Some people in poorer countries are compelled to sell their organs on the black market. Why not build a regulated system that compensates them fairly and ensures their safety? The donor gets health coverage for at least a year and reduced rates on health insurance for years after that. In 1988 a compensated and regulated living donor program was adopted in Iran. We review the backgrounds, characteristics, results, and ethical issues surrounding the Iranian model paid kidney donation program.

Seneca thought that anger is a temporary madness, and that even when justified, we should never act on the basis of it. By Massimo Pigliucci.

An idealism as pure and radical—a humanism as aggressive—as the Center’s cannot but be disappointed again and again. Will the burden of such uncompromising struggle not someday tilt over into despair or cynicism? By David Kretz.

Experts debate what amateur scientists could accomplish with the powerful DNA editing tool—and whether its ready availability is cause for concern. By Annie Sneed.

Around the globe, about 815 million people – 11 percent of the world’s population – went hungry in 2016, according to the latest data from the United Nations. This was the first increase in more than 15 years. Between 1990 and 2015, due largely to a set of sweeping initiatives by the global community, the proportion of undernourished people in the world was cut in half. In 2015, U.N. member countries adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, which doubled down on this success...

Unfuckingbelievable.

A former Ringling Bros. tiger escaped near Atlanta in September. But that was only the beginning of a saga that drew attention from officials in three states. By Karin Brulliard.

Too often, employees are put in a quandary when asked to do something that makes them uncomfortable, with no right or wrong answer. Here's how to respond in those situations.

The Google, Apple and Facebook workers who helped make technology so addictive are disconnecting themselves from the internet. Paul Lewis reports on the Silicon Valley refuseniks who worry the race for human attention has created a world of perpetual distraction that could ultimately end in disaster.

Iceland has almost eliminated Down syndrome by aborting virtually 100 percent of fetuses that test positive. By Julian Quinones, Arijeta Lajka.

The science of hate can help us realise who the real criminal is: is it the lynchers, the instigators or both? And is an apathetic government complicit? By Sumaiya Shaikh.

Researchers are finding new links between specific genes and intelligence. Can we use this knowledge to make people smarter?

A new tool called CRISPR is letting scientists cut and snip DNA in better ways, and has led to a slew of new research that touches on many human diseases. By Tracy Staedter.

81 percent of white evangelicals voted for Trump. Now one of their biggest blocs has just condemned the alt-right. By Tara Isabella Burton.

Philosopher Peter Singer puts a disturbingly simple case for altruism. Too simple, perhaps?

For six days in Portsmouth, Ohio, I keep trying to fool myself. Eventually, I am unable to just watch and listen. By Chris Arnade.

There are plenty of less familiar examples: from zebra fish and moray eels to the stupendous intelligence of the honey badgers. By Ian Ground.

When you’re in the business of commentary, every day you see hundreds of people speaking authoritatively on subjects they know little about. Usually it’s political, but make no mistake as to the capacity people have for not knowing what they’re talking about... By Ben Howe.

Every year, Facebook gathers hundreds of developers, corporate allies, and members of the press to hear CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of our shared near future. The gathering is known as “F8,” and this year’s iteration included some radical plans, one of which could’ve been pulled from a William Gibson novel… By Sam Biddle.

When is it ethical to hand our decisions over to machines? And when is external automation a step too far?