A food historian spent a month at the Library of Congress trying to answer the question of why we have historically been, and remain, so focused on dietary protein. Here is what she found.
Protests against mandates and quarantines get the Founding Fathers’ ideas wrong.
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The Founding Fathers were unrelenting in their commitment to the idea that circumstances can arise that require public officials to take actions abridging individual freedoms.
Reckless policies are to blame for Brazil’s high death toll.
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More than 600,000 Brazilians have died of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. A new report says the policies of President Jair Bolsonaro are responsible for around half.
Immigrant students worry that minor school infractions could lead to deportation.
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Researchers say educators told them that immigrant students are sometimes made to believe they will be deported. Why? One reason is educators didn’t want them to drag down their school’s test scores.
Menstrual periods can disturb sleep, but sleep troubles can worsen menstrual symptoms.
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More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and that share is growing. Rapid climate change could make many cities unlivable in the coming decades without major investments to adapt.
Firefighters and residents battle a blaze in hot, dry conditions in Athens, Greece, in August 2021.
AP Photo/Petros Karadjias
The Athens fires were a dangerous reflection of Atomist philosophies that see the world as exploitable, for sale and open to waste and abuse.
Women who got their start in the male-dominated profession 40 years ago have advice for today’s newcomers in STEM.
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Smart glasses like Facebook’s Ray-Ban Stories could be used to record you surreptitiously. If the company adds facial recognition, you could be even more exposed.
The Rev. Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary does a ritual of remembrance at the grave of a Wiccan soldier killed in Afghanistan.
Courtesy of Selena Fox
Samhain will be particularly poignant this year for Wiccans who are members or veterans of the US military as they process the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan.
Perfumes, potions and witches have been entwined for centuries.
Frederick Stuart Church/Smithsonian American Art Museum/Wikimedia Commons
Scent and magic have been entwined in our imaginations for centuries – right up to today’s witch-inspired perfumes.
Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and play a potential role in the evolution of life.
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Ivan Erill, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Viruses have gotten a bad rap for the many illnesses and pandemics they’ve caused. But viruses are also genetic innovators – and possibly the pioneers of using DNA as the genetic blueprint of life.
Coming to U.S. waters? Here’s an aerial view of the Burbo Bank offshore wind farm in Liverpool Bay, England.
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The Biden administration is proposing a big increase in offshore wind power. A former state official explains how regulators find the best sites and balance competing interests.
Washing your hands is an easy and effective way to reduce the spread of illness.
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The risk of getting the coronavirus from a surface is low. But the frequent hand-washing from early in the pandemic is a good thing since most people weren’t washing their hands enough to begin with.
After taking a pandemic-induced hiatus in 2020, Lollapalooza returned to Chicago in summer 2021.
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Some concertgoers reported being so moved by their first concerts in nearly two years that they wept with joy – a testament to the power of this unique form of human communion and connection.
Experts give trick-or-treating the green light this year.
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There’s no need to pull out the candy catapult this year, but a few reasonable precautions can keep COVID-19 transmissions in check.
The leaders of Ireland’s major churches have been cooperating more closely amid challenges like Brexit and the pandemic.
David Ritchie/Church of Ireland Press Office
A church service marking Northern Ireland’s centenary has stirred up debate. But amid the past few years’ tensions, the island’s Christian leaders have coordinated closely.
A volunteer distributes face masks in a rural California community in February 2021.
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A scholar of African American studies explores how the former secretary of state, who died at 84, dealt with what WEB DuBois described as the ‘double-consciousness’ of being Black and American.
People navigate cities in much the same way animals navigate their environments.
Max Böhme/Unsplash
Carlo Ratti, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
As you’re walking through city streets on your way to work, school or appointments, you probably feel like you’re taking the most efficient route. Thanks to evolution, you’re probably not.
The fight over the minimum wage continues.
AP Photo/John Raoux
Opponents of a new California law that may lift the minimum wage for fast food workers claim it’ll cost jobs. How raising it affects employment is among the most studied issues in all of economics.
Small inland towns can offer a haven for people escaping coastal climate change.
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If rural communities plan carefully – and some already are – they can reinvent themselves as the perfect homes for people fleeing wildfire and hurricane zones.