Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021. Everything about the stapler reeks of a time gone. The all-metal body.

Makers of surgical staplers and the implantable staples they’re loaded with will now need to jump through extra hoops before their products can be used to divide, seal and connect internal tissues for ...

What could be simpler than a desktop stapler? You press down and a small stack of papers is fastened together. But I guess when you name your office supply chain after them, the humble fasteners take ...