REPOSTING: The Story of Adolphe Rome from 300 B.C. to 2018 A.D.

REPOSTING: The Story of Adolphe Rome from 300 B.C. to 2018 A.D.

DECEMBER 2016 — AROUND THE WORLD  Humans per­sis­tent­ly live in an age where the preser­va­tion of knowl­edge is essen­tial. When Trump’s admin­is­tra­tion began its tran­si­tion into our gov­ern­ment, time was unfor­giv­ing­ly lim­it­ed; archivists, sci­en­tists, and data base experts around the world hur­ried­ly com­piled and har­bored endan­gered envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion records. Data res­cue events were coor­di­nat­ed in the Unit­ed King­dom, Greece, Ger­many, Japan,

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Benjamin Banneker, the Black Authority that Shaped DC

Benjamin Banneker, the Black Authority that Shaped DC

The nation spoke in the lan­guage of lib­er­ty, but it had been built to deny lib­er­ty. It praised rea­son, but it fenced rea­son off by race. Yet here was a self-taught Black astronomer doing pre­cise fed­er­al work for the cap­i­tal of the Unit­ed States.

Hobbes v. Boyle: Who Decides Scientific Facts

Hobbes v. Boyle: Who Decides Scientific Facts

In the 1600s, philoso­pher Thomas Hobbes and exper­i­men­tal sci­en­tist Robert Boyle clashed over a strange new machine, the air pump, and a dan­ger­ous ques­tion: when should soci­ety trust sci­en­tif­ic claims, and who gets to decide? Their dis­agree­ment wasn’t just about experiments … 

The Sun Dagger: How Ancient Puebloans Made Calendars from Sunlight

The Sun Dagger: How Ancient Puebloans Made Calendars from Sunlight

Before cal­en­dars were print­ed, before clocks ticked, and before num­bers were writ­ten, humans looked up. We looked up at the sky not just to admire the beau­ty of the stars and celes­tial bod­ies, but also to pre­dict the best times for plant­i­ng and har­vest­ing crops. So stargaz­ing was not just an enjoy­able endeav­or; it was a method of sur­vival. In

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The History of Jigsaw Puzzles

The History of Jigsaw Puzzles

You might not think of jig­saw puz­zles as sci­en­tif­ic objects. They seem sooth­ing, domes­tic, almost med­i­ta­tive. But behind every lit­tle card­board piece is a sur­pris­ing­ly rich sto­ry, one that spans glob­al explo­ration, tech­no­log­i­cal inno­va­tion, Vic­to­ri­an par­lor cul­ture, eco­nom­ic upheaval, wartime mate­r­i­al short­ages, cog­ni­tive sci­ence, and the dig­i­tal age. And it all begins with an Eng­lish car­tog­ra­ph­er who want­ed to teach children

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FLASHCARDS! Does Turkey Really Make You Tired? The Science of Tryptophan and Holiday Meals

FLASHCARDS! Does Turkey Really Make You Tired? The Science of Tryptophan and Holiday Meals

Thank you for tun­ing into today’s pod­cast! If you are here for the recipes, just scroll to the bot­tom! PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS Wel­come to Flash­cards Fri­day! Today we’re tak­ing a clos­er look at some­thing that shows up every Novem­ber: tryp­to­phan. Yes, that mys­te­ri­ous amino acid that gets blamed every year for the leg­endary “post-Thanks­­giv­ing nap.” Turkey is the star wit­ness, but

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It’s Pumpkin Spice Season!

It’s Pumpkin Spice Season!

Dis­cov­er the chem­istry of fla­vor, the his­to­ry of spices, and the math behind the per­fect pump­kin spice lat­te. Grab your favorite pump­kin spice treat, get cozy, and join me on this fla­vor­ful exploration!