“Zombie fires” have become a priority for environmental scientists who study the relationship between wildfires and global warming. So, what are zombie fires, and why are they so…
What is pumpkin spice, and how has it come to dominate the fall season, especially in the United States? Learn how this simple mix of spices has come to symbolize autumn. Plus,…
Shakespeare captures important aspects of the human condition so beautifully that we often mistake others’ beautifully written contributions for his. So, what are some famous…
Social media have become the go-to means for individuals and groups to organize and connect in the 21st century. So, what is known about who is using which platforms to document…
Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin challenged Vladimir Putin’s military operations in Ukraine in a short-lived rebellion in June 2023. After calling off the mutiny, Prigozhin…
Provenance and authentication can change an artwork’s value from hundreds of dollars to tens of millions. Needless to say, determining the work’s true artist and rightful owner…
The morning of September 11, 2001, was beautiful in New York City and Washington, DC, but it turned unspeakably tragic when airliners hijacked by terrorists crashed into their…
Among the many things the Roaring ’20s were known for was the rise of organized, violent crime. And there were hardly any mob bosses more notorious than Al “Scarface” Capone.…
William Shakespeare is known as one of the greatest playwrights in history. Many lines from his works have seeped into our daily lives, but we don’t know their source. Take a tour…
Chicago’s 1968 Democratic National Convention saw protesters face off against enraged police officers outside while the official delegates fought brutal political battles inside.…
Words shape how we think and view the world. We often believe the words we’ve inherited from scientific achievements are accurate pictures of how things are, but a lot of…
Despite – or because of – their great celebrity, the Beatles were sometimes the target of criminal investigations. They were arrested and fined, and Paul McCartney was even…
Since 1946, the National School Lunch Program has provided free or low-cost lunches to American students who could not otherwise afford a healthy, nutritionally balanced midday…
With dogged investigation and scientific advances, more is now clear about Leonardo’s Mona Lisa. From the identity of the subject to the techniques used to capture her, we have…
You probably don’t think once, let alone twice, about checking your email while waiting in line or backing up a file in the cloud. But from the transistor to the smartphone,…
Have an idea for a new, unprecedented emoji? The process of adding an emoji to the Unicode Standard involves conceptualization, proposal submission, review, and final approval. If…
Fire ants are common in warm, sunny regions around the world. Their stings can be terribly painful and debilitating, and their ravenous behavior often wreaks havoc on agriculture…
The benefits of a good night’s rest include improved memory, resolution of emotional issues, and recovery from physical exertion. When you awaken, you might find you’re better…
Interested in colonizing the Moon? The reality may be sooner than you expect. Here are five scientific advances designed to help us live in an alien environment, from 3D housing…
Docile and adorable, manatees move through shallow coastal waters and rivers in search of their favorite food – seagrass. Here’s why that essential source of sustenance is…
Let’s talk about fentanyl, both the legitimate uses as well as the illicit. How does fentanyl affect the body, from low and moderate medicinal doses to a lethal dose? Is it…
Daring art heists have been a temptation for criminals and obsessive collectors since artworks evolved from permanent images on cave walls to displays in museums, galleries, and…
First spotted in 1919, the wolf-coyote hybrid population has thrived. Its numbers are now thought to be in the millions. How did the coywolf come to be, and what makes it a…
Forecasts for the 2024 hurricane season indicate that tropical cyclone activity is likely to be extraordinary during the coming months. What are the experts predicting? And what…
Focusing on the initial billion years following the Big Bang, the James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered new details about the Universe’s earliest galaxies, their formation, and…
Socrates never wrote anything down, but his student Plato gives us the only account of the day the great philosopher died. What happened the day Socrates drank the hemlock?
Coco Chanel revolutionized women’s fashion with the Little Black Dress, the tweed women’s suit, and more. Beyond those radical shifts, her designs brought comfort and practicality…
Since its emergence more than 4,500 years ago as a way for people to keep track of wealth, agricultural production, trade, and other essentials of early civilization, the…
For more than 150 years, medieval Christian knights sailed and marched to the Holy Land in hope of wresting control from Muslim rulers. Despite their undeniable zeal, the…
Legend has it that St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, banished snakes from the Emerald Isle 1,600 years ago – one of many reasons St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the…
The Tudors ruled England for only a little over a century, but their reign was marked by numerous historic events. And by some rather less consequential facts and rumors. Here are…
Agatha Christie often drew inspiration from real-life criminal cases when writing her popular mystery novels. One example was the infamous Lindbergh kidnapping case in the 1930s.
The social and political turbulence of the Sixties came to a head in 1968. Night after night, viewers tuned in to the TV news to witness war, assassinations, demonstrations,…
The quest for the land speed record has been rushing ahead since automobiles first appeared on the roads. Today, the “cars” in pursuit of the record look more like jet planes, but…
Let’s celebrate Valentine’s Day by diving into the sometimes choppy waters of great romances from literature and music. True love is never without conflict; often, the more…
By the spring of 1864, the Union’s momentum following the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg had dissipated. A new strategy was needed, and President Lincoln tapped Gen. Ulysses S.…
The Solar System took billions of years to evolve into the stable arrangement of planets and other celestial bodies orbiting our Sun. And it has billions of years ahead of it.
