Welcome to Θώθ HQ!

Thoth, written as "Θώθ" in Greek, was the ancient Egyptian god of knowledge and wisdom, as well as the inventor of writing, science, and philosophy. Our philosophy here at Θώθ is that writing and science should be accessible to all, regardless of language. For decades it has been our organization's mission to translate scientific journal articles into as many languages as possible, to ensure that culture and nationality no longer present a barrier to learning. Whether you're an international team of Nobel-Prize-Winning scientists or just a graduate student trying to make it through your program, Θώθ will help you interpret your data no matter where it's from.

Θώθ was founded in 1978 by Ji-Min Akila. A Korean-Egyptian immigrant with several academic degrees in linguistics and fluency in over a dozen languages, Ji-Min originally created Θώθ as a legal translation service for Atlanta's substantial immigrant population. In 1982, however, her son Ethan was diagnosed with AIDS, known at the time as GRID. Over the following decade, Ji-Min volunteered herself and Θώθ to the CDC, poring over and translating international medical research on the AIDS epidemic. Although she was unable to save her son, the research that she and Θώθ facilitated would go on to save countless others.

Law and Medicine were just the beginning, however. With the substantial funding that her organization had secured, Ji-Min expanded Θώθ throughout the 1990's. Genetics, robotic engineering, anthropology, climatology, social demography, astrophysics, even philosophy; no field of inquiry couldn't benefit from cross-cultural dialogue, and no kind of scientific jargon was too esoteric for Θώθ to successfully interpret. With language no longer a barrier to understanding research conducted across the globe, advancements once thought decades away materialized in as little as a few short years thanks to Θώθ's team of linguists from every nation.

It was only a decade ago, however, that Θώθ became a household name. With the meteoric rise of the internet and social media, people everywhere became more interconnected than they had ever been. That's where the Θώθ app came in. Available on all major browsers and mobile platforms, the Θώθ app made the power of Θώθ more accessible than ever. Simply ask your device "Θώθ, what's this?", and the program will open to help you translate simple text from over 2,000 languages. Whether you're looking up a foreign news article online or looking at a restaurant menu in a foreign country, Θώθ is there for you.

Oh look, there's one of our project managers now! Dr. Valente, do you have a minute to talk to our tour group?

"Sure thing! Oh, but please don't call me Doctor. Mister is fine. Or just Volt, that's what my friends call me."

Understood. Can you tell our guests about how you came to work here, Mr. Valente?

"Well, I grew up fluent in a few languages and a big interest in science, so working for Θώθ seemed like a natural fit, and I got an internship here as soon as I could. I mostly translated social sciences like demography and then epidemiology and medical sociology, but I'm more all over the place nowadays. I also mostly work from home now, so I'm only here for a meeting."

Oh? What are you working on, if we may ask?

"Of course! Basically, educational podcasts and YouTube channels have gotten more and more popular, so we're working on some partnerships to get those translated and subtitled into more languages so everyone can learn from them. It's not as prestigious and serious as the folks up top translating the journal articles, but getting young folks interested in science is super important, and a lot of these podcasts and channels have figured out how to make science exciting and engaging, so we want to help them reach more people."

Fascinating! Well, we have a lot more to see, but thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us.

"Any time! Y'all have fun!"

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Well, that way way longer and messier than I planned for it to be, and I'll probably end up editing it down later, but I wanted to do something more fun and safe-for-work, literally, with Volt and his backstory. I hope y'all like it!

Art credit to  aliensymbol