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Stories from Meilan Solly

Volcanic Lightning Could Help Geologists Monitor Eruptions

New study suggests spikes in lightning activity mark key changes during early stages of eruptions

Television remains dominant across all mediums, with 49 percent of Americans surveyed citing it as their most-frequented news source

Pew Finds Social Media Has Surpassed Print Newspapers as Americans’ Main News Source

The research center says 20 percent of Americans rely on sites like Facebook, Twitter for news updates, while 16 percent cite print as main news source

The so-called "Great Dying" depleted ocean oxygen levels, effectively suffocating nearly all of the planet's marine life

How Did the ‘Great Dying’ Kill 96 Percent of Earth’s Ocean-Dwelling Creatures?

Researchers say the prehistoric mass extinction event could mirror contemporary—and future—devastation sparked by global warming

The resin-based 3D printer layers ink much like the chocolate and wafer combination seen in Kit-Kat bars

This New Technique Could Revolutionize the Future of Art Reproduction

RePaint renders reproductions in color four times closer to the original than the next-best tool

The blue-fronted Amazon parrot lives up to 66 years in the wild.

Parrot Genes Reveal Why the Birds Are So Clever, Long-Lived

Researchers say the avian creatures are as genetically distant from other birds as humans are from other primates

Claude-Joseph Vernet, "The Storm," 1759

How a New Hampshire Museum Is Using Art to Reach Families Affected by the Opioid Crisis

The ‘Art of Hope’ initiative encourages participants to draw connections between works of art and their own lives

The re-discovered works are newly published in the literary journal Fugue.

Scholar Unearths Trove of Anne Sexton’s Forgotten Early Works

The four poems and an essay find the confessional poet detailing American life in the 1950s, from skiing to suburban lawn care

When healthy DNA is added to gold particle-laden (and therefore pink) water, it turns blue, but when cancerous DNA is added, the water remains pink

Researchers Say They’ve Created Universal Cancer Test That Detects Mutating Cells in Just 10 Minutes

The tool, which is still in early stages of development, can’t identify the specific type of cancer present or gauge the severity of the disease

The Nazis appropriated Christmas imagery for political purposes, even changing the lyrics of traditional holiday songs like "Silent Night"

Berlin Exhibition Chronicles Evolution of Christmas Decorations From 19th Century to Today

Selections include swastika-adorned baubles from Nazi Germany, miniature bombs and warships popularized during World War I

At the time of the study's writing, the then seven-month-old baby girl was developing normally and appeared to be the picture of health

Woman With Womb Transplanted From Deceased Donor Successfully Gives Birth

Recipient was born without a womb, but thanks to uterine transplant, she was able to deliver a healthy baby girl in December 2017

As biographer Antonia Fraser explains, Mary’s story is one of “murder, sex, pathos, religion and unsuitable lovers"

The True Story of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I

Josie Rourke’s film sees Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie transform from allies into rivals, but in actuality, the queens’ relationship was far more complex

Prodger's 33-minute film features shots of seemingly mundane aspects of life, including these sneakers

Charlotte Prodger Claims This Year’s Turner Prize With Film Shot on iPhone

The Glasgow-based artist’s diaristic ‘Bridgit’ examines the fluidity of queer identity

Smaller nanoplastics spread throughout the scallops' muscles, gills, gonads and other organs, while larger ones stayed mainly in the intestines

It Only Takes Six Hours for Billions of Plastic Nanoparticles to Accumulate in Sea Scallops

The particles accumulated with rapid speed, but it took up to 48 days for them to disappear from the mollusks’ systems

The Georgia aster is one of many threatened plant species

Thousands of Little-Known Plant Species Are at Risk of Extinction

When researchers used machine learning to evaluate 150,000 plant species, they found that 10 percent were likely to qualify for the IUCN Red List

The virtual museum features seven rooms focused on themes such as correspondence, music and flirtation.

Explore Vermeer’s Surviving Paintings, Together After All This Time, in One Virtual Exhibition

The augmented reality “Meet Vermeer” experience details the Dutch Old Master’s artistic style, life and enduring legacy

Drug overdoses claimed 70,237 lives in 2017, while suicides numbered more than 47,000 over the same period

U.S. Life Expectancy Drops for Third Year in a Row, Reflecting Rising Drug Overdoses, Suicides

Drop represents longest sustained decline in expected lifespan since the tumultuous period of 1915 to 1918

The jumping spider bears a distinct resemblance to ants

Jumping Spiders Are the Only Arachnids Known to Provide ‘Milk’ For Their Young

The milk-like nutritious fluid contains four times the protein of cow’s milk

The majority of homicides catalogued on the map occurred in public places, including crowded streets and markets

Relive Medieval London’s Bloody Murders With This New Interactive Death Map

The macabre tool features tales of revenge, thwarted love, infanticide—and a urinal that drove a man to murder

The Stone Age chefs likely boiled carp roe eggs in water or fish broth

Stone Age Humans Feasted on Caviar

Researchers used advanced protein analysis to identify traces of carp roe eggs left on a 6,000-year-old clay plot

Pulter's poems offer an intimate glimpse into the private life of a 17th-century noblewoman

Critically Explore 17th-Century Noblewoman’s Little-Known Poems Online

Hester Pulter’s works detail chaotic political landscape of the English Civil War, scientific discoveries, theological queries, personal struggles

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