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Popocatépetl eruption on July 8, 2013

Keep an Eye on Popocatépetl, the Volcano Erupting Just Outside Mexico City

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These New Windows Let the Summer Breeze In, But Block the Street Noise

A window speckled with little holes will let the air through, but not the sound

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This Butterfly Metamorphosis Film Was Shot With an iPhone Camera

The morphing of a butterfly into a caterpillar has fascinated humans since we discovered the curious strategy

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Thousands of Species Found in a Lake Cut Off From the World for Millions of Years

Cut off for maybe as much as 15 million years, Antarctica’s Lake Vostok seems to be full of life

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Today in 1948, the U.S. Air Force Accepted Its First Female Member

The first recruit to the Women in the Air Force (known as WAF) was Esther Blake who enlisted on the first day it was even possible for women to do so

2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000 Was Originally a Female

Who knows, perhaps if HAL had been a lady, we’d all be scared of disembodied female voices and Siri would be a man’s voice

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You Get Slow As You Get Older—But Catching a Ruler Is Always Hard

Something as simple as catching a falling ruler triggers a complex process behind the scenes

Algae in the Yellow Sea near Qingdao in 2008

China’s Massive Algae Bloom Could Leave the Ocean’s Water Lifeless

The beaches of Qingdao, China, are covered in algae, but marine life may be faring worse than the swimmers

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Wander Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley With Street View

The Diagon Alley set from Harry Potter has been added to Google Street View

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This Super Weird-Looking Bike Might Break the Speed Record

It has to be pushed to start and caught when he stops to not fall over but this strange fish-shaped bike might be able to beat the speed record

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The Creator of the Computer Mouse Never Received Any Royalties

Though Engelbart revolutionized computing in 1967 with the invention of the mouse, he never received any royalties from his creation

People Who Subconsciously Dwell on Death Write Funnier New Yorker Cartoon Captions

People who are deliberately thinking about death, on the other hand, produce the least funny cartoon captions

The Catholic Church Is Getting Less Strict About Miracles

Both John Paul II and John XXIII will be made saints at the end of the year, suggesting a shift from traditions

The Bikini’s Inventor Guessed How Much It Would Horrify the Public

The modern bikini, named after Bikini Atoll where the atomic bomb was tested, was first unleashed on the world more than 75 years ago

Which Barbie would you buy?

Barbie Gets a Real-World Makeover

Artist Nickolay Lamm created a 3D doll-sized model of a healthy, average 19-year-old American woman, then made her up like Barbie

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This July 4th, Celebrate Two Million Years of Grilling

The advent of open fire cooking began with Homo erectus

P4 and P5, now Kerberos and Styx. Photo: NASA, ESA, M. Showalter

Astronomers Pull Rank, Name Pluto’s Moons After the Underworld, Not Star Trek

Say hello to Pluto’s newest moons, Styx and Kerberos

How to Survive a Lion Attack

If you’re managed to get yourself into a person vs lion situation, you probably don’t know what to do about it. Thankfully, the internet is here for you

If Women Assume Fake Names, They Do Better on Math Tests

Assuming a false name helped women perform better on math tests

A coy Buttercup wearing his brand new foot.

Buttercup the One-Legged Duck No Longer Has to Hobble

Buttercup’s adorable plight, which concluded on Sunday when engineers successfully outfitted the duck with a 3D printed duck foot

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