In the 1500s, Mail Disinfection Was Really, Really Weird
Past epidemics left behind a paper trail of stained, scorched, and punctured letters.
Latest
Wellcome Collection The Remarkable Versatility of Tonic Water
How an antimalarial medicine became a cocktail sensation
Ganna Martysheva / Shuttterstock McDonald’s Is Inescapable
How did a tiny teen hangout become one of the world’s most ubiquitous sources of food?
Gene J. Puskar / AP A Menu of Invasive Species
One approach to dealing with unwanted plants and animals: Eat them.
Robert F. Bukaty / AP How the Kiwi Queen Transformed America’s Supermarkets
Seventy years ago, most Americans had never heard of sugar snap peas or spaghetti squash or passion fruit. What changed?
Aleksandar Mijatovic / shutterstock The Fermented Food That Made It Big
How a staple of Korean cuisine became a flavor at California Pizza Kitchen
Brian Yarvin / Getty The Behavioral Economics of Restaurant Menus
Subtle tweaks in pricing and design can nudge diners toward more expensive meals.
Susan Wood / Getty The Next Olympics Mascot Might Have Been a Mutant Morning Glory
Scientists dreamed of genetically engineering a flower patterned in the Games’ blue-and-white checkerboard emblem.
Glenn Harvey The Most Delicious Foods That No Longer Exist
Humans have eaten thousands of species into extinction. Some, supposedly, were to die for.
Bettmann / Getty Images The Rise and Fall and Rise of the American Tiki Bar
Kitschy faux-Polynesian drinks have made a dramatic comeback, and it began with one man’s fixation on Don the Beachcomber.
Eric Risberg / AP
