Tagged

history

A collection of 55 posts

food

Science of Salt

We have become a salt-obsessed society, but maybe we can blame our ancestors for that?

history

Physics, Life, and Everything Nice

What a hot cup of coffee tells us about the history of life on Earth

food

Bubbly Beverages

The 17th-century mistake that put the ‘fizz’ into fizzy

food

Divine Pomegranate

How a peculiar fruit captured hearts and imaginations across the world.

Dirt

Born from Rock

Ordovician life, the importance of dirt, and tips for being a lazy gardener

ethics

Natural Law

The ancient rules that lie behind divinity, democracy, and Daraprim

food

A Vanilla Story

The highly processed history of a much overlooked fruit.

history

Kings of the Outback

Camels in the land of kangaroos? Yes, you got that right.

Advice

Demystifying Creativity

Don’t wait for creativity to come to you — create it yourself.

history

Anticlockwise

Why does the Earth spin one way and not the other? There’s a logical reason.

Calendar

The Emperor’s Calendar

In Japan, an year is more than just a number. But is this culturally rich system still relevant today?

Debate

The Debate

What lessons can today’s world learn from an ancient Mongol debate?

Programming

Building Code

How were programming languages built? Here’s a brief history.

health

Comon Cold

We’ve been catching it since time immemorial — so why does the cure still elude us?

Art

Before Pixels

Long before JPEGs, typewriting and knitting were making pictures from dots.

culture

Lines of Type

The old type of printing-press is gone — but the lines they made us say are still very much around.

culture

Road Rules

No jaywalking allowed? Actually, roads were for people. Here’s how the cars took over.

Gps

Singing Satellites

They wanted to listen to Sputnik. Instead, they invented the GPS.

biology

Exile by Oxygen

Some organisms never quite worked out how to live with it. This is the story of where they went.

Etymology

Defining Planets

First there were six. Then there were nine. And then there were eight. Now, are there 110?

history

Mars’ Missing Magnetosphere

If Mars was magnetic, could Life have lived?

E Ink

Electronic Paper

It was first invented in the 1970s. They’re still working on it today.

environment

The Round Plants

They can rise when they’re hungry. They can sink when they’re thirsty. And they prefer things with a pinch of salt.

culture

Legal People

What’s a person? The answer’s not nearly as simple as you’d think.

Commuting

Riding Batteries

As we gear up for electric cars, a smaller revolution has gone relatively unnoticed.