Sam Kean

How to Make the Bread That Fueled the Pyramids

And the beer that gave rise to civilizations, too.

The Plan to Save a Life by Head Transplant

What would happen if it actually works?

Unraveling the Secrets of the Inca Empire

For hundreds of years, Andean people recorded information by tying knots into long cords. Will we ever be able to read them?

A Bizarre 1970 Arctic Killing Offers a Road Map for How Not to Deal With Murder in Space

Murder will happen in outer space. This 50-year-old death on a now-melted chunk of ice shows how complicated it will get.

Mysterious Case Man Who Can Read Letters - But Not Numbers - Exposes Complex Roots of Consciousness

With a condition that’s “too strange for words,” patient can do mental math but cannot recognize numerals

How Irving Langmuir Thought He Could Harness Hurricanes

Irving Langmuir’s ill-fated attempts at seeding storms showed just how difficult it is to control the weather.

Trofim Lysenko, the Soviet Era's Deadliest Scientist, Is Regaining Popularity in Russia

Trofim Lysenko’s spurious research prolonged famines that killed millions. So why is a fringe movement praising his legacy?

The True Story of Phineas Gage Is Much More Fascinating Than the Mythical Textbook Accounts

On Sept. 13, 1848, at around 4:30 p.m., the time of day when the mind might start wandering, a railroad foreman named Phineas Gage filled a drill hole...

Inside the Brain’s Amazing Ability to Re-Map Your Body

Surgeons only have to go so far before the brain takes over and reconnects the nervous system