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Mona Lisa Travels by Laser, to Space And Back Again

To test the reaches of laser communication, NASA beamed a digital image of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous portrait to a satellite orbiting the moon

An on-site laboratory will let scientists check for microbial life in the subglacial water.

American Drilling Team Is About to Break Through 800 Meters of Ice to Reach Subglacial Lake

Sampling should be done late this evening, with scientific sampling of the subglacial waters beginning immediately

A new study suggests that lightning alone—even without the other elements of a thunderstorm—might trigger migraines.

Lightning May Trigger Migraine Headaches

A new study suggests that lightning alone—even without the other elements of a thunderstorm—might trigger migraines

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How to Tour Jane Austen’s English Countryside

Follow in the footsteps of Mr. Darcy and the Bennet sisters and take in the manors and gardens of rural England

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Ordering Pizza Online in the Retrofuture

In the 1980s and 90s, there we some really cheesy depictions of ordering food online

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Things to Do in Quito While Nursing Achilles Tendonitis

With its clean public parks, brewpubs, museums and tapas bars, Quito is a fine place to spend a week recovering from an injury

A new study shows the tiny insects orient themselves by the stars.

African Dung Beetles Navigate At Night Using the Milky Way

A new study shows the tiny feces ball-rolling insects orient themselves by the stars

Painting of an Inuit woman with face tattoos, 1654. See a film by an Inuit director attempting to reclaim this tradition in “Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos.” Author unknown.

Events January 25-27: Persian Drama, Inuit Face Tattoos and Schubert’s Fantasy

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Who Designed the Seal of the President of the United States?

We see it on the President’s lectern and in the Oval Office, but who came up with the look and feel of it in the first place?

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Scientists Dismiss Geo-Engineering as a Global Warming Quick Fix

A new study shows that dispersing minerals into oceans to stem climate change would be an inefficient and impractical process

The greening of Lower Manhattan

Learning From Nature How to Deal With Nature

As cities like New York prepare for what appears to be a future of more extreme weather, the focus increasingly is on following nature’s lead

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Origami: A Blend of Sculpture and Mathematics

Artist and MIT professor Erik Demaine makes flat geometric diagrams spring into elegant, three-dimensional origami sculptures

This sign just north of Tumbes is a clear sign, if the mangroves aren’t, that one is entering the muggy, and in some ways dangerous, tropics.

Ecuador, Land of Malaria, Iguanas, Mangoes and Mountains

The author leaves Peru behind and crosses into Ecuador, where he encounters his first sign of a mosquito

Men Commit Scientific Fraud Much More Frequently Than Women

According to a new study, they’re also much more likely to lie about their findings as they climb the academic ladder

Herald Square circa 1907, when Ida Wood first moved into the Herald Square Hotel.

Everything Was Fake but Her Wealth

Ida Wood, who lived for decades as a recluse in a New York City hotel, would have taken her secrets to the grave—if here sister hadn’t gotten there first

A Thai enforcement officer with one of the shocked, rescued babies.

Bag Full of Otters Recovered at Thai Airport

Eleven live otters turned up in a scanned bagged that someone had abandoned at the oversized luggage area of Bangkok’s airport

Roy Wilkins (left) with Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House on November 29, 1963

NAACP Leader Roy Wilkins Predicts: “We’ll Elect A Negro President”

In 1970, the civil rights activist shared his prescient optimism about the future of race relations in the United States

Tile art in Iran. Learn how to make ornate designs like this — from carving to installation — in Tuesday night lessons at the Ripley Center.

Events January 22-24: Persian Tile Lessons, Arts & Craft Beer and MLK Book Signing

This week, learn to be a Persian artist, get crafty in Renwick Gallery and pick up an illustrated copy of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most famous speech

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Why Hypercolor T-Shirts Were Just a One-Hit Wonder

Heat-sensitive color made this sportswear a hot item—but it didn’t last

Gold’s been used for thousands of years to treat disease.

Nanoparticles With a Heart of Gold Can Kill Cancer Cells

Gold nanoparticles are multitaskers when it comes to destroying cancer cells, researchers have found

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