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Stories from Meilan Solly

One 23-year-old supermom gave birth to 17 pups over her lifetime

Select Elephant Seal ‘Supermoms’ Produce Most Pups

The most successful seal mothers were those that ‘bred at every opportunity and lived long’

Tawanda Kanhema, as pictured in 2018 at Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls

Meet the Photographer Single-Handedly Putting Zimbabwe on Google Street View

Thanks to Tawanda Kanhema, you can now take a virtual tour of Victoria Falls, the Great Zimbabwe National Monument and other attractions

The tool is set to go offline this Friday, but it will remain accessible as a physical art installation at Milan’s Fondazione Prada Osservertario

Art Project Shows Racial Biases in Artificial Intelligence System

ImageNet Roulette reveals how little-explored classification methods are yielding ‘racist, misogynistic and cruel results’

The museum will be housed in a former brothel known as the Shasta Room

Deadwood Is Getting a Brothel Museum

A non-profit is telling the local history of prostitution in the Wild West town, popularized by the HBO show of the same name

The crocodile was 3 to 4 years old at the time of its death

Ancient Egyptians Hunted, Then Mummified, Crocodiles

New scans of a 2,000-year-old crocodile specimen suggest the animal was hunted specifically for mummification

The Guggenheim Museum's Hilma af Klint exhibition was a surprise hit, eventually becoming the Manhattan institution's most-visited show of all time

Study Shows U.S. Museums Still Lag When It Comes to Acquiring Works by Women Artists

Between 2008 and 2018, artwork by women represented just 11 percent of acquisitions and 14 percent of exhibitions at 26 major museums

Dreaming May Help the Brain Forget Excess Memories, a Study of Mice Shows

Researchers identify neurons linked with memory retention, performance in mice

Jo van Gogh-Bonger and her son Vincent Willem, as photographed in Paris in 1890

New Biography Spotlights Jo Bonger, Sister-in-Law Who Helped Rescue van Gogh From Obscurity

Bonger, wife of van Gogh’s brother Theo, described her mission as ‘getting [Vincent’s work] seen and appreciated as much as possible’

Scientists analyzed hundreds of bison and brown bear fossils collected in the field or held by major museums

Why Are Animals in Natural History Museums Overwhelmingly Male?

Researchers say the sex imbalance stems from factors including animal size, sex-specific behavior and human collecting preferences

A William Blake illustration depicting the fall of Adam and Eve

Student Discovers Secret Acrostic in Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’

A Tufts University undergraduate spotted three interlocking instances of the word “FALL” in Book 9 of the epic poem

The only exceptions to the Ayam Cemani's black coloring are its cream-colored eggs and red blood

These Chickens Have Jet-Black Hearts, Beaks and Bones

The Ayam Cemani owes its unusual coloring to a genetic mutation

The Tiger Temple charged tourists to feed, take photos with captive felines

86 Big Cats Rescued From Thailand’s Tiger Temple Have Died in Government Custody

Although the government says inbreeding, stress contributed to the felines’ demise, critics have also cited cramped conditions, inadequate facilities

Milton's admiration for Shakespeare is well-documented

Is This John Milton’s Annotated Copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio?

A copy of the Bard’s collected plays may contain notes penned by the ‘Paradise Lost’ author

Researchers studied brain mapping in two professional foot painters

Inside the Brains of Artists Who Paint With Their Feet

Two artists born without arms possess complex “toe maps” similar to more typical neural “hand maps”

A copper band found at the McQueen shell ring is similar to ceremonial objects seen at sites in the Great Lakes region

Grave Hints at Interaction Between Early Humans Living in Great Lakes, American Southeast

Parallels between burial sites in the two regions suggest long-distance networks emerged earlier than previously believed

Birds given doses of a common pesticide lost significant body mass, fat stores

Common Pesticides Delay Songbird Migration, Trigger Significant Weight Loss

Within six hours of ingesting a high dose of pesticide, sparrows lost six percent of their body weight and 17 percent of their fat stores

Andrea del Verrocchio, "Head of a Woman With Braided Hair," c. 1475-1478

The Man Who Mentored da Vinci Receives First U.S. Retrospective

National Gallery of Art spotlights Andrea del Verrocchio, a skilled sculptor and painter whose individual accomplishments have long been overlooked

Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre

Exploring Paul Revere’s Legacy Beyond His Famed Midnight Ride

Before becoming an American legend, the Revolutionary War hero was best known as a skilled artisan, activist and entrepreneur

The Atlantic ghost crab uses teeth in its stomach to produce guttural growls when danger nears.

Ghost Crabs Use Teeth in Their Stomachs to Ward Off Predators

The crustaceans produce guttural growls when danger nears

Archaeologists found traces of a milk protein in seven prehistoric Britons' calcified dental plaque

Prehistoric Farmers’ Teeth Show Humans Were Drinking Animal Milk 6,000 Years Ago

A new study suggests Neolithic Britons processed raw milk to reduce its lactose content

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