Asian Indian and Caucasian Friends Talking in Coffee Shop

There’s No Template for Emotional Intelligence

A templated response to any situation is the antithesis of an emotionally in-tune reaction.
Portrait of Alexander von Humboldt by Friedrich Georg Weitsch

Who Was Alexander von Humboldt?

Remembering the work of the great naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, on the 250th anniversary of his birth.
Elsie the Cow

Who Was Elsie, besides the World’s Most Famous Cow?

In the Great Depression, Borden sought a new spokescow to help preserve its traditional agrarian image.
koala

Are Koalas Really Going Extinct?

A report from the Australian Koala Foundation declaring koalas "functionally extinct" has caused a confusing scare. What does it mean?
Members of the Oneida Community

The Oneida Community Moves to the OC

The Oneida Community's Christian form of collectivism was transported to California in the 1880s, when the original Oneida Community fell apart.
An unknown woman from the city of Grodno, circa 1900

Tsarist Russia’s Feminist Intelligentsia

In the context of Russia's patriarchal autocracy, its intelligentsia was surprisingly feminist, as Vera Podorovskaya's life illustrates.
Three reindeer running through snow

The Reindeer Games

In 1907, the U.S. Reindeer Service was organized as part of an effort to domesticate the animals...and Inupiat Eskimos.
A person's hands wrapping Christmas gifts

Only You Can Prevent Useless Gifts

Is it time for a revival of the Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving (SPUG)?
An overhead view of a book store

Why We Love Local Businesses

The explanation may have to do with the gift economy.
Molecular model of Penicillin by Dorothy Hodgkin, c.1945

We’re Living in a Post-Antibiotic World

A new CDC report warns: “Stop referring to a coming post-antibiotic era—it’s already here.” Contrast that to a 1944 article on the promise of penicillin.