Olivia Campbell

Cute features in babies and animals are more than just amusing—they trigger powerful evolutionary responses that help our species’ survival. From Moo Deng the pygmy hippo and Pesto the penguin to Molé the baby sloth and Biscuits the seal—the internet loves to turn adorable baby animals into viral sensations. But what’s going on in our brain when we see something cute and why are we so interested in sharing those things with others on social media?

Circles made of mushrooms have inspired superstitions for centuries, but what’s really behind these cryptic rings?

The supernatural creatures said to roam these forests are intimately tied to the landscape, which is older than most of life on Earth.

The film “Oppenheimer,” which tells the story of the Manhattan Project’s development of the atomic bomb, has made quite a splash this summer, with audiences and critics alike hailing it as a riveting slice of scientific history. But it also has some viewers asking: Where are the women?

From Barbie to Grimace, it might seem like pop culture is just lazily recycling old ideas. But experts say yearning for the “good old days” is more than just a fuzzy feeling.

"I know of no restorative of heart, body, and soul more effective against hopelessness than the restoration of the Earth." -Barry Lopez

As the drummer beats his rhythm—the heels of his palms resounding against stretched animal hide—I move. I am moved. Arms reach and retract, spine twists and tilts, legs stretch and sweep across the vast, golden wood floor.

This Christmas theory involves a bright red and white hallucinogenic mushroom called Amanita muscaria that resembles Santa Claus's signature suit. We asked the experts if there's any merit to the colorful legend.

Are these mothers going mad or are they actually experiencing something supernatural? Are the demons within or without? Either way, I recognized myself in them.

Although it may sound implausible to the modern ear, Hildegard von Bingen, the medieval Catholic nun who is now sainted, also prescribed medicinal abortions.

I am the same person I was before I gained weight. The only thing that’s changed is how society views me.

That Great Male Authors require long periods of uninterrupted seclusion to think and write is a literary-world given rarely questioned. Mother-writers have to get more creative.

I was in an archive room at the London School of Economics, staring at 150-year-old documents complete with swirly handwriting and a red-wax seal, when I had a random yet horrifying thought: What if my nose starts bleeding on one of these irreplaceable pages? What would happen if I ruined them?

Salon republished my Undark essay!

“When we turned up at the clinic, pandemonium broke loose.”