Jerry Adler

Jerry Adler is a former Newsweek editor.

Since laws limit the height of new structures in Mexico City, an architect has proposed building a 65-story Earthscraper.

The Next Frontier in Urban Design Will Send You Undeground

Move over Morlocks, humans are headed to your neighborhood

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How the Burgess Shale Changed Our View of Evolution

The famed fossils are a link to some of the first complex creatures on Earth

The Lone Ranger mask from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Is the New Tonto Any Better Than the Old Tonto?

A new film revives The Lone Ranger, but has it eliminated the TV series’ racist undertones

Darwin himself considered language and fire the two most significant achievements of humanity.

Why Fire Makes Us Human

Cooking may be more than just a part of your daily routine, it may be what made your brain as powerful as it is

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Life in the City Is Essentially One Giant Math Problem

Experts in the emerging field of quantitative urbanism believe that many aspects of modern cities can be reduced to mathematical formulas

Jeffrey Post, curator of the Smithsonian’s National Gem and Mineral Collection, says the size of the Dom Pedro Aquamarine is “unprecedented.”

Introducing the Dom Pedro Aquamarine

The one gem that can rival the Hope Diamond is finally on display at the Natural History Museum

A Smith electric delivery van (such as this one in New York City) can reduce emissions by 85 percent, compared with diesel power.

Forget the Volt, Make Way for Electric Trucks

Smith trucks are powered by batteries, not diesel, which could make a big difference in the fight against climate change

Chicken reigns in the 21st century.

How the Chicken Conquered the World

The epic begins 10,000 years ago in an Asian jungle and ends today in kitchens all over the world

“Man does not live by salad alone,” says farmer Tevis Robertson-Goldberg of Massachusetts. “He needs croutons.”

Artisanal Wheat On the Rise

Giving factory flour the heave-ho, small farmers from New England to the Northwest are growing long-forgotten varieties of wheat

"Drippings are the real secret to the unique flavor of grilled food," Nathan Myhrvold insists. His passion for cross-section photographs led to many a flameout.

Food Like You've Never Seen Before

Molecular gastronomist Nathan Myhrvold creates culinary oddities and explores food science in his groundbreaking new anthology

To learn how the mind works, biologist Laurie Santos (with a research subject on Cayo Santiago) studies a seemingly paradoxical question: Do monkeys assume that people act like monkeys?

Thinking Like a Monkey

What do our primate cousins know and when do they know it? Researcher Laurie Santos is trying to read their minds

What do dancing and scientific research have in common? "Creativity," says Jarvis (performing in high school in the early 1980s), and "hard work."

Song and Dance Man

Erich Jarvis dreamed of becoming a ballet star. Now the scientist's studies of how birds learn to sing are forging a new understanding of the human brain

The View From the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos

Finding a Home in the Cosmos

In a new book written with his wife, Nancy Abrams, cosmologist Joel Primack argues that the universe was meant for us. Sort of

Louis Armstrong (at about 26 c. 1927) "as showing the world what jazz was all about," Driggs says.

Jazz Man

Louis Armstrong before he was Satchmo? A youthful Ella? For photographs of musicians great or obscure, just about everyone turns to Frank Driggs

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