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Tibetan manuscripts

A Look Inside China’s Effort to Preserve Historical Mongolian Manuscripts

Various projects are attempting to digitize the more than 200,000 volumes of Mongolian books and documents in the country

The interior of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub after the fire.

Three Medical Breakthroughs That Can Be Traced Back to a Tragic Nightclub Fire

Four hundred ninety-two people died as a result of the horrifying fire, an unprecedented death toll that led physicians to make unprecedented innovations

A cumulonimbus cloud formation, AKA a thunderstorm.

Our Cloud Names Come From a 1700s Amateur Meteorologist

Luke Howard's nomenclature inspired writers as well as scientists

The Codex Quetzalecatzin

Behold the Newly Digitized 400-Year-Old Codex Quetzalecatz

The manuscript dates back to the late 1500s, and was recently acquired by the Library of Congress

Mount Agung

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The Geology of Bali's Simmering Agung Volcano

The high viscosity magma of stratovolcanoes like Agung makes them extremely explosive—and potentially deadly

Female match workers in the 1870s.

Friction Matches Were a Boon to Those Lighting Fires–Not So Much to Matchmakers

Those who worked in match factories were exposed to white phosphorus, which caused a debilitating and potentially deadly condition

A CARE package intended for West Germany in 1948.

How WWII Created the Care Package

Technically, the innovation was originally trademarked

Humpback Whales

Trending Today

Mexico Establishes Largest Marine Protected Area in North America

The nation will fully protect 57,000 square miles around the Revillagigedo Islands from fishing and resource extraction

Five Things to Know About Net Neutrality

The Dec. 14 vote will decide whether to reverse the landmark 2015 regulations placed on Internet service providers

Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic enters the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, to hear the verdict in his genocide trial.

Ratko Mladic, Known as the ‘Butcher of Bosnia,’ Found Guilty of War Crimes and Genocide

A United Nations court found that Mladic had directed the murders of thousands of Muslims in the 1990s

The dark, narrow streaks were once thought to be caused by flowing water. But a new study suggests they are just rolling sand.

Mars' Streaks of Flowing Water May Actually Be Sand

Scientists have debated for years if—and how much—water could exist on the Red Planet

Virginians may have celebrated early Thanksgivings with wild turkey, like this one. Other historical accounts say the first Thanksgiving was scraped together from ship rations, oysters, and ham.

The Pilgrims Weren't the First to Celebrate Thanksgiving

Virginia has a claim to an earlier Christian Thanksgiving celebration

"Perhaps you'd be interested if I had a sponge?"

New Research

Male Humpback Dolphins Woo Mates By Presenting Sponges as Gifts

They also use "wingmen" and occasionally sport the sponges as hats—but researchers aren't sure just how much game they really have

Found: A Rare White Crocodile in Australia

Its name is Pearl

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Self-Taught Rocket Scientist Will Launch From California This Weekend

Mike Hughes built his homemade rocket in an effort to "prove" the Earth is flat. He also plans to run for governor

New Research

Blue Whales Have a Secret Feeding Weapon: Ambidextrousness

Though they tend to favor their right side, blue whales can switch to 'left-handedness' while hunting

Forensic anthropologist Douglas Owsley (left) and APVA Preservation Virginia/ Historic Jamestowne archaeologist (Danny Schmidt) discussing the double burial of two European males. James Fort site, 1607.

What Did Virginia’s Jamestown Colonists Eat?

So far, researchers have found remains of horses, rats and snakes in a well that dates back to the Starving Time

Screenshot of a new, interactive website devoted to Pablo Picasso's most famous work.

Cool Finds

You Can't Get Closer to Picasso's "Guernica" Than This 436-Gigabyte Image

The new "Rethinking Guernica" website also includes 2,000 documents and photos charting the painting's 80-year history

Among the artifacts was a pair of John Lennon's glasses, complete with his optometrist's prescription.

100 Stolen John Lennon Items Found in Berlin

The trove of memorabilia, which was stolen from Yoko Ono, includes Lennon’s diaries, glasses and handwritten music scores

Cool Finds

Skeleton of a Massive Extinct Sea Cow Found on Siberian Island

Remains of the Steller's sea cow shed light on one of the first animals that taught humans about extinction

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