Scientist viewing plant leaf in a petri dish under a inverted microscope in a laboratory.

Artificial Photosynthesis

What is artificial photosynthesis, how does it work, and why would we need it?
Portrait of William Blake, 1807

William Blake, Radical Abolitionist

Blake’s works offer an alternative to the failures of the Enlightenment, which couldn’t muster a consistent argument for abolition.
Into the Jaws of Death by Robert F. Sargent

The Weather Forecast That Saved D-Day

Operation Overlord launched the invasion of German-occupied Europe during WWII. But the right weather, tides, and moonlight were essential for it to work.
A Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP) California sea lion waits for his handler to give the command to search the pier for potential threats during International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX in Manama, Bahrain

Navy Seals: Why the Military Uses Marine Mammals

A beluga whale was suspected to be a spy. It's not as outlandish as it may seem.
Plastic waste floating in the sea

Is Plastic Pollution Depriving Us of Oxygen?

Plastic debris is killing the ocean’s “invisible forests,” which produce ten percent of the oxygen we breathe.
A man with his daughter paying a bill

Hospital Bills, Intersectionality, and Civilizational Collapse

Well-researched stories from The Conversation, Aeon, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Croquet Scene by Winslow Homer, 1866

The Dangerous Game of Croquet

Many 19th-century observers were disturbed by the way young people took the co-ed sport of croquet as an opportunity to flirt.
A peacock

Green Birds Aren’t Really Green

Some of the most dazzling coloration you see in birds doesn’t actually exist.
A landfill with smoke in the background

The Lowdown on Municipal Trash Incinerators

Burning household trash in massive incinerators saves landfill space, but it also introduces a host of other waste management issues.
A film still from The Eighties by Chantal Akerman

A Feminist Vision of the Musical

Chantal Akerman’s The Eighties proves that a musical set in a mall can be a significant feminist work.