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The researchers primarily studied California two-spot octopuses.

Octopus Sex Just Got Weirder. In Addition to Depositing Sperm, Males’ Specialized Mating Arm Can ‘Taste’ Female Hormones

The hectocotylus is both a reproductive organ and a sensory organ, a rare combination in animals, new research suggests

A detail of Lucknow From the Gomti, made between 1821 and 1826 in India

A Mysterious, Monumental Scroll on Public Display for the First Time Paints a Picture of Artistic Fusion in Colonial India

A new exhibition shares the artistic legacy of centuries of British East India Company influence in East and Southeast Asia

The original Shroud of Turin is housed at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, but replicas like the one shown here have been created for exhibitions and public displays.

Jesus’s Burial Cloth or Medieval Forgery? DNA Evidence Further Complicates the Debate Over the Shroud of Turin

A new analysis revealed traces of various plants, animals and humans on the controversial linen cloth. But outside experts are skeptical of the findings, which could complicate efforts to identify the shroud’s original wearer

Images of shellear fish climbing up the rock face behind Luvilombo Falls

Watch These Rock-Climbing Fish Scale a 50-Foot Waterfall in the Congo Basin, the First Known Evidence of This Behavior in Africa

The tiny fish, called shellears, use microscopic hook-like growths on their fins to ascend—and they take a lot of breaks. The full climb probably takes about ten hours, according to a new study

Magawa the rat detected unexploded ordnance in Cambodia

A Small Rodent Hero Left a Giant Legacy. Now, Cambodia Honors This Famous Bomb-Sniffing Rat With a Seven-Foot Statue

Magawa the African giant pouched rat cleared more 1.5 million square feet of land mines during his five-year career, making him one of the most successful bomb-sniffing rodents in the country’s history

This rendering shows what a polybolos might have looked like aimed at Pompeii's northern city walls.

Long Before Machine Guns, Ancient Roman Troops Used This 2,000-Year-Old Rapid-Fire Weapon in Pompeii, New Research Suggests

Ancient Roman forces may have used the polybolos to quell a rebellion at Pompeii in 89 B.C.E. The unique weapon was likely developed by a Greek engineer centuries earlier

This fully assembled robot was found inside an unclaimed bag. Staffers aren't sure what its purpose is.

Cool Finds

What’s Inside America’s Lost Luggage? These Travelers Abandoned a Samurai Sword, a Meteorite and a Robot With a Mysterious Purpose

Unclaimed Baggage sells lost belongings at a 50,000-square-foot store in Alabama. An annual report explores how objects packed in 2025 reflect cultural trends

An artistic rendering shows the mysterious animal, which researchers now say was a nautilus relative, in its prehistoric environment.

This Fossil Held the World Record for the Earliest Known Octopus. Turns Out, It’s Not an Octopus After All

New research suggests the 300-million-year-old specimen is actually a relative of the nautilus

Archaeologists in a barrow, or prehistoric burial mound, in Norfolk, England

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Didn’t Expect to Find Anything at This Site in England. Then, They Stumbled Upon a Roman Villa and a Bronze Artifact Dubbed ‘Norfolk Nessie’

Ahead of wind farm development on Britain’s eastern coast, excavations along an underground cable route uncovered the ruins of an ancient farming estate that boasted its own bathhouse

The Mekong giant catfish is an endangered freshwater species.

Freshwater Fish Migrations Are Disappearing Across the Planet, Finds U.N. Report

The assessment identified over 300 species of fish that urgently need international conservation effort

Frida Kahlo painted many self-portraits, including this piece, "Self-Portrait With Necklace," from 1933.   

Can Frida Kahlo Leave Mexico? Plans to Relocate a Trove of Paintings by the Famous Artist Spark a Heated Debate

Nearly 400 cultural heritage professionals signed an open letter protesting plans to move a collection featuring artworks by the renowned Mexican painter out of her home country

Divers have recovered 1,200 artifacts from the site.

See the 2,000-Year-Old Ancient Roman Cargo From an Accidental Shipwreck Discovered at the Bottom of a Lake in Switzerland

Divers recovered weapons, tools, pieces of horse-drawn chariots, ceramic plates, platters and goblets. One archaeologist surmises that the loss would have been “immense” at the time

Cow sharks (one shown) and frilled sharks are members of the newly proposed lineage.

What Is a Shark? A New Genetic Analysis Throws an ‘Unexpected Wrench’ Into Our Understanding of the Ocean Predators

Some shark species might belong to their own distinct lineage, which is separate from all other sharks, rays and skates, according to a new study

An illustration of the fossils' environment around 539 million to 554 million years ago

Cool Finds

New Fossils Discovered in China Hint That Complex Life Evolved Millions of Years Earlier Than Scientists Thought

The assemblage suggests that the ancestors of some of today’s animal groups may have arisen before the famed Cambrian explosion

Earth, partially illuminated, appears over the moon’s horizon at 6:41 p.m. Eastern time on Monday—just three minutes before the Artemis 2 astronauts reached the far side of the moon, initiating a communications blackout with NASA’s teams on the ground.

See the Awe-Inspiring New Photos of the Moon and Earth Sent Back From the Artemis 2 Mission

The astronauts are on their way home after looping around the moon on a historic flyby. Here are the dazzling images they captured

The recovered helmet and two bracelets were displayed at a press conference by Dutch officials on April 2, 2026.

Thieves Who Allegedly Stole an Ancient Gold Helmet Belonging to a Lost European Culture Just Returned It

More than a year after the Romanian treasure disappeared from a museum in the Netherlands, it’s back in the hands of authorities. The men accused of stealing it will face trial later this month

Tobacco plants make a lot of the amino acid tryptophan, the basis of many psychoactive compounds.

Scientists Engineered Tobacco Plants to Produce Five Mind-Altering Psychedelic Compounds

The substances have been used by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, but they’ve recently become popular as possible therapeutics for mental health conditions

Becoming an expert birder might support brain health, according to a new study.

Becoming an Expert Birder Can Reshape Your Brain and Might Help Protect It From Aging, New Research Suggests

Compared with novices, seasoned birders had denser, more structurally complex brain regions involved with tasks like object identification, visual processing, attention and working memory

Archaeologists found these stoneware fragments in the wreckage of the Dannebroge.

This Danish Warship Exploded in Battle 225 Years Ago. Now, Archaeologists Are Racing to Recover Its Artifacts

The destruction of the “Dannebroge” was documented in art and history books. Now, thanks to a museum’s excavations, archaeologists can study the wreck up close for the first time

A violent, swirling storm on Jupiter captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft

Lightning Strikes on Jupiter Are 100 Times as Powerful as Those on Earth, a New Study Suggests

Scientists finally have a clearer picture of the gas giant’s intense storms

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