Distillations magazine
That Time Demons Possessed the Telegraph
Solar storms from long ago have become the delight of some scientists—and the dread of others.
Distillations articles reveal science’s powerful influence on our lives, past and present.
21 Years, 7,600 Tests
Mary Papanicolaou, the woman behind the man behind the Pap smear.
Controversy, Control, and Cosmetics in Early Modern Italy
In a society that damned women for both plainness and adornment, wearing makeup became a defiant act of survival.
Joe Hin Tjio Counts Chromosomes
A basic scientific error hid in plain sight for decades until an Indonesian geneticist spent Christmas break on a lab bender.
Everyday Monsoons
Washes and other gaps in the Sonoran Desert.
The Dinosaurs Died in Spring
Science that ushered in a new epoch also revealed stunning details from Earth’s distant past.
Sylvia Earle and the Call of the Deep
Adventure and tangled interests under the sea.
Matchmaking in Colonial India
An inconspicuous technology sparks revolution on the subcontinent.
The Eclipse That Killed a King (and May Have Saved a Kingdom)
How the scientific prowess of King Mongkut of Siam helped stave off European incursion.
Dreams and Nightmares
Oxycodone’s early years.
Rings of Fire
Arsenic cycles through racism and empire in the Americas.
Valery Fabrikant and Science’s Ethical Limits
Is it right to publish research from an unrepentant murderer?
How Notorious Abortionist Madame Restell Built a Drug Empire
Desperate women, mistreated by the 19th century’s medical establishment, risked black-market remedies and the wrath of Anthony Comstock’s moralizing thugs.
The Human Price of American Rubber
Segregated lives of privilege, pride, and peril on Firestone’s Liberian plantations.
Fish Hacks
Often dismissed as a “trash fish,” the porgy anchors black maritime culture.
Prison Plastic Surgery
Can a new look unlock a new life?
The Big Business of Wish Fulfillment
Essential oils have long straddled the lines between magic, medicine, and scam.
A Cold Day in Stockholm
Forests of the Future
Modern agricultural practices are unsustainable. Is tree farming the answer?