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A fresco stolen from an archaeological site at Herculaneum, an ancient town near Pompeii that was buried by Mount Vesuvius' eruption

Italy Celebrates Return of Looted Artifacts Worth $20 Million

Some of the five dozen items had been on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, creators of Sesame Street, at a Sesame Workshop benefit gala in 2009

Lloyd Morrisett, Co-Creator of Sesame Street, Dies at 93

He used television to help underserved children overcome barriers and succeed in the classroom

Ants don't have noses, but they detect scents using antennae atop their heads.

These Ants Were Trained to Sniff Out Cancer

In just ten minutes, an ant could learn to identify urine from mice with cancerous tumors, a new study finds

Officials in Peru closed Machu Picchu following security concerns and damage to nearby railways.

Peru Closes Machu Picchu Amid Anti-Government Protests

More than 50 people have died as demonstrations escalate and police crack down on dissent

Commuters behind frozen bus windows in Yakutsk, known as the coldest city in the world

Just How Chilly Is the World’s Coldest City?

The temperature in Yakutsk, Russia, dropped to a record-breaking minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit this month

An artist's rendition of a cross-section of Earth. The innermost layer, the inner core, is a 1,500-mile-wide ball of iron.

The Spin of Earth’s Inner Core May Be Changing, Scientists Say

A new study finds our planet’s iron center shifts between spinning slightly faster and slightly slower than the surface—but not all experts agree

As of January 24, the Doomsday Clock sits at 90 seconds to midnight.

The Doomsday Clock Is Now Closer Than Ever to Midnight

The reset comes amid the war in Ukraine, nuclear threats and climate change

The mummified teen digitally unwrapped in four stages

Digital Scans Reveal Secrets of ‘Golden Boy’ Mummy

The 2,300-year-old mummified teen was buried with 49 protective amulets, several made of gold

Onlookers attending the touring exhibition Save Ukr(AI)ne, which featured A.I.-generated images based on stories of children displaced by the war in Ukraine, in September 2022

Art Meets Science

Are A.I. Image Generators Violating Copyright Laws?

Two new lawsuits argue that tools like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion are infringing on artists’ rights

The 16.7-pound meteorite is thought to be an ordinary chondrite, the most common kind of space rock.

Researchers Find Rare 17-Pound Meteorite in Antarctic Ice

The polar desert is a prime zone for preserving space rocks dating back to our early solar system

Gloria Estefan performing at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2021

Gloria Estefan Will Be the First Hispanic Woman in the Songwriters Hall of Fame

The Cuban-American artist will be inducted alongside Sade, Snoop Dogg, Jeff Lynne and others

A grizzly bear in Glacier National Park in Montana

Three Grizzly Bears Tested Positive for Avian Flu in Montana

The current outbreak has led to the deaths of more than 52 million birds in the United States

Park rangers found Toadzilla while conducting track work.

At Almost Six Pounds, ‘Toadzilla’ May Be the Largest Toad Ever Found

Captured in a national park in Australia, the cane toad was later euthanized due to the invasive animal’s threat to the environment

The middle section of Dance on the Beach (1906) by Edvard Munch

This 13-Foot-Long Munch Painting Was Hidden From the Nazis in a Norwegian Forest

“Dance on the Beach” will be going up for auction for the first time since the 1930s

Derek Burgoyne captured the moment a moose sheds its antlers using a drone in New Brunswick, Canada.

Watch Rare Drone Video of a Moose Shedding Its Antlers

A wildlife enthusiast in eastern Canada stumbled across the magnificent event this month

The animals were preserved in a different manner than most mummified crocodiles.

Archaeologists in Egypt Unearth 2,500-Year-Old Mummified Crocodiles

The remains include five reptile heads and five nearly intact specimens

The Splash Mountain ride at Disneyland in California

Disney’s Controversial Splash Mountain Ride Has Officially Closed

Come 2024, the attraction—inspired by the racist 1946 movie “Song of the South”—will be reimagined as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

David Crosby playing in Tokyo in December 1975

David Crosby, Folk-Rock Legend, Dies at 81

The counterculture icon was a founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash

Moderna is one of several companies currently working on a vaccine for RSV.

Experimental RSV Vaccine Prevents Illness in Older Adults, Moderna Says

In a large clinical trial, the vaccine was 83.7 percent effective at preventing two or more symptoms of respiratory illness in people over the age of 60

The twilight sky as seen in Coonabarabran, Australia

Light Pollution Is Outshining Stars Faster Than Thought

The artificial glow threatens astronomy, migrating birds and human health

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