelled.
  Dave Johns March 25, 2009
  
• The B.O. Wheel 
  March 25, 2009
  
• But Enough About You … What is narcissistic personality disorder, and why does everyone seem to have it?
  Emily Yoffe March 18, 2009
  
• How Strong Is a Chimpanzee? The bone-crushing power of the apes has been greatly exaggerated.
  John Hawks Feb. 25, 2009
  
• I'm Plunging to My Death ... Now What Do I Do? How to survive a sky diving accident (or any other crisis).
  Ben Sherwood Feb. 4, 2009
  
• Mission Accomplished The "war on science" is over. Now what?
  Chris Mooney Jan. 15, 2009