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longreads

The Scandalous Witch Hunt That Poisoned 17th-Century France

The Affair of the Poisons was one to remember.
October 5, 2017
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dinosaurs

The Birds and Beasts That May Have Never Actually Existed

Occasionally it's hard to know what should be its own species.
October 5, 2017
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beauty

The Miss Subways Pageant Charted the Highs and Lows of 20th-Century Feminism in New York

From a 1940s beauty queen to a 2017 performance artist.
October 4, 2017
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halloween

The Mysterious Disappearance of 7 Black Cats From a Pair of English Villages

Coincidence? Observational bias? Or something more sinister?
October 4, 2017
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auroras

Japanese Scientists Turn Literary Detectives to Study a 1770 Magnetic Storm

They think it might have been the largest ever seen.
October 4, 2017
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philosophy

Jeremy Bentham's Head Is Coming Out of Its Box and Under the Microscope

Scientists want to know if the forward-thinking philosopher had autism.
October 3, 2017
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new york city

For Decades, New York's Chinatown Duped 'Slum Tourists' With Faked Danger and Depravity

Opium dens, gunfights, and poverty theater.
October 2, 2017
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anthropocene

Giant, Introduced Herbivores Could Be Helping ‘Rewild’ the World

In the anthropocene, maybe feral camels, wild donkeys, and cocaine hippos aren't a bad thing.
October 2, 2017
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genetics

Which Two Songs Are the First to Be Encoded Into the Fabric of Life?

Advances in synthetic DNA are offering a way to preserve music forever, like a fly in amber.
September 29, 2017
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extinct animals

Saber-Toothed Kittens Were Really, Really Strong

A new study sheds light on how these extinct felines attacked.
September 28, 2017
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rodents

A Giant, 'Coconut Eating' Rat Has Been Discovered in the Solomon Islands

Four times the size of the biggest subway-dweller.
September 27, 2017
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frog

The Tiny Brazilian Frogs Who Can't Hear Each Other's Calls

A sad story from the leaf litter of the Atlantic Forest.
September 26, 2017
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telecommunications

Barbed Wire Telephone Lines Brought Isolated Homesteaders Together

And then let them snoop on each other.
September 25, 2017
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lgbtq

A Portrait of James I's 'Husband' Has Reappeared in Glasgow

"I desire only to live in this world for your sake," the king wrote to him.
September 25, 2017
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story

Two Silver Fabergé Fish Knives, Lost For a Century, Have Reappeared

They only just survived the Russian Revolution.
September 22, 2017
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crabs

The Hermit Crab With the Cool, Modern, Expandable Home

No shell-swapping for this newly described species—their coral homes grow with them.
September 21, 2017
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pants week

The Women Miners in Pants Who Shocked Victorian Britain

"The article of clothing which women ought only to wear in a figure of speech."
September 21, 2017
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pants week

How Constance and Oscar Wilde Helped Get Women Into Trousers

One small step for clothing historians, one giant leap for womankind.
September 20, 2017
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parenting

Poison Frogs Make Surprisingly Attentive Adoptive Parents

No genetic connection required.
September 20, 2017
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archaeology

Liberia Wants Its Cultural Artifacts Back, Please

The country is struggling to fill its renovated national museum because so many items are exhibited elsewhere.
September 19, 2017
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scotland

The Impending Disappearance of Great Britain's Oldest Snow Patch

"Snow patchers" are watching the Sphinx with dread.
September 18, 2017
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pants week

For Centuries, People Celebrated a Little Boy’s First Pair of Trousers

Literally a party in your pants.
September 18, 2017
Gastro Obscura
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wine

The Secret Blue Ice Cloud in Every Champagne Bottle

Cheers to high-speed cameras.
September 15, 2017
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new zealand

New Zealand Is Pushing to Save Its Vulnerable Indigenous Language

Each year, the country holds a week-long event to encourage people to speak te reo Māori.
September 14, 2017