National Science Foundation Terminates Hundreds of Active Research Awards
The agency targeted grants focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as research on misinformation.
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Hidden Above a Trap Door, 17th-Century Frescoes Come to Light
Imagine mounting a scaffold in the atrium of a historic Roman estate. You spy a small trap door in the vaulted ceiling; on inspection the hatch opens into a cavity between the new ceiling and an older one. In the older ceiling is a second trap door …
It’s Springtime on Polaris-9b, and the Exoflowers Are Blooming
Imagine setting out for a springtime stroll. Not here on Earth but on some distant planet — call it Novathis-458b — orbiting a distant star. Even light-years from home, you recognize some familiar pleasures: The sun (albeit a different sun) is …
Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet
Further studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable.
How to Evade Taxes in Ancient Rome? A 1,900-Year-Old Papyrus Offers a Guide.
It may not have been the tax-evasion trial of the century — the second century, that is — but it was of such gravity that the defendants faced charges of forgery, fiscal fraud and the sham sale of slaves. Tax dodging is as old as taxation itself, but …
An Engrossing Biography Resurrects an Evangelist Shrouded in Scandal
In “Sister, Sinner,” Claire Hoffman tells the stranger-than-fiction story of Aimee Semple McPherson, whose mysterious life made headlines in the 1920s.
At a Murder Mystery Party, the (Pretend) Killer Ends Up (Actually) Dead
Louise Hegarty’s novel, “Fair Play,” nods to classic 1920s detective fiction, with a twist.
The Marriage, and Ménage à Trois, That Changed Art History
“Gabriële” considers a writer and pivotal figure of the 20th-century avant-garde who nurtured the talents of others.
Peeking Into Joan Didion’s Years of Psychological Thinking
Drawn from her previously unpublished reflections on sessions with a therapist, “Notes to John” is at once slightly sordid and utterly fascinating.
Stories That Show How Modern Liberals Have Lost Their Way
In a new collection, Lydia Millet casts a satirical eye on left-wing culture and its array of character types.