Latest history Stories
Martian beavers, intentional explosions, and other weird facts from 150 years of PopSci
Sex and gender binaries don’t tell the entire story of life
Shapewear has changed a lot over the centuries. How much has it changed us?
Nuclear war inspired peacetime ‘gamma gardens’ for growing mutant plants
Deepfakes may use new technology, but they’re based on an old idea
Ukraine was about to revive its space program. Then Russia invaded.
Research on aphrodisiacs is kind of unsatisfying
Why young orphans were once used as human refrigerators
The 5 phases of COVID’s endgame
We’re still in the dark about a key black hole paradox
Horned helmets came from Bronze Age artists, not Vikings
The weirdest things we learned this week: The first celebrity diet, confused albatrosses, and delusions of death
Yes, Cincinnati has a subway system. No, you can’t use it.
This noxious island is so full of snakes, people can’t even visit
AI turned a Rembrandt masterpiece into 5.6 terabytes of data
This pseudoscience movement wants to wipe germs from existence
Check out the weirdest New Year’s Eve facts we could find
Roman soldiers, booze, and mail trucks shaped the fruitcake’s rich history
Spotted lanternfly goo is surprisingly tasty
Inside the cutthroat world of competitive meat judging
Dead ships find solace under the treacherous surface of the Great Lakes
How the US census inspired the personal computer
Ancient robots were objects of fantasy and fun
These young cities are solving age-old problems
Death ‘by planet’ was surprisingly common in the 1600s
Ancient cities had toxic pollution, too
Imagine traveling to the moon only to realize you’re allergic to it. One astronaut did.
Bill Nye talks killer clowns, mermaids, pigeon poo, and deadly bicycles
These ‘experts’ once said women couldn’t play football. Boy were they wrong.
Deepfakes could help us relive history—or rewrite it
This electric car was cutting edge in 1908. What’s it like to drive it?
The oil and gas industry knew about climate change in the 1950s
How sexy Victorian mediums tricked scientists into believing in ectoplasm
Why beer serving sizes are so weird
The myth of generations, debunked
The war on drugs didn’t work. Oregon’s plan might.
The COVID-19 death toll just surpassed another historic American milestone
What scientists learned when they tried to raise a chimp with a human baby
The Kinsey Scale Test and 3 other ways to find where you fall on the sexuality spectrum
Eat like an ancient Roman by recreating bread from Pompeii
This dog was genetically engineered to be a kitchen appliance
Why were chainsaws invented? To help with childbirth.
The weirdest things we learned this week: Falcon sex hats and buying human skulls on Instagram
What’s in a packrat’s petrified pee? Just a few thousand years of secrets.
A normal person’s guide to buying an old film camera
Women In The Middle Ages Dressed Better Than Men
The US military’s first experiment with portable nuclear reactors was short and tragic
A Brief History of the Apollo Hoax
Some skyscrapers are so shiny they turn into death rays
How Abebe Bikila won the Olympic marathon without shoes
Innovations in Driving: Shock Absorbers
Innovations in Driving: The Automatic Transmission
The thorny history of barbed wire
Why are people obsessed with the Olympics?
11 terrifying childcare inventions from the early 20th century
What is the ‘red glare’ in the Star Spangled Banner?
The weirdest things we learned this week: Giant sloths, caged babies, and spicy horse butts
The fascinating and complex rise of palm oil
Human Remains Found In 2,000-Year-Old Antikythera Shipwreck
Viagra could have been a groundbreaking cure for period cramps
Here’s our original coverage of Apollo 11
Confirmed: Ancient Egyptian Jewelry Was Made From Meteorites
European fighter jets are making a diplomatic statement with their tiger print
The weirdest things we learned this week: smoke enemas, sneaky sound design, and stranded lighthouses