Most of us have a friend, a relative, or a neighbor who seems to pack his or her home with unnecessary stuff. Researchers are just beginning to understand why.

The psychologist Jeremy Bailenson’s quest to prepare us for the coming virtual world.

How technology and the science of recall are finally helping us learn other languages.

Go on YouTube. Tell your boss you’re not wasting time—you’re making it.

The world’s largest animals get snarled in every kind of sea gear that has rope—mooring lines, gillnets, shrimp pots, anchors. Scott Landry figures out how to wrestle them free.

The cultivation of ancient grains whose makeup hasn’t been amended as much as modern wheat could allow the gluten-intolerant to have their bread and eat it, too.

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard almost became a food guru instead of an outdoor gear guru, but as his new enterprise shows, he’s never given up on changing how the world eats.