Richard Dawkins has reflected on coining the term “meme”. The word was first shared by the scientist in his 1972 bestselling book The Selfish Gene, where it referred to the self-replication of genes ...

Is VO₂ max really the strongest predictor of longevity? A deep dive into the data, the study behind the claim, and how ...

Memes as we recognize them now — viral gifs, macros, videos and photos — have existed long before the internet and before Dawkins even made them a thing. American photographer Harry Whittier Frees ...

“Meme,” coined in 1976 by Richard Dawkins, has been used in Times articles about genes, stocks and of course, Bernie Sanders. By Sarah Diamond In Word Through The Times, we trace how one word or ...

Viral content didn’t exist when Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme” in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. And although he generally approves of the way the word has been used on the internet, when ...

From Pepe the Frog to the Arthur Fist, millions of memes are shared on the internet every day. There’s no doubt that memes have rapidly grown to be a fundamental part of social media, but what do the ...

Science Diction is a bite-sized podcast about words—and the science stories behind them. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and sign up for our newsletter. Remember that summer when the ...