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Science

On our knowledge about the observable world.
Edmund Muskie with a concerned expression, next to a globe.

The Lost History of What Americans Knew About Climate Change in the 1960s

It wasn’t just scientists who were worried, but Congress, the White House, and even Sports Illustrated, newly unearthed documents show.
by Kate Yoder via Grist on August 5, 2024
Computer terminal with BASIC code on screen, surrounded by a cartoon potion, cauldron, and lips wearing a wizard's hat, in a magical lair.

Back to BASIC—the Most Consequential Programming Language in the History of Computing

Coding was a preserve of elites, until BASIC hit the streets.
by Clive Thompson via Wired on July 29, 2024
A boy sitting inside of an enclosed porch while his mother looks in from outside the door.

Inside Out

The magical in-betweenness—and surprising epidemiological history—of the porch.
by David Owen via The New Yorker
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on July 27, 2024
Benjamin Hawkins and the Creek Indians.

“Weapons of Health Destruction…” How Colonialism Created the Modern Native American Diet

On the impact of systematic oppression on indigenous cuisine in the United States.
by Andrea Freeman via Literary Hub on July 24, 2024
Computer blue screen with error message.
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Y2K Sent a Warning. The CrowdStrike Outage Shows We Failed to Heed It.

The Year 2000 computer problem has become a punchline in recent years, but the CrowdStrike outage shows the joke's on us.
by Zachary Loeb via Made By History on July 24, 2024
Cover of "Excited Delirium," left, and author Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús, right.

The Racist, Xenophobic History of "Excited Delirium"

A new book takes on a diagnosis invented to cover up police killings: that men of color are “combusting as a result of their aggressiveness.”
by Julia Métraux, Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús via Mother Jones on July 23, 2024
A drawing of a city skyline filled with skyscrapers.

The Man Who Saved the Skyscraper

Fazlur Khan and the idea that would turn architecture on its head.
by Nick Greene via Mental Floss on July 21, 2024
Tornado near Turkey, Texas, in 2009.
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The Real History Behind 'Twisters'

For as long as scientists have studied tornadoes, researchers have dreamed of controlling them.
by Kate Carpenter via Made By History on July 19, 2024
Buzz Aldrin lands on moon for the first time, Apollo 11.

Apollo 11 Launch: "If You Can Survive the Simulations, the Mission is a Piece of Cake"

The grueling, relentless simulations astronauts that prepared the astronauts for quick decision-making in space.
by Myles Burke via BBC News on July 15, 2024
Distillations
Podcast
Distillations

The Ames Test

This episode traces the history of cancer research through the career of scientist Bruce Ames, creator of the Ames Test, a breakthrough tool for identifying potentially cancer-causing chemicals. It explores the environmental movement inspired by Silent Spring, debates over chemical regulation, industry influence, and evolving scientific understandings of cancer risk. The story highlights how science, politics, and public health became deeply intertwined.
July 9, 2024
Table of illustrations of various diverse human faces from "Ethnographic Tableau."

Baffled by Human Diversity

Confused 17th-century Europeans argued that human groups were separately created, a precursor to racist thought today.
by Jacob Zellmer via Aeon on July 8, 2024
Drawing of a woman nurse in a tent with two rows of sick patients in bed.

Listening to Women Nurses and Caretakers

A case study from the smallpox epidemic among North Carolina Moravians.
by Savannah Jane Flanagan via Nursing Clio on July 3, 2024
A group of Black women in swimsuits and caps gather in a group in a pool.

The Intimacy of Exercise: Sensuality and Sexuality in Black Women’s Fitness History

How did the sensuality, sexuality, and homosociality of exercise create intimate possibilities for Black women in postwar America?
by Ava Purkiss via Nursing Clio on July 3, 2024
Distillations
Podcast
Distillations

Is Ozempic Different?

