Camellia sinensis: Labor and the Tea Plant
Consumed as tea around the world, Camellia sinensis raises questions about plantation labor practices and the environmental impact of monocultures.
100 Years after the “Great Debate”: How Edwin Hubble Expanded the Cosmos
In 1924, Edwin Hubble found proof that the Milky Way isn't the only galaxy in the Universe.
Anaxagoras and the Eclipse: The First to Get It Right
Scholars sometimes credit Thales or Empedocles of Acragas with the first correct theory of solar eclipses, but it was Anaxagoras who had the science right.
A Fresh Hell (Chicken)
A newly identified “Hell chicken” species suggests dinosaurs weren’t sliding toward extinction before the fateful asteroid hit.
As You Lakh It
How did an oleoresin produced by insects in Asia become a standard part of European furniture manufacture and conservation?
Generating Electricity…and Uncertainty
As the tobacco and electrical industries demonstrate, US corporations have a history of sowing doubt for profit.
Astronomers Use AI to Shed Light on Dark Energy
A new measurement offers insights on the density of the mysterious force driving the Universe’s expansion.
A Computer in Every Kitchen?
The 1969 Honeywell Kitchen Computer is a case study of early computer failures—or is it?
An Epitaph for Fido
Pet cemeteries document how humans’ relationships with their pets—and their deaths—have evolved since the Victorian era.