Science

As a boy, David Edmonston was the source of today’s measles vaccine. Now he regrets vaccine doubts.

The invention’s true origin story has long been the subject of debate.

In the ’50s, America declared science an ‘endless frontier.’ We may be reaching the end of it.

The curious case of social psychology.

How a small factory off the coast of North Carolina played a role in the war.

Mifepristone took longer to get approved than most drugs—but not because it was unsafe.

How a top-secret satellite surveillance program accidentally documented climate change.

For more than a century, conservation policy has focused on economic development and wisely using natural resources.

Kennedy wants to create "wellness drug rehabilitation farms." But the U.S. tried it before, and it didn't work.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s nomination to lead HHS reflects the rising power of an anti-vaccination movement more than 100 years in the making.

Abortion exceptions in legal history.

It wouldn’t take much, the fan explained, just some radioactive material inside the players, who would then undergo a physical examination.

The connections between the first president’s commitment to agricultural innovation and his evolving attitudes toward his enslaved laborers at Mount Vernon.

A mid-1960s “do-it-yourself” project produced “credible nuclear weapon” design from open sources.

In the 1970s, a crop of books purporting to provide a scientific basis for gender inequality met sharp criticism from figures like Gould.

The third president knew that the whims of nature shaped Americans’ daily lives as farmers and enslavers.

Jimmy Carter, skeptical of NASA's shuttle, saved it with funding despite delays and opposition. His Voyager message carries hope deep into space.

In 1973, the Christmas Bird Count formed the basis for a press freedom case that centered on the impacts of DDT.

The Year 2000 computer problem continues to nag at us 25 years later.

How gang-nail plates led to bigger homes.

Between 40% and 50% of children didn’t live past 5 in the US during the 19th century. Authors documented the common but no less gutting grief of losing a child.

Introducing “How the System Works,” a series on the hidden mechanisms that support modern life.

Susie Orbach’s 1978 book is a fascinating snapshot of diet and physical culture in a very different era.

The 1900 Galveston hurricane changed the way we deal with severe weather. But as Hurricane Helene showed, there are still lessons to be learned.

How politicians used the story of one young patient to neglect the AIDS crisis.

The “Indian peach” survived a genocide—but can it withstand climate change?

The 20th-century movement to fix slouching questions the moral and political dimensions of addressing bad backs over wider public health concerns.

How geology shaped American culture.

On the rise of the narcotic farm model, a radical reimagining of the nation’s approach to addiction.

The Civil War was the deadliest conflict in US history. However, incomplete records have made it difficult to estimate the exact death toll.