What We’re Reading 2024

It’s become a tradition: the writers and editors at JSTOR Daily share our thoughts on this year's pleasure reading.

String Theory Is Not Dead

Out of the limelight, theoretical physicists seek the math that can explain the universe’s particles and forces.
Çatalhöyük

Çatalhöyük: Its Story Continues

Our understanding of the Neolithic city of Çatalhöyük continues to evolve as archaeologists challenge inherited biases in the face of new material evidence.
A cluster of Azolla filiculoides plants.

Azolla filiculoides: Balancing Environmental Promise and Peril

One of the world’s tiniest fern species, Azolla filiculoides may be one of our greatest tools for lowering agricultural pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
A detail from the Arecibo message as sent 1974 from the Arecibo Observatory

The Arecibo Message Fifty Years Later

In November 1974, astronomers used the radio telescope at Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory to send a hello to the universe.

Can You Photograph a Ghost?

William Hope claimed to be able to document the visitations of ghosts. The controversial images he produced add to our understanding of the history of photography.
A "Gremlin" decorates a B-1B aircraft of the 28th Bombardment Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, 1988

Ghosts in the Machine

Forty years ago, Hollywood made gremlins loveable—portraying them as adorable, furry creatures. Their folkloric origins are far more sinister.
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.

In the Stereoscope, Another World

Developed in the nineteenth century, the stereoscope gave people a new way of seeing themselves and the world around them.