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Stories from Jason Daley

HHV-6, one of the viruses found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

Childhood Virus May Have a Role in Alzheimer’s Disease

A study of 1,000 brains found two common types of herpes viruses were more prevalent in those suffering from the dementia-inducing disease

Take a 3D Tour Through Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West

New state-of-the-art scans allow virtual visits to the architect’s winter home and gives conservators detailed blueprints

China’s Plastic Ban Will Flood Us With Trash

New study reports China’s ban on importing foreign plastic could cripple global recycling programs and lead to 111 million tons of homeless plastic

Wealthy Bostonian John Freake who, a new caption reveals, owned a slave.

Museum Ties Portraits of the Wealthy to Their Slaveholding Pasts

New signs at the Worcester Art Museum illuminate how wealthy New Englanders benefitted from the slave trade

This striped dolphin, photographed in the Gulf of Corinth, may be grieving a relative. A new study examines the evidence.

Study Suggests Dolphins and Some Whales Grieve Their Dead

An analysis of 78 instances of cetaceans paying attention to their dead suggests grief may be part of being a highly social animal

The early life stages of these oceanic behemoths are a mystery to researchers.

Teeming Manta Ray Nursery Discovered in the Gulf of Mexico

Almost all of the rays in the area are rarely seen juveniles, which can reach wingspans of 23 feet when they grow up

Prototype of one of the magnets that will be used in the upgraded Large Hadron Collider.

The Large Hadron Collider Is Getting A Huge Power Boost

A multi-year upgrade will lead to up to 10 times the collisions, and perhaps the discovery of mysterious new particles

Say what? Residents of the town of Liberal, Kansas, are developing a new accent thanks to changing demographics in the area.

This Town In Kansas Has Its Own Unique Accent

Immigration over the last 40 years has all the young people in town speaking English with a slightly Latin feel

Where Did the Aztecs Get Their Turquoise?

New analysis shows the blue-green mineral found in Aztec art was likely mined in Mexico, not the American Southwest as previously believed

I can haz more habitats?

The UK’s Hedgehogs (and Other Mammals) Are In Danger

The island nation’s mammal populations have seen a steep decline in the last two decades, with hedgehog numbers decreasing by two-thirds

Stephen Hawking's memorial stone in Westminster Abbey.

A Message From Stephen Hawking Is On Its Way to a Black Hole

After his ashes were interred at Westminster Abbey, a musical composition and “message of hope” were broadcast toward 1A 0620-00, the nearest black hole

A narwhal being capture and tagged for the study

Researchers Record the Sounds of the Elusive Narwhal

Skreee—-click——whirrr.

The Unheralded Legacy of Civil Rights Leader Dorothy Cotton

The late activist helped organize the Birmingham marches and educated the disenfranchised about their constitutional rights

Hangry like the wolf.

Being Hangry Is Real, But You Can Control It

Hunger elicits similar responses as emotions, but it only turns into “hanger” when people are already primed with negative feelings

Inca Skull Surgeons Had Better Success Rates Than American Civil War Doctors

Survival rates among later Inca cultures was significantly higher. However, the 19th-century soldiers were facing trauma caused by industrial-age warfare

Construction Workers Find Rare Intact Roman Tomb

‘The Tomb of the Athlete’ includes four bodies, a coin, offerings of chicken, rabbit and lamb and strigils, the symbol of Roman sportsmen

The Odyssey of the World’s Largest Freshwater Pearl

The gem, which was was recently bought at auction, was likely found in China in the 1700s and was once owned by Russia’s Catherine the Great

An example of a moai wearing a red scoria pukao.

The Clever Way the Easter Island Statues Got Hats

A new analysis of the 13-ton red stone pukao show the carvings were likely rolled up ramps to the leaning statues

Something Is Killing Off Africa’s Largest Baobab Trees

In the last dozen years, four of the 13 largest, and likely oldest, trees have died. Another five are ailing

Oldest Footprints Show When Life On Earth Got Legs

Tiny fossil tracks found in South China firmly date appendages back to the Ediacaran period

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