An orange cat playing with a toy

Ginger, Tortie, Calico

The mystery gene responsible for orange color in cat coats has been found.
A map of Antarctica, 1949

Antarctica Unveiled: From Accidents to Airborne Labs

Twentieth-century surveys revealed the landscape beneath the Antarctic ice using radio echo-sounding, a technique that emerged largely by accident.
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
Stereoscopic image showing an aerial view of a German town, ca 1916

High-Flying Geology

The development and refinement of aerial photography in the World Wars transformed the discipline of geology.
Ludicrum chiromanticum Praetorii engraved title page emblematizes chiromancy's practical and philosophical components. In the center of the page a pair of hands flank a face; planetary symbols adorn their key features.

In the Palm of Your Hand

Palm reading, also known as palmistry or chiromancy, has fascinated us as a practice and a party trick for centuries.
Print advertisement for an electron microscope and other electronics manufactured and sold by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for various scientific and industrial applications. The advertisement features an illustrated depiction of a bacteriologist viewing samples of the influenza virus under magnification. The accompanying text details the electron microscope's ability to make the infinitesimal visible through the use of electrons instead of light for illumination.

Viruses Through the Looking-Glass

The electron microscope brought about a paradigm shift in virology in the middle of the twentieth century.
A view of Europa captured by JunoCam, the public engagement camera aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft, 2022

NASA’s Europa Clipper

The spacecraft will investigate whether an icy moon of Jupiter can support alien life.
Satellite image of salt deposits on Mars

“Follow the Salt”: A New Strategy for Finding Life on Mars

Scientists might be looking for Martian life in the wrong place.
An artist's representation of the Earth during Huronian Glaciation

Snowball Earth

How scientists discovered that unique Scottish rocks record when Earth was first encased in ice.