Crop circle in Switzerland

Pssst, Crop Circles Were a Hoax

In the late 1970s, mysterious circular patterns started showing up in farm fields.
Based on a color lithograph of ca. 1826 by Anthony Imbert, entitled Shakers near Lebanon

The Rhythms of Shaker Dance Marked the Shakers as “Other”

The name Shaker originally comes from the insult “Shaking Quakers,” which mocked the sect’s use of their bodies in worship.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_F._Francis_(attrib)_-_Still_Life_of_Strawberries_and_Cream.jpg

The Invention of Dessert

The English word “dessert” emerged in the seventeenth century, derived from the French verb “desservir.” But the concept has changed a lot since then.
A child and old man sitting at a table with their respective music technologies

The Importance of Technological Change in Shaping Generational Perspectives

If we name each generation based on the technological conditions it experienced, generations may soon encompass only a few years apiece.
An advertisement for Ivory Soap from the Christian Herald, 1913

Using God to Sell Soap

Ivory Soap got its name from Psalm 45.
A sunset on the ocean with a red sky

1619, Woodstock, and the Origins of Life

Well-researched stories from The Guardian, Aeon, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach

Surgery for Stuttering

In the 19th century, Europe and the United States saw a "mania for operating."
Serio-Comic War Map For The Year 1877. Fred W. Rose. 1877. Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection

Persuasive Cartography: An Interview with Map Collector PJ Mode

A collection of rare maps explores their power as visual messengers.
Ira Jackson pulls his boat through a flooded street September 5, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina

How Toxic Are Flood Waters?

While flood waters can be extremely polluted, researchers have found the lasting impact is different from what one might expect.
An empty wheelchair

The Complicated Issue of Transableism

Some people born in able bodies feel as if they were meant to have disabilities. How should the medical community be responding?