Tree of Peace, Spark of War
The white pines of New England may have done more than any leaf of tea to kick off the American Revolution.
How Sports Shaped Glacier Science
The heroic masculinity that governed early glacial science had its roots in nineteenth-century British sporting culture.
Finding Caves on the Moon Is Great. On Mars? Even Better.
The recent discovery of a large cave on the Moon highlights the importance of caves not just for future space explorers but astrobiology as well.
When French Citrus Colonized Algeria
The citrus industry in Algeria honed French imperial apparatuses and provided a means for France to define and shape the behavior of its colonial subjects.
Dr. AI Will See You Now
The integration of artificial intelligence into public health could have revolutionary implications for the global south—if only it can get online.
Defining and Redefining Intersex
The transatlantic circulation of ideas between Baltimore and Zurich consolidated and standardized treatments of intersex infants in the 1950s.
Eisenhower and the Real-Life Nautilus
The voyage of the USS Nautilus under the North Pole in August 1958 was a strategic use of technological spectacle as propaganda under Eisenhower.
The Scientists, the Engineers, and the Water Wheel
In the eighteenth century, a mathematician, an astronomer, and an engineer each tried to apply their expertise to increasing the efficiency of water wheels.
Biofuels: Feeding the Earth or Feeding the Engine?
Around the world, biofuels, so-called green energy sources, are waving major red flags.
The Case of the Volcano on the Moon
In 1958, Soviet astrophysicist Nikolai A. Kozyrev claimed there was an active volcano on the Moon. Dutch American astronomer Gerard P. Kuiper begged to differ.