The Cold War Origins of Interactive Cinema
The world’s first interactive cinema system, the Kinoautomat was the brainchild of Radúz Činčera, a Czech cinematographer.
Does My Dog Really Feel Shame?
A Curious Reader asks: When my dog gets that “hang dog” expression after I scold her for misbehavior, is she really ashamed?
The 1925 Dinosaur Movie That Paved the Way for King Kong
During a slow day at work, a young marble cutter named Willis O’Brien began sculpting tiny T-Rex figurines.
Does Forest Thinning Work?
Does forest thinning, a land management strategy, offer an effective solution to the problem of forest fires?
The Tweety Bird Test
How a classic Tweety Bird cartoon became a mainstay in linguistics research.
Che Guevara
In 1964, 5 years after the end of the Cuban revolution, Che Guevara wrote for an academic journal. Read the Cuban leader in his own words.
What Desert Cities Can Teach Us about Water
Pushed by necessity, the country’s least sustainable region evolved to master its water use. As climate heats up, other cities may adopt similar tactics.
An African Queen, Alien Signals, and Poison Eating
Well-researched stories from Longreads, The Atlantic, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Ada Lovelace, Pioneer
Ada Lovelace wrote extensive notes on the world’s first computer. Her innovations foreshadowed those used in twentieth-century PCs.
The Ethics of Research on Captive Dolphins
Researchers say that dolphins are so smart that captivity causes them psychological harm. But getting data in the open ocean can be tricky.