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The Last Working Copyist in Mali Is Trying To Save Timbuktu’s Manuscripts

180,000 medieval manuscripts are housed in Timbuktu, and only 23,000 of those ancient writings have ever been catalogued

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Super High Res Photo of Mt. Everest Shows Glacier Melt (But No Bodies)

Photographers from the organization Glacier Works just captured an interactive digital image of Mount Everest in astounding, gigapixel detail

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This Beautiful Visualization Makes Prime Factors Dance

“I knew that I should take his lovely little dots and make them dance”

Just Before Sealing the Deal, Male Peacocks Announce to All Other Ladies ‘We’re About to Do It’

Called a “hoot-dash” display, scientists puzzle over the purpose of this seemingly braggadocios bellow

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Watch Out for All the Holiday Drinking—You Might Spontaneously Combust

In the 18th century, sober citizens and church goers loved to harp on the evils of alcohol abuse, which supposedly could cause a person to randomly burst into flames

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One Spider Genus Has Species Named for Star Wars Monsters, U2, Cesar Chavez and Obama

The discovery of 33 new trapdoor spider species in the U.S. Southwest kicked off a celebrity species-naming throw down

Key to Getting Holiday Shopping Right, Science Says, Is to Trust Your Gut

Skip the holiday season melt downs by not over-thinking gifts for family or close friends, researchers advise

Instead of Dieting After the Holidays, Take the Bus

Driving just 1 mile less per day is more effective at reducing weight than cutting back on 100 calories per day

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Spider Builds Fake Spider Decoy

The new spider, thought to be a member of the genus Cyclosa, might build these decoys as part of a defense mechanism to confuse or distract predators

Fluorescence images of uncompressed (left) and compressed (right) colonies of malignant breast epithelial cells. Compressed colonies are smaller and more organized.

Giving Breast Cells a Little Squeeze Can Stop Cancerous Growth

Good news for breasts: simply giving would-be malignant mammary cells a little squeeze helps guide them back to a normal growth pattern

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Pitcher Plants Entice Ants With a Water Slide of Death

A Venezuelan pitcher plant’s specially adapted, wettable hairs counter the sticky pads and little claws on insect feet and are especially deadly for ants

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Native American Woman May Have Made It to Europe 500 Years Before Columbus Was Born

A photo of an eastern cougar, date unknown.

Eastern Cougar ‘Ghost Cat’ Declared Extinct

The eastern cougar is extinct. But did it ever exist in the first place?

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Ramses III’s Mummy Reveals the Pharaoh’s Throat Was Slit

Ramses III’s death has always been a mystery, but new evidence just emerged the the Pharaoh’s throat was slit, likely by members of his harem

Crayfish Have Been Secretly Spreading a Deadly Frog Epidemic

The more we can learn about how chytrid fungus spreads and attacks, the better chances we have at saving the world’s amphibians

The IPCC’s famous “hocket stick” chart of global temperatures.

Is the U.N. Climate Report More Trouble Than It’s Worth?

Several mainstream scientists are expressing doubts about the necessity of the IPCC reports

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NASA Assures Us the World Won’t End on Friday

NASA points out the illogic of this apocalypse scenario and misconceptions that caused the false notion of an end-of-the-world prophesy to come about

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Tornado Power: Green Energy of the Future?

Paypal co-founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel just gave a small $300,000 startup grant to a Canadian researcher trying to harness power from man-made tornados

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Soon There Should Be Fewer Microscopic Soot Particles in the Air

The Obama administration just set new limits on soot from smoke stacks and diesel engines, a type of air pollution linked to early death and higher rates of heart attacks, strokes and lung diseases

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This Nostalgic Private Collection Has 1,713 Photos of Old-Fashioned Cans, Jars and Clippings

Flickr user Roadsidepictures offers hundreds of images of vintage product packaging spanning most of the 20th century

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