History

History tells us what happens when great nations attack science

Claims that an asteroid or comet airburst destroyed the biblical Sodom captured the public’s imagination. Its retraction shows that scientific conclusions aren’t decided by majority rule in the public square

As the first trained Black TV meteorologist, June Bacon-Bercey always worked to help women and people of color to follow in her footsteps

Toxic cigars; dueling with a swordfish

NASA has quietly taken steps to prepare for a death in space. We need to ask how nations will deal with this inevitability now, as more people start traveling off the planet

White ants; vacations in the mud

Einstein offers a lesson for scientists who are protesting an out-of-control nationalist administration attacking U.S. science today

The mathematics underpinning the modern method of elliptic curve cryptography originated with Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi

Author Dava Sobel discusses how she discovered the many forgotten female scientists who were mentored by Marie Curie in early 20th-century Paris

Most people know weed gets you high—but do you know how THC actually does it?

Old-time graffiti; balloon deaths

The regime of dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo all but erased Andrea Evangelina Rodríguez Perozo’s legacy after she died. But since his assassination in 1961, Dominicans have been gradually reclaiming her story