Archaeologists on a dig

How Do Archaeologists Know Where to Dig?

Archaeologists used to dig primarily at sites that were easy to find thanks to obvious visual clues. But technology—and listening to local people—plays a bigger role now.
Richard P. Strong

The Deadly Bilibid Prison Vaccine Trials

In 1906, physician Richard Strong's already-unethical vaccine experiment went horribly wrong. Then it was swept under the rug.
A hand holding coarse dry ice pellets

Dry Ice Will Help Keep COVID-19 Vaccines Cold

A brief history of dry ice, aka solid carbon dioxide, shows why some coronavirus vaccines will benefit from its use.
Illustration of snake and cascarilla

Plant of the Month: Cascarilla

Epidemics revive old remedies and accelerate experimentation with new ones.
Alpine Pennycress - Noccaea caerulescens

In Phytoremediation, Plants Extract Toxins from Soils

Researchers have a cheap, easy way for cleaning up oil spills: letting plants do the work. Why isn’t it used more often?
geothermal basin in Yellowstone NP, Wyoming.

How Yellowstone Extremophile Bacteria Helped With Covid-19 Testing

The heat-resistant enzyme from Thermus aquaticus is used in PCR testing to detect pathogens.
Atlantic horseshoe crab (Polyphemus occidentalis) illustration from Zoology of New york (1842 - 1844) by James Ellsworth De Kay (1792-1851).

The Horseshoe Crab: Same as It Ever Was?

The seemingly static appearance of these ancient-looking arthropods presents a challenge for scientists who want to study their evolutionary history.
An illustration of sunspots from between 1885 and 1890

Do Sunspots Explain Global Recession, War, or Famine?

Maybe it’s something about the number eleven?
Babies from the City Maternity Hospital being held by the nurses and doctors who had delivered them.

How Scientists Became Advocates for Birth Control

The fight to gain scientists' support for the birth control movement proved a turning point in contraceptive science—and led to a research revolution.
Pensive Caucasian man sitting on sofa near window

How the Internet Changed Chronic Illness

Online communities show that isolation doesn't have to define the experience of having a chronic disease.