Hope may seem to be in short supply these days, but these stories dare to chart a course toward something better.
science
Posted inEditor's Pick
After ALS Struck, He Became the World’s Most Advanced Cyborg
“Scientist Dr. Peter Scott-Morgan is pushing the boundaries of what it means to be human.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
4 Dead Infants, a Convicted Mother, and a Genetic Mystery
“Kathleen Folbigg was found guilty of killing her babies. One scientist suspected the real culprit was mutant DNA—and went on a tireless quest to prove it.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Lab of Her Own
“Sheltered in her bedroom during World War II, Rita Levi-Montalcini discovered how the nervous system is wired.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Chiamaka Okoli Was a Rarity in Physics. She Challenged Norms Until Her Untimely Death.
“On the day Chiamaka died, many mourned the loss of a bright physicist, some mourned the loss of a friend or family member, while others mourned for her husband and young son. Felix mourned for all of these reasons, but especially for Chiamaka and all the life she did not get to live.”
Posted inNonfiction
The Cult That Promises to Cure Addiction
For 50 years, Enthusiastic Sobriety programs have offered to help teenagers kick drugs and alcohol. But former followers say ES doesn’t save lives—it destroys them.
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Racist Scientist Built a Collection of Human Skulls. Should We Still Study Them?
“After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 sparked protests for racial justice around the country, more and more people within and outside Penn began to see the Morton collection as a present-day perpetuation of racism and its harms, rather than just a historic example.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
She Fell Nearly 2 Miles, and Walked Away
“At 17, biologist Juliane Diller was the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Amazon. Fifty years later she still runs Panguana, a research station founded by her parents in Peru.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘The Mark of the Beast’: Georgian Britain’s Anti-Vaxxer Movement
“The arguments made by today’s anti-vaxxers often echo those put forth by their nineteenth-century antecedents: claims of inefficacy, allegations of ghastly side effects, appeals to religion.”