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Stories from Meilan Solly

Paramount Ranch hosted an array of Classic Hollywood stars, including Carole Lombard, the Marx Brothers and Bob Hope

100 Years of Hollywood History Lost as California Inferno Destroys Paramount Ranch

The ranch’s Western Town served as the one of the sets of popular HBO drama ‘Westworld’

Water found deep within the planet's interior contains different ratio of heavy hydrogen isotopes and normal hydrogen, pointing toward separate point of origin

Where Did Earth’s Water Originate? Solar Nebula, Study Suggests

Researchers say the hydrogen contained in these clouds of gas and dust contributed to formation of one out of every 100 water molecules found on Earth

The Science and Cell teams sequenced a total of 64 ancient human genomes

This Week Has Offered a Slew of Insights on the Western Hemisphere’s First Humans

Studies reveal rapid yet uneven movement south in at least three migratory waves, complicating story of the Americas’ settlement

Bruce is alternately painted as a patriot whose perseverance secured his nation’s independence and a more shadowy figure with dangerous ambitions

The True Story of Robert the Bruce, Scotland’s ‘Outlaw King’

Chris Pine stars as the Netflix film’s eponymous hero, who secures his country’s independence but leaves behind a tangled legacy

A trip to the British Museum may be one of the social prescribing options outlined by U.K. doctors

British Doctors May Soon Prescribe Art, Music, Dance, Singing Lessons

Campaign is expected to launch across the entire U.K. by 2023

Researchers say the shift in laugh patterns doesn't appear to be linked with any major developmental milestones

Babies Share Same Laugh Patterns as Chimpanzees

Unlike adults, who tend to laugh while exhaling, infants let giggles loose while both inhaling and exhaling

A platypus living in the most contaminated site could be routinely exposed to up to half of an adult human’s daily dose of antidepressants

Australian Rivers Are Contaminated With Pharmaceuticals. That’s Bad News For Platypuses, Study Says

The team found evidence of human medications in every insect tested, including those from national park previously believed to be free of contaminants

A Victorian era time capsule marks one of the project's most unique early finds

10,000 Years of British History to Be Unearthed in Excavations in Advance of Planned Rail Line

Initial finds include hunter-gatherer site on outskirts of London, Wars of the Roses battlefield, Industrial Revolution burial guard

Édouard Manet, "La Négresse (Portrait of Laure)," 1863. Collection Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, Turin.

Exhibition Re-Examines Modernism’s Black Models

Curator Denise Murrell looks at the unheralded black women featured in some of art history’s masterpieces

Abnormalities identified included misshapen skulls and jaws, bowed femur and arm bones

Did Rampant Inbreeding Contribute to Early Humans’ High Rate of Skeletal Deformities?

Researcher identified 75 skeletal or dental defects in sample of just 66 sets of ancient remains

Llama antibodies are smaller than human ones, making them ideal for latching onto hard-to-reach areas of flu virus strains

Llama Antibodies May Be the Key to Flu Prevention

Researchers have created a llama-inspired mega protein capable of neutralizing 59 different strains of influenza

This is the face of a cold-hearted killer...right?

This Petite Cat Is the World’s Deadliest. Mini-Series ‘Super Cats’ Shows You Why

The African black-footed cat weighs roughly 200 times less than the average lion, but it has a predation success rate of 60 percent

Jane Fortune photographed in 2009.

Legacy of Jane Fortune, Champion of Forgotten Women Artists, Lives on in New Initiative

‘A Space of Their Own’ aims to build comprehensive digital database of 15th- to 19th-century women artists

The lamprey's jawless yet toothy mouth is ideal for hooking onto victims' flesh

Toothy Medieval Sea Monster Remains Found in London

The lamprey, a jawless fish that uses its teeth to hook onto the flesh of prey, was a favorite delicacy amongst British royals past and present

The labyrinthine network stretches roughly 4.5 miles across the ocean floor

Researchers Unearth Glass Labyrinth Created by Underwater Volcanic Eruption

The unusual formation is situated nearly three miles below the ocean’s surface—a distance greater than Mount Rainier’s height above sea level

Two high schoolers from Akron, Ohio, stumbled upon the tool while sifting through sediment during a dig at the estate

Students Unearth 6,000-Year-Old Stone Axe at Mount Vernon

The tool, which was likely used for cutting or carving wood rather than as a weapon, was crafted during 4000 B.C.

This vintage print of Sylvia Plath was taken in 1959 at her 9 Willow Street apartment in Boston.

Sylvia Plath’s Last Letters Paint Visceral Portrait of Her Marriage, Final Years

A new volume of her correspondence highlights the poet’s whimsical, sensual and intellectual sides

This year marks the 333rd anniversary of J.S. Bach's birth

Are Classical Music Performances Speeding Up?

For Johann Sebastian Bach’s 333rd birthday, a team looked at recordings of the composer’s work over the last 50 years

Contemporary hot chocolate bears little resemblance to the bitter drink enjoyed by ancient South and Central American civilizations

Cacao Was First Cultivated in South America, Not Mexico and Central America

New study pinpoints birth of chocolate to some 5,300 years ago, or nearly 1,500 years earlier than previously believed

Celebrate the spookiest night of the year by participating in a "game" that lets you guide a real person's actions

This Halloween, a Social Experiment Will Allow Internet Users to Control the Actions of a Real Person

MIT Media Laboratory’s BeeMe is the love child of ‘Black Mirror’ and psychologist Stanley Milgram’s notorious experiments on free will and obedience

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