Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) in bloom. Flowers can be pale blue, pink, purple, or white.

Rosemary: The Herb of Ritual and Remembrance

From ancient Egypt to today, the scent of rosemary has promised comfort, joy, and even immortality.

String Theory Is Not Dead

Out of the limelight, theoretical physicists seek the math that can explain the universe’s particles and forces.
Cambodian New Year's celebration, Trairatanaram Temple, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1988

Tapping Cultural Values Against Domestic Violence

Southeast Asian Americans navigated evolving cultural norms while building grassroots organizations to combat violence against women.
Adolf Hitler at his Berghof mansion in Obersalzberg.

A Blind Beetle Named Hitler?

The case for changing offensive names of animals and plants, and how it can be done
Project Mohole

Moho-A-Go-Go: Journey to the Far Edge of the Center of the Earth

The “Moho,” short for the Mohorovičić discontinuity, is a long way down.
A wild turkey

The Great American Turkey

The turkey was semi-domesticated and kept in pens in the American Southwest some 2,000 years ago—but not for the reason you think.
A scene of anatomical dissection in the ancient world

The Anatomists of Ancient Alexandria

Cultural forces under the Ptolemaic dynasty briefly allowed scholars like Herophilus to practice dissection—and possibly vivisection—on human subjects.
A cluster of Azolla filiculoides plants.

Azolla filiculoides: Balancing Environmental Promise and Peril

One of the world’s tiniest fern species, Azolla filiculoides may be one of our greatest tools for lowering agricultural pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Male tarantula hawk (Pepsis formosa)

Sting! (Don’t Stand So Close to the Tarantula Hawk)

Tarantula hawk wasps offer some of the most painful stings known to humans, giving them almost absolute protection from vertebrate predators.