History
How Three Students Designed an Atomic Bomb
A top-secret 1960s project tasked physics postdocs with building The Bomb
The Thrill of Science in 2042
A science historian explains how science got its groove back. A fictional dispatch from the future.
How Energy Politics Played Out on the White House Roof
The quick removal of Jimmy Carter’s futuristic solar panels echoes more recent feuds over renewables
The Missing Pieces of the Donner Party Narrative
People have only recently included Indigenous voices in the story
Space Age Technology Reveals Secrets of Bronze Age Sword
Scientists in Berlin performed a battery of tests on a 3,400-year-old weapon
The Retiree Who Inspired the Wright Brothers to Take Flight
Octave Chanute’s engineering prowess laid the foundation for powered planes
The Mountain Man Who Measured the Sky’s Brilliance
Pioneering alpinist and scientist Horace Bénédict de Saussure brought us a curious relic to capture the blues above us
When Galileo’s Cosmic Convictions Landed Him in Court
More than 300 years later, the astronomer was finally vindicated
Bird Poop Powered the Success of This Ancient Kingdom
“In ancient Andean cultures, fertilizer was power”
Edward Teller Tried to Move Mountains With Nuclear Bombs
The father of the H-bomb hoped to put these blasts toward civilian infrastructure
The Woman Who Paved the Way for IVF
Miriam Menkin didn’t achieve the same fame as her colleague John Rock, but the life-changing procedure wouldn’t be possible without her
