Science

Looking back at the misadventures of mid-century whale cardiology expeditions.

Deferrals for gay men who wish to donate blood are outdated, stigmatizing, unnecessary, and need to be removed.

The history of DIY transition offers one path toward what might come after, or in the place of, state-sanctioned care.

Harm reduction strategies, like those pioneered by queer men of color, have the best chance of stopping this disease.

Our food system could have been so different.

The elixir had antifreeze, for flavor. Nobody blinked—at first.

The carefully-tended longleaf pine forests of North America were plundered by European colonizers. They're still recovering.

We want to acknowledge — and learn from — our history.

Heroin, Aspirin, and The Spanish Flu.

Few who encounter Positive Psychology via self-help books and therapy know that its gender politics valorize the nuclear family and heterosexual monogamy.

Our government institutions, and especially our scientific ones, have a duty to rebuild the public trust that has eroded over the last half century.

The world is still reeling from the pandemic, but another scourge we thought we’d eliminated has reemerged.

The B-52’s prolific service career spans not only decades and conflicts, but eras of aviation.

The Office of Malaria Control in War Areas sought to curb malaria transmission in the United States.

Anthropologists study the hormones in hair to compare the stress levels of people nearing death today with those who died 100 years ago.

In 2018, Gerber selected baby Lucas as the winner of its Spokesbaby Contest, making Lucas the first Gerber baby with Down syndrome.

His vision of a tech-optimized future inspired a generation. But his true talent was for burnishing his own image.

Public-health officials don’t need to tiptoe around how monkeypox is currently being transmitted.

Malaria — literally, if not scientifically, "bad air" — once claimed Washingtonians by the score. So why did some doctors believe it wasn't real?

For decades, salmon, catfish, and trout traveled in America's fleet of "Fish Cars."

Before social media communities formed around shared concerns, interests, politics, and identity, print media connected communities.

For decades, blind programmers have been creating the tools their community needs.

A contemporary Atlantic writer reflects on one of the voices from the magazine's archives who helped shape the publication—and the nation.

No woman should have to go through what I went through, and no woman should have to overcome barriers to obtain a safe abortion.

Just over 100 years ago, loop-the-loops were painful, not sturdy, and much more dangerous than they are today.

Wetlands absorb carbon dioxide and buffer the excesses of drought and flood, yet we’ve drained much of this land. Can we learn to love our swamps?

For years, the idea seemed immoral and dangerous.

The practice of vaccination in the U.S. cannot be divorced from the history of slavery.

Human relationships to this global crop have been shaped by both violence and resilience.

In 1897, the 25th Infantry Regiment Bicycle Corps embarked on a 1,900-mile journey from Montana to Missouri.