Long Reads

In a nearly unprecedented sports innovation, Nike's VaporFly Next% running shoes have harnessed material science to help elite runners shatter records.

By studying extreme environments in Earth’s hadal zone —the deepest part of the ocean —NASA tests technologies, probes life under crushing pressure, and gathers clues about potential oceans and possible life on worlds like Europa and Enceladus.

While some knights guarded their combat knowledge, others recorded it in illustrated fighting manuals. Centuries later, scholars struggle to interpret these cryptic texts, revealing how much medieval martial knowledge was lost or obscured over time.

A World War II-era commercial flight was forced to change course when Pearl Harbor was bombed, leading the 12-member crew on the world's first commercial flight to circumnavigate the globe. The Boeing 314 crossed the equator four times during the journey, which totaled more than 30,000 miles and required the crew to strip the plane of any identifying marks.

Albert Einstein's theories went beyond E=mc2 and gave us a new and exciting way to look at the universe. His ideas reverberate still, offering bizarre notions like black holes, bending of space and time, and the idea of the universe having a lifetime. ScienceNews explores how the German, one-time patent officer upended two centuries of Newtonian physics and more in this absorbing article.

In anticonsumerist "Buy Nothing" groups, members can offer up or receive gifts, from plants to toys and more. Similar to Freecycle, the group emphasizes connection beyond just the material swapping as a means of creating community.

Around 50 BCE, Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius shared Greek philosopher Epicurus’s ideas about the potential of alien life. The writing is believed to be the first straightforward assertion in Western literature that aliens must exist.

Decades in the making, JWST is designed to study the universe in infrared light, allowing it to see through cosmic dust and observe ancient galaxies, star formation, and potentially life-supporting exoplanets. The Webb will orbit the sun at a stable point 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.

Roughly defined as a balance of perseverance and passion, Angela Duckworth defines this combination as an essential component of reaching long-term goals. Not merely about talent or luck, Duckworth argues the personality trait enables individuals to maintain their commitment to significant objectives over extended periods, despite facing challenges and setbacks.

Due to its proximity to Gulf oil production, an 85-mile stretch of highway linking Baton Rogue, Louisiana, and New Orleans is home to 25% of the country's petrochemical manufacturing. It's also one of the most polluted regions of the US, with cancer rates at 50% above average.