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The Altar Stone lies flat on the ground, sunk into the grass beneath the collapsed upright of the Great Trilithon and its lintel.

New Research

Where Did Stonehenge’s Mysterious, Six-Ton Altar Stone Really Come From? Geologists Rule Out the Scottish Hypothesis as the Search Deepens

A comprehensive investigation of the sandstone megalith’s “geological fingerprint” suggests it did not originate in northeast Scotland, as a surprising study concluded in 2024, sending scientists back into the field to track down the enigmatic slab’s origins

Vessels uncovered in the House of Cornelius Maximus, located on one of Pompeii's busiest streets

Cool Finds

This Wooden Wardrobe in Pompeii Remained Sealed for Nearly 2,000 Years. Archaeologists Just Opened It for the First Time

The ancient cabinet held a pair of tweezers, a perfume bottle, an incense burner and ceramic vessels. But the most impressive find was a necklace sporting at least 24 amulets shaped like deities, plants and body parts

An engraving of a horse, one of roughly 280 artworks found in the cave, is estimated to be 26,000 years-old.

Cool Finds

For Centuries, Cave Visitors Walked Right by 280 Ice Age Engravings. The Newly Discovered Rock Art Is Rewriting Catalonia’s Prehistory

Prior to the discovery, rock art in northeastern Spain was “very scarce,” one archaeologist says. The drawings show dozens of animals, as well as more abstract shapes, which are distinct from other Paleolithic styles

The gas may have been spewed from cracks at the edges of the shield volcano Alba Mons.

Strange Gas in Mars’ Atmosphere Hints the Red Planet Is Still Volcanically Active—and Points to Places to Search for Alien Life

Cracks along a giant Martian volcano, possibly above a magma chamber, might be spewing magmatic gases into the atmosphere, according to a new study. The fissures might host environments akin to Earth’s hydrothermal vents, where life on our planet may have emerged

The black-belted hawkmoth (Megacorma obliqua) is one of the species that produces ultrasound.

These Moths Use Their Genitals to Fend Off Bats—but Not in the Way You Think. They Emit Ultrasound to Scramble the Predators’ Sonar

New research suggests male hawkmoths have three distinct anti-bat, ultrasound-producing systems. These may have evolved independently up to seven times between 5 million and 30 million years ago

Polar vortex in 2019

The Arctic Polar Vortex Is Collapsing Earlier in the Season Than Ever Documented—but We Don’t Know How It’ll Affect Global Weather

A previous polar vortex disruption contributed to the Great Texas Freeze in 2021. This time, the ongoing “super” El Niño might offset some of the collapse’s influence

Detail showing the hair of one of the figures around Christ in The Last Judgment, as example of the use of a multi-tipped brush

Michelangelo Used These Custom, Multi-Headed Brushes While Painting ‘The Last Judgment’ to Replicate His Intricate Sculpting Techniques

While restoring the Sistine Chapel, researchers discovered wavy groupings of brushstrokes which indicated that the artist used the special brushes to create a distinct crosshatching pattern

The SS Cornwallis was transporting sugar and molasses from Barbados to New Brunswick when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat.

Cool Finds

A Nazi Submarine Torpedoed a Merchant Ship Just Off the Coast of Maine in 1944. Divers Have Finally Located the Wreckage, 400 Feet Below the Surface

The SS “Cornwallis” was traveling between Barbados and Canada when it was sunk by a German U-boat that had delivered Nazi spies to American soil just days earlier

The Verica Stater coin, showing a figure on horseback and the inscription "Rex"

New Research

Was the British King Who Urged the Romans to Invade Actually a Queen? One Archaeologist Thinks So

Linguistic clues and ancient coins could suggest that Verica—a ruler who fled Britain and convinced Roman Emperor Claudius to launch an invasion across the English Channel—has been misgendered for centuries

China announced plans for landing humans on the moon with a crewed spacecraft and lunar lander. At the left, a model of the Lanyue lander is seen at the National Museum of China.

