Articles

German beers have been under strict rules for 500 years.

Celebrating 500 Years of German’s Beer Purity Law

Germany's treasured—and controversial—rule has a fascinating past and an uncertain future

ArcAttack's lightning guitarist wears a protective Faraday suit.

Future Is Here Festival

When Electricity and Music Collide, the Tesla Coils Sing

The band ArcAttack delivers a high-voltage performance with a side of science education

Demonstrators on the first Earth Day, Union Square, New York.

Age of Humans

Why Didn't the First Earth Day's Predictions Come True? It's Complicated

More than half a century ago, scientists and activists predicted utter doom for the planet. That hasn't happened yet, but it's nothing to cheer about

King Lear was deemed too dark for its 17th century audiences.

Is There Such a Thing as a “Bad” Shakespeare Play?

More than four hundred years after the Bard’s death, the quality of his works is still a fluid scale

This Is the Closest Thing to a Dragon You'll Ever See

Draco lizards use specialized sideflaps to launch themselves into the air while evading predators

Illustration from Merchant of Venice

Four Hundred Years Later, Scholars Still Debate Whether Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” Is Anti-Semitic

Deconstructing what makes the Bard’s play so problematic

Prince designed and used this 1989 custom-made Yellow-cloud electric guitar, built by the Minneapolis firm Knut-Koupee. It features his personal symbol at the top and on the side of the fingerboard.

Trending Today

Beyond Raspberry Berets: What Prince Left Behind

From portraits to guitars, The Artist’s legacy lives on at the Smithsonian

The ramen shops.

Discover the Real Ramen at a Shrine to Slurpy Noodles

The iconic dish has surprising regional roots

Groggy after a night in a strange place? A night watchman in your brain may be to blame.

You Can’t Sleep While Traveling Because Your Brain Acts Like a Dolphin’s

On the first night in a new place, half your brain stays awake to watch out for danger

Severe drought killed this stand of trembling aspen trees, Populus tremuloides, near Fairplay, Colorado.

What Does a Dying Forest Sound Like?

As temperatures rise, scientists scramble to pinpoint trees in danger of drought

Ginseng roots

The Fight Against Ginseng Poaching in the Great Smoky Mountains

A profitable black market for the native shrub pits the National Park Service against poor residents of Appalachia

After a century in which black holes went from theoretical nuisances to undisputed facts, a new initiative at the Harvard -Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics will study them.

Think Big

Stephen Hawking on Why Black Holes Are Worthy of Your Consideration

A new Harvard-Smithsonian initiative will delve into the places in the universe where spacetime sags around massive objects

Workers in Sumatra process an oil palm harvest from the plantation on the left even as the remnants of the natural peat swamp forest in the distance are burned to make way for new plantations.

Journey to the Center of Earth

The Mad Dash to Figure Out the Fate of Peatlands

As the planet’s peat swamps come under threat, the destiny of their stored carbon remains a mystery

Jekan Thanga (right) and students holding FemtoSats

The Innovative Spirit fy17

These Tiny Satellites Can Be Launched Into Space for as Little as $1,000

Researchers at Arizona State University may be paving the way for consumer satellite flight

Black widows’ red hourglass tells birds to back off but is almost invisible to insects.

The Deadly Cunning of the Black Widow's Color Scheme

Why did the spider evolve to have that crimson hourglass on its back?

Berlin Face, Berlin, 2013

Fashion Photographer Klaus Mitteldorf Captures the Chaos of Modern Identity

These images evoke a world of endless distraction

Sam Bousfield, pictured here in a mock-up of the Switchblade, worked with Boeing engineers refining wind-tunnel construction before launching Samson Motorworks.

The Future of Cars Is Already Here

Even before the "Jetsons," people dreamed of flying cars. Now breakthroughs in technology are helping all kinds of vehicles get off the ground

How to Plug In Your Brain

If neuroscientists are right, you’ll soon be able to sharpen your focus and boost your memory by recharging your brain—with electricity

Your Questions for Astronaut Tom Jones, Answered

Just a sampling of what we can learn from those who have been to space

Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles and Everett Sloane in the offices of Kane’s Inquirer.

Who Really Wrote "Citizen Kane"?

Two new books offer divergent theories on the authorship of the much-heralded film

Page 435 of 1275