Author: Ms. R.

The Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum is a decidedly understated independent institution compared to the grand federal repositories of his successors. The quiet, one-room exhibition on the second floor of the Forbes Library is perhaps in line with the 30th president’s reputation as the reserved “Silent Cal.”  The calm business-like tableau that greets visitors contains an unexpected aura of industrious intensity. At every turn, placards remind Calvinists of his incessant call to action, illuminated by several strategically placed……

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The year 2021 marked the 50-year anniversary since principal filming began on the seminal movie, The Wicker Man, a celluloid picture that would go on to help define a genre known as folk horror. Actor and screenwriter Mark Gatiss popularized this genre that often incorporated themes of worship, seclusion, the influence of the environment, and the hidden immorality of agricultural settings. The film stars Sir Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle, the fictional ruler of a Scottish island that is……

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Traditionally, the village of Moor Green was known as a hub of small, private quarries that mined and then sold its stones all over the country. However, as visitors drive through the center of the village, there’s something that catches the eye, a preserved set of village stocks.  Used for rudimentary punishments for locals or visitors before more formal proceedings were put in place, the stocks remain in remarkably good condition. A nearby stone confirms that the stocks were……

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This story was originally published in Grist and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. How scary are cow burps, exactly? Measured by their planet-warming power, methane-filled livestock belches are the equivalent of 850 coal plants burning year-round. But scientists have found that spicing up cattle feed with a little seaweed can dramatically reduce the methane they produce, according to a new study out March 17. The promise that feed additives could make cows more climate-friendly can……

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From his office on the edge of Mānoa Valley in Honolulu, University of Hawaiʻi meteorologist Steven Businger often sees rainbows, some that last all day. According to Hawaiian legend, these heavenly arcs embody the presence of Kahalapuna, the daughter of a chief and chiefess who mourned her death by transforming themselves into their spirit forms, the Mānoa wind and misty rain. When these divine spirits blow through the valley, Kahalapuna appears as a rainbow. The Hawaiian language has more……

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A one million ton concrete dome constructed on the side of a chalk quarry with underground storage for the rockets, fuel supply, a liquid oxygen production facility, electricity generators and housing for the garrison. This is La Coupole, a massive remnant of World War II located five kilometers from Saint-Omer in France. La Coupole was built between 1943 and 1944 by Nazi German forces in France. It was meant to serve as a launch base for V-2 rockets directed against London and……

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One of the world’s oldest sciences is on full display in the rafters and rooftops above Saint Catherine’s Church, the oldest church in Gdańsk, Poland. Horology, the science of measuring time, has a place in this ancient city thanks to one of its leading beer brewers, politicians, academics, and inventors: Jan Hevelius. While Hevelius was a town councilor of the important maritime city, his primary interest was in astronomy and horology. Of his many academic contributions to the sciences,……

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