Big questions and meaning
Everything we have published on Big questions and meaning, newest first. Background, research and plain explanation — not only the headline of the day.
The Running-Shoe Test That Starts With Comfort, Not Foot Type
An arch scan can describe your foot, but it cannot promise an injury-proof shoe; a better fitting ritual starts with fit, comfort, purpose and a gradual transition.
10,000 Steps Came From a Product Name in 1965. Australia's Guidelines Now Say 7,000.
The world's best-known health target began as a pedometer's trade name. The largest review of the evidence puts the bend in the curve between 5,000 and 7,000 steps — and finds five outcomes where it never bends at all.
Why the Night Sky Still Makes Us Feel Small — On Purpose
The same feeling that made this week's Perseid meteors worth stepping outside for has a name in psychology, a measurable effect on behavior, and a much older name in scripture.
A mosque built by a transgender person raises questions about faith and belonging in Pakistan
A transgender man in Pakistan built a mosque hoping it would offer an inclusive space for worship. Instead, he faces harassment from neighbors amid growing attacks on the trans community.
Why Arbaeen – the Shiite Muslim pilgrimage of mourning – has a deep significance that brings millions to Iraq each year
Each year, millions of Shiite Muslims walk to Karbala to honor Husayn, the prophet’s grandson, whose death continues to shape their faith.
Two injections a year: the HIV shot has started arriving, and the hard part is the queue
Nine African countries have now given 191,620 doses of lenacapavir — a drug that stops HIV by jamming the virus's protein shell — but supply, not science, is the limit.
‘Sanctuary people’ redefine what it means to protect immigrants in uncertain times
Many faith groups supporting immigrants root their mission in the idea of ‘accompaniment,’ which springs from Catholic social teaching.