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A section of Eugène Delacroix's Study of Reclining Lions

Cool Finds

This Painting of Lounging Lions Was Hanging in a Family’s Living Room. It Turned Out to Be an Original Delacroix

Titled “Study of Reclining Lions,” the previously unknown work by the renowned French Romantic painter has been owned by a family in France since the mid-1800s

This 12th-century manuscript includes a self-portrait of a female scribe named Guda.

Women Played a More Important Role in Producing Medieval Manuscripts Than Previously Thought

New research suggests that women were the scribes of at least 1.1 percent of manuscripts in the Latin West between 400 and 1500 C.E.

Researchers spotted an orange blob near a shark's head. It turned out to be an octopus along for a ride.

Watch an Octopus Hitch a Ride on a Shark—an Unusual Duo Dubbed the ‘Sharktopus’

Researchers in New Zealand captured the odd pairing on video, but they still don’t know how to explain the behavior

The aqueduct was found on the grounds of the Rusovce Mansion.

Cool Finds

The First Roman Aqueduct Ever Found in Slovakia Sports an Ancient Manufacturer’s Stamp and a Paw Print

Researchers found the channel on historic grounds near the country’s capital, Bratislava

A giant phantom jellyfish floats in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica.

A Chicago-Sized Iceberg Broke Off From Antarctica, Revealing a Hidden Ecosystem Never Seen Before

When the A-84 iceberg calved in January, it unveiled a 209-square-mile swath of seafloor. Nearby scientists rushed to the scene for the “unprecedented” look below

DESI, seen here beneath star trails, aims to create a 3D map of the universe.

Mysterious Dark Energy Might Be Weakening—and That Could Upend Predictions About the End of the Universe

Astronomers thought dark energy was a constant. But now, findings from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument provide even more evidence that it may be fluctuating

Tomb of the unknown Abydos dynasty king

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Tomb of Unknown Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh

The king’s mummy and sarcophagus are missing from the royal tomb, which is the second of its kind unearthed this year

Budgerigars are the only animals known so far to have language-producing centers of neurons akin to those in humans, according to new research.

Can Parrot Brains Teach Us About Human Speech? Study Finds Budgies Have Language-Producing Regions That Resemble Our Own

The parakeets commonly kept as pets could offer fresh clues about vocal learning and potential treatments for speech disorders

The three-inch Flamin' Hot Cheeto was sold in a custom case with a custom Cheetozard Pokémon card.

This Flamin’ Hot Cheeto Is Shaped Like a Pokémon Charizard. It Just Sold for Nearly $90,000 at Auction

The “Cheetozard” resembles an orange dragon-like figure from the popular Japanese franchise. Its seller had purchased it on eBay for $350 in 2019

"Mr. Blobby" is a blobfish discovered in 2003 off the coast of New Zealand. The preserved specimen is now housed at the Australian Museum in Sydney.

Voters Crown the ‘World’s Ugliest Animal’ as New Zealand’s Fish of the Year

The blobfish is specially adapted to life in the deep ocean, but it looks like a shapeless blob when brought to the surface. It beat out the other candidates with its “unconventional beauty”

An artist’s rendering of Barnard’s Star, as seen from one of the newly discovered exoplanets orbiting it

Astronomers Find Four New Exoplanets Orbiting a Neighboring Star, the ‘White Whale’ of Planet Seekers

More than 60 years after the first debunked discovery of a planet orbiting Barnard’s Star, the closest single-star system to Earth, a pair of telescopes has revealed multiple rocky worlds around it

The body of this Buddha statue is missing its head, feet and right hand.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth the Torso of a Rare Buddha Statue—Nearly 100 Years After They Found Its Head

The two pieces of the 800-year-old sculpture were discovered roughly 160 feet away from each other at the Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia

Text from ancient Greek and Roman writers describes how statues of deities—including Artemis, the Greek goddess of wild animals—were anointed with perfumes.

Ancient Greek and Roman Statues Were Not Only Beautiful, but Smelled Nice, Too

New research suggests that sculptures were perfumed with sweet-smelling fragrances such as rose and beeswax

A spy pigeon with a camera strapped to its breast at the CIA Museum

Learn the Secret Histories of These Fascinating CIA Artifacts, From Pigeon Cameras to Cufflink Compasses

With the launch of its new website, the CIA Museum is bringing its sprawling collection of spy artifacts out of the shadows and into the public eye

A mosaic of galaxies captured by Euclid as part of its first observations of the deep field areas

The First Big Data Drop From the Euclid Space Telescope Unlocks a ‘Treasure Trove’ of Insights on the Universe’s Mysteries

The European Space Agency’s “dark universe detective” discovered millions of new galaxies and offers potential clues about dark matter

The fish feasted on phantom midge larvae, insects and bivalves before they died.

Paleontologists Stumble Across 15-Million-Year-Old Fish Fossils That Are So Well Preserved, Their Last Meals Are Intact

Discovered in Australia, the fossils represent a new species that lived during the Miocene epoch and highlight how iron-rich rock can protect specimens over time

RiverRock was completed in 2025, 66 years after Frank Lloyd Wright's death.

You Can Spend a Night in the Last House Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Before His Death in 1959

The plans for the RiverRock house in northeastern Ohio were left on Wright’s drawing board when he died. But whether the project counts as a true “Wright” is up for debate

This clay tablet sports the name of an Akkadian governor.

Cool Finds

4,000-Year-Old Clay Tablets Show Ancient Sumerians’ Obsession With Government Bureaucracy

The artifacts were excavated from a city dating back to the third millennium B.C.E. by researchers from Iraq and the British Museum

A male central Fijian banded iguana from Ovalau Island, Fiji.

Iguanas Floated a Whopping 5,000 Miles From North America to Fiji on Rafts of Plants in a Record-Setting Trip, Study Suggests

Since most iguana species live in the Americas, biologists have long debated how they could have arrived on the remote Pacific island in the first place

Postman Joseph Roulin, Vincent van Gogh, 1888

Why Did Vincent van Gogh Paint 26 Portraits of a Postman and His Family While Staying in the South of France?

The artist met Joseph Roulin, a 47-year-old postal worker, in the late 1880s. The series of artworks will be reunited at upcoming exhibitions in Boston and Amsterdam

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