Ozempic and similar GLP-1 drugs have transformed weight-loss treatment. Originally developed for Type 2 diabetes, they gained widespread attention after clinical trials showed significant weight loss among users. As demand surged, doctors began prescribing them beyond diabetes care. This episode explores the history of weight-loss drugs, pharmaceutical regulation, and the broader question of what role medicine should play in shaping our health and bodies.
July 2, 2024
John Wayne plays Genghis Khan in "The Conqueror" (1956)

The John Wayne Flop Linked to High Cancer Rates

"The Conqueror" was filmed downwind of a nuclear test site. A new documentary tells the story of the fatal film set, and the community affected.
by Zach Budryk via The Hill on June 30, 2024
Barges on the Mississippi River.

The Quixotic Struggle to Tame the Mighty Mississippi

An epic account of a vital economic artery and our many efforts to control it.
by Lina Tran via UnDark on June 28, 2024
Fanny Angelina Hesse in front of article about her accomplishments.

Meet the Forgotten Woman Who Revolutionized Microbiology With a Simple Kitchen Staple

Fanny Angelina Hesse introduced agar to the life sciences in 1881. A trove of unpublished family papers sheds new light on her many accomplishments.
by Corrado Nai via Smithsonian Magazine on June 25, 2024
A text adventure on an older computer.

From Infocom to 80 Days: An Oral History of Text Games and Interactive Fiction

MUDs, Usenet, and open source all play a part in 50 years of IF history.
by Anna Washenko via Ars Technica on June 20, 2024
Demonstrators outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2024.
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How Doctors Came to Play a Key Role in the Abortion Debate

While the phrase "between a woman and her doctor" has been used to protect abortion access, it also reflects physicians' outsized power.
by Emma Peterson, Daniel Martinez Hosang via Made By History on June 20, 2024
A photograph of the author's brother, Steve, playing pool.

Imperfecta

Her brother’s disease leads a writer to challenge how we conceive of human abnormality in the emerging era of gene editing.
by Pamela Haag via The American Scholar on June 20, 2024
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The Ravages and Operations of the Locusts

When it comes to cicadas, the silence of the historical record can be deafening.
by Al Dickenson via HNN on June 18, 2024
Newspaper headlines about C. Everett Koop's warnings about video games.

When the Surgeon General Warned About Pac-Man

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy published an op-ed in The New York Times calling for a ‘Warning Label on Social Media Platforms.'
by Louis Anslow via Pessimists Archive on June 18, 2024
Charles Fort.

In Praise of the Paranormal Curiosity of Charles Fort, Patron Saint of Cranks

On the porous, ever-shifting boundaries between science and speculation.
by Ed Simon via Literary Hub on June 10, 2024
Tomato on a spoon.

How the Fridge Changed Flavor

From the tomato to the hamburger bun, the invention has transformed not just what we eat but taste itself.
by Nicola Twilley via The New Yorker
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on June 8, 2024
A sheet of Thomas Jefferson stamps.
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Thomas Jefferson Fights for the Metric System

A story of math and political stasis.
by Amir Alexander via HNN on June 5, 2024
Blue sky like background, with colorful circle like planets.
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How Two Rebel Physicists Changed Quantum Theory

David Bohm and Hugh Everett were once ostracized for challenging the dominant thinking in physics. Now, science accepts their ideas.
by Sidney Perkowitz via JSTOR Daily on June 5, 2024
An 1890s advertising poster for Coca Cola featuring a well-to-do white woman.
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Who Took the Cocaine Out of Coca-Cola?

The medical profession saw nothing wrong with offering a cocaine-laced cola to white, middle-class consumers. Selling it to Black Americans was another matter.
by Livia Gershon, Michael Mark Cohen via JSTOR Daily on June 3, 2024
Man and woman testing buttons on machine at Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory

Tomorrow People

For the entire 20th century, it had felt like telepathy was just around the corner. Why is that especially true now?
by Roger Luckhurst via Aeon on June 3, 2024

When RAND Made Magic in Santa Monica

RAND’s halcyon days lasted two decades, during which the corporation produced some of the most influential developments in science and American foreign policy.
by Pradyumna Prasad via Asterisk on June 1, 2024
A stylized drawing of an insulin vial.

The Insulin Empire

Insulin transforms a sick body. It also has the potential to reconstitute our political economic realities.
by Edward Ongweso Jr., Athena Sofides via The Baffler
This publication restricts nonsubscriber access to some or all of its articles.
on May 30, 2024
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