From Jealous Spouses to Paranoid Bosses, Pedometers Quantified Suspicion in the 19th Century
The devices were used to track movement and measure productivity—an insightful foreshadowing of our current preoccupation with personal data
The Hero Who Convinced His Fellow Ornithologists of the Obvious: Stop Shooting Rare Birds and Watch Them Instead
Too late to save the ivory-billed woodpecker, Arthur Allen changed science forever with his seemingly simple idea
The ‘Penicillin Girls’ Made One of the World’s Most Life-Saving Discoveries Possible
The true, forgotten and sometimes-stinky history of the cohort who took Alexander Fleming’s innovation and forever changed the face of modern medicine
How British College Students Convinced Authorities That Flying Saucers Were Invading the U.K.
To raise awareness for a charity event, aspiring engineers planted six UFOs across southern England on a single day in 1967
Visions of Nuclear-Powered Cars Captivated Cold War America, but the Technology Never Really Worked
From the Ford Nucleon to the Studebaker-Packard Astral, these vehicles failed to progress past the prototype stage in the 1950s and 1960s
Scientists Are Crafting Fake Whale Poop and Dumping It in the Ocean
The artificial waste could fertilize the ocean and sequester carbon
Cities Are Projecting Their History Onto Streets and Buildings After Dark
Pedestrians in Montreal, Grand Rapids and other locations can time-travel thanks to installations that map historical scenes directly onto the cityscapes
Bionic ‘Pilots’ Compete for the Gold at the Cybathlon
In the international competition, people with physical disabilities put state-of-the-art devices to the test as they race to complete the tasks of everyday life
Why the Creator of One of the First ‘Lie Detectors’ Lived to Regret His Invention
The early polygraph machine was considered the most scientific way to detect deception—but that was a myth
How Snake Oil Became a Symbol of Fraud and Deception
The terms “snake oil” and “snake-oil salesperson” are part of the vernacular thanks to Clark Stanley, a quack doctor who marketed a product for joint pain in the late 19th century
From Silk Moths to Fruit Flies, These Five Insects Have Changed the World
It’s easy to write bugs off as pests, but consider the ways in which they have positively impacted our lives
Could Eelgrass Be the Next Big Bio-Based Building Material?
On the island of Laeso in Denmark, one man is reviving the lost art of eelgrass thatching and, in doing so, bringing attention to a plant that has great potential
What Are Wind Phones, and How Do They Help With Grief?
A clinical social worker explains the vital role of the old-fashioned rotary phone for those dealing with death and loss
Just How Much Can We Trust A.I. to Predict Extreme Weather?
Computer scientist and meteorologist Amy McGovern has studied the technology for two decades, and she weighs in with some answers
A Massive Effort Is Underway to Rid the Baltic Sea of Sunken Bombs
The ocean became a dumping ground for weapons after Allied forces defeated the Nazis. Now a team of robots and divers is making the waters safer
Robots Are Coming to the Kitchen. What Does This Mean for Everyday Life?
Can automated restaurants still be community and cultural spaces, or will they become feeding stations for humans? These and other questions loom as new food tech reaches the market
In Miami, the Nation’s First Chief Heat Officer Charts a Course for Surviving on a Warming Planet
By building a broad coalition of partners across the political spectrum, the Florida metropolis is doing all that it can to keep the city cool
Archaeologists Uncover the Real Story of How England Became England
New research is revealing how the Sceptered Isle transformed from a Roman backwater to a mighty country of its own
Can a City Known for Its Freeways and Gridlock Deliver a Car-Free Olympics? Los Angeles Thinks So
To make good on its promise, the 2028 host city is in a four-year sprint to ready its public transportation for the onslaught of athletes, coaches and spectators
Artificial Intelligence Could Soon Match Footprints to the Animals That Made Them
Scientists are working on a machine learning tool that could turn anyone with a camera into an expert tracker
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