Rebecca J. Rosen

Rebecca J. Rosen is a senior associate editor at The Atlantic. She was previously an associate editor at The Wilson Quarterly, where she spearheaded the magazine's In Essence section.

3.8 Million Records From the 1940 Census Go Live Online

3.8 Million Records From the 1940 Census Go Live Online

The National Archives has digitized and published online the 72-year-old records of more than 130 million Americans, but finding your family will require a bit of legwork. More »

Picture of the Day: A Galaxy That Looks Like a UFO

Picture of the Day: A Galaxy That Looks Like a UFO

When viewed from Earth (or Earth's orbit), the galaxy NGC 2683 is at such an angle that it has a saucer-like appearance. More »

The Missing 20th Century: How Copyright Protection Makes Books Vanish

The Missing 20th Century: How Copyright Protection Makes Books Vanish

Because of the strange distortions of copyright protection, there are twice as many newly published books available on Amazon from 1850 as there are from 1950 More »

Picture of the Day: Water, Up From Deep Below the Desert, Brings Green to Saudi Arabia

Picture of the Day: Water, Up From Deep Below the Desert, Brings Green to Saudi Arabia

A series of satellite images of northern Saudi Arabia show an explosion in desert agriculture over the last two decades. More »

What Do You Love Online?

What Do You Love Online?

"To love is to return," says writer Robin Sloan. But what are the places we return to online? Help us build an album of sites to love. More »

Blind Man Goes for a Spin in Google's New Driverless Car

Blind Man Goes for a Spin in Google's New Driverless Car

A film of Steve Mahan driving from his house to a Taco Bell is a powerful example of just how transformative this technology will be for the blind. More »

On This Day: 100 Years Since the End of Sir Robert Falcon Scott's Journey to the South Pole

On This Day: 100 Years Since the End of Sir Robert Falcon Scott's Journey to the South Pole

The expedition had successfully reach the pole two months earlier, but none of team's five members survived the return. More »

Amazon's Jeff Bezos Discovers Historic Apollo 11 Rocket Engines at the Bottom of the Sea

Amazon's Jeff Bezos Discovers Historic Apollo 11 Rocket Engines at the Bottom of the Sea

For four decades, the engines that powered Apollo 11 to the moon have lain at the bottom of the Atlantic. But they'll soon rise again. More »

Why Would Anyone Ever Use Siri? This Is Why.

Why Would Anyone Ever Use Siri? This Is Why.

Users aren't stupid. They use whatever input method makes sense, whether that's Siri, a touchscreen, or something else. More »

The Best Thing to Happen to Toast Since Sliced Bread

The Best Thing to Happen to Toast Since Sliced Bread

... Or maybe just a really funny idea. More »

Picture of the Day: NASA Launches Five Rockets in Just Five Minutes

Picture of the Day: NASA Launches Five Rockets in Just Five Minutes

The rockets were visible as far south as Wilmington, North Carolina, and as far north as Buffalo, New York. More »

What Makes an Answer a Great Answer?

What Makes an Answer a Great Answer?

Two Quora replies were crowned with Shorty awards last night, and together they tell us a little something about what makes a winner. More »

The Urban Dictionary of 1811, Now Served to You Tweet by Tweet

The Urban Dictionary of 1811, Now Served to You Tweet by Tweet

Don't be a footy fellow and use this plummy twitter feed to brush up on your old-fashioned banter. More »

Picture of the Day: The Wispy Gas Clouds of a Supernova Remnant

Picture of the Day: The Wispy Gas Clouds of a Supernova Remnant

The Cygnus Loop, 1,500 light years from Earth, would appear in the night sky three times the size of a full moon if it were visible to the naked eye. More »

Busted: Dad Discovers Daughter's House Party With His Energy-Monitoring Android App

Busted: Dad Discovers Daughter's House Party With His Energy-Monitoring Android App

Big father is watching. More »

Today's High-Tech Archery Isn't Much Like the Hunger Games Version

Today's High-Tech Archery Isn't Much Like the Hunger Games Version

For a mere $1,000 you could have way hotter bow-and-arrows than the District 12 miner's daughter could ever dream of. More »

10,000 People Sign Petition to Honor Alan Turing by Putting Him on the £10 Note

10,000 People Sign Petition to Honor Alan Turing by Putting Him on the £10 Note

Just last month the government there refused to pardon him for the crime of "moral turpitude," that is, that he was gay. More »

Hubble Spies Thousands and Thousands of Stars

Hubble Spies Thousands and Thousands of Stars

The globular star cluster Messier 9 isn't visible to the naked eye, but Hubble has observed more than 250,000 stars there. More »

Zoom Through Nearly 14 Billion Years of History Online

Zoom Through Nearly 14 Billion Years of History Online

Can a new website help us comprehend just how little time has passed since humans appeared on Earth? More »

Picture of the Day: The Mars Rover Is a Dusty Mess!

Picture of the Day: The Mars Rover Is a Dusty Mess!

NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity snapped up this mosaic of a self portrait between the 2,111th and 2,814th Martian days of its mission. More »

The Biggest Story in Photos

Early Monsoon Rains Flood Northern India

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