Remembering Stephen Hawking and Future Science
An original essay about the science of the future by the late theoretical physicist.
Keeping Crickets for Luck, Song, and Bloodsport
Design can facilitate the worst of human instincts, including forcing animals into servitude and violence. Cricket cages tell stories about how people have treated the insects throughout time.
The San Zeno Astrolabe Tracked Time by the Stars
The astrolabe was a revolutionary tool for calculating celestial positions and local time. The device's design dates back to Islamic antiquity.
On the Side of Climate Solutions: An Interview with Paul Lussier
How to energize people, work with business, and develop solution-focused rhetoric and strategy before it’s too late.
How WWI Made the Zipper a Success
A money belt with a zipper became an instant success among WWI U.S. sailors, whose uniforms did not have pockets. Almost all initial zipper sales were for the money belts.
The Flu Pandemic of 1918, As Reported in 1918
The Spanish Influenza pandemic 100 years ago was the most lethal global disease outbreak since the Black Death. What were people thinking at the time?
How to Build a City That Doesn’t Flood? Turn it Into a Sponge City
Cities encourage potentially devastating floods by laying down asphalt and pavement. Could this be avoided by making them "spongier" and more absorbent?
Why We Need to Start Listening to Insects
The study of wingbeat has come an incredibly long way and could lead to breakthroughs crucial for human populations facing insect-borne disease and pests.
Wampum was Massachusetts’ First Legal Currency
First Nations' seashell-derived wampum was Massachusetts' first legal currency, used as currency throughout northeastern America into the 19th century.
Female Inventive Talent
Brief commentary on one line from JSTOR: An unsigned editorial from an 1870s issue of Scientific American suggests that women can be great inventors, too.