Well-researched stories from Hakai Magazine, The Conversation, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
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Iceland’s Medieval Whale Hunters (Hakai Magazine)
by Andrew Chapman
In the medieval era, most whale-hunting cultures focused on relatively small cetaceans living close to the shores. Icelanders hunted enormous blue whales that could yield 60 tons of meat. But how? And what did they do with the bones?
Drama in the World of Plants (NPR)
by Tonya Mosley
Do plants feel pain? Do they remember things or talk to each other? And does it even make sense to ask such anthropomorphizing questions? Researchers have answers.
The Indigenous Jews of Southern Africa (The Conversation)
by Noah Tamarkin
The Lemba people of South Africa and Zimbabwe consider themselves Jewish by tradition and genetics, and Indigenous by virtue of their relationship with white colonialism. Their identity disrupts common narratives about both Jewishness and Indigeneity.
Miners in Space (Undark)
by Sarah Scoles
Asteroids are a rich source of metals that are rare on Earth and materials that might someday help humans make homes beyond our planet. But can companies really make a profit mining space rocks? And should our governments let them do it?
The Backyard Treasures of the Amazon (Mongabay)
by Carolina Pinheiro
In the Brazilian Amazon, children playing in their backyards often discover pottery from ancestral people who lived there hundreds or thousands of years ago. Local people treasure and study the objects. Now, archaeologists are learning from them, too.
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