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NASA astronaut Mike Fincke on January 15, when SpaceX Crew-11 splashed down, roughly one month ahead of schedule.

An Astronaut’s Sudden Inability to Speak Prompted the ISS’s First Medical Evacuation. Doctors Still Don’t Know What Caused the Issue

The individual who fell ill, NASA’s Mike Fincke, says the medical team is almost certain that the issue was related to being in space

Restorers are touching up the wood panel painting in full view of the public.

Experts Are Carefully Restoring a 15th-Century Masterpiece by Giovanni Bellini—and You Can Watch Them Work

The two-year project is expected to cost around $580,000, and visitors to the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice will be able to observe the process in person

Megachelicerax cousteaui and a close-up of one of its pincers, or chelicerae

This 500-Million-Year-Old Fossil of a Claw-Bearing Predator Uncovers the Origins of Spiders, Scorpions and Other Arthropods

A new analysis of a specimen found more than 40 years ago reveals the oldest known chelicerate, defined by its pair of pincer-like appendages

An artist's concept of comet 41P as it approached the sun, turning some of its ice into gaseous jets

In a First, an Astronomer May Have Witnessed a Comet Stop Its Spin—Then Reverse Its Rotation

Archival images snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope revealed the unusual event

The two copies of Old Man With a Gold Chain

This Painting Was Thought to Be a Workshop Copy of a Rembrandt. Now, One Scholar Argues It’s the Real Deal

“Old Man With a Gold Chain” is on display beside a smaller copy for the first time in centuries. According to scholar Gary Schwartz, the Dutch master painted both himself

Bruce Jayne, a biologist at the University of Cincinnati, co-authored the new paper, which examined the locomotive abilities of three brown tree snakes (like the one pictured here) and a scrub python.

How Do Snakes ‘Stand’ Upright Nearly Stick-Straight? New Research Points to How They Pull Off the Gravity-Defying Feat

These clever creatures seem to concentrate their muscle activity near their bases, which helps them cross gaps between tree branches in the wild

Artemis 2 will take four astronauts around the moon.

NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission Launches, Sending Humans Toward the Moon for the First Time in More Than 50 Years

Four astronauts have begun a ten-day mission in which they’ll loop around the moon, laying the groundwork to put humans on the lunar surface as early as 2028

The passageway stretches 15 feet underground.

This Secret Passageway May Have Been Part of the Underground Railroad. Now, Preservationists Say It’s in Danger

The Merchant’s House Museum in New York City announced its investigation into the tunnel’s history in February. A neighboring development could threaten the building’s walls and foundations

Male reproductive cells, sperm, might struggle to reach and fertilize female reproductive cells, eggs, in microgravity, according to a new study.

Humans Might Struggle to Make Babies in Space. Sperm Gets Disoriented in Microgravity, a New Study Suggests

Simulated near-weightless conditions reduced human sperm’s navigational abilities

A new study is the first to “pinpoint which fragrances were actually burned in Pompeian domestic cult practices,” archaeologist Johannes Eber says.

What Did Ancient Pompeians Burn as Offerings to Their Gods? New Research Reveals the Surprising Answer

An analysis of incense burners discovered in the doomed city identified traces of resin imported from sub-Saharan Africa or Asia, testifying to Pompeii’s extensive trade networks

The completed model takes up roughly 1,350 square feet.

A Truck Driver Spent 20 Years Making This Astonishing Scale Model of Every Single Building in New York City

The 1,350-square-foot model is now on display at the Museum of the City of New York, where visitors can use binoculars to see tiny replicas of all five boroughs

Ball pythons (shown), along with Burmese pythons, were studied in the new research.

Could Python Blood Lead to the Next Generation of Weight-Loss Drugs?

Researchers discovered an appetite-suppressing molecule in python blood. If one day turned into a medication, it might lack some of the common negative side effects of GLP-1s

Two researchers wore goggles, snorkels and wet suits while exploring the underground stream.

These Snorkeling Scientists Stumbled Upon a Surprising Trove of Fossils in a Texas Water Cave

They found remains of animals that have never been uncovered in Central Texas. The fossils hint that the region was warm, moist and forested 100,000 years ago

The archaeologist Jean Charles Loriquet created a copy of the mosaic.

New Research

Is This 1,800-Year-Old Mosaic the First Known Image of a Woman Fighting Wild Beasts in an Ancient Roman Arena?

The artwork was destroyed during World War I. But an archaeologist’s sketch may reveal a female figure wielding a whip and facing off against a leopard, a new study suggests

The C-3PO head used in The Empire Strikes Back

This C-3PO Head From ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ Just Sold for More Than $1 Million at Auction

The ‘Star Wars’ prop was likely the only C-3PO head from the 1980 film to appear on the collector market. It features working light-up eyes, including one with the original wiring

The new variant has been detected in 25 states so far.

The ‘Cicada’ Variant of Covid-19 Is Spreading in the United States. Here’s What You Need to Know

Infection levels are still low in the country, but the highly mutated variant might be able to evade your body’s immune defenses acquired via vaccine or past infection

 Les Poissons, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1917

Art Thieves Steal Paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse Worth More Than $10 Million, Fleeing the Scene in Just Three Minutes

The Magnani-Rocca Foundation in Italy was the target of a shocking art heist—only five months after a high-profile theft at the Louvre in Paris

The researchers collected samples from the Pilbara region in Western Australia.

When Did the Earth’s Crust Start to Shift? Scientists Uncover Evidence of Plate Tectonics Happening 3.48 Billion Years Ago

A new study provides the oldest direct evidence of tectonic plate movement ever recorded

The sperm whales gathered around the mother before the delivery. 

Watch Unprecedented Footage of Sperm Whales Helping a Newborn Calf Take Its First Breaths

Unrelated animals worked with the mother and her relatives, marking the first known evidence of whales from multiple families assisting in a birth

The three-part BBC series is scheduled to air later this year.

Charles Dickens Searched the Streets of London and Found Inspiration for His Evocative Fiction

A three-part BBC series will examine how real events shaped the 19th-century British author’s writing. The show is part of the National Year of Reading in the U.K.

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