Are Medical Microbots Finally Coming? (Knowable Magazine)
by David Levin
It’s the stuff of science fiction: microscopic robots traveling through the body, tracking down and destroying blood clots and cancer cells. Drawing inspiration from microbes like E. Coli, scientists are getting closer to making this a reality.

Swamp Magic (The New Yorker)
by Annie Proulx
Settlers in America despised swamps, destroying them for their precious fertile soils and the valuable acres they occupied. But they are home to a dazzling array of living things—and a key player in fighting climate change.

Life on the “Chitlin Circuit” (Atlas Obscura)
by Adrian Miller
The network of venues that became known as the “Chitlin Circuit” helped Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, and practically every other famous twentieth-century Black performer get started. But how did it begin, and what’s the history behind the food that gives it its name?

An Almost-Forgotten Queer History (Harper’s Bazaar)
by Hugh Ryan
As time passes, many extraordinary stories get lost. Before her death, a woman who lived at the center of queer communities in the mid-twentieth century told hers.

Why Elephants Attack (Slate)
by Hannah Docter-Loeb
Elephants rarely attack people, but when it does happen it’s often the outcome of bad experiences the pachyderms have had—and, when humans encroach on their territory, it’s likely to happen more often.

Got a hot tip about a well-researched story that belongs on this list? Email us here.