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The cover of Lost Literacies: Experiments in the Nineteenth-Century US Comic Strip

Lost Literacies Strips Down the Dawn of Comics

In his new book, literary historian Alex Beringer demonstrates how the birth of the genre of printed comic long preceded the Sunday Funny Pages.

In the Limelight

In the Stereoscope, Another World

Developed in the nineteenth century, the stereoscope gave people a new way of seeing themselves and the world around them.

Roundup

From the poster for Lee

Lee: The Past Ever Haunts the Present

A new film shows how American photographer Lee Miller used the camera to bring the brutalities of World War II to the homefront.

Cabinet of Curiosities

Opera di M. Bartolomeo Scappi, cuoco secreto di Papa Pio V

The Wild West of Papal Conclaves

In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the death of a pope led to all sorts of chaos, from the destruction of art to armed violence in the streets.

Suggested Readings

An illustration of K'awiil, the Maya god of storm, on pottery.

Lightning Gods, Staticky Bugs, and Modern Genetics

Well-researched stories from Vox, SAPIENS, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Most Recent

A compressor station of the Jagal natural gas pipeline stands as wind turbines spin behind on May 24, 2023 near Mallnow, Germany.

Bye-Bye, Russian Gas!

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked an energy revolution, forcing European states to reconsider their dependence on Russian oil imports.
Satellite image of salt deposits on Mars

“Follow the Salt”: A New Strategy for Finding Life on Mars

Scientists might be looking for Martian life in the wrong place.

More Stories

In the Limelight

In the Stereoscope, Another World

Developed in the nineteenth century, the stereoscope gave people a new way of seeing themselves and the world around them.

Roundup

From the poster for Lee

Lee: The Past Ever Haunts the Present

A new film shows how American photographer Lee Miller used the camera to bring the brutalities of World War II to the homefront.

Cabinet of Curiosities

Opera di M. Bartolomeo Scappi, cuoco secreto di Papa Pio V

The Wild West of Papal Conclaves

In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the death of a pope led to all sorts of chaos, from the destruction of art to armed violence in the streets.

Suggested Readings

An illustration of K'awiil, the Maya god of storm, on pottery.

Lightning Gods, Staticky Bugs, and Modern Genetics

Well-researched stories from Vox, SAPIENS, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Long Reads

Two glass of fresh pure water on white background with sunlight deep shadow of glass.

Before Brita: A Brief History of Water Filtration

From ancient Egypt to post-industrial London, societies have long recognized the benefits of clean water and—mostly—have done what they can to provide it.
The Suffragette Down with the Tom Cats

A Purrrrfect Political Storm

Crazy cat ladies have come to dominate this election season. It’s hardly the first time.
"Fresh, red cloves grow on the branch, green leaves. Zanzibar, Tanzania"

Cloves: The Spice that Enriched Empires

Behind one humble spice lies a complex history of empires and profit, commodities and globalization.
A man in drag and a man in male clothes looking into each others' eyes. Photographic postcard.

Preserving History at the Digital Transgender Archive with Portico

Portico helps preserve underrepresented community content and collections, including the wide-ranging materials of the Digital Transgender Archive.

The practice of polygamy came to symbolize the ability of the federal government to enforce its laws over the will of the state.

The Sovereignty of the Latter-day Saints

Doing Math with Intellectual Humility

Math class is an opportunity to teach students both how to use conjecture to arrive at knowledge and how to learn from the logic of peers.
Photo taken in the Bourbaki Congress of 1938 in Dieulefit

The Mathematical Pranksters behind Nicolas Bourbaki

Bourbaki was gnomic and mythical, impossible to pin down; his mathematics just the opposite: unified, unambiguous, free of human idiosyncrasy.
Karate chop

The Physics of Karate

A human hand has the power to split wooden planks and demolish concrete blocks. A trio of physicists investigated why this feat doesn't shatter our bones.