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The inscription represents a rare and valuable clue to the development and spread of writing systems in the region.

Cool Finds

This 3,100-Year-Old Inscription May Be Linked to a Biblical Judge

A pottery fragment found in Israel bears the name Jerubbaal—a nickname for Gideon ben Yoash, who appears in the Book of Judges

Presumed self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1512, red chalk on paper

Art Meets Science

Historians Identify 14 Living Relatives of Leonardo da Vinci

An ongoing effort to trace the artist’s male lineage may help researchers sequence his genome

New research finds that sea otters have extremely high metabolisms for their size to keep warm in the cold ocean waters they inhabit.

New Research

With This Metabolic Trick, Sea Otters Stay Warm Without Shivering

Researchers find that the metabolisms of these marine mammals go into overdrive to create heat in cool waters

The sandstone relief is the first of its kind found at Vindolanda, a Roman fort near Hadrian's Wall.

Cool Finds

Rare Carving of Nude Horseman Found at Roman Fort May Depict Mercury or Mars

A pair of amateur archaeologists discovered the sandstone relief at Vindolanda in northern England

Next, the Entomological Society’s Better Common Names project will put together working groups that include experts who study the species and people from the insect’s native regions to decide on a new name.

These Moths Will Be Renamed to Stop Use of an Ethnic Slur

The Entomological Society of America is taking suggestions to rename the insect previously called the ‘gypsy moth’

The elaborate construction of the pool, along with artifacts discovered inside of it, points to a ceremonial purpose.

Cool Finds

3,400-Year-Old Artificial Pool in Italy May Have Hosted Religious Rituals

New research dates the wooden basin’s construction to a time of immense social change for Bronze Age people

A healthy crop of mussels lines the coast, exposed during low tide. Mussels will split open when they overheat, such as in June's heat wave.

Pacific Northwest and Canada’s Crushing Heat Wave Cooks Millions of Sea Creatures

The estimated death toll could be more than a billion

A publicity still from The Wizard of Oz. A lecturer at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. recently stumbled onto one of the costumes worn by Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale in the 1939 film.

Cool Finds

Judy Garland’s Long-Lost ‘Wizard of Oz’ Dress Rediscovered After Decades

A lecturer at Catholic University discovered the rare costume wrapped in a trash bag in a drama department office

Globally, there are about 3,000 species of dragonflies inhabiting freshwater habitats. Each species has a unique color along their bodies or wings that helps them camouflage into their surroundings, attract mates, intimidate rivals and ward off predators. (A male twelve spotted skimmer Libellula pulchellapictured)

Warmer Climate May Cause Male Dragonflies to Lose Their Patchy Wings

Dark spots on the insect’s wings can cause them to overheat. But as they lose them to adapt to climate change, potential mates may not recognize them

Researchers analyzed the Sudanese landscape with a model originally created to analyze the spatial patterns of stars and galaxies.

These Medieval Islamic Tombs in Sudan Were Laid Out Like Galaxies

Some of the burials appear to be clustered around “parent” funerary mounds of seeming cultural significance

The church may be the largest ever found in Nubia.

Cool Finds

Ruins of Monumental Church Linked to Medieval Nubian Kingdom Found in Sudan

The building complex was likely the seat of Christian power for Makuria, which was once as large as France and Spain combined

The U.S. Third Army discovers Édouard Manet’s The Winter Garden in the salt mines at Merkers on April 25, 1945.

When the Monuments Men Pushed Back Against the U.S. to Protect Priceless Art

A new show spotlights the scholars who protested the controversial, post-war American tour of 202 German-owned artworks

A brown trout caught in Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge

Meth Pollution in Waterways Turns Trout Into Addicts

Like humans, fish can get addicted to methamphetamines and go through withdrawal

Researchers say the incisors' removal may have served as an indicator of social status or membership in a specific group.

Why Are These Medieval-Era Skulls Found in Gabon Missing Their Front Teeth?

Intact, 500-year-old upper jaws discovered in an African cave bear evidence of deliberate facial modification

The plumes were first discovered in 2006 when the Cassini spacecraft spotted the geysers shooting water and other organic materials at high velocities hundreds of miles into space near the moon's south pole.

Could Methane-Spewing Microbes Be Living in the Depths of a Subsurface Ocean on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus?

The hot, chemical plumes could be produced by something similar to Earthly microscopic life forms that consume hydrogen and carbon, then burp up methane

The opulent public building dates to between 20 and 30 A.D.

Cool Finds

Palatial, 2,000-Year-Old Public Building Revealed in Jerusalem

The grand structure, which once hosted events near the Temple Mount, will soon open to tourists

A view of the Thornton Portrait Gallery at the Huntington (L to R): Joshua Reynolds, Diana (Sackville), Viscountess Crosbie, 1777; Thomas Gainsborough, The Blue Boy, 1770; and Thomas Gainsborough, Elizabeth (Jenks) Beaufoy, later Elizabeth Pycroft, c. 1780

Gainsborough’s ‘Blue Boy’ Is Headed Back to the U.K.—but Some Experts Fear for Its Safety

A 2018 panel of nine conservators “strongly recommend[ed] against lending” the fragile 18th-century portrait

Ingenuity releases its first aerial photos of its shadow cast across the Séítah terrain during its ninth flight.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Soars 2,000 Feet Through Martian Atmosphere in Its Ninth Successful Test Flight

The aerial trooper set new records for speed and distance, as well as stretched the capabilities of its navigation system

Costa Rican Minister of Culture and Youth Sylvie Durán (right) examines some of the newly returned artifacts.

Brooklyn Museum Returns 1,305 Pre-Hispanic Artifacts to Costa Rica

The NYC cultural institution sent the objects to the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica as an “as an unrestricted gift”

Astronomers used the Keck Observatory in Hawai'i to analyze what chemical building blocks made up the Comet 46/P Wirtanen.

Boozy Comet’s Mysterious Heat Source Offers Clues to How Planets Like Earth Obtain Water

The cosmic relic contains minerals from when the solar system first formed and high amounts of methanol

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