Sam Kean

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

A new book that examines the strange protractedness of human childhood also argues against basing modern parenting practices on our distant ancestors.

Spain’s strategy for rolling out the smallpox vaccine ran into some very 19th-century problems.

Mary Ward, a naturalist and astronomer, decided to go for a ride in her cousin’s homemade automobile.

From undercover heiresses to hormone-injected vegetables, the early days of the Office of Strategic Services were marked by colorful hires and wild schemes.

On Earth or on Mars, flooding can spell destruction for flourishing communities of microbes.

Before standardization, units of measurement were often manipulated by tyrants to cheat peasants and steal land.

Could a simple literary exercise make physicians more caring?

A new project untangles the handwritten texts in one of the world’s largest historical collections.

The efficiency gap is a highly praised tool for detecting partisan districting—but relying on it could be dangerous.