The Premature Burial by Antoine Wiertz

The Fear of Being Buried Alive (and How to Prevent It)

Pliny the Elder remarked: “Such is the condition of humanity, and so uncertain is men’s judgment, that they cannot determine even death itself.”
Girls in gym class, 1920

The Weird Psychological Theory behind Gym Class

The initial promoters of gym class believed that a child’s mind would “remember” evolutionary phases through the stimulation of muscle tissue.
Grapes on a vine

Will There Be Wine After Climate Change?

Vintners may have to adjust their centuries-old traditions to keep the wines flowing
Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer, 2019 Laureates in Economic Sciences

Why Are Random Trials So Common in Anti-Poverty Work?

Three economists who have devoted their careers to studying poverty alleviation won the Nobel Prize in economics. How did their methods catch on?
An American and Turkish soldier in Syria

U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Turkey, pt. 2

This is not the first time the presence of American nuclear weapons in Turkey has been part of a crisis.
A box for a 23andMe test kit

The Woman Scholar Who Foresaw the Dangers of DNA Testing

In 2003, Christine Rosen wrote that "[w]e may come to know too much about ourselves to truly live in freedom."
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Little_Galleries_-_1906.jpg

Alfred Stieglitz’s Art Journal

"The best one can say of American art criticism is that its CLEVERNESS OFTEN CONCEALS ITS LACK OF PENETRATION," Alfred Stieglitz wrote.
Sailor Moon mid transformation

Selling Toys with the Sailor Moon Transformation Sequence

From her nails painted glossy red to the tiara appearing on her forehead, if you time it out, the transformation in Sailor Moon lasts 40 seconds.
Peregrine Falcon, 1919

The Case of the Thinning Eggshells

How the proliferation of pesticides like DDT almost undid the Peregrine falcon.
People protest a ban against masks

Why Do Governments Target Protest Masks?

The galvanizing power of the ideology behind a protest mask is a palpable thing.