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Stephen Sondheim sitting in a recording control room in 1987

Cool Finds

Stephen Sondheim’s Lost College Musical Was Found Hidden in Plain Sight

Live recordings from “Phinney’s Rainbow” had been sitting on a journalist’s bookshelf for years

Sotheby's will auction the first-edition copy of the U.S. Constitution on December 13.

A Group of Crypto Investors Is Trying to Buy the Constitution—Again

For the second year in a row, a DAO is vying to bid on a rare first-edition copy

Singer Celine Dion on stage during the 2016 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.   

What Is Stiff Person Syndrome? Celine Dion Announces Diagnosis of Rare Disease

The neurological disease affects about one to two people in a million

Only a quarter of American adults have received their flu shot this year. 

U.S. Flu Hospitalizations Highest in a Decade

The CDC estimates that 120,000 people have been hospitalized since October

2 million years ago, Greenland was roughly 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it is today. 

New ‘Astounding’ Analysis Argues That Greenland Used to Be a Lush, Diverse Ecosystem

Scientists found evidence of over 100 types of plants and animals that lived in the northern part of the island around two million years ago

Banning's viral tweet sparked an outpouring of stories from famous authors about under-attended book signings.

Two People Showed Up to Her Book Signing. Then, Margaret Atwood and Stephen King Commiserated

Famous writers around the world offered support to debut author Chelsea Banning

A photo of the necklace discovered in England, alongside a depiction of what it may have once looked like

Cool Finds

Necklace Unearthed in Medieval Woman’s Grave Is a ‘Once-in-a-Lifetime Discovery’

Researchers say the woman may have been an early Christian leader with a large fortune

Professor Bruce Jayne demonstrates how wide a Burmese python can open its mouth to swallow prey.

Here’s How Burmese Pythons Eat Such Big Prey

Stretchy connective tissue between the snakes’ cranium and lower jaw allows them to open their mouth four times wider than their skull

The highly contagious virus is airborne and can spread through contaminated surfaces like kennels and leashes.

Dogs Are Impacted by an Intense Flu Season, Too

A surge in canine influenza cases has likely resulted from changes in human behavior due to relaxed Covid-19 guidelines

Beethoven’s handwritten manuscript for the fourth movement of his String Quartet in B-flat Major

Nazi-Looted Beethoven Manuscript Returned to Original Owners

The Czech Republic’s Moravian Museum gave the document to the heirs of the Petschek family

To select a winner, Oxford editors track trending words and phrases throughout the calendar year.

‘Goblin Mode’ Is Oxford’s 2022 Word of the Year

The term describes behavior that’s “unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy”

The skull of an elasmosaur found in Queensland, Australia

In Rare Find, Scientists Unearth Fossil of Large Marine Reptile With Both Head and Body

Skeletons of elasmosaurs are often found without their skull

A composite of the SKA telescopes that combines real images with an artist's impression. 

Construction of World’s Largest Radio Telescope Begins

Scientists will use its instruments to study the early universe

The dilapidated jet has been sitting at the Roswell Air Center in Roswell, New Mexico, for decades.

Elvis Presley’s Private Jet Is Going Up for Auction

The famous singer bought the JetStar in 1976, a year before his death

A drawing of the extinct Steller's sea cow

An Extinct Sea Cow May Help the Restoration of California’s Dwindling Kelp Forests

Researchers are modeling out what the ocean may have looked like when the seaweed-munching mammal roamed the shores

In this composite image from the Geminid meteor shower in 2014, more than 100 meteors can be seen.

How to Watch the Radiant Geminid Meteor Shower

The spectacle, often one of the best showers of the year, will peak December 13 to 14

Researchers made the find while studying the MS Selden Supra 30, a version of the New Testament’s Acts of the Apostles written in Latin.

Cool Finds

Woman’s Name and Doodles Found Hidden in 1,200-Year-Old Religious Manuscript

The name may point to an abbess who lived in Kent at a time when few women could read or write

In this image from December 4, Orion gets closer to the moon in advance of its December 5 flyby. 

Orion Spacecraft Completes Final Moon Flyby

The capsule is scheduled to return to Earth on December 11

The last surviving thylacine's skull

Remains of Last Surviving Tasmanian Tiger Discovered in Museum Cabinet

Researchers found the lost body of the female thylacine after 85 years

“It was traumatizing to watch such an important icon of civilization go up in flames,” composer Julian Anderson says.

‘Litanies,’ Inspired by Notre-Dame Fire, Receives Prestigious Music Award

Julian Anderson’s 25-minute concerto won the 2023 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition

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