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A caricature of the Berners Street Hoax by William Heath, 1810

Is “Swatting” Rooted in a Prank Craze from the 1800s?

Why did Georgian-era England go mad for dangerous hoaxes, and what can that mania tell us about today’s volatile, content-hungry world?

Unearthing Justice

West County Recycles, Richmond, CA

Did “Big Oil” Sell Us on a Recycling Scam?

Our focus on recycling to save the planet may be missing the mark.

Suggested Readings

Illustration: Time clocks pop out of a person’s open head.

Brain Time, Mountain Streams, and Rawls the Radical

Well-researched stories from Eos, Black Perspectives, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Cabinet of Curiosities

Coco de mer

Coco De Mer: The Magical Derrière of the Sea

Once viewed as a precious item of mysterious origin, the seed of the coco do mer palm, though better understood today, remains a rare and valuable commodity.

Plant of the Month

Juneberry: A Summer Sweet for People, Pollinators, and Birds

For millennia, Indigenous peoples in North America derived sustenance from the juneberry, known also as the misâskwatômin, serviceberry, shadbush, or saskatoon.

Most Recent

Amazing Baby Beach and coast on Aruba, Caribbean, white beach with blue ocean tropical beach during summer

Aruba: Black Gold and Boas

What happens when an oil-rich island paradise interrupts its production of petroleum? You may have to visit the Caribbean island of Aruba to find out.
Coronation of a Black Queen on the Day of Kings by Carlos Julião, c. 1770

The Roots of Catholic Samba

Since the early days of African enslavement in Brazil, Black Brazilians have cultivated rituals that mix Catholic and African elements in the form of holy Samba.

More Stories

Unearthing Justice

West County Recycles, Richmond, CA

Did “Big Oil” Sell Us on a Recycling Scam?

Our focus on recycling to save the planet may be missing the mark.

Suggested Readings

Illustration: Time clocks pop out of a person’s open head.

Brain Time, Mountain Streams, and Rawls the Radical

Well-researched stories from Eos, Black Perspectives, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Cabinet of Curiosities

Coco de mer

Coco De Mer: The Magical Derrière of the Sea

Once viewed as a precious item of mysterious origin, the seed of the coco do mer palm, though better understood today, remains a rare and valuable commodity.

Plant of the Month

Juneberry: A Summer Sweet for People, Pollinators, and Birds

For millennia, Indigenous peoples in North America derived sustenance from the juneberry, known also as the misâskwatômin, serviceberry, shadbush, or saskatoon.

Long Reads

Arrival of the Brides by Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale

Filles du roi: the Founding Mothers of New France

Sent by Louis XIV, the filles du roi were sent to North America to birth new generations of colonists and help conquer the land.
Tokyo, Japan

Pan-Asianism Redux, or Why We Think Japan Is Special

Observers have long hailed Japan’s aptitude for cultural synthesis. Is this characterization warranted, or does it reflect a collective fantasy about exceptionalism?
A child reading about the phases and rings of Saturn

Science Lit for Kids Holds a Mirror Aloft

Over decades, books that rouse children’s interest in the natural world have morphed in style and approach—an evolution reflective of tectonic societal change.
Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana, 1908

Tolstoy’s Christian Anarchism

A fateful visit to a market in Moscow entirely upended Tolstoy’s view on life and society—and changed the trajectory of his work and purpose.

“Scientific progress on a broad front results from the free play of free intellects, working on subjects of their own choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity for exploration of the unknown.”

Science in War, Science in Peace: The Origins of the NSF

A man scrambles up a gully on the Crestone Needle in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado.

How Science Might Help Keep Wild Places Wild

Recreation researchers are studying how to minimize human impact on public lands while maximizing accessibility.
Watercolor painting of the earth by Martin Eklund

On Earth Day

Celebrate Earth Day with stories from JSTOR Daily.
Eco friendly cleaning products

Toxic? But It Has a Leaf on the Label!

Is it possible to produce common household products that are sustainable and safe?