Geographic Locations
Empires, historic regions, the continents and modern countries
Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio Chosen As New Pope
Pope Francis is the first South American ever to hold the position and the first non-European pope in more than 1,000 years
March 13, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Brand New, Never Before Seen Bacteria Found in Frozen Antarctic Lake—Maybe
Scientists are revealing, then recanting, then reaffirming their claim to have discovered a new type of bacteria
March 13, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
The Twisted Reasons People Poison Pets
Journalist Deborah Blum found a few culprits that cropped up again and again
March 13, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
An Otter Learns to Play Therapeutic Basketball at the Oregon Zoo
Zookeepers show that it is possible to teach an old otter new tricks
March 13, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
The Most Audacious Australian Prison Break of 1876
An American whaling ship brought together an oddball crew with a dangerous mission: freeing six Irishmen from a jail in western Australia
March 12, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Centuries Ago, a Cat Walked Across This Medieval Manuscript
While pawing through a stack of medieval manuscripts from Dubrovnik, Croatia, a student stumbled upon a familiar set of splotches marring the book's pages
March 12, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
This Giant Snail Is Giving Australia Terrible Flashbacks to the Last Giant Snail Takeover
The giant African snail is a true nightmare. So when Australian officials found one in a shipping container yard in Brisbane, they destroyed it as quickly as possible
March 12, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Faces From Afar: One American’s Endeavor to Kick Ecuador’s Vegetable Oil Habit
Coconut oil is healthy. It smells and tastes like sweet tropical butter. Yet almost nobody in Ecuador uses it
March 12, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
A Warming Climate Is Turning the Arctic Green
The world is getting warmer, and the Arctic is getting greener
March 11, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
The Amazon Rainforest Should Deal With Climate Change Better Than We Thought
Contrary to previous research, tropical rainforests should be able to stand up to climate change
March 11, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
The European Union Wants to Ban Pornography
But the resolution is relatively vague on what exactly pornography is
March 11, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Did Benjamin Franklin Invent Daylight Savings Time?
The creation of DST is usually credited to George Vernon Hudson, a New Zealand artist and amateur bug collector, but 100 years earlier, Benjamin Franklin pondered a similar question.
March 08, 2013 |
By Angela Serratore
Cold, Hungry and Happy in the High Andes
Just 40 bucks in cash, a warm sleeping bag and plenty of wine carry the author through his final days in Ecuador, in the remote high country outside of Quito
March 08, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
16 Photographs That Capture the Best and Worst of 1970s America
A new exhibit at the National Archives highlights an interesting decade—one that gave rise to the environmental movement and some awkward fashion
March 08, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
How Would Thomas Jefferson Solve the Fiscal Crisis?
Jefferson managed to cut military spending by nearly half, end the whiskey tax and buy a third of North America
March 07, 2013 |
By Angela Serratore
You Should Be Really Scared of the CDC’s ‘Nightmare Bacteria’
Recent reports of this "nightmare bacteria" have grabbed headlines, and there are reports of fatality rates as high as fifty percent. Basically, it's bad, and the CDC is really worried
March 07, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Is Cursive Handwriting Going Extinct?
Is cursive handwriting going extinct?
March 06, 2013 |
By Angela Serratore
What Does This Head From the Thirteenth Century Tell Us About Medieval Medicine?
What can a dissection specimen from the 13th century tell us about the Dark Ages?
March 06, 2013 |
By Angela Serratore
Fake Bishop Tries to Crash Pope-Choosing Party
An impostor bishop crashes important papacy-related meeting
March 06, 2013 |
By Angela Serratore


