Camp of Mexican Refugees, c. 1910-1918

The Untold History of Lynching in the American West

In the aftermath of the Mexican-American War, people of Mexican ancestry were the target of intense racist violence.
A model showing the layers of Earth

The Woman Who Found the Earth’s Inner Core

Inge Lehmann was the seismologist and mathematician who figured out what the Earth's core was actually made of.
A grazing cow

CRISPR Cows, Unscientific Medicine, and New Nuclear Energy

Well-researched stories from Wired, Pacific Standard, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Reflection of crocodile submerged in water, Australia

Coexisting With Crocodiles

Conservation efforts have led to increased crocodile populations in areas like the Philippines. It's great news for the crocs. Not so much for the people.
Rock Against Racism in Trafalgar Square, London, 1978

How British Teens Blended Pop and Politics

In the 1970s, the National Front blamed immigrants for the UK's economic problems. Anti-racist groups formed in response, with the help of pop music.
Supermassive black hole

Rotating Black Holes May Serve as Gentle Portals for Hyperspace Travel

Feel like visiting another star system or dimension? You can do this by traveling through a black hole.
A pair of pink high heels

The Inherent Drama of High Heels

How can a shoe communicate many different messages at once?
San Diego during the 1930s and the Canal Zone in Panama

A Glimpse at Women’s Periods in the Roaring Twenties 

A 1927 study by famed efficiency expert Lillian Moller Gilbreth revealed how American women dealt with menstruation -- and how they wished they could.
An Octagon House

A Phrenologist’s Dream of an Octagon House

Orson S. Fowler thought houses without right angles would offer a better life, but his own architectural experiments did not end well.
Two children looking at artwork hung on the wall

Taking Children’s Art Seriously

Are children’s drawings meaningless scribbles or serious creative work? Western scholars and child psychologists have debated this topic for years.