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A case in the Green Vault's jewel room

Dazzling Jewels Stolen in Green Vault Heist Go Back on Display in Dresden

In the early morning hours of November 25, 2019, thieves made away with 4,300 valuable diamonds and other stones

The South American lungfish (Lepidosiren paradoxa) has the largest known genome of the animal kingdom at 91 billion base pairs of DNA.

The World’s Largest Animal Genome Belongs to an Odd, Air-Breathing Fish

Scientists sequenced the 91 billion base pairs in the South American lungfish’s genome, setting a record and revealing insights into vertebrate evolution

Commuters pass by Yayoi Kusama's new public sculpture, Infinite Accumulation, at Liverpool Street station in London.

Yayoi Kusama’s Largest Permanent Public Sculpture Arrives in London

Stainless steel archways and reflective spheres stretch for more than 300 feet at Liverpool Street station

The last animal-themed mural in Banksy's series appeared on an entrance to the London Zoo.

As Banksy’s Animal Art Series Ends, Caretakers Grapple With How to Preserve His Murals

The street artist unveiled nine new pieces in London this month, and many have already been taken down or defaced

An artist's reconstruction of the two tardigrade species found preserved in a pebble-sized piece of amber in Canada.

Rare Fossils Give Clues to How Tardigrades Survived Mass Extinctions by Hitting the Snooze Button

Scientists have only four known tardigrade fossils, which preserve insights into how the hardy critters evolved their hibernation-like superpower of cryptobiosis

Archaeologists discovered stone tools at the site, though they dated to a few thousand years after the mastodon’s death. 

13,600-Year-Old Mastodon Skull Uncovered in Iowa

The hulking creature may have overlapped with Indigenous people

A full moon rises over the Vasquez Rocks in California.

A Rare ‘Super Blue Moon’ Will Be Visible Monday Night: What Does That Mean?

Tonight’s full moon will be bigger and brighter than usual, and it’s the third of four full moons this summer

The London Fire Brigade responded to a blaze that began on Somerset House's roof.

Firefighters Extinguish Blaze at London’s Somerset House

The palatial complex’s historic artworks sustained no damage from the fire that broke out on August 17

The colorful mosaic depicts brightly colored dolphins and fish.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Stumble Upon a 2,000-Year-Old Dolphin Mosaic in England

The Roman-era artwork was likely preserved thanks to a remodeling project in the third or fourth century C.E.

Andreane Rellou is an actor and filmmaker who saw the photos at the museum and took it upon herself to identify the two women.

Cool Finds

Amateur Sleuth Identifies the Mystery Women in a Museum’s Fabergé Frames

The portraits were on display at a museum in England, where staffers had been wondering about the two subjects for years

The new research tested the drug liraglutide, marketed as the diabetes treatment Victoza. Liraglutide and the active substance used in the weight-loss treatment Wegovy are both GLP-1 agonists, used to lower the risk for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

Weight Loss and Diabetes Drug Could Slow Alzheimer’s Progression, Preliminary Study Suggests

In a year-long trial, people who received a daily injection of liraglutide showed an 18 percent lower cognitive decline than people who received a placebo

When an asteroid struck Earth about 66 million years ago, it wiped out some 80 percent of the planet's animals, including all of the non-avian dinosuars.

Asteroid That Ended the Dinosaurs Came From Beyond Jupiter, Study Finds

Metal isotopes delivered to Earth by the asteroid reveal it’s consistent with space rocks formed in the outer solar system

The ancient complex was unearthed in Corinth, Greece.

New Research

Ancient Prisoners Carved Graffiti Into the Floors of a Roman-Era Prison

An archaeologist has identified vengeful inscriptions etched into a 1,600-year-old prison in Greece

An ocelot rests on a rock in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, in 2007. Only seven ocelots, including the one just spotted, have been seen in the state in the last two decades.

Rare Ocelot Caught on Camera in Arizona, the First Sighting in Its Area for 50 Years

Ocelots were federally listed as endangered in 1972, and their current U.S. population is thought to be fewer than 100 individuals

A police officer poses with the fake Leonardo da Vinci portrait.

Art Dealer Arrested for Trying to Sell a Fake Leonardo da Vinci for $1.4 Million

French customs officers seized the imitation when they discovered the man’s export license had expired

The European ant species Lasius emarginatus arrived to Manhattan around 2011 and has since become one of the most dominant ant species in the city.

Invasive ‘ManhattAnts’ Are Taking Over New York City and Spreading Quickly

Since appearing on Manhattan in 2011, the species has become one of the island’s most dominant ants, and scientists formally identified it this year

The Altar Stone lies at the center of the prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England.

New Research

Stonehenge’s Massive Central Stone May Have Been Shipped From Hundreds of Miles Away

Researchers think they’ve solved the mystery of the monument’s Altar Stone, which could have traveled all the way from Scotland

A colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox virus particles. There have been 15,600 mpox cases and 537 deaths reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2024 so far.

WHO Declares Mpox Global Health Emergency. Here’s What to Know

A new virus strain has been spreading primarily the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as nearby countries that had previously not reported mpox cases

One of the ancient victims recently unearthed at Pompeii

Archaeologists Unearth Two More Vesuvius Victims at Pompeii

Recent excavations provide a glimpse into the choices a man and woman made in their final moments

Mars might host an ocean of water within porous rocks miles beneath its surface, according to a new study.

Mars Hosts a Giant Reservoir of Water Underground, We Just Can’t Easily Reach It, Study Finds

The water is enough to cover the Martian surface in a mile-deep ocean, but it’s beyond the reach of drills for now, according to researchers

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