Using Pollen To Make Paper, Sponges, and More
Reengineered, the powdery stuff could become a range of eco-friendly objects.
Lite Intermediate Black Holes
Meet the supermassive black hole’s smaller, much more mysterious cousin.
An Untimely Death at Sycamore Gap
The outcry over the violent felling of a beloved tree in 2023 affirms the power trees hold in our cultural memory.
The Pomegranate in History and Myth
Used heavily in early medicine and at times for opposing aims, the pomegranate shows a marked versatility in its cultural connotations and connections.
Taking “Stock” of Salmon and Word Choice
The long debate over spawning habits and genetics belies the problems caused by categorizing fish with a term associated with finance and breeding.
The Fear of Bare, Naked Ladies’ Faces
The mask, like the veil, is seen by the anxious West as concealing a racialized female subject in need of liberation from a backward culture.
Fifty Years of Fractals
A half century ago ago, Benoit Mandelbrot coined the word "fractal" and pioneered a new type of geometry.
Transplanting Nutmeg
Nutmeg originated in the Maluku islands of what’s now Indonesia, but Barbados became known as the Nutmeg Island. Why did the tree wander?
Super-Resolution Microscopes Showcase the Inner Lives of Cells
Advanced light microscopy techniques have come into their own—and are giving scientists a new understanding of human biology and what goes wrong in disease.
Dates: Civilization’s Sweetest Indulgence
Offshoots from the “Tree of Life” traveled from Mesopotamia to the Levant to the United States, beguiling everyone with their toothsome confections.