Maggie Koerth-Baker
Joined: Nov 21, 2012
Maggie is an American science journalist, former columnist for The New York Times Magazine and current senior science reporter for the web site FiveThirtyEight. She is the author of the 2012 book Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us, and her work has been included in the 2014 "Best American Science and Nature Writing" anthology. She writes about the intersection of science and culture, about studies she finds to be especially revealing or provocative, about human behavior and technological innovation and natural phenomena. Carl Zimmer referred to her as "one of the most innovative science writers at work today."
10 Crime-Fighting Tricks the Bad Guys Didn’t See Coming
10 Times Correlation Was Not Causation
What's the Difference?: Egg Roll vs. Spring Roll
David Tran: Hot Sauce Visionary
This is the story of a boy, a dream, and a very spicy sauce. As a young man growing up in a village near Saigon, David Tran dreamt of creating the Asian equivalent of ketchup—something everybody would want to slop onto everything. During the Vietnam War,
The Science of Spicy: Four Amazing Things Chili Peppers Can Do
The hottest thing about chili peppers isn't the way they taste; it's everything else they can do for you. 1. They Strangle
3 Tips for Surviving the Witness Protection Program
Created by the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, the Witness Protection Program (WPP) does exactly what the movies say—it hides witnesses from vengeful thugs by giving them new identities (not to mention $60,000 a year in subsistence payments, on
How To: Miss Your Chance At Fame
According to 3 Would-Be Holy Books That Got Left Out of the Bible Book: The Infancy Gospel of James Didn't Make the Cut: Because prequels are never as popular as the original story (we're looking at you, Mr. Lucas). The Infancy Gospel of James focuses on
How To: Get By With A Little Help From Your Friends
YOU WILL NEED Friends"¦with benefits The ability to make new friends when your old ones disappear Step 1: Pick the Right Crowd The tiger keelback snake is native to Japan and several other nearby islands, where it's known for defending itself by spraying
How To: Die Laughing
YOU WILL NEED A Sense of Humor Poor
How To: Destroy History
Hide It Although widely beloved as a sort of satirical Santa Claus today, any rational look at the biography of Mark Twain would reveal a very different man. The real Mark Twain was more often depressed than jolly, more bitter curmudgeon than wacky old co
How To: Be a Ladies' Man
YOU WILL NEED A way with women A flexible moral compass One At a Time Frank Lloyd Wright, the man who revolutionized American architecture, was equally, uh, revolutionary, when it came to his love life. In 1889, he married Catherine Lee Clark Tobin and s
How To: Join the Amish
How To Is Now 100% Desert Island-Free! YOU WILL NEED Fortitude A strong desire to get out of the rat race A beard (guys
How To: Get Rescued from a Desert Island
YOU WILL NEED 1 unstoppable will to live Patience An appreciation for tragic irony If there's one thing you can say about most desert island strandings, it's that, at the very least, the weather is nice. There are certainly worse islands to be trapped on
How To: Get Stranded on A Desert Island
How To: Wrestle an Alligator
YOU WILL NEED 1 Alligator, un-sedated and unbowed 1 Person, just a little bit crazy 1 Rope, preferably strong Do: Check the Classifieds In 2000, members of the Seminole tribe near Hollywood, Florida put an ad in a local paper. They were looking for a ne