The Perils of Moving the V&A’s Arsenic-Laced Hats

As 250,000 objects, 350,000 books and more from The Victoria and Albert Museum’s archive move from their current Blythe House storage to a new, purpose-built east London facility, dangers abound—including from the textile collection. As the phrase “mad as a hatter” makes reference too, until the 1930s some hat features (like feathers and even whole birds, an Edwardian era trend) were treated with arsenic and …

Knitters Chronicle Climate Change With “Temperature Scarves”

From the “sky scarf” of the early aughts to the Tempestry Project today, knitters tap into climate change for guidance in their stitching. While the former accessory is about aesthetic inspiration, the latter aims to preserve data reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through “temperature scarves.” These are two examples of the way colorful yarns tie into the climate crisis and our reaction …

Farewell to Mathematician Katherine Johnson, Crucial “Hidden Figure” at NASA in the ’60s Space Race

From her time as a childhood math prodigy in West Virginia to her crucial role as a “computer” at NASA, where her calculations helped lead astronauts into orbit and then the moon, black mathematician Katherine Johnson was a pioneering figure in spaceflight. Johnson’s work was critical to NASA’s earlier successes—especially during the space race—but they wouldn’t get mainstream recognition until President Barack Obama awarded her …