Extra Credit: Our pick of stories from around the web that bridge the gap between news and scholarship. ...

Pluto might not be a planet, but the results of the New Horizons mission flyby tell it is still a pretty cool place. And cold!

For centuries, the Caucasus was to the Russian Empire what the Middle East was to the British and French: a savage land to be dominated and a romanticized Other against which Russia could define its own “European” identity.

National parks and monuments have always been controversial, opposed by ranchers, farmers, resource, extractors, and small government conservatives. 

Poet, teacher, musician, and scholar of black literature, Sarah Webser Fabio, helped build a Black Arts movement on the West Coast.

The Babylonians knew their mathematics thousands of years before the Europeans.

As schools cut recess from the curriculum, more and more research suggests that it's a vital part of a child's day.

The human fascination with rabbits, including the Easter Bunny, is long and deep. But why rabbits? 

After being made illegal in the 19th century, why did torture return in the 20th century and why does it continue into the present?

Translator, traitor, goes the Italian expression, although something may be lost in the translation.