Brunei: A Tale of Soil and Oil

With an economy based almost exclusively on the oil industry, Brunei offers its citizens a high standard of living—but it comes with limitations.
A Ford crash test dummy is shown at the Crash Barrier Dearborn Development Center March 10, 2014 in Dearborn, Michigan.

Designing the Dummies

The science behind using crash test dummies to determine the effects of car crashes on the human body only dates to the 1960s.
From the Chaozhou Museum, a branch of The Overseas Chinese History Museum of China

Going Postal at the Qiaopiju

The Chinese Qiaopiju, or “overseas letter offices,” lasted for a century, ending only when the foreign governments implemented anti-communist banking controls.
Digital generated image of futuristic cubes connecting.

Why Architects Need Philosophy to Guide the AI Design Revolution

Architecture in the age of AI—argues professor Nayef Al-Rodhan—should embed philosophical inquiry in its transdisciplinary toolkit.
An image of Sonya Pritzker beside the cover of her book, Learning to Love

Inside China’s Psychoboom

In Learning to Love, linguistic and medical anthropologist Sonya Pritzker examines the efficacy of group therapy in contemporary China.
A magazine stand on a subway platform in New York City, 1974

The Numbers vs. the Lottery

Between the 1960s and 1980s, state governments created lotteries to supplant illegal gambling operations that brought revenue to marginalized communities.
A plate with mashed potatoes, tomato, asparagus, and a blue steak

How Do You Like Your Steak? Rare, Medium, or Bright Blue?

In 1973, an experiment with dyed food and colorful lights had participants vomiting up their half-finished meals. But did it really happen?
Wing detail of the East African sunset moth

Animal Physics, Storm-Chasing, and Big Meat

Well-researched stories from The Conversation, Mongabay, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Citizens breaking down the door of the parish prison to lynch Italians held for the murder of police chief David Hennessy, 1891

Attacking Italians in Louisiana

Italian immigrants had no qualms about working and living alongside Black Americans, which made them targets for violence by white vigilantes in Louisiana.
Recruiting poster for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps

Battery X: A Secret Test of Women at War during WWII

Although their contributions have been largely forgotten, women played an active role in Washington DC’s air defense system during World War II.