Physical World

How the body, environment, and daily habits shape cognition: nervous system regulation, energy, health, and modern living.

What happens when a Buddhist monk is wired to sensors in a lab, and what it reveals about attention

  • 4 min read

What negative company does to the brain, and where the science actually stops

  • 3 min read

The idea that the mind reaches beyond the brain: a serious look at a strange theory

  • 4 min read

Neuroscience has known for years that when you exercise matters as much as whether you exercise, and almost nobody structures their day around this

  • 6 min read

What happens to your judgment and perception after just one night of poor sleep

  • 5 min read

Researchers mapped how surprise works in the human brain — and it may explain why we fall for manipulation

  • 5 min read

What happens when you stop performing happiness for other people

  • 4 min read

Friction-maxxing is the 2026 word for something quietly intelligent people have been doing for years — and the research behind it is more serious than the name suggests

  • 5 min read

Research suggests negative travel experiences — the kind filled with stress and disruption — may do the opposite of what a good trip does for the body

  • 5 min read

What monks who meditate for decades can actually teach us about how the brain works

  • 5 min read

What the research on chronic phone use says about attention and stress

  • 5 min read

The growing evidence that music reshapes how your brain processes information

  • 7 min read
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The Sovereign Letter

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