Few sights make the Moon seem more theatrical than an early-autumn moonrise. A huge amber disk appears behind trees, rooftops or distant hills, looking far larger than the Moon we see later in the night. It is easy to imagine that the Harve...
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Taste a drop of seawater and the answer seems obvious: the ocean contains salt. The more interesting question is how it got there. There are no gigantic salt deposits steadily dissolving int...
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It is one of those questions that sounds almost too simple to deserve a scientific explanation. Look up on a clear afternoon and the sky is blue. Yet that familiar color is the visible resul...
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Space is a vacuum, so an astronaut cannot simply lift a visor and take a sniff. Yet crews returning from spacewalks have repeatedly described something remarkably close to a smell of space:...
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From the ground, Earth is almost too large to understand. Nations fill maps. Mountain ranges divide regions. Oceans separate continents. Political borders seem concrete because they organize...
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Modern elections are designed to look ordinary. Voters enter a booth, mark a choice, deposit a ballot and wait for arithmetic to produce a winner. In medieval and early modern Europe, choosi...
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Conclave, the new Pope is elected: it is Robert Francis Prevost. His name will be Leone XIV Habemus Papam! These two Latin words echo across the Vatican every time a new leader of th...
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The Prophecy of the Black Pope: End of the World or Misunderstood Symbol? Introduction Among the many prophecies and legends that have surrounded the Catholic Church for centuries, few...
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Cardinal Jackson, Frontrunner in the Conclave, Could Become Pope Ezekiel I As anticipation builds for the upcoming papal conclave, one name continues to resonate within the corridors of t...
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The Conclave: History, Meaning, and Rituals of the Papal Election The conclave is one of the most solemn and mysterious events of the Catholic Church. Whenever a pope dies or resigns, the...
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