Southern Right Whale Recovery Could Take Decades, Study Finds

This week, whale watchers went bananas over sightings of about 250 northern right whales in the plankton-rich waters around Cape Cod. The pods represented half of the total population of these critically endangered cetaceans, one of the world’s rarest animals. Now, in the first assessment since the end of the 19th century whaling era, the British …

Caribbean Shipwrecks Show Lull in 17th-Century Hurricanes

In a new study, researchers at the University of Arizona are the first to use records of shipwrecks in the Caribbean to gain insight into historical hurricane activity. The paper, published in Proceedings of the National Academies of Science this week, reported a 75 percent reduction in the number of Caribbean hurricanes between 1645 and …

New article on Smithsonian.com: Alexander Hamilton’s Wife Deserves Her Own Musical

For Smithsonian.com, I wrote a profile of Alexander Hamilton’s widow, Elizabeth Hamilton. Now a memorable character (played by Phillipa Soo)  in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash Broadway musical “Hamilton,” Elizabeth was far more than a bit player at the founding of American democracy. After Alexander died in his famous duel, she founded and led New York City’s first orphanage, …