“In the depths of the Cold War, scientists from the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. joined forces to answer a still-urgent question: Can mammals reproduce in space?”
biology
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Real Da Vinci Code
“Scholars on a quixotic quest to identify Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA achieve a milestone.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Evolution and Guinea Pig Toes
“How one animal’s oddity inspired Sewall Wright to take on one of Darwin’s big ideas.”
Posted inCuration
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending stories by Brenna Ehrlich, Yiyun Li, Claire L. Evans, Nicholas Casey, and Kent Russell.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Life Lessons from a Coastal Wolf Pack
“In Alaska, a biologist and her family learn how quickly these iconic predators can change the menu—and bend the rules.”
Posted inCuration
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories by Willa Köerner, Robyn Ross, Ariel Sabar, Julian Lucas, and Dan Moore.
Posted inEditor's Pick
From Silicon to Slime
“Claire L. Evans on imagination as a form of computation, and the endless entanglement of our biological reality.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Ant Geopolitics
“Over the past four centuries quadrillions of ants have created a strange and turbulent global society that shadows our own.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Work of Love
“Before gay marriage was legal, illustrator John Megahan was called to work on a revolutionary secret project: bringing to life, in painstaking scientific detail, the queer lives of the animal world.”