In March 2020, as the coronavirus swept across the globe, Puerto Rico’s governor declared a state of emergency. The island’s three million residents were told to stay home, nonessential businesses closed, and a nightly curfew took effect. In the chaos and fear of those early days, the government also reached for an unusual legal weapon: a statute that made it a crime to spread false information during an emergency. The law was meant to stop dangerous rumors from making things worse, but it cast a wide shadow. For three long years, as the emergency declaration was repeatedly extended, that law…

As the fall equinox approaches, the sky puts on a quiet, almost secret show for anyone willing to wake up early enough to catch it. It’s called a false dawn, and despite the name, it’s not a trick of the light or a glitch in your eyesight. It’s one of the most delicate and beautiful sights in the natural world, yet it’s easy to miss if you don’t know exactly when and where to look. Imagine stepping outside in the dark hours before sunrise, the world still wrapped in silence, and seeing a soft, hazy pyramid of light rising from…