Can You Photograph a Ghost?

William Hope claimed to be able to document the visitations of ghosts. The controversial images he produced add to our understanding of the history of photography.
Monotropa uniflora in bloom by Nichole Ouellette

Ghost of the Forest: Monotropa uniflora

Look for this other-worldly plant in moist, shaded areas of mature forests throughout much of North America, East Asia, and northern South America.
Map of Central Asia with trade routes and movements from 128 BC to 150 AD by F. von Richthofen, 1877

Inventing Silk Roads

The idea of a Silk Road, though it conjures up visions of exotic goods passing between Asia and Europe via ancient trade routes, is a thoroughly modern one.
Three titles edited by Judy Lynn del Rey

Judy-Lynn del Rey

The woman who revolutionized the fantasy genre is finally getting her due.
A "Gremlin" decorates a B-1B aircraft of the 28th Bombardment Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, 1988

Ghosts in the Machine

Forty years ago, Hollywood made gremlins loveable—portraying them as adorable, furry creatures. Their folkloric origins are far more sinister.
From “Stage-Land: Curious Habits and Customs of its Inhabitants” described by Jerome K Jerome with drawings by J Bernard Partridge. Published by Chatto & Windus, London, in 1890. The book is an entertaining account of the types of characters to be found upon the theatre stage and this shifty-looking individual is the ‘stage villain’. Of course, you would know that from his immaculate appearance and the fact that he is always smoking a cigarette. Things which would never happen in real life, naturally. And he does have a distressing tendency to get knocked down by the hero fairly regularly. Sad, really.

How to Be a British Villain

In classic British detective stories, villains might be atavistic monsters, foreign menaces, or conniving professionals—all tied to aristocrats’ anxieties.
Air Force Chief of Staff General David C. Jones briefs the National Security Council on possible military options during the second meeting on the Mayaguez crisis, 1975

The Mayaguez Incident: The Last Chapter of the Vietnam War

Reeling from defeat in Vietnam, the US invaded a Cambodian island to rescue a US freighter—just before its crew members, who were elsewhere, were released.
A white lab mouse on a white background

Autism Research, Dungan Food, and Forest Histories

Well-researched stories from Black Perspectives, Mongabay, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
freelance working at train station before travel. work and travel concept

All Travelers are Infiltrators: An Introduction to the Study of Travel Writing

Travel writing as a genre has arguably been around for centuries, but it didn’t emerge as a distinct field of academic study until the 1980s.
A map of the stars by John Flamsteed, 1776

Spider in the Telescope: The Mechanization of Astronomy

John Flamsteed’s vision of an astronomer's skill set clashed with existing ideas about observing, paving the way for a new mindset based on mechanical objectivity.