Scholars
Leading intellectuals in the fields of history, philosophy and science
The Dinosaurs They are a-Changin’
Paleontologists are describing new dinosaurs at an unprecedented pace, but there's much we still don't know about the biology of these animals
June 12, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Brontosaurus Returns
Paleontologists may have killed the dinosaur a century ago, but it was revitalized in the King Kong remake
June 05, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Run Out of Town on an Ass
According to legend, Queen Victoria, informed of an early president's angry insult to her ambassador, struck Bolivia off the map. But is it true?
June 04, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
The Fantastic Gliding Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus was as aerodynamic as a brick, but one writer thought the prickly dinosaur used its huge plates for gliding
May 30, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Tarbosaurus on Trial
An almost certainly poached tyrannosaur skeleton kicks off a legal dispute over Mongolia's fossil heritage
May 22, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
What Really Sparked the Hindenburg Disaster?
Seventy-five years later, opinions still vary on what caused the airship to explode so suddenly
May 10, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
The Demise of a Wooden Dinosaur
A Victorian-era naturalist thought he'd found a new kind of dinosaur, and he threw a fit when other naturalists disagreed
May 08, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Wading With Sauropods
Even before the Dinosaur Renaissance moved sauropods out of the swamps, paleontologists recognized that some of these dinosaurs were better suited to life on land
April 17, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Why Brontosaurus Still Matters
Though it never actually existed, Brontosaurus is an icon of just how much dinosaurs have changed during the past century
April 10, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Edward Curtis’ Epic Project to Photograph Native Americans
His 20-volume masterwork was hailed as "the most ambitious enterprise in publishing since the production of the King James Bible"—and he paid dearly for his ambition
March 21, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Ethereal Dinosaurs
Prior to the 1925 debut of The Lost World, the novelist pulled a stunt to make people think dinosaurs might still be alive in a distant jungle
March 13, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Excavating the River of Giants
Rare footage shows how paleontologist R.T. Bird diverted a river to excavate a set of Texas dinosaur tracks in 1938
March 12, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Arabic Manuscripts: It Used To Snow in Iraq
Baghdad was the bustling capital of the vast Islamic Empire a thousand years ago, when the city's climate was much different than today
February 27, 2012 |
By Virginia Hughes
Alan Turing’s 60-Year-Old Prediction About Patterns in Nature Proven True
Sixty years ago, with nothing but numbers, logic and some basic know-how, the inventor of the Turing Test explained how to make a stripe
February 21, 2012 |
By Virginia Hughes
The Biggest Dinosaur Ever, Or Not
There are two "semi-apocryphal" dinosaurs that may have been significantly bigger than the biggest whales
February 21, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
The Mysterious Mr. Zedzed: The Wickedest Man in the World
Sir Basil Zaharoff was the archetypal "merchant of death"—an arms salesman who made a career out of selling to both sides in a conflict and stood accused of starting World War I for his personal profit.
February 16, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
How Did the Biggest Dinosaurs Get it On?
Of all the dinosaur mysteries, how dinosaurs like the 23-ton Apatosaurus mated is one of the most perplexing
February 09, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Who Was the First to Discover Dinosaur Eggs?
Despite an immense wave of publicity heralding the discovery of dinosaur eggs in 1923, French paleontologists had discovered them decades earlier
February 08, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Nice Things to Say About Attila the Hun
He was the barbarians' barbarian who called himself "the Scourge of God." But how did the terrible Attila command such loyalty—and why, in death, was he so mourned?
February 03, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
Scrambled Eggs and the Demise of the Dinosaurs
Did egg-eating lizards and snakes contribute to the dinosaurs' extinction?
February 02, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
