Top 5: Why humans have sex + why witches are women

+ climate change 12,000 years ago [Click here to view this message in your web-browser](. Edition: US 27 October 2019 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair The muck that’s been accumulating at the bottom of this lake for 20,000 years is like a climate time capsule. Christopher R. Moore [New evidence that an extraterrestrial collision 12,800 years ago triggered an abrupt climate change for Earth]( Christopher R. Moore, University of South Carolina Why did Earth's climate rapidly cool 12,800 years ago? Evidence is mounting that a comet or asteroid collision is to blame, with new support coming from the bottom of a South Carolina lake. For millennia, theologians taught that the sole purpose of sex was reproductive. Now, almost everyone agrees that sex has many purposes – and benefits. Dean Drobot/Shutterstock.com [What is sex really for?]( Richard Gunderman, Indiana University The purpose of sex may seem obvious, but it has perplexed and intrigued a variety of great minds for millennia. - [Your political views can predict how you pronounce certain words]( Zachary Jaggers, University of Oregon How members of America's two parties view the country – and its place in the world – might explain this phenomenon. - [Most witches are women, because witch hunts were all about persecuting the powerless]( Bridget Marshall, University of Massachusetts Lowell Powerful men often proclaim baseless accusations to be a 'witch hunt.' But American witch trials have always targeted a persecuted minority: women. - [Why the US has nuclear weapons in Turkey – and may try to put the bombs away]( Miles A. Pomper, Middlebury The US has 50 nuclear bombs stored in Turkey. As tensions rise between the two countries, a look at how they got there and what might happen next. [Forward this email to your friends]( Ask them to sign up at [Follow us on Twitter.]( [Join us on Facebook.]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe instantly](. We’ll miss you. 89 South Street - Suite 202 Boston, MA 02111