There are very few things that we can show as the application of the hard sciences, mostly due to the fact that we take these applied principles for granted. But what if these principles became a matter of life and death? In the days of the Polynesian wayfinders, this is exactly the situation, where mistakes can lead you to isolation in an unforgiving ocean.

But dark as it may be, Disney somehow still manages to put a happy face on it...

Sometimes, when we discover something absolutely new, it challenges every conceivable view of our universe. And when this happens, it can be unsettling. Humanity is again on the brink of what we now call a "paradigm shift": artificial intelligence, applied quantum mechanics, and the rest. Sometimes we try to resist, and run back towards the familiar.

The Hidden Plague is a epistolary view of one person of such an occurrence...

Sometimes even the most terrible disasters have serendipitous consequences. Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 for instance have been said to be a worthwhile "investment" just because of a single chart that was drawn 57 years after. This chart have been said to be a triumph that even the great French general (who was an amateur mathematician himself) would approve of.

As they say, when life gives you lemons...

There are few materials in this world that resulted in civilisation-changing impacts. Bronze was discovered early in our history, but we didn't have the technology to apply it thoroughly. Iron started similarly, and it tool millennia to put them into construction and machine making. Aluminium (or "aluminum" in case you're an American) went through the process of discovery, novelty, application, and societal dependence in less than two centuries.

This is the story of how it came into being...

In nature, very little is elemental and pure. More often than not the stuff that made the Earth are impure in order to enable its use by living organisms. Plants extract minerals and water from the soil, and carbon dioxide from the air. If we were to drown them in water, nutrients, or pure CO2, they'd die in an instant.

Moderation is key to a balanced life, and nature moderates itself by watering itself down.