Before Marconi brought his inventive genius to the problem, communication over long distances was tethered to wires strung from one point to another. His wireless telegraphy…
Volcanoes have shaped our planet for millions of years, sometimes creating habitable terrain where once there was only ocean. Iceland is such a place. Few nations have adapted…
The Space Race of the mid-20th century grew out of the ideological Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. The Soviets surprised the world with Sputnik, the first satellite…
We’ve long believed that wolves are ruthless, bloodthirsty beasts that fight to attain or maintain their ‘alpha’ status. Well, we were wrong – packs are more like families, and a…
Armistice Day – now Veterans Day in the U.S. and Remembrance Day in the British Commonwealth – began as a solemn commemoration of the end of WWI, but now honors all who have…
In Central Asia, more than 2,000 years ago, a nomadic people called the Scythians roamed the steppe. Shifting tribal alliances made conflict inevitable, and women were as likely…
The 1900 Paris World’s Fair revealed complex conflicts between aspirations and reality. Its noble effort to highlight the cultural, industrial, and technological contributions of…
Dive into the unpredictable oceanic phenomena known as rogue waves – their causes, their risks to maritime activities, and the ongoing research into them.
Explore the Vikings’ multifaceted contributions to history, ranging from their prowess as warriors and traders to the cultural influence of their mythology and exploration. These…
Dreams, nightmares, and night terrors. What exactly are they, and why do we have them? Oneirology – the interdisciplinary study of dreams – uses a variety of methods and…
Literally tens of millions of people died during World War I. Three incredibly lethal machines made their debut in the conflict, directly contributing to the appalling number of…
For millennia, caravans of traders traversed deserts, mountains, and steppes carrying valuable goods along winding routes between the Mediterranean and East Asia. This was the…
Over 2,000 years ago, Julius Caesar recognized the deficiencies of the Roman calendar. Hooking up with an Alexandrian astronomer, he created the solar-based Julian calendar, which…
In support of France’s May 1968 student strike, workers walked off their jobs, often occupying the factories where they worked. In many ways, this was more successful than the…
George Westinghouse was Thomas Alva Edison’s relentless competitor in the battle to establish a universal standard for transmission of electricity to the streets, homes, and…
It’s hard to believe, but, on average, a worker dies on the job every 101 minutes in the United States. But some occupations are more hazardous than others. These 5 jobs are…
Over the course of more than 500 years, fewer than 80 men gained absolute power as rulers of the Roman Empire. The reign of some lasted decades, while others held on to authority…
The stories of J. Robert Oppenheimer and Lise Meitner are forever entwined with the development of the atomic bomb. Also common to the two scientists is their shared concern about…
We all know that Antarctica is a vast and frigid continent located in Earth’s southern polar region. It also happens to be our planet’s largest desert – and home to a surprising…
As the Battle of Britain commenced, the German Luftwaffe had clear advantages in numbers of aircraft, not to mention momentum after the fall of France. But, thanks to two…
On a beach in North Carolina more than a century ago, Orville Wright was first to get a powered aircraft off the ground, albeit only for a very short time and distance. It’s an…
For decades, scientists have been searching systematically for worlds beyond our own where the essential building blocks of life are present. Now, they’ve found one: a frigid moon…
In the aftermath of a ship’s tragic explosion in Havana Harbor, Alberto Korda snapped a picture of Che Guevara that became one of the most iconic and widely distributed…
Phobias trigger overwhelming fears that can be extremely disconcerting and debilitating to the people who suffer from them. Fortunately, there are effective therapies geared to…
The Roman emperor Caligula was a nasty piece of work. Depending on the day, “Little Boots” might smile at you – or murder you for sport. So, what the heck was wrong with him? How…
Endangered species play a vital role in the intricate web of life on our planet. However, due to various destructive human activities, many species are moving ever closer to…
Born to privilege, Alfred Southwick dedicated his life to easing the pain suffered by dental patients, using skills he acquired as an engineer. His legacy, however, is forever…
Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 was one of the most ambitious and brutal military campaigns in history. It was also a strategic blunder, and the Battle of Moscow…
The ancient Greek city-state of Sparta was renowned for its military power, its disciplined and self-sacrificing soldiers, and its stable political system. Though millennia have…
To protect U.S. interests and project power during World War II, the Navy relied on four huge battleships to engage enemy fleets, support amphibious landings, and even transport…
Political assassinations have been a part of human history for as long as there have been leaders and their enemies, but not all assassinations significantly influence their…
The Slender Man game takes place in a virtual world of darkly forbidding, spooky places. For most gamers, it’s just entertainment, but a few less stable players can’t sort reality…
Organ transplants have become virtually commonplace in the 21st century, with tens of thousands of operations each year. But it literally took millennia of trial-and-error…
Volcanoes are immensely powerful and destructive forces of nature that have wiped out cities, altered the global climate, and left thousands of people dead or displaced in their…
Despite starting his reign of terror decades ago, Pedro López remains one of the most infamous and reviled serial killers of our time, and in all of history. He murdered over 300…
The five most visited landmarks in Rome may not surprise you, but these little-known facts about some very well-known places certainly will. Take another look the Colosseum, the…
Caffeine is a substance most of us encounter in our everyday lives, some of us more than others. You may drink it, but do you know the effects caffeine has on your body? Check out…
Gravitational time dilation is a mind-blowing phenomenon that occurs when the force of gravity influences the passage of time. The effect has been measured in experiments and has…
History is filled with intriguing mixtures of fate and fortune. Meet Tiberius Julius Alexander, a Jewish soldier from Africa who rose to the rank of general in the Roman Army.
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