That sports, conventionally seen as promoting health, should be deemed a cause of death raises serious ethical questions.

The chief engineer for NASA’s robotic Mars Exploration Program talks about what it would take to put people on the Red Planet. Will Mars be humanity’s lifeboat?

Insight Video: Around the globe, the illicit economy shows no signs of slowing. Whatever form it takes, corruption touches us all.

From bribery and cronyism to counterfeit goods and money laundering, corruption touches every nation and every level of society. And it was predicted to be so.

Part Two: AI expert Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh answers questions about the rapidly developing technology behind artificial intelligence.

Mexico City is one of the world’s biggest population centers, yet the city’s infrastructure is extremely unstable. The resulting challenges serve as a warning—and a lesson—to the rest of our urbanizing world.

A brief look at Mexico City’s history helps explain the modern city’s water troubles.

Insight Video: Artificial intelligence is changing lives for the better, but its developers acknowledge that it also poses serious risks. This raises some far-reaching questions.

Increasingly sophisticated and “intelligent” technologies now allow us to alter not only day-to-day life but the planet itself. They also invite abuse—and chaos. What can be done?

Part One: What can we look forward to in a world where artificial intelligence plays a bigger role? What should we be concerned about? An AI expert provides some answers.

From genes to geophysics, our world is increasingly what we make it. But environmental philosopher Christopher Preston urges restraint.

The world seems no closer to defining truth today than the ancient philosophers were. And yet we cannot do without it.

If our reliance on technology has accelerated climate change, maybe technology can fix the problem too. Would it work? Should we try it?

Synthetic chemicals have become embedded in all aspects of our lives. What will it take to reverse their toxic effect—on our bodies and on our world?

Is it a passing phase, or is the era of democratic institutions, universal values and common decency over?

As Israel marks 70 years of statehood, we asked political scientist and peace negotiator Menachem Klein about his nation’s fulfilled expectations, its missed opportunities, and the road to peace.

Insight Video: The 20^th-century Age of the Dictators is over, but that doesn’t mean it can’t come back in a different form.

Why does America’s Christian Right take such an active interest in how we view and use scientific findings—to the point of creating its own version of science?

We’ve all seen headlines about the dangers inherent in social media. Is it time to delete all your accounts?

Are we really as good as we like to think we are? For that matter, are other people as bad as we tend to think they are?