Rare Earths
Environment

The Hidden Cost to Their Magic 
Heat Therapy
Culture

Humans have a masochistic love of capsaicin, a molecule responsible for the burn in hot peppers. That connection could be a key to pain relief.
How Oral History Opens Up the Past
People

Historian Ingrid Ockert makes a case for the spoken word.
The Death of Jesse Gelsinger, 20 Years Later
Health

Gene editing promises to revolutionize medicine. But how safe is safe enough for the patients testing these therapies?
The Myth of the Cuyahoga River Fire
Environment

The blaze that sparked the modern environmental movement . . . or did it?
Review: The Wizard and the Prophet
Environment

Charles Mann’s latest book traces how scientists William Vogt and Norman Borlaug took very different approaches to feeding the world and how their feuding ideas anticipated today’s environmental debates.