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Distillations

Using stories from science’s past to understand our world

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Does Louis Pasteur Still Matter?
People

Or will the scientist’s 200th birthday be his last hurrah?

The Roadside Apocalypse
Environment

We all know how much the automobile changed the world for people. This episode of The Disappearing Spoon explores how drastically it changed—and harmed—wildlife.

The Blind Visionary
Culture

The Disappearing Spoon tells the story of Thomas Schall, a U.S. Congressman who dedicated himself to one idea above all—reforming our messy, lopsided, archaic, and maddingly inconsistent monthly calendar.

Magnesium, from the Sea to the Stars
Tools & Technology

Dow’s gamble on magnesium helped push the boundaries of human exploration and launched an ocean of consumer products.

The Scariest Paradise on Earth
Environment

The Disappearing Spoon explores the contradictions of Korea’s biggest natural wildlife refuge—the war-ravaged border between the North and South known as the DMZ.

The Naked Shibboleth
Culture

Naked mole-rats are blind, yet they can still recognize—and kill—outsiders. The Disappearing Spoon explains how and what it has to do with the Old Testament.

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Recommended
The Dark Stars of Marietta Blau
People
A scientist pitted hard work and ingenuity against the constraints she faced as a Jewish woman.
Searching for Isabel Morgan
People
Reconsidering the fate of an overlooked polio fighter.
Crowdfunding Radium
People
When American women bought Marie Curie a vital gram of the element.
The Sun Queen and the Skeptic: Building the World’s First Solar Houses
Environment
In the mid-20th century, colleagues-turned-rivals Maria Telkes and Hoyt Hottel engineered new ways of heating American homes.
The Nurse Who Introduced Gloves to the Operating Room
Pandemic Perspectives
 Caroline Hampton and the forgotten origins of the first personal protective equipment.
Dr. Butler and the Quest for the Philosophers’ Stone
Early Science & Alchemy
How searching for alchemy’s secrets helped create modern science.
Lou Henry Hoover, Lost in Translation
People
Though often celebrated, the adventurous First Lady never received full credit for her scientific accomplishments.
Ruth Patrick’s Lovely Creatures
Water
The groundbreaking ecologist showed that the biological diversity within a stream can be used to diagnose its health.
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