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Sutter's Mill, California, where John Augustus Sutter struck gold, accidentally starting the gold rush.

On This Day in History

The Discovery of Gold on This Date in 1848 at Sutter’s Creek Kicked Off the California Gold Rush and Transformed America

The unquenchable demand for gold spurred a mass migration and fueled the genocide of Native communities

Parts of the deep Pacific Ocean are covered in metallic lumps known as polymetallic nodules. A study published last year suggested they produce oxygen without sunlight.

Scientists Who Found Mysterious ‘Dark Oxygen’ on the Ocean Floor Plan a New Expedition, Hoping to Settle Disputes

Last year, the team made headlines when it published a paper describing how metal lumps at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean seemed to produce oxygen without sunlight

An artist’s visualization of WASP-127b

Astronomers Discover Supersonic Winds on a ‘Puffy’ Exoplanet, Forming a Record-Breaking Jet Stream

Moving at roughly 20,505 miles per hour along the distant world’s equator, it’s the fastest known jet stream that wraps around a planet

The statue of Athena had been housed in William Weddell's estate in England since the 1700s.

See the Stunning Ancient Roman Statue of Athena That’s Going on View for the First Time in Nearly 260 Years

After spending centuries on a British aristocrat’s estate in North Yorkshire, the marble masterpiece will be unveiled in Chicago’s Wrightwood 659 gallery later this week

The next several weeks will give skywatchers a chance to see many planets at once.

How to See Six Planets Lined Up in the Night Sky This Month—and Glimpse a Rare Seven-Planet ‘Parade’ in February

While the planets are technically always “aligned” along the same plane in our sky, seeing so many at once is a special opportunity

Researchers discovered 614 stone plaques and fragments at Vasagård West, an archaeological site on the Danish island of Bornholm.

New Research

Neolithic Farmers May Have Buried These Mysterious Stones to Bring Back the Sun After a Volcanic Eruption

Using ice core samples, researchers linked a natural disaster with a trove of nearly 5,000-year-old artifacts discovered at an archaeological site in Denmark

Elephants, bats, rabbits and other mammals have exceptional hearing—and their outer ears may be a key reason why.

Why Do Mammals Have Outer Ears? Scientists Are Getting Closer to Solving the Mystery

Two new studies offer insights into the evolution and development of external ears, which appear in humans and other mammals but aren’t found in reptiles, birds or amphibians

The gold medal still has its original ribbon and leather case.

This Rare Gold Medal From the 1904 Olympics Sold for More Than $500,000

The artifact, from the first Games held in the United States, reaped the third-highest price ever fetched for an Olympic medal at auction

A group of Englishmen toss Frisbees in 1966.

On This Day in History

An American Toy Company Produced the World’s First Frisbees, Beloved by Humans and Dogs, on This Day in 1957

The flying disc had humble beginnings but has since become an international phenomenon

Hand-drawn illustration of two of the seven sampled molars from Australopithecus

Ape-Like Human Ancestors Were Largely Vegetarian 3.3 Million Years Ago in South Africa, Fossil Teeth Reveal

Scientists suggest meat consumption was pivotal to humans’ development of larger brains, but the transition probably didn’t start with Australopithecus, according to a new study

The helmet was made in the Corinthian style, though historians don't know whether the style actually originated in Corinth.

You Can Buy a 2,500-Year-Old Corinthian Helmet Worn by a Warrior in Ancient Greece

Experts think the well-preserved bronze artifact was made between 500 and 450 B.C.E. It will be sold at auction on January 25

A section of the new photomosaic of the Andromeda Galaxy, which features 600 fields of view in total from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Check Out the Hubble Space Telescope’s Stunning New View of the Andromeda Galaxy

The full image includes some 2.5 billion pixels compiled from observations spanning more than 1,000 orbits around Earth

This copy of the Declaration was printed by Robert Luist Fowle of New Hampshire.

This Rare Printing of the Declaration of Independence Could Sell for $4 Million

Made by a printer in New Hampshire, this 1776 broadside edition was created to disseminate America’s founding document to the public

Fossilized feces, also known as coprolites, are helping scientists in New Zealand peer back in time.

Fossilized Poop Reveals How Extinct, Flightless Birds Helped Spread New Zealand’s Colorful Fungi

The upland moa was likely drawn to the fungi because of their resemblance to berries, scientists say, allowing the creature to fill a role typically played by mammals

The mosaic depicts Alexander the Great fighting in the Battle of Issus.

New Research

Experts Are Unraveling the Mysteries of This Breathtaking 2,000-Year-Old Mosaic Depicting Alexander the Great in Battle

The ancient artwork was uncovered during excavations at Pompeii in the 19th century. Now, researchers are conducting a long, intensive analysis

The Valencia wrecked in the northern reaches of the area referred to as the “Graveyard of the Pacific,” the stretch of treacherous coastline between Oregon’s Tillamook Bay and Canada’s Vancouver Island.

On This Day in History

More Than 100 Died When the S.S. Valencia Wrecked in the ‘Graveyard of the Pacific’—Learn Why This Stretch of Coastline Has Claimed Thousands of Ships

The ship’s demise on this day in 1906 demonstrated the terrifying dangers of the treacherous waters in the Pacific Northwest

Spanish settlers knocked down all but the foundations of the Temple of the Sun, then built a church atop the Inca walls.

New Research

Researchers Have Found an Inca Tunnel Beneath the Peruvian City of Cusco

The dug-out passages may follow the exact path of the Inca capital’s aboveground roads

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order. He signed dozens of executive orders on his first day in office, undoing many of his predecessor’s policies.

President Trump Orders the U.S. to Exit the World Health Organization and Paris Climate Agreement on His First Day in Office

The actions will take effect in a year, reinstating withdrawals he had set in motion during his first term

A new study on "contagious urination" only looked at captive chimpanzees, but researchers suspect the phenomenon may also exist in the wild.

For Chimpanzees, Peeing May Be Contagious—Just Like Yawning Is for Humans, Study Finds

Scientists suggest captive chimpanzees engage in ‘socially contagious urination’—that is, when one primate starts peeing, others quickly follow suit

The two sheets of yellowed paper contain three typewritten drafts of the iconic song.

Bob Dylan’s Drafts of ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ Lyrics Sell for $508,000 at Auction

The rare papers were part of a larger collection from rock journalist Al Aronowitz, a close friend of Dylan’s in the 1960s

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