June 2020 – Five Shouts Out

Why the Anthropocene began with European colonisation, mass slavery and the ‘great dying’ of the 16th century

EditorJune 28, 2020July 12, 2020

John Vanderlyn: Landing of Columbus The toppling of statues at Black Lives Matter protests has powerfully articulated that the roots of modern racism lie in European colonisation and slavery. Racism...

Earth

Arctic heatwave: what warmer summers mean for the region’s wildlife

EditorJune 28, 2020June 28, 2020

Snowshoe hares are moving further into the Arctic. Dee Carpenter Originals / shutterstock The current heatwave in the Arctic, with temperatures reaching 38℃ in some parts of northern Siberia, is...

Culture

William Penn Landing Site in Chester, Pennsylvania

EditorJune 27, 2020June 27, 2020

Near the confluence of Chester Creek and the Delaware River, a small granite monument marks the site of one of the most significant events in the early history of...

Earth

Why Did This Ancient Marsupial Have Saber Teeth?

EditorJune 27, 2020June 27, 2020

The naming of many saber-toothed species—the most famous being the genus Smilodon, or the saber-toothed cat—sounds like a bit of a macabre joke. The pearly grins of these prehistoric predators...

Earth

The West Is Being Won by Tiny Bits of Plastic

EditorJune 27, 2020

Grand, indeed, but also full of microplastics. Flickr/scott1346 The Grand Canyon is vast and magnificently unsubtle: The 277-mile gash has long humbled visitors with its sheer rock walls and the...

Art

Mel Chin’s Fundred Project Takes the Next Step

Chris SyrgJune 20, 2020

Students draw Fundreds in the Charlotte branch of the Fundred Reserve Even Exchange Bank, 2013. Fundred Project, 2008-2019. Photo: Ben Premeaux. Courtesy of the Fundred Project. Editor’s Note: How can an...