A gardener planting yellow flowers in the soil.

Five Steps to Making Your Garden a Carbon Sink

If the 81 million U.S. households with yards adopt these practices, they could absorb more carbon and help combat climate change.
A television with an image of the earth from space, in front of a green plant background

What’s Wrong with Planet Earth?

According to one critic, the BBC documentary inspired more appreciation for HD television than it did for engaged environmentalism.
A harmonica against a yellow background

How Harmonicas Came to America

Harmonicas were invented in Europe in the 1820s as an aid for tuning pianos, but they didn't really take off until they crossed the Atlantic.
Miles Davis

Why Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue” Is So Beloved

A music scholar suggests that Miles Davis combined the blues with the musical avant garde in a manner reflecting the integrationist spirit of the era.
An illustration of Casimir Pulaski

The New Legacy of Casimir Pulaski

New findings reveal that the Polish war officer who aided the American Revolution may have been intersex.
This infographic details the locations of the participating telescopes of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and the Global mm-VLBI Array (GMVA).

Seeing Black Holes

Two of the scientists on the huge team that eventually captured the world's first image of a black hole discuss the particular challenges of the task.
Omar al-Bashir

Sudan’s Revolution and the Geopolitics of Human Rights

Sudan's former president Omar al-Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and genocide. Why isn't he on trial?
Frozen lake Baikal near Olkhon island

Exploring Lake Baikal

The world's largest, deepest freshwater lake is home to hundreds of species that don't live anywhere else on Earth. But it's threatened by climate change.
Notre-Dame, 1881

Recreating Notre Dame

The famous Paris cathedral was built over many centuries, reflecting the growth and evolution of Paris itself.
A Florida postcard

How Florida Got Its Name

506 years ago, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León landed in what he christened "Florida." Historians still wonder where the name came from.