Donna Summer, 1976

The Year The Grammys Honored Disco

In 1980, The Grammys gave disco its own category, but the genre was already receding into invisibility.
Aerial view of Bangalore city in south India

Bangalore’s Green Belt Fifty Years On

Or, why the best laid plans of urban design sometimes go awry.
A person snowmobiling in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, WA, 1987

A Brief History of Snowmobiling

Snowmobiles were invented around the same time as wheeled transportation was becoming a robust industry.
Alpine Chickweed

How Does the Warming Arctic Impact Plants?

For flowering plants in the Arctic, cold temperatures don't mean death. But warmer temperatures might.
Illustration of Cassava

Plant of the Month: Cassava

Cassava can grow in hot climates with little rainfall. It may be the "root crop of the century."
Animal magnetism

Mesmerizing Labor

The man who introduced mesmerism to the US was a slave-owner from Guadeloupe, where planters were experimenting with “magnetizing” their enslaved people.
An ice core extracted at Talos Dome showing an ash layer corresponding to the Toba supervolcano eruption in Indonesia about 75k years ago

What is in an Ice Core?

Climate science frequently references ice cores, but it's what is in the cores that matters to science and history.
The Rolling Stones perform on the set of the pop music television show Thank Your Lucky Stars in Birmingham, England on January 30th, 1965.

Creating the Musical Canon

When you look at the canon of popular music, who's on the list looks very much like those who made the list.
Physician letting blood from a man's arm

How Physicians Became Scientists

The introduction of formal peer review to journals aided medical doctors in their quest to bring more scientific rigor to their field.
Statue of Julian of Norwich, Norwich Cathedral

Julian of Norwich, Anchoress and Mystic

A religious recluse, mystic and author, Julian of Norwich wrote of Jesus Christ as a nurturing mother and teacher to the faithful.