Shifting Forces: The Evolving Debate Around Dark Energy
New evidence suggests the universe might not behave as expected, raising questions about the costs of being wrong.
Before Deep Blue: the Automaton Chess Player
You may have heard of IBM’s chess-playing computer, but Johann Nepomuk Maelzel’s Automaton Chess Player beat Deep Blue to the (mechanical) punch. Check mate.
Saguaro Cactus: A Desert Sentinel’s Prickly Plight
The saguaro cactus has evolved to endure dry days and high temperatures, but even this resilient plant struggles to cope with the effects of climate change.
Who Owns the Ground Beneath Your Feet?
Carbon removal, a proposed solution to climate change, will require the injection of CO2 underground—but under whose property?
The Pharaoh’s Curse or the Pharaoh’s Cure?
A toxic fungus from King Tutankhamun’s tomb yields cancer-fighting compounds.
La Brea and Beyond
Pits and seeps full of tar and asphalt offer new insights into old ecosystems and cultures.
Putting a Cork in It: In Construction, That Is
The bark of the evergreen oak Quercus suber has been used for millennia as a construction material. Could it be our answer to sustainable buildings?
Tyler S. Sprague on the Intersection of Structure and Design
An interview with Tyler S. Sprague, a historian of the built environment whose work depends on multidisciplinarity and a deep knowledge of structure and materials.
Christiaan Huygens and the Scientific Secrets of Saturn
Seventeenth-century science was so competitive that Christiaan Huygens used a cipher to conceal his Saturn observations when sharing them with interlocutors.