What’s Behind Match Day’s Algorithm?
In a yearly ritual, an algorithm pairs medical students with U.S. residency programs. An anthropologist explains how this technology of destiny is all too human.
Decoded
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Sutton Hoo’s Story Goes Deeper Than The Dig
The archaeologist in charge of the Sutton Hoo burial mounds recounts what has been discovered at the famous English site since the 1930s excavation portrayed in the movie The Dig.
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When Deafness Is Not Considered a Deficit
In the Peruvian Amazon, the Maijuna peoples created their own sign language—which hints at the importance of community in the evolution of language.
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What Ancient Gender Fluidity Taught Me About Modern Patriarchy
Nonbinary genders and male hierarchy as expressed in Ecuadorian clay sculptures led one archaeologist to see biases in her modern life with fresh eyes.
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How Rats Are Overturning Decades of Military Norms
An anthropologist explores how the use of rats to clear ordnance in Cambodia is changing the culture of mine clearance.
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Why Are There So Many Humans?
The populations of the great apes were once nearly equal. Now, one great ape species—Homo sapiens—outnumbers the rest by almost 8 billion. How did we do it?