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Stories from Jason Daley

Why Are Whales So Massive? It’s All About Energy

Marine mammal size is a delicate balance between chowing down and chilly waters

Rare Image of Early Female Pharaoh Found in University Collection

After her reign, Hatshepsut was expunged from Egyptian history, but a carving of her likeness has turned up in Swansea University

Why This Elephant in India Is Blowing Smoke

It’s likely the puffing pachyderm is eating ash-covered charcoal as a form of self-medication to flush out toxins

In 2003, Pulitzer-prize winning reporter Les Payne is pictured delivering the traditional charge to University of Connecticut undergraduates during commencement exercises at The Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.

Pioneering Black Journalist Les Payne Has Died at Age 76

The fearless Pulitzer Prize-winning Newsday reporter and editor, who was a founding member of NABJ, paved the way for journalists of color

Debris recovered from the Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Is Much Larger and Chunkier Than We Thought

A new study shows the patch is not just microplastics. Fishing gear and large pieces make up 92 percent of the trash

Regaliceratops peterhewsi, the “Hellboy Dinosaur”

Dinosaur Horns Were For Making Love, Not War

The elaborate horns and frills were more likely for attracting mates than fighting off enemies

Wreck of U.S.S. Juneau Discovered in the Solomon Islands

The ship was known as the grave of the five Sullivan Brothers who died aboard it during the Battle of Guadalcanal

70,000 Years Ago, a Passing Star Shook Up Our Solar System

The red dwarf likely came within one light-year of the sun, altering the course of some asteroids and comets

Periplaneta Americana

Cockroach Genome Shows Why They Are Impossible to Kill

The massive genome includes code for neutralizing toxins, regrowing limbs and a thousand genes for detecting food and chemicals

This digitally-colorized negative-stained transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image shows recreated 1918 influenza virions that were collected from supernatants of 1918-infected Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells cultures 18 hours after infection.

Flu Skies: How Influenza Might Spread On a Plane

A new study suggests the chances of contracting a sick passenger’s flu virus is surprisingly low

James K. Polk. Oil on canvas.

Tennessee Votes to Keep Polk’s Grave Where It Is. For Now

A resolution to move the grave from the capitol grounds in Nashville to one of his boyhood homes failed by one vote

Artifacts Stolen in Massive Archaeological Theft Recovered in Canterbury

Police have recovered most of the 2,000 coins, bones, beads and other items lifted from the Canterbury Archaeological Trust in January

Nearly 9-Hour Rainbow in Taiwan Sets New Guinness Record

Last November, researchers recorded more than 10,000 photos and videos documenting the long-lasting weather phenomenon

Undated photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows fake Native American styled-jewelry seized by federal officials during a 2015 investigation in New Mexico.

Investigators Crack Down on Fraudulent Native American Jewelry

In April, Albuquerque jewelry dealer Nael Ali is set to be sentenced under the 1935 Indian Arts and Crafts Act

Casanova Is Getting a Museum

The womanizer and Enlightenment polymath will be memorialized with an interactive museum in Venice opening April 2

The quolls say: Please reintroduce us, please.

The Super-cute Eastern Quoll Returns to Mainland Australia

Wiped out by a mystery disease and non-native foxes, the spotted, cat-sized predator is being reintroduced in Booderee National Park

Young pythons warm themselves

Study Reveals Pythons Take Care of Their Offspring, For a Little While

The southern African python wraps around its eggs to keep them warm and does the same for its snakelets during the first weeks of life

Sunshine Sheds Light on 17th-Century Mystery Painting At Hearst Castle

Two bright-eyed guides found an abbreviation and inscription leading to Spanish painter Bartolomé Pérez de la Dehesa

Earthlings: There’s No Need to Freak Out About Tonight’s Solar Storm

Expect small disruptions to satellite communications and minor surges in the power grid. Find out how USGS predicts effects of geomagnetic storms

Hawking, whose brilliant mind ranged across time and space though his body was paralyzed by disease, has died, a family spokesman said early Wednesday, March 14, 2018.

Stephen Hawking, the Expansive Cosmologist Who Shone Light on the Universe, Has Died at 76

The world’s favorite ambassador of science was one of the greatest minds in physics

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