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Articles

The link between sunscreen and skin protection is watertight. Unfortunately, many common sunscreens may be devastating for the health of coral reefs.

Can We Create Sunscreen That Protects Both Humans and Coral Reefs?

Sunscreen is vital for skin protection. But researchers are finding that even ‘reef-friendly’ versions may pose serious environmental threats

Tony Tasset, "Judy's Hand Pavilion," 2018. Installation view at Toby's Plaza, Case Western Reserve University. Commissioned by FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art in collaboration with Toby Lewis and the John and Mildred Putnam Collection at Case Western Reserve University. July 14-September 30, 2018.

Works by Over 100 Contemporary Artists Take Over Cleveland

The citywide FRONT International festival is the largest event of its kind in North America

Armenia

Raising a Glass to Armenia’s Elaborate Toasting Tradition

In the backyard of the world’s oldest-known winery, a cherished national tradition evolved

Armenian shadow puppetry is a technique whose origins can be traced to the 1300s. The puppet theater group known as Ayrogi has set out to keep this imaginative art form alive.

Armenia

Illuminating the Shadowy Art of Armenian Puppet Theater

Tricksters and beasts dance across the imagination in these silhouetted puppet shows

Cover of a propaganda comic book, 1947. During the Cold War, book publishing and popular culture became an ideological battleground.

This Cold War-Era Publishing House Wanted To Share American Values With the World

Funded by the U.S. government, Franklin Publications was viewed as pushing imperialist propaganda

Nadya Kwandibens' “10 Indigenous Lawyers” is one of the featured works in "Resilience," a nation-wide billboard campaign that will be seen by thousands of people every day.

Unprecedented Billboard Campaign Puts Spotlight on Indigenous Artists in Canada

“Resilience” features artwork by 50 indigenous women supersized on billboards throughout Canada—from British Columbia’s coast to Newfoundland’s eastern tip

An ice-loving Weddell seal, equipped with headgear and ready to assist oceanographers.

New Research

How Data-Gathering Seals Help Scientists Measure the Melting Antarctic

Stumped on how to take the temperature of the ocean floor, oceanographers turned to the cutest, most competent divers they knew

A rendering of the venipuncture robot

A Robot May One Day Draw Your Blood

Scientists have developed a “venipuncture robot” that can automatically draw blood and perform lab tests, no humans needed

Thermodynamics holds the answers to your wildest campfire dreams.

The Scientific Quest For the Perfect S’more

A trial by fire

“The white sea urchin (Lytechinus pictus) is found below the tide line,” writes marine biology graduate student Julia Notar in her submission. “I study how these animals see, and what they can see. They usually live in flat, sandy areas, where there aren't many places to hide from fish predators. Different species of sea urchins, which live in rocky areas, usually hide from fish in dark crevices in, between, or under rocks. Those urchins can use their blurry, but still useful vision to find those hiding spots. Does this species, which doesn't live in an environment with many hiding spots, do the same thing?”

Future of Art

Scientific Images Make Dazzling Art In a Duke University Exhibit

Three graduate students set out to show that the scientific and artistic processes are more similar than many imagine

Over the course of the 2018 Folklife Festival, experienced artisans worked hand in hand with crochet novices to decorate a humble tree of life.

Armenia

Armenia’s “Tree of Life” Tradition Took Root Thousands of Years Ago, and Has Only Grown Since

The tree adorned in this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival will continue to blossom overseas

Socialists gather in New York City, but the crowd is conspicuously male-dominated considering the party's official stance on women's rights.

The Historical Struggle to Rid Socialism of Sexism

When it was founded, the Socialist Party of America proclaimed itself as the champion of women’s rights. The reality was much more complicated

New Research

Scientists Explain The Thrill of Detecting a Neutrino From a Far-Off Galaxy

For the first time, the IceCube observatory has triumphantly tracked a neutrino back to a massive blazar

Kasimu Harris, "War on the Benighted #1," 2015. Digital photography.

American South

Seven Artists Explore New Orleans’ Forgotten Histories

A new exhibit timed to the city’s tricentennial explores The Big Easy’s diverse and sometimes troubled past

The History and Psychology of Roller Coasters

Researchers take you on a wild ride through endorphins, brain chemistry and stress science to explain the allure of theme park thrill

Optimizing cows

This Connecticut Farm Is Milking Cows for Data

Robotic milkers, video cameras and even sensors hidden inside cows will help the facility get the most milk from a healthy herd

Soft tumors make life hard for sea turtles.

Should We Share Human Cancer Treatments With Tumorous Turtles?

They may be key to saving wild sea turtles from tumors associated with turtle-specific herpes

These Volcanic, Italian Islands Have Been Beloved by Travelers Since Homeric Times

The Aeolian Islands have been drawing visitors, fictional and real, for centuries

A restaurant in Bishopville, S.C. markets the town’s association to the Lizard Man.

A Search for Mysteries and Monsters in Small Town America

How monster festivals became American pilgrimage sites

A view of St. Ottilien monastery in 1945

When a Bavarian Monastery Provided a Home to Jewish Refugees

As World War II ended, Europe’s Jews began the process of rebuilding their lives and families. But few places were like St. Ottilien

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