Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, 1965

Bob Dylan and the Creative Leap That Transformed Modern Music

In 1964, Dylan decided that he wanted to make a different kind of music.
Photomicrograph image of pyrrhotite under a reflected light ore microscope

Home Foundations Are Crumbling. This Mineral Is to Blame.

Pyrrhotite causes cracks in concrete. But research on how widespread the issue might be has only scratched the surface.
An orange cat playing with a toy

Ginger, Tortie, Calico

The mystery gene responsible for orange color in cat coats has been found.

String Theory Is Not Dead

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

How Native Americans Guarded Their Societies Against Tyranny

Many Native American communities were consensus democracies that survived for generations because of careful attention to checking and balancing power.
Plate 82 of Birds of America by John James Audubon depicting Whip-poor-will.

The Whip-Poor-Will Has Been an Omen of Death for Centuries

What happened to this iconic bird of American horror?