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Forensic artist Hew Morrison created this rendering based on the skull of the girl.

Forensic Artist Reconstructs the Face of a Teenager Who Lived 1,300 Years Ago

Researchers have spent a decade unraveling the mysteries of the girl’s unusual burial site

A recently unearthed fresco at a house in Pompeii shows a flatbread that could have been a precursor to pizza.

Cool Finds

Does This Pompeii Painting Depict a 2,000-Year-Old Pizza?

The fresco features a flatbread with a variety of toppings—but no tomato and mozzarella

Dolphins and humans both change how they communicate when they're around babies.

Dolphins Use Baby Talk When Their Calves Are Around

Like humans, female dolphins make higher-pitched vocalizations when communicating with their young

Scientists observed two separate groups of orangutans making biphonations, or two sounds at once.

Orangutans Can Beatbox, Just Like Humans

The primates can simultaneously make sounds with their mouth and throat, a finding that may shed light on the evolution of human speech

A reddish egret catches a fish.

The Wonderful World of Birds

See 11 Breathtaking Bird Images From the Audubon Photography Awards

The pictures capture the marvelous behaviors of Earth’s feathered species and the habitats they need to survive

Visited by millions every year, the Colosseum has already been vandalized four times in 2023.

Tourist Carves Girlfriend’s Name Into the Colosseum

Video footage shows a man using keys to scratch a message into the 2,000-year-old amphitheater’s wall

An undated photograph of "Edward and his chum"

LGBTQ+ Pride

See Photos of Gay Men in Love Dating Back to the 1850s

A new exhibition features romantic snapshots found at flea markets, antique shops and online auctions

A resident and his dog sunbath at Zilker Park on June 27, 2023 in Austin, Texas.

Heat Wave Gripping the Southern U.S. Will Spread This Week

Some areas may face a heat index as high as 120 degrees

An illustration of the Victorian grassland earless dragon, which, until February, had not been seen in the wild since 1969.

Scientists Find the ‘Extinct’ Victorian Earless Dragon, Not Seen Since 1969

Once thought to be gone from the wild, the lizards will now enter a breeding program in an attempt to save them from the brink of extinction

A free exhibition in Washington, D.C., shows 12 pages from the multi-volume collection of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks called the Codex Atlanticus.

Leonardo da Vinci Sketches Go on Display in the U.S. for the First Time

Pages of the “Codex Atlanticus” provide a rare glimpse into the Renaissance icon’s imagination and scientific prowess

Female Anopheles mosquitoes infected with the parasite that causes malaria can spread the disease to humans through a bite.

Malaria Spread in the U.S. for the First Time Since 2003, CDC Says

Five infections caught locally in Florida and Texas have prompted health alerts from state and federal agencies

Vienna earned top marks for its stability, education, health care and infrastructure.

Vienna Is the Most Livable City in the World

The city also topped the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual rankings in 2018, 2019 and 2022

Researchers think that this pendant could be the oldest known depiction of a penis—and early evidence of humans' ability to think symbolically.

New Research

Is This the Earliest Known Phallic Art?

Researchers think the 42,000-year-old artifact was carved from graphite to resemble a penis

The massive sharks known as megalodons ruled the oceans for some 20 million years.

Megalodons Were Warm-Blooded—and It Was a Blessing and a Curse

The giant sharks likely warmed some of their body parts, helping them grow massive but leaving them vulnerable to environmental changes, a new study finds

NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan during a 2020 space walk at the International Space Station. Researchers theorize that the weightlessness astronauts experience on the ISS contributes to immune system dysfunction.

Why Astronauts Have Weaker Immune Systems in Space

Gene activity in white blood cells decreased once astronauts got to space—and it didn’t rebound until they returned, a new study finds

A photo of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption taken on December 24, 2021, before the biggest eruption on January 15, 2022. Tsunamis caused by the eruption killed at six people in Tonga and Peru and displaced more than 1,500 people on Tongan islands.

Tonga Volcano Sparked the Most Intense Lightning Storm Ever Recorded

Last year’s eruption produced a raging storm at unprecedented altitudes, with 2,600 lightning flashes per minute at its peak

A rendering of what the site in Tiel may have once looked like

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover 4,000-Year-Old ‘Dutch Stonehenge’

The ritual site was once used to determine the longest and shortest days of the year

A recent incident suggests the boat-bashing behavior of orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar might be spreading to other groups.

Orca Rams Into Yacht Near Scotland, Suggesting the Behavior May Be Spreading

The incident occurred roughly 2,000 miles away from the recent encounters near Spain and Portugal

This icon featuring images of Saints Sergius and Bacchus is one of four encaustic paintings on display at the Louvre after being evacuated from Ukraine.

Secretly Evacuated From Ukraine, Rare Icons Now on View at the Louvre

Amid Russian attacks, Kyiv’s Khanenko Museum sent 16 precious artworks to Paris for safekeeping

A coral reef in Honolulu, Hawaii. Half of global coral coverage has disappeared since the 1950s.

Coral Reefs Host a Vast Diversity of Microbes

A two-year expedition at sea uncovered more than half a million varieties of microbial life in Pacific reef-dwelling organisms

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