The Americans with Disabilities Act helped remove many obstacles, but as with any civil rights movement, there’s still a lot of progress to be made.
Author Archives: Mikki Gibson
Biblical bee-keepers picked the best bees
One of the earliest ways humans harnessed the power of nature was through keeping livestock—including bees. Find out how long-ago beekeepers made the most of what nature had to offer.
The trouble with democracy
Democracy may be the goal of a freedom movement or revolution, but once it’s established, people sometimes experience “dictator envy”—the wish to avoid the messiness and indecisiveness of a government by, for, and of the people.
2016 Is a Leap Year. Why Do We Have Them?
Every four years (with an exception at the turn of most centuries), a quirk of the calendar gives us an extra day. Learn why 2016 is one of those years.
Alexander Gardner: The mysteries of the Civil War’s photographic giant
Chances are, if you’ve seen a Civil War-era photograph, it was credited to photographer Mathew Brady. However, that photo was most likely actually taken by Alexander Gardner, who went on to document the American West.
5 Qualities of Incredibly Heroic Leaders
What traits do the truly heroic among us have in common?
Josephine Baker—A French and American Hero
Rising from poverty in St. Louis to become an entertainment superstar in her adopted home of Paris, Josephine Baker could easily have enjoyed a life of leisurely wealth. Instead, she aided the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation of World War II and later spoke out for American civil rights.
The True Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Never Truly Ate the South
Fast-growing kudzu vines enveloping manmade structures may be a stereotype of the American South, but the truth is more complex.
Experiment is Crowdfunding Science Projects; Just Don’t Ask Them to Find Bigfoot
As traditional funding for lifesaving research shrinks, a new, more social approach attempts to fill the gap.
Pol Pot’s Shadow
In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge, led by the dictator Pol Pot, took over the southeast Asian nation of Cambodia. The regime uprooted and destroyed countless lives, killing nearly two million of its own people. Cambodians today have yet to come to terms with the horrors of that time.
How the Five Web Literacies Are Becoming Essential Survival Skills
Despite the hue and cry that technology isolates people, social sciences author Howard Rheingold argues that it in fact enhances our capacity to interact with each other and together build a better world.
Shakespeare Inspired Robben Island Inmates, Including Mandela
Publishers have been cranking out editions of Shakespeare’s works for hundreds of years. So what makes an ordinary 1970 edition, pasted with pictures and marked with handwritten notes, so special?
UW scientists, biotech firm may have cure for colorblindness
Despite the large number of people who have difficulty distinguishing between red and green, until recently they’ve simply had to struggle. Now, though, helpful tools and work toward a cure open up new possibilities.
Making the risky crossing
Wave after wave of refugees risk drowning to cross the narrow but unpredictable channel between Turkey and the Greek island of Lesbos.
What Explains the Rise of Humans?
Other animals have intelligence, cooperation, and the use of tools, but only humans have imagination. This key trait allows us to treat abstract things like money, religion, and nations as though they are concrete, leading to our domination of the planet.
Post-Traumatic Stress’s Surprisingly Positive Flip Side
Soldiers and victims of tragedies often struggle to cope with the trauma they have endured. But some researchers are finding truth in the old saying that what doesn’t kill someone makes him or her stronger.
Wildlife thriving around Chernobyl nuclear plant despite radiation
Depending on which experts are talking, the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine and Belarus is either a thriving wildlife sanctuary or a deadly no-man’s land. How well has nature repaired itself after the man-made 1986 disaster?
Selma 50 years later: John Lewis’s memories of the march
A United States Congressman recalls his role in pivotal civil rights events of the 1960s.
Odyssey’s End?: The Search for Ancient Ithaca
Although a Greek island called Ithaca exists today, it doesn’t fit Homer’s description of Odysseus’s home. A British amateur may have solved the mystery of where this epic locale lies.
Jews Are Fleeing Russia Because of Putin
Immigrants from Russia make up a surprisingly large percentage of the Israeli population. Find out why this is so, now more than ever.