Distillations magazine

Why the recent findings of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine are enlightening, even if they aren’t surprising.

After the Vietnam War a mysterious yellow substance rained down from the skies of Southeast Asia. Was it a chemical weapon or something stranger?

To slow global warming scientists have tried schemes both simple and bizarre to bottle up cow burps.

Warfarin started life as a rat poison, and for all its success the anticoagulant remains as dangerous as its origin suggests.

Where do new drugs come from? And why do so many fail?

Tattoos are more than decoration. But what do you do when the way you look no longer matches who you are?

How Joseph Lister’s application of germ theory revolutionized surgery in the mid-19th century.

Sniffing out a peculiar love of books.

Do cats mess with your brain?

Through fame, controversy, and peril Josiah Wedgwood and Joseph Priestley’s bond endured.

An illustration of a biochemist connects two British political icons.

The story behind a rare work by the father of the periodic table.

About half of the 1,100 instruments made by master luthier Antonio Stradivari have been lost or destroyed in the past 300 years. Should the instruments that remain be played or preserved?

A memento reveals how the demand for cheap copies of famous paintings helped democratize art ownership in the 19th century.

Can artificial intelligence help us decipher smell?

William Herschel had a conflicted relationship with his biggest creation.

Can science tell us what makes a Stradivarius so special?

Making eco-friendly cement is easy; the hard part comes later.