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Stories from Sarah Kuta

El Capitan is an iconic 3,000-foot-tall cliff that soars above the valley floor in Yosemite National Park.

Another 8-Year-Old Boy Ascends El Capitan, Following in His Brother’s Footsteps

On October 24, Sylvan Evermore and his father reached the top of the 3,000-foot-tall vertical granite cliff using a method known as “jugging”

While seaching for Ernest Shackleton's lost ship Endurance in 2019, researchers stumbled across clusters of indentations on the seafloor.

Researchers Found Hundreds of Mysterious Dimples on the Seafloor Near Antarctica. Now They Know What Creature Made Them

The indentations are nests of fish called yellowfin notie, and they are not randomly scattered—rather, they appear to have been arranged in distinct patterns

Archaeologists and volunteers found lead musket balls and cannon shot at an area that was situated between Jacobite and British government lines during the battle.

Archaeologists Unearth More Than 100 Projectiles From an Iconic Battlefield in Scotland

The Battle of Culloden marked the end of the Jacobite rising of 1745 and was the last pitched battle fought on British soil

Veterinarian Ruben Aleman surgically removed the hooks and wire, setting the bird on the path to recovery.

Fishing Line and Hooks Were Tangled in This Albatross’s Stomach. After Surgery, the Bird Is Once Again Flying Free

The juvenile Salvin’s albatross was discovered by a fisherman in Anconcito, Ecuador

The orcas went after the juvenile great white sharks’ livers, which are rich in nutrients and high in calories. Here, an orca swims alongside a wounded shark.

Orcas in Mexico Have Learned to Attack Young Great White Sharks—by Flipping Them Upside Down and Eating Their Livers

Researchers captured the novel behavior on video in the Gulf of California, recording three separate takedowns across two hunts carried out by members of the Moctezuma pod

The stolen items include a pair of scrimshaw walrus tusks and neckpieces by American metalsmith Florence Resnikoff.

Thieves Steal More Than 1,000 Artifacts From a California Museum’s Storage Facility

The “brazen” heist at the Oakland Museum of California occurred in the early morning hours of October 15. Investigators are working to track down the missing items

Bat? Meet rat. Scientists recorded brown rats snatching bats from the air and eating them.

Rats Are Snatching Bats Out of the Air and Eating Them—and Researchers Got It on Video

Rodents in northern Germany were spotted using two different hunting strategies at major urban bat hibernation sites

Archaeologist Rick Knecht (right), shown here in 2019, has been working with community members in Quinhagak, Alaska, to excavate and preserve artifacts from a site called Nunalleq, which was likely inhabited by Yup’ik ancestors from around 1300 to 1650 C.E.

A Storm Battered Western Alaska, Scattering Thousands of Indigenous Artifacts Across the Sand

Archaeologists and community members in Quinhagak are racing to recover as many Yup’ik objects as possible

Friedrich Heyser's oil-on-canvas painting depicts a scene from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Why Hundreds of Taylor Swift Fans Are Flocking to See This 100-Year-Old Painting at a Museum in Germany

Painted around 1900, Friedrich Heyser’s “Ophelia” may have been an inspiration for a popular song on the singer’s latest album

Common cuckoos are medium-size birds typically found in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Rare, Out-of-Place Cuckoo Sends Birders Flocking to Long Island in Hopes of a Once-in-a-Lifetime Sighting

The common cuckoo spends most of the year in Europe and Asia but migrates to Africa for the winter

An original manuscript and cover sketch turned up in the archives of the University of California, San Diego’s Geisel Library earlier this year.

Three Decades After Theodor Geisel’s Death, a New Dr. Seuss Book Is Coming in 2026

“Sing the 50 United States!” will go on sale June 2, just in time to help celebrate America’s 250th anniversary

Epiatheracerium itjilik lived in a forested lake habitat on Devon Island 23 million years ago. 

Scientists Discover ‘Frosty’ Polar Rhino That Roamed the Canadian Arctic 23 Million Years Ago

The newly identified species was small, hornless and possibly covered in fur, which would have helped it survive dark, cold winters above the Arctic Circle

For two days at the start of monsoon season on the Indian subcontinent, male Asian common toads (right) turn bright yellow, while females (left) stay brown.

For Two Days Each Year, These Drab Brown Toads Turn a Dazzling Neon Yellow—and Scientists Finally Know Why

When monsoon rains begin to fall on the Indian subcontinent, Asian common toads congregate at temporary puddles for a frenzied, two-day mating spree

Experts say our fear of dolls likely stems from uncertainty.

These Creepy Dolls Are on the Loose, Haunting the Halls of a Minnesota Museum This Halloween

To mark its seventh annual Creepy Doll Contest, the History Center of Olmsted County is inviting its vintage toy dolls to act as “amateur curators” and roam freely through its collections

Thousands of men died as Napoleon's army retreated from Russia in 1812.

Cold, Hungry and Thirsty, Napoleon’s Troops Also Suffered From Several Diseases as They Retreated From Russia

New research finds evidence of two previously undocumented infections that likely plagued the French emperor’s Grande Armée during the retreat from Moscow

The Parthenon, photographed here on October 17, is free from scaffolding for the first time in decades.

You Can See the Parthenon Without Scaffolding for the First Time in Decades

The temporary structures will return next month—but in the meantime, visitors will enjoy rare unobstructed views of the ancient hilltop temple in Athens

Green sea turtles are rebounding, thanks to global conservation efforts.

After Decades of Decline, Some Good News Is Here for Green Sea Turtles

The International Union for Conservation of Nature no longer considers the marine creatures endangered and has instead reclassified them as a species of least concern

Mountaineers have skied other routes on Mount Everest, but never the Hornbein Couloir, a steep, narrow gully on the North Face.

American Mountaineer Makes History by Skiing Down Mount Everest’s Most Difficult Route

Jim Morrison, 50, completed the historic run on October 15 as a tribute to his late partner, Hilaree Nelson, who died in an avalanche in 2022

A new study investigates addiction-like behaviors in dogs.

Does Your Dog Love Chasing a Ball? Study Suggests Dog Toy ‘Addiction’ Is Real

The research documents addiction-like tendencies in canines, offering scientific evidence that appears to support owners’ own observations

Jackie's unusual coloring results from changes to her natural pigmentation process.

Meet Jackie, a 1-in-30-Million Calico Lobster Caught Off the Coast of Massachusetts

Now living at Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center, the striking crustacean has a bright orange shell with black freckles and blue joints

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