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Edmonia Lewis circa 1870, photographed by Henry Rocher

After More Than 150 Years, Sculptor Edmonia Lewis Finally Gets Her Degree

A historian is fighting to honor the legacy of the 19th-century artist

Spoonbridge and Cherry at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Claes Oldenburg, Who Transformed Everyday Objects Into Towering Sculptures, Dies at 93

The Pop Art pioneer’s radical, scaled-up depictions of familiar items democratized art

A forest fire in Louchats, southwestern France, on July 17, 2022

Heat Wave Scorches Europe

Scientists say climate change is making heat waves hotter, longer and more frequent

Elephant trunks are strong and precise.

Skin Helps Explain Why Elephant Trunks Are So Handy

Researchers discovered that the skin on the top of the trunk is more pliable and can stretch farther than the bottom

Firefighters from the Brigadas de Refuerzo en Incendios Forestales (BRIF) tackle a forest fire in Avila, Spain, on July 18, 2022.

Our Forests Can’t Handle This Much Stress

A new study suggests that climate change is making life more difficult for forests to adapt to new stresses to the environment

Most individuals born male have an X and a Y chromosome, while those born female have two X chromosomes. 

Loss of Y Chromosome in Mice May Lead to Heart Failure

A new study suggests the same loss in humans may lead to increased mortality

A woodpecker prepares to smash its beak against a tree. 

Woodpeckers Don’t Have Shock-Absorbing Skulls

The birds’ small brain size protects them from getting concussions, a new study finds

Contestants work under time pressure to pitch ideas and write complete novels. 

New Reality Show Is Looking for ‘America’s Next Great Author’

Applications are open for aspiring writers who want to appear in the pilot episode

Footage of the beluga whales is captured by the beluga research vessel, Delphi, which uses two cameras, one underwater and one above deck to observe 55,000 beluga whales migrate to the Hudson Bay's shallow waters.

Watch Thousands of Beluga Whales Migrate From the Arctic

Two webcams give a front-row seat to the whales’ daily activities

The memes place their subjects in situations ranging from historically significant to hilariously obscure, including the Battle of Lexington, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and more.

Trending Today

Why American Girl Dolls Are Starring in Viral History Memes

The popular posts call for characters who witnessed the Salem Witch Trials, JFK’s assassination and other historical events

Cavers found the perfectly preserved mine in the small town of Alderly Edge in England.

Cool Finds

Cavers Discover 200-Year Old Mine, Untouched Since the Moment It Was Abandoned

Found in northwest England, the cobalt mine is perfectly preserved due to a lack of oxygen

Lou Reed performing in 1975

Inside Lou Reed’s Archives

Newly discovered recordings and songs are now on display at the New York Public Library

Stevenson holds Head of a Peasant Woman beside the X-ray of the concealed van Gogh self-portrait.

Cool Finds

Hidden van Gogh Self-Portrait Discovered During a Routine X-Ray

The image has been obscured behind another painting for over a century

The space rock, recovered from the Western Sahara of Africa in 2011, formed 4.5 billion years ago and slammed into Earth after an asteroid impact sent it flying across space five to ten million years ago.

Oldest Martian Meteorite on Earth Traced to Its Origin on the Red Planet

Researchers used machine learning algorithms to determine which crater on Mars the space rock came from

The protein-based Covid-19 vaccine from Maryland biotechnology company Novavax. 

FDA Authorizes Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use

The shots work similar to the way that vaccines against influenza and shingles work

James Joyce and Sylvia Beach at Shakespeare and Company circa 1926

Who Were the Women Behind James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’?

As the novel turns 100, two exhibitions tell the stories of the women who made it possible

Maurizio Cattelan's “Comedian,” featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall

The Famous Banana Taped to a Wall Is Now at the Center of a Copyright Suit

Several years after the irreverent piece’s debut, another artist claims he had the idea first

The Israelite commander Barak, as depicted in the Huqoq synagogue mosaic

Cool Finds

Earliest Known Images of Two Biblical Heroines Unearthed in Israel

Found in an ancient synagogue, the 1,600-year-old mosaics tell the stories of Deborah and Jael

Don Henley and Glenn Frey of the Eagles performing at Madison Square Garden in 2008

Three Men Charged for Trying to Sell Stolen ‘Hotel California’ Notes and Lyrics

Worth over $1 million, the handwritten materials were originally stolen from the Eagles’ Don Henley in the 1970s

A green crab, Carcinus maenas

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

New Hampshire Distillery Makes Whiskey Out of Invasive Crabs

Each bottle uses about one pound of green crabs

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