Venus photographed in ultraviolet light by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (Pioneer 12) spacecraft, Feb. 26, 1979.

Could Venus’s Hell Climate Predict Earth’s Future?

The answer will require a probe that can withstand the planet's heat and atmospheric pressure to send back good data.
Mary Fields c. 1895

How Mary Fields Became “Stagecoach Mary”

Born enslaved, she made her way to Montana and eventually became the first Black woman to deliver mail on a "star route."
Handstone with model mine

The Princes of Saxony Collected These Kitschy Miniature Mountains

Struck with “Berggeschrey,” or “mountain clamour,” early modern nobles of Saxony dolled up the dirty and dangerous work of the mines with gold and glitter.
Sans Dessus Dessous by Jules Verne

How Early Sci-Fi Authors Imagined Climate Change

A century before the modern “cli-fi” genre, many authors envisioned unsettling worlds shaped by man-made climate chaos.
Susan Faludi

Backlash Then, Backlash Now

“No feminist ever said the women’s movement was about women ‘having it all,’” Susan Faludi said. “In the 80s, it was falsely held up as a feminist promise broken.”
Fuchsia

Plant of the Month: Fuchsia

Too popular for its own good? The career of a flower so powerfully beautiful, fashion would inevitably declare it over.
A troupe of "Masqueraders" carry whips and perform a parody of Irish dance steps, a tradition started by african slaves who were mocking their Irish slave masters.

Montserrat’s St. Patrick’s Day Commemorates a Rebellion

On March 17, 1768, the enslaved people of a Caribbean island planned a revolt, assuming the Irish slave owners would be drunk and distracted.
The Lesbian Herstory Archives at Gay Pride, 2007

Lesbian Landmarks, Texas Bats, and Smelling Phones

Well-researched stories from Atlas Obscura, Black Perspectives, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Swimming beaver (Castor fiber)

A Comeback for Beavers?

As two researchers found out, rewilding a species can be done in different ways, sometimes with different outcomes.
Mary Ritter Beard

Mary Beard and the Beginning of Women’s History

She was one half of a powerhouse academic couple and an influential historian in her own right. But she's still often overlooked.