What is Memory?
Research suggests that memories may alter the brain's architecture, forming new synapses and strengthening existing ones.
What is Cerebrospinal Fluid?
A patient was convinced that her runny nose indicated a deeper problem. She was right. Her case brought cerebrospinal fluid into the national spotlight.
Preparing Libraries for Nuclear War
During the Cold War, America's libraries helped patrons prepare for nuclear war, from stocking reference materials to providing fallout shelters.
When Salad Was Manly AF
Esquire, 1940: “Salads are really the man’s department... Only a man can make a perfect salad.”
Dark Matter in the Universe
According to current scientific theories, dark matter and dark energy make up most of the universe. But we don't even know what they actually are.
A History of Noise
What's noisier, nature or civilization? Whether we consider the sounds of nature to be pleasant or menacing depends largely on our ideologies.
The Myth of the St. Augustine Monster
The idea of the gigantic octopus has tantalized marine scientists for years, although its existence had never been conclusively proven.
Fixing the Grassroots of the American Lawn
A citizen scientist bred low-mow, slow-grow grass that needs little water and fertilizer.
Atoms for… Peace?
Iran's nuclear program is in the news, again. But what's the backstory on how the country went nuclear in the first place?
John Snow and the Birth of Epidemiology
Even though this physician pre-dated germ theory, he was able to track a London outbreak of cholera to one particular water pump.