The Protestant Astrology of Early American Almanacs
The wildly popular books helped people understand farming and health through the movement of the planets, in a way compatible with Protestantism.
When Scientific Management Came to Japan
Japanese workers, many of them women, worked up to 17 hours a day in the early 20th century. Yet experts still wondered why they “wasted” time.
With the Coronavirus, Science Confronts Geopolitics
The containment of COVID-19 raises pressing questions related to the freedom of scientific information, civil liberties, and human rights, one scholar explains.
Are Viruses Alive? Define Life.
Scientists have different ideas about whether viruses are living beings. But they have solid advice on how to destroy them: wash up.
How Film Noir Tried to Scare Women out of Working
In the period immediately following World War II, the femme fatale embodied a host of male anxieties about gender roles.
Upside-Down Jellyfish and the Mucus of Death
You could get stung by a jellyfish even when there don't seem to be any around. Meet Cassiopea xamachana and its "stinging water" weirdness.
Doris Day Changed Us Forever
What did women coming of age in the 1950s think of Doris Day in Calamity Jane? Does her filmography have the same meaning now?
When Language Goes Viral
How do innocuous words become insidious in the face of a public health emergency?
Biomimicry Comes for the Noble Hedgehog
Inventors often use animals' adaptations to the environment in applications that benefit humans, from sharky swimsuits to hedgehog-inspired helmets.
Plagues, Dung Beetles, and Historical Romance
Well-researched stories from The New Yorker, Nursing Clio, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.