An illustration of Rafflesia arnoldii, 1821

Plant of the Month: Corpse Lily

The largest flower on the planet—a gigantic, pungent parasite—reveals deep genetic mysteries and unique conservation challenges.
Dr. Rivers Frederick Perfoming Surgery at Flint-Goodridge Hospital

Introducing Our Visual Literacy Column, “Learning to Look”

Developing visual literacy skills unlocks a means of understanding and engaging with the world that cannot be replaced by any text.
A tyrannosaurus rex on a light blue background

Dinosaur Sounds, Universe Sounds, and White People Food

Well-researched stories from FiveThirtyEight, Bon Appetit, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
A fresco of Artemis from Pompeii and a photograph of Princess Diana

The Goddess and the Princess: Why Diana Endures

Twenty-five years have passed since the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, yet pop culture and gossip mags continue to be fascinated by her life and legacy.
Detail from Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez

Who Was the Little Girl in Las Meninas?

A Spanish princess who became a German queen, Margarita Teresa lived a life structured by Catholicism and cut short by consanguinity.
From Remarks on the new comet. In a letter from William Herschel to Charles Blagden

Caroline Herschel Claims Her Comet

Couching her petition in a mix of modesty and expertise, Herschel became the first woman to have a scientific paper read to the Royal Society of London.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 while Martin Luther King and others look on

The Voting Rights Act 1965: Annotated

The passing of the Voting Rights Act in August 1965 prohibited the use of Jim Crow laws and discriminatory tests to disenfranchise Black voters.
Three muscle builders pose at Muscle Beach on the Santa Monica Beach in California, 1949

Gay Panic on Muscle Beach

The skin and strength on display at Santa Monica’s Muscle Beach aggravated American fears of gender transgressions and homosexuality.
Chinese incense clock that measures time by burning powdered incense along a pre-measured path, with each stencil representing a different amount of time.

Keeping Time with Incense Clocks

As chronicled by Chinese poet Yu Jianwu, the use of fire and smoke for time measurement dates back to at least the sixth century CE.
E.E. Cummings, 1920

Revisiting The Enormous Room

This year marks the centennial of the publication of E. E. Cummings’s novel based on his imprisonment in France during World War I.