Trees Make Noises, and Some of Those Sounds Are Cries for Help

Knowing what kinds of noises trees in distress produce means researchers may be able to target those most in need of emergency waterings during droughts
April 16, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

One of Napoleon’s Generals Was More Interested in Gathering Beetles Than Fighting at Waterloo

When he died in 1845, Count Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean owned the largest personal beetle collection in the world
April 04, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

Now Poachers Are Sawing Off Elephant Tusks in Museums

A plague of rhino horn and elephant tusk thefts to feed the wildlife black market continues in museums across Europe
April 02, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

The United States Isn’t the Only Country Asking the Gay Marriage Question

The U.S. isn't the only nation struggling with the gay marriage issue. Here are where the debate stands in other countries around the world
March 29, 2013 | By Rose Eveleth

Scientific American in 1875: Eating Horse Meat Would Boost the Economy

Where did our aversion to horse meat come from, and why did Scientific American think we should eat it anyway?
February 25, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

Parisian Women Legally Allowed to Wear Pants for the First Time in 200 Years

On January 31, France's minister of women's rights made if officially impossible to arrest a woman for wearing pants in Paris
February 05, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

Sweet Potato Genes Say Polynesians, Not Europeans, Spread the Tubers Across the Pacific

Sweet potato samples preserved in centuries-old herbariums indicate that Polynesian sailors, rather than Spanish or Portuguese explorers, introduced the now-ubiquitous yam across Southeast Asia and the Pacific
January 23, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

Hankie Coated in Beheaded Louis XVI’s Blood Found in Dried Squash

Two centuries after King Louis XVI's execution, researchers think they've found a revolutionary souvenir from that fateful day
January 02, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

Take a Tour of Victor Hugo's Paris

As a film version of his Les Miserables hits theaters, consider traveling in the French writer’s footsteps
December 24, 2012 | By Nina Fedrizzi

Blame Napoleon for Our Addiction to Sugar

Prior to 1850, sugar was a hot commodity that only society's most wealthy could afford
December 04, 2012 | By Rachel Nuwer

Happy Birthday Rodin, Sculptor And Breaker of Women’s Hearts

Rodin's contribution to society lives on in his artistic works, but he wrecked a few lives in his time
November 12, 2012 | By Rachel Nuwer

Napoleon’s Army May Have Suffered From the Greatest Wardrobe Malfunction in History

Historians still puzzle over Napoleon's catastrophic Russian defeat, but materials scientists think the army's buttons may be to blame
October 25, 2012 | By Rachel Nuwer

French Bees Are Making M&M-Contaminated Blue And Green Honey

In northeastern France, bees have been turning up with abdomens swollen in colors of blue and green, an unnatural rainbow that was also reflected in their honey
October 05, 2012 | By Rachel Nuwer

Cartoons of Mohammed, Anti-Jihad Subway Ads and Other Provocations, Past and Future

Today, as protests continue across the Muslim world in reaction to a translated movie trailer posted on YouTube, French Magazine Charlie Hebdo announced that it was publishing cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad
September 19, 2012 | By Mary Beth Griggs

New Tech Identifies that Special ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’ That Makes Paris Paris

Science provides an answer on what details in an urban street scene clue people in on what city it is from.
August 09, 2012 | By Rachel Nuwer

Could a Whale-Powered Bus Be the Future of Transportation?

Visionary postcard artists illustrated around 90 fanciful cards between 1899 to 1910 that imagined what the future held in store for France in the year 2000.
July 31, 2012 | By Rachel Nuwer

Today’s the Shared Anniversary of Ruin Porn Poster Children Detroit, Machu Picchu

July 24th marks double jackpot for the intrepid explorers of years past as well for as fans of the latest photographic trend, "ruin porn."
July 24, 2012 | By Rachel Nuwer

World’s Coolest Animal Bridges

Animal bridges, aka ecoducts or wildlife crossings, allow wildlife to safely cross potential death-traps like highways and are are popping up all over the world.
July 23, 2012 | By Rachel Nuwer

Things That Are Surprisingly New: Forks, Lunch, Huge Drinks

Who knew that there existed a time when some of our staples of modern eating habits — the use of forks, the existence of lunch, and, unfortunately, the ubiquitous super-sized drinks found at every fast food chain around the U.S — did not exist. Forks are taken for granted in modern western eating, yet relatively [...]
June 27, 2012 | By Rachel Nuwer

Who Was Casanova?

The personal memoir of history's most famous lover reveals a misunderstood intellectual who befriended the likes of Ben Franklin
April 2012 | By Tony Perrottet

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