Do today’s children have lower IQs than yesterday’s? Yes, according to measurements of intellectual and emotional strength gathered from different countries and contexts. The results show the same basic decline and resist the notion that public or other forms of education are to blame. Could the cause instead lie within?

The word "fail" usually implies that something went wrong. To fail a school exam decreases the chances of passing the course, and failing a physical exam portends poor health. But when scientists studied yeast and bacteria that "fail to optimize" the production of certain proteins, they discovered that's actually a very good thing.

According to evolution, eons ago mere ingredients like mud, minerals, and methane somehow made themselves into some single-celled bacteria…some of those bacteria became worms, and some of the worms eventually became people. A newly described out-of-place fossil confronts this origins myth.

Three of my daughters took a night swim in a bioluminescent bay during a mission trip to Puerto Rico in 2012. They splashed water on their heads and watched their hair glow green from countless tiny shining dinoflagellates. It was a once in a lifetime experience!