The Missing Science of Smell (Smithsonian Magazine)
by Abigail Tucker
Humans have three receptors to detect color and 400 for smell. Yet scent is the sense we understand the least. Scientists, fragrance designers, and artists are beginning to change that.

The Disgusting History of San Francisco Sourdough (Atlas Obscura)
by Amanda Herbert and David Woodworth
San Francisco’s sourdough bread became famous thanks to the reputation of the ‘49ers who once made it. But it turns out the gold miners actually couldn’t stand the stuff.

Everything’s Different When You Live in the Ocean (Knowable Magazine)
by Amber Dance
When the ancestors of whales moved from land to water, they didn’t just lose their legs. Everything from their immune systems to the way they sleep changed, too. Now, scientists are reading their genomes to figure out exactly how it happened.

Fighting Inflation in the Civil War (Public Books)
by Andrew Donnelly
Among the many hardships of the Civil War, Americans faced skyrocketing inflation. Part of the Union’s military strategy was getting it under control in the North—and promoting the opposite effect in the South.

How Hot is It? (Wired)
by Gregory Barber
As extreme heat events become more common, the flaws in the heat index that we often use to quantify them are becoming increasingly clear. Is it time to use a different one?

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