As You Lakh It
How did an oleoresin produced by insects in Asia become a standard part of European furniture manufacture and conservation?
An Epitaph for Fido
Pet cemeteries document how humans’ relationships with their pets—and their deaths—have evolved since the Victorian era.
Switchgrass: An Old Grass Gets a New Use
The perennial prairie grass used to cover large swaths of the American Midwest, creating vibrant ecosystems where birds, butterflies, and bison roamed.
Five Things You Probably Have Wrong about the T. rex
How well do you really know Tyrannosaurus rex, the so-called Tyrant Lizard King?
New Zealand’s Quest to Save Its Rotund, Flightless Parrots
DNA sequencing, GPS tracking and tailored diets are slowly restoring the endangered kākāpō.
Coming Up Kudzu
Employed as a symbol of the American South or used as shorthand for unchecked growth, kudzu has demonstrated a tenacity beyond all imagination.
Cinchona: A Legacy of Extraction and Extirpation
The source of quinine, cinchona tells a story about the value placed on parts of plants and how that value can be extracted and distorted in support of empire.
Quinoa: Rise of an Andean Superfood
Once considered a minor crop for Indigenous communities, quinoa’s journey to worldwide stardom was centuries in the making.
Translating Corn
To most of the world, “corn” is “maize,” a word that comes from the Taíno mahizwas. Not for British colonists in North America, though.