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Costumed kids hit the streets each year in search of candy.

The History of Trick-or-Treating Goes Back Centuries

From the ancient Celts to medieval English, the Halloween tradition precedes the costumed children who will soon swarm your block

Caecilian mothers grow a fatty layer of skin that their babies tear off with specialized teeth and eat.

This Worm-Like Amphibian Eats Its Mother’s Skin to Get Microbes

Caecilians are the only known amphibians to pass microbes from one generation to the next, according to a new study

The city of Calais commissioned French sculptor Auguste Rodin to create Les Bourgeois de Calais in 1884.

Rodin Sculpture Has Been Missing From Scottish Museum Collection for Nearly 75 Years

The piece is a plaster version of one of the figures from the French sculptor’s “Les Bourgeois de Calais”

Researchers recommend limiting red meat consumption to about one serving per week, based on the results of a new study.

Eating Red Meat Is Linked to Type 2 Diabetes Risk, New Study Finds

Reducing daily intake of beef, lamb and pork could reduce your risk of developing the disease, researchers say

A photograph of the moon by the Apollo 17 crew on their return trip back to Earth. The new study analyzes material gathered from the lunar surface during the 1972 mission.

The Moon Is 40 Million Years Older Than Thought, Lunar Rock Samples Suggest

A new analysis of crystals from the moon pushes its age back to just 110 million years after the solar system formed

Journey Castillo is only 3 years old, but she's already traveled all over the country with her parents.

Meet the 3-Year-Old Who Visited All 63 U.S. National Parks

Journey Castillo and her parents, Eric and Valerie Castillo, started their quest during the pandemic

Crews painstakingly removed mud layer by layer to expose the vessel.

Cool Finds

Workers Unearth 19th-Century Shipwreck Beneath a Road in Florida

The 19-foot-long vessel was found alongside a kerosene lamp, leather shoes, coins and other artifacts

Alaska canceled its snow crab harvest for two seasons in a row.

Why Ten Billion Snow Crabs Disappeared Off the Coast of Alaska

The unprecedented die-off represents roughly 90 percent of the eastern Bering Sea population

NASA's InSight lander peers down at the Martian surface. The mission recorded more than 1,300 quakes during its four years of operation.

Mars’ Most Powerful Quake Likely Triggered by Tectonic Forces

Researchers searched for signs of a meteorite impact that caused the quake but were unable to find any

Archaeologists described the finds as "costume jewelry" that would've been worn by Bronze Age women around 3,500 years ago.

Cool Finds

Metal Detectorist Unearths Bronze Age Jewelry in Swiss Carrot Field

Researchers suspect the trove may have belonged to a “rich woman with a passion for collecting”

5000-year-old wine jars at the tomb of Queen Meret-Neith, some of which are still sealed

Cool Finds

Hundreds of Unopened Wine Jars Unearthed in Egyptian Queen’s Tomb

Archaeologists found the 5,000-year-old jars with well-preserved grape seeds and intact stoppers

Hops give beer its bitter taste and aroma.

Hoppy Beer Could Be Climate Change’s Next Victim

Warming temperatures and drier conditions in Europe could continue to lead to declines in hop yields and hop quality, a new study finds

These blue and white layers make up crystallized sugar syrup.

These Ten Stunning Images Prove That Small Is Beautiful

Selects from Nikon’s Small World Photomicrography Contest capture the elegance of insects, slime molds and more

The Orionid meteor shower over the Songhua River in Daqing City, China, in October 2020. 

Here’s How to Watch The Orionid Meteor Shower This Weekend

The celestial show will peak on the night of October 21 to 22, with around 23 meteors expected per hour

Arthur Brand, dubbed the "Indiana Jones" of the art world, has helped recover six stolen historical Dutch artworks from the comfort of his Amsterdam flat.

Cool Finds

Mysterious Man Returns Six Stolen Paintings to Art Detective’s Doorstep

The puzzling incident comes just weeks after an anonymous tipster delivered a stolen van Gogh to Arthur Brand’s flat in Amsterdam

Of the nearly 2,000 items missing from Welsh museums, more than half are from St. Fagans in Cardiff, Wales.

Nearly 2,000 Items Are Missing From Welsh Museums

Museum officials say that many of the objects will likely be recovered as documentation work progresses

Early humans in Europe snacked on seaweed and aquatic plants for thousands of years, though how they prepared and ate them is unclear.

New Research

Early Europeans Ate Seaweed for Thousands of Years

Researchers found biomarkers of seaweed and other aquatic plants in samples of dental plaque

One of the Jelling runestones that mention Queen Thyra

New Research

Runestones Reveal the Secrets of a Powerful Queen in Viking-Age Denmark

An analysis of the carvings on four runestones sheds new light on Queen Thyra’s influence

Bison were nearly hunted to extinction but are now thriving in several national parks, including Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

The Ecological Benefits of Rehoming a National Park’s Booming Bison Population

In Theodore Roosevelt National Park, staffers are keeping the local ecosystem in balance by sending 300 bison to Native American tribes

Pepper X, the world's hottest pepper

The World Has a New Hottest Pepper

Pepper X is three times spicier than the previous record-holder, the Carolina Reaper

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