Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in The North American Sylva by François André Michaux. Illustration by Henri-Joseph Redouté, 1819.

Tradition in Turmoil: Sugar Maple and Climate Change

With harvests dependent on the spring freeze-thaw cycle, the maple industry is seeking ways to mitigate damage wrought by a changing climate.
Caitlin D. Wylie

Caitlin D. Wylie on the Hidden Labor of STEM Research

An interview with Caitlin D. Wylie, a social scientist who analyzes “behind-the-science work” to understand how knowledge is produced and who produces it.
The cover of Sonyŏn kwahak from September, 1965

Popular Science—but Make It North Korean

In the 1950s, science in North Korea was presented in a way that fired children’s imaginations and encouraged youth to develop ideas that served the state.
a concept of diverse races and crowd cooperation symbol as hands holding together the planet earth in a 3D illustration style.

Survival Strategies: The Next Chapter of Environmental Justice

The environmental justice movement may look to the past to determine how to move forward during times of austerity.
Close-up of sourdough starter and flour in jars

The Science of Sourdough: How Citizens Are Helping Shape the Future of Fermented Foods

Citizen scientists are drawing on personal experience to help researchers create new plant-based fermented foods and maximize their health benefits.
Joseph Russell Smith

He Spoke for the Trees (and Also the Soil)

A champion of agroforestry, J. Russell Smith argued for the restoration of forests as key to sustainable agriculture in his seminal work Tree Crops.
Gunsmith and ballistics expert Robert Churchill using a microscope to help compile a ballistic report for Scotland Yard in the case of the murder of Essex police officer PC George Gutteridge, 1927

Performing Forensics: Doctors Becoming Expert Witnesses

Doctors in skeptical Scotland had to persuade the courts to listen to them, in part because of the historical animosity between the professions of law and medicine.
Lord Rosse's Great Reflecting Telescope, at Parsonstown, Ireland

Leviathan Resurrected: Illustration and Astronomy

In the 1840s, the Leviathan of Parsonstown, built by William Parsons, third Earl of Rosse, became the largest telescope in the world.
Vienna, Austria. The Naturhistorisches (Natural History) Museum, Vienna

Natural History: A Reading List

This annotated bibliography samples scholarship on the rich—and difficult—history of natural history.
The Sun's corona observed in extreme ultraviolet (131 Å)

Colliding Plasma Ejections From the Sun Generate Huge Geomagnetic Storms

Studying them will help scientists monitor future space weather.