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Stories from Meilan Solly

Winnie-the-Pooh dolls owned by A.A. Milne's son Christopher Robin

Get Excited: The New York Public Library Is Launching Its First Permanent Exhibition

Come 2020, new gallery will feature a rotating trove of artifacts drawn from NYPL’s 46 million-strong collection of treasures

These floral watercolors may have been painted by van Gogh's unrequited love interest, the 19-year-old daughter of his landlady

Newly Discovered Papers Found in Vincent van Gogh’s London Lodging

The cache includes insurance records signed by his landlady, a volume of prayers and hymns, and watercolors possibly painted by an unrequited love interest

Compared to traditional open-heart surgery, TAVR is a relatively simple procedure that finds cardiologists using a catheter to insert a replacement valve

This Minimally Invasive Technique Could Reduce the Need for Open-Heart Surgery

Clinical trials suggest TAVR is just as beneficial as, or perhaps even better than, open-heart surgery for low- and high-risk patients alike

Norman Wilfred Lewis, "Eye of the Storm (Seachange XV)," 1977

Study Finds Paintings Featuring Blue and Red Hues Sell for the Most Money at Auction

There’s green to be found in shades of red and blue

Woman's shoe found at the site of the March 1945 massacre

400 Artifacts Unearthed at Site of Nazi Massacre Targeting Polish, Soviet P.O.W.s

In March 1945, German soldiers shot 208 Polish and Soviet forced laborers in a series of three mass executions across the Arnsberg Forest

iPhones contain a gold concentration 100 times higher than that of a mineral resource geologists would describe as “high-grade"

What Happens When You Drop an iPhone Into a Blender?

Scientists ground up an iPhone 4s to reveal its chemical composition, highlight rare metals used in manufacturing and encourage device recycling

Of 82 percent of American respondents who said they would be willing to try insects, 43 percent ate sushi on a regular basis

Your Opinion of Sushi Is a Good Predictor of How Willing You Are to Eat Insects

Individuals who frequently dine on sushi are more likely to try insects than their raw fish-rejecting counterparts

Carolee Schneemann, "Eye Body #11," 1963

Carolee Schneemann Pioneered the Way Women’s Bodies Were Seen

The multidisciplinary artist, who died this month at 79, used her body as a canvas to produce works that celebrated female sexuality

Virginia Woolf (pictured above), Margaret Kennedy, Rebecca West, Stella Benson and Hilaire Belloc are amongst the writers who answered the survey

Literary Confessions Penned by Virginia Woolf, Margaret Kennedy Unearthed

10 prominent English writers answered a 39-question survey detailing their opinions of literary predecessors and peers

African-Americans breathe in 56 percent more pollution than they generate, while Hispanic Americans breathe in 63 percent more

White Americans Produce More Air Pollution Than They Consume

African-Americans and Hispanics consume fewer pollutant-generating products, but get hit hardest by the negative effects

The 13 missing works are valued at more than $500 million.

Mobster Who May Be the Last Living Person With Knowledge of Gardner Museum Heist Set to Be Released From Prison

Octogenarian Robert Gentile has long maintained his innocence, but investigators believe otherwise

Expansion packs featuring birds of every continent are currently in the works

This New Scientifically Accurate Board Game Is for the Birders

“Wingspan” features 170 unique species cards filled with real-world information, life-like illustrations

Previously, the only known member of the genus spotted on Sulawesi was T. fulvicornis, a species described in 1885.

These 103 Beetle Species Have a Mix of Pop Culture-Inspired Names

Entomologists named the newly discovered species after Star Wars Jedi master Yoda, Greek goddess Artemis, French comic book character Asterix

Georges Seurat's Pointillist "Study for 'A Sunday on La Grande Jatte'" exhibits high levels of entropy but low levels of complexity

Physicists Come Up With Intriguing Way to Measure Art’s Evolution

By mapping the complexity and entropy of 140,000 paintings created between 1031 and 2016, the researchers demonstrated the interaction of art movements

Researchers crossed paths with a pod of Type D whales during a January expedition

A New Orca Species May Have Been Spotted Off the Coast of Chile

Until now, the so-called Type D killer whale has been the stuff of legends, eluding scientists while sneaking snacks off of fishermen’s lines

Underdrawing as seen under X-ray (left) and underdrawing superimposed with elements of 1619 portrait (right)

X-Ray Analysis Reveals Self-Portrait Hidden Under Artemisia Gentileschi Painting

The underpainting closely mirrors an earlier self-portrait depicting the Baroque artist as Saint Catherine

Women in Science Receive Less Grant Money Than Their Male Peers

Researchers found that on average, first-time male lead investigators were awarded $41,000 more than their female counterparts

Mr. Greedy received a "readability" score of 4.4, while Of Mice and Men received a rating of 4.6

Study Suggests ‘Mr. Greedy’ Children’s Book Is Almost as Hard to Read as Steinbeck Classics

The analysis judged texts’ complexity based on sentence length, average word length, vocabulary level, but did not look at reading comprehension

Illustrated Police News periodical detailing the murders

New Book Chronicles the Lives of Jack the Ripper’s Victims

Contrary to popular belief, the five women were not all prostitutes, but rather individuals down on their luck

The "London patient" stopped taking his anti-H.I.V. drugs 18 months ago and has been in remission ever since

H.I.V. Has Reportedly Been ‘Cured’ for Only the Second Time Ever

A London man is in long-term remission following a successful bone marrow stem cell transplant

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