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Being able to throw stones with power and precision must have been fun for humans' early ancestors. It was essential, too, since we lack the the fangs and claws of other predators. A recent study suggests the ability to fire rocket fastballs depends on shoulder anatomy that chimps don't share.

Time was when the belongings you left behind after death were tangible — furniture, jewelry, letters — and financial property, which hundreds of years of experience have taught executors how to handle. Today, some of the most valuable keys to our lives and identities exist digitally, and are technically owned by companies like Google or Facebook.

A new biography of the writer behind Call of the Wild and White Fang explores the life experiences that informed those works. London grew up in poverty, says biographer Earle Labor. "He was a dreamer, and a visionary. And his dreams and visions almost always outran his finances."

Curse words change over time — back in the ninth century you could say the "s" word and no one would be offended. But we always need a set of words that are off-limits, and in her new book, author Melissa Mohr explains how the words that shock us reveal a lot about society's values.

By 2020 there will be more than 40 million licensed drivers over the age of 65.

Patterson is best-known for his thrillers, but he also takes readers into the gritty, perilous underbelly of summer camp. His new book for young readers, Middle School: How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill, features childhood bullying, "loser" campers and fart jokes.

The home of Sean Morey bears the impressive signposts of his 10-year career in the NFL: a Vince Lombardi trophy for his Super Bowl championship with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006. A hefty Super Bowl ring. A framed photograph showing Morey in midair, launching himself like a missile to block a punt. With that play in 2008, his Arizona Cardinals became the only team in NFL history to win a game in overtime with a blocked punt.

In February 1932, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt was plotting a run for the White House. And in northeast Pennsylvania, the Morris Run Coal Co. had just finished drilling a 5,385-foot-deep gas well on a farm owned by Mr. W.J. Butters.

Samuel Scheffler, a philosophy professor at New York University, presents a secular interpretation of life after death. In his book Death and the Afterlife, Scheffler argues that our belief that humanity will outlive us — our faith in the existence of future generations — gives meaning to our lives.

Wade Davis' gripping Into the Silence tells the story of the British climbers who attempted to scale Mount Everest in the 1920s, becoming symbols of national pride and imperial ambition.