“take for granted” in “Cooking is something we all take for granted but a new theory suggests that if we had not learned to cook food, not only (...)” (L. 1-3) means “assume”.

“I’m pretty sure” in “I hate to disappoint you, but whate- ver your ambitions, whatever your long-term goals, I’m pretty sure that reading this column isn’t going to further them.” (L. 6-9) means “I’m inclined to say”.

“minor tittle-tattle” in “We humans have a deeply curious nature, and more often than not it is about the minor tittle-tattle in our lives.” (L. 17-19) means “relevant matters”.

“shortcut” in “Neoteny is a shortcut taken by evolution” (L. 42) means “a roundabout route”.

“a deadly-boring species” in “And thank goodness – otherwise we would have evolved to be a deadly-boring species which never wanted to get lost, never tried things to just see what happened or did things for the hell of it.”(L. 86-90) means “diabolical human beings”.