A Rare, Isolated Script Invented From Scratch Holds Clues to The Evolution of Writing

A rare script from a language in Liberia has provided some new insights into how written languages evolve. “The Vai script of Liberia was created from scratch in about 1834 by eight completely illiterate men who wrote in ink made from crushed berries,” says linguistic anthropologist Piers Kelly, now at the University of New England, Australia. … Read more

The Science of ‘Flow States’, Explained by a Cognitive Science Researcher

New years often come with new resolutions. Get back in shape. Read more. Make more time for friends and family. My list of resolutions might not look quite the same as yours, but each of our resolutions represents a plan for something new, or at least a little bit different. As you craft your 2022 … Read more

Scientists Observed This Ghostly Galaxy For 40 Hours And Couldn’t Find Any Dark Matter

A new discovery has deepened the mystery of galaxies without dark matter. In a galaxy named AGC 114905, 250 million light-years away, astronomers could find no trace of the mysterious stuff, even after 40 hours of detailed observation and subsequent analysis.   The result, to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical … Read more