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Stories from Meilan Solly

Structures unearthed at Achtriochtan may be linked with the bloody massacre

Archaeologists Are Excavating Site of Scottish Massacre That Inspired the ‘Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding

In 1692, members of the Campbell clan turned on their MacDonald hosts, killing at least 38 men and sending women and children fleeing into the hills

In trials, the app detected the presence of ear fluid with 85 percent accuracy

Researchers Develop App That Plays Chirping Sounds to Check for Ear Infections

Although EarHealth isn’t currently available for purchase, the team hopes to receive F.D.A. approval by the end of 2019

Can a bike ride a day keep the doctor away?

Welsh Doctors Can Now Prescribe Free Bicycle Rides

The pilot program joins a recent spate of ‘social prescribing’ activities to hit the U.K.

Scientists have been tracking Mauna Loa's carbon dioxide levels since 1958

Carbon Dioxide Levels Reach Highest Point in Human History

Last Friday, carbon concentrations at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory topped 415 ppm

The study's authors outline three possible scenarios for the unusual fossil's formation

This 100-Million-Year-Old Squid Relative Was Entrapped in Amber

The ancient ammonite was preserved alongside the remains of at least 40 other marine and terrestrial creatures

Over the next 80 years, one-third of panda territory will become too hot to support bamboo growth

China’s National Panda Park Will Be Three Times the Size of Yellowstone

The vast space will connect China’s fragmented panda populations, enabling the land giants to better find mates and diversify their species’ gene pool

Illustration from woodblock-printed text on the life of Gautama Buddha

Library of Congress Digitizes Taiwanese Watercolors, Rare Chinese Texts

The library’s rare Chinese book collection includes 5,300 titles, 2,000 of which will ultimately be included in the online portal

Moving forward, the researchers hope to study how paper wasps use transitive inference in social interactions

Wasps Are the First Invertebrates to Pass This Basic Logic Test

New research suggests paper wasps are capable of transitive inference, a form of logic used to infer unknown relationships on the basis of known ones

Left: Half-restored version of Vermeer's "Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window" / Right: Unrestored version

Restoration Reveals Long-Lost Cupid Painted Over After Vermeer’s Death

In an unusual move, the Dresden gallery has opted to display the half-restored painting prior to concluding conservation efforts

Iris Scott, "Tiger Fire," 2019

Iris Scott, the World’s First Professional Finger-Painter, Launches NYC Show

While the artist isn’t the first to use finger painting in her work, she is the first to dedicate her career to the technique

C.D.C. Says More Than Half of the U.S.’ Pregnancy-Related Deaths Are Preventable

African-American, Native American and Alaska Native women are around three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues than white women

To some, beets' soil-like smell is so strong that eating the vegetable holds the same appeal as dining on a chunk of dirt.

New Study Reveals How One Person’s ‘Smellscape’ Can Differ From Another’s

A single genetic mutation could determine whether you perceive beets’ soil-like smell, whiskey’s smokiness and lily of the valley’s sweetness

Max Peintner, "The Unbroken Attraction of Nature," 1970-71, handcolored by Klaus Littmann in 2018

Curator Will Plant 299 Trees in a Stadium to Make Statement on Climate Change

After the installation closes, the makeshift forest will be relocated to a public space, where it will remain accessible as a ‘living forest sculpture’

Celine Dion arrives for the 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

How Well Did This Year’s Met Gala Exemplify ‘Camp’?

The concept of camp goes far beyond what Susan Sontag wrote in her seminal essay

Participants use magnetic landscape tiles to build a perfect planet

This Board Game Asks Players to Craft a Perfect Planet

In ‘Planet’, players compete to create worlds capable of sustaining the highest possible level of biodiversity

Left: Albrecht Dürer, "St. Thomas," 1514 / Right: Johann Ladenspelder, "St. Thomas," circa 1535 – 1561

What Differentiates Renaissance Copies, Fakes and Reproductions?

An Austin exhbition argues that copies, despite the negative connotations associated with the word, are not inferior to so-called “originals”

Here’s What Al Capone’s Philadelphia Prison Cell Really Looked Like

The mob boss spent nine months imprisoned at Eastern State Penitentiary, and a new exhibition shows his stay was less glamorous than it was portrayed

A new study identifies the remains of two previously mislabeled species: a short-faced bear and wolf-like carnivore

Divers Find Ice Age Megafauna Remains in Underwater Mexican Cave

The animals include at least seven short-faced bears and one or two wolf-like carnivores

The 8.5-millimeter millipede had five-unit compound eyes and an unusually hairless rear end

This Petite, 99-Million-Year-Old Millipede Was Entrapped in Amber

The diminutive arthropod represents not only a previously unknown species, but an entirely separate Callipodida suborder

Every additional $10,000 in total income makes a person two percent more likely to enter a creative field

Wealth Is a Strong Predictor of Whether an Individual Pursues a Creative Profession

Those from households with an annual income of $1 million are 10 times more likely to become artists than those from families with a $100,000 income

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