Rev. Cotton Mather

A Puritan War on Wigs

In colonial New England, moral quandaries were everywhere. A surprisingly big one in the 17th and 18th century was whether it was okay to wear a wig.
Lydia Pinkham products

Was Lydia E. Pinkham the Queen of Quackery?

She developed an immensely popular, if questionably effective, herbal remedy for “female complaints.” Pioneer in alternative medicine or...?
Concorde jet

The Rise and Fall of the Supersonic Concorde

Once a major advancement in aircraft technology, the Concorde jet was retired in 2003.
JSTOR Daily Suggested Readings

Suggested Readings: Zombie Fungus, Helpful Dogs, and the 19th Century #MeToo

Well-researched stories from around the web that bridge the gap between news and scholarship. Brought to you each Tuesday from the editors of JSTOR Daily.
Thoreau Sherlock Holmes

The Truth About Sherlock Holmes: He’s Actually Henry David Thoreau

A tongue in cheek comparison between the British fictional sleuth and the American Transcendentalist author, just because.
empty plate fasting

The Joy of Fasting

Fasting was once a religious endeavor. The idea that skipping meals could lead to improved health emerged around the turn of the twentieth century.
Red Sea Coral Reef

Ecolabels, Plastic-Eating Corals, and Vanishing Cars

Are corals digesting plastic? Are gasoline cars about to disappear from our roads? Does the ecolabel on your frozen salmon mean your dinner is sustainable?
Juvenile American Eel

The Final Migration of the American Eel

Every year, thousands of American eels make an amazing migration from their freshwater homes into the Atlantic Ocean, where they spawn and die.
Afghanistan colourful mountains

War Has Made Afghanistan’s $1 Trillion in Minerals Worthless

Developing rare earth mining in Afghanistan has been a potential objective since the USGS estimated the country had $1 trillion in mineral ore deposits.
A Loowatt worker replaces the biodegradable waste-collection bag in a waterless toilet in Madagascar

A Toast to Toilets!

Waterless toilets battle the global sanitation crisis.