China Announces a Plan to Put Astronauts on the Moon by 2030, Revealing Details of Four Upcoming Missions

The country intends to launch three uncrewed test missions followed by a human lunar landing within the next few years. NASA hopes to send humans to the moon in 2028, though some experts have expressed doubt about that timeline

Achille the bull and Patroclo the male donkey

This Bull and Male Donkey Have a Surprisingly Sexual Relationship, Providing Insights Into Interspecies and Same-Sex Bonds

The ungulates, dubbed Achille and Patroclo, chose each other repeatedly and showed affection before and after each rendezvous. Same-sex sexual encounters are common among animals of the same species, but less so between different ones

Infernogallus jamesi was about the size of a turkey.

This Ancient ‘Hell Chicken’ Might Be the First Known Fruit-Loving Dinosaur, Revealing a Whole New Cretaceous Lifestyle

Infernogallus jamesi had beak and mouth adaptations that hint it could mash soft foods, like today’s frugivorous birds. The dinosaur probably munched on fruits resembling modern-day cherries and peaches, and may have helped spread seeds via its poop

Archaeologists found the sword at the bottom of Lake Mezzano in central Italy.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Found a 3,300-Year-Old Sword at the Bottom of a Volcanic Lake in Italy—and It’s Still Sharp

The remarkably well-preserved 13th century B.C.E. weapon was found submerged in Lake Mezzano, once home to a Bronze Age village on stilts

Manx shearwaters are medium-sized seabirds that breed on islands off the western coasts of the United Kingdom.

It’s Not Just You: Some Fast-Flying Birds Also Get Jet Lag

A new study finds that Manx shearwaters fly so fast that their internal clocks get out of sync with local time. These jet lag-like time shifts confuse their sun-based compasses, causing them to become a bit disoriented and fly slightly off course

Gentile Bellini’s 1480 portrait of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II

Actually, You Can Go Back to Constantinople. A Landmark Exhibition Reconstructs the Imperial City With 1,600 Years of Treasures From Byzantine and Ottoman Times

“Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires” at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum tracks the storied city’s evolution from a 4th-century capital to a bustling 19th-century metropolis—hippodromes, bathhouses and all

Researchers discovered traces of Egyptian Blue, the world's oldest-known synthetic pigment, which was typically used to color deities and royals.

Faded Over Millennia, the Intricately Carved Sandstone Walls of This Ancient Egyptian Shrine Will See Color Once Again

Digital projections at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum will restore the sight of Egyptian blue, the world’s oldest synthetic pigment, and other colors that once adorned the 2,700-year-old Shrine of Taharqa

Measles virus particle.

New York Had Its First Measles Death in 30 Years. Here’s What to Know

Cases are still surging across the country amidst dropping vaccination rates

The fossil was discovered in a mine in northeastern Brazil in 2008.

Scientists Say They’ve Found Preserved Dinosaur Blood in a 115-Million-Year-Old Fossil, but Not Everyone Is Convinced

Soft tissues like blood generally break down relatively quickly after death. Environmental factors can also produce red blood cell look-alikes, so many outside researchers are cautious about the new study’s claims

A mummy known as El Niño (The Boy), a seven-year old Inca child found in 1999 on the top of the Llullaillaco volcano in the Argentine Andes.

New Research

Forensic Analysis of Frozen Inca Mummies Reveals That Sacrificed Children Were Plied With Coca Leaves, Corn Beer and Ayahuasca Compounds Before Death

Five centuries after children were sacrificed on volcanic peaks in the Andes, chemical clues preserved in their hair and fingernails show how the empire used intoxicating blends to soothe the children during their final months

The towering figure is surrounded by thousands of marigolds.

See the World’s Tallest Day of the Dead Skeleton, Made From Steel, Fiberglass, Papier-Mâché and 70,000 Marigolds

Standing a little more than 109 feet tall—roughly the height of an 11-story building—the colorful “La Catrina” figure in Mexico City broke the previous record of 92 feet set in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in 2023

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