Nothing commands attention like rarity. In the natural world, rarity is most starkly represented by the last members of a declining species. These scarce plants and animals are infinitively valuable; they represent the final ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 9, 2023
0
4
When construction work began on a new arts center in Newport, south Wales, in 2002, the builders on site could scarcely have imagined what they would dig up. While excavating the foundations on the banks of the River Usk, ...
Archaeology
Feb 7, 2023
0
24
The Black Death ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1353, killing millions. Plague outbreaks in Europe then continued until the 19th century.
Archaeology
Jan 18, 2023
0
66
For many people, Buddhism appears to be uniquely compatible with modern lifestyles and world views. It provides staunch atheists—those who do not believe in the existence of any god—with a religious experience that does ...
Other
Nov 7, 2022
0
48
The history of breastfeeding reveals uncomfortable truths about women, work and money. An unlikely place where the history of nursing is clearly visible is in Impressionist paintings.
Archaeology
Oct 12, 2022
0
11
Astronomers once believed the sun revolved around the Earth. In the 19th century, scientists thought the shape of a person's skull could reveal their mental strengths or weaknesses. And in the 20th century, many scientists ...
Other
Sep 15, 2022
2
8
Americans don't agree on much these days, but many feel that the U.S. is on the wrong track and the future is bleak. In a time of unprecedented division, rising inequality and intensifying climate change, it's easy to feel ...
Social Sciences
Sep 8, 2022
0
3
The zebra mussel has been a poster child for invasive species ever since it unleashed economic and ecological havoc on the Great Lakes in the late 1980s. Yet despite intensive efforts to control it and its relative, the quagga ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 19, 2022
0
42
Why did people think cannibalism was good for their health? The answer offers a glimpse into the zaniest crannies of European history, at a time when Europeans were obsessed with Egyptian mummies.
Archaeology
Jun 7, 2022
0
213
Charles Darwin raised the question of whether darker skin is correlated with immunity to certain diseases in his 1871 book "The Descent of Man," an erroneous claim that reflected beliefs about the reality and fixity of race ...
Social Sciences
May 4, 2022
0
8
