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Ma destinée (My destiny), 1867. Brown ink and wash and white gouache on paper.

Landmark Exhibition Brings Victor Hugo’s Forgotten Drawings Into Focus

The famed French author produced some 4,000 brooding, tempestuous artworks during his lifetime

From L to R: Frances H. Arnold was recognized for her work in the directed evolution of enzymes, while George P. Smith and Sir Gregory Winter were honored for the phage display of peptides and antibodies

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Three Evolutionary Scientists Share This Year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Frances Arnold, George Smith and Gregory Winter employed principles seen in evolution to develop proteins that tackle global chemical problems

Visitors interacting with the art at Tania Bruguera's new show

Cool Finds

This Art Exhibition Is Guaranteed to Make You Weep

Tania Bruguera's new show at London's Tate Modern includes a room spritzed with an organic compound to stimulate "forced empathy"

Nobel Prize winner Donna Strickland photographed in her lab.

The Nobels Notoriously Overlook Women Physicists. Donna Strickland's Win Puts That Disparity into the Spotlight

Nobel committee recognizes three physicists in total, all of whom contributed to advancing laser technology

The Green Bank Telescope pictured—and other radio telescopes like it—are listening for "technosignatures," or possible transmissions from intelligent life forms

New Research

In the Search for Aliens, We've Only Analyzed a Small Pool in the Cosmic Ocean

A new study estimates how much of outer space we've scoured for other life and finds we haven't exactly taken a deep dive

Sloths' slow-paced lifestyle is a survival strategy, not a sign of laziness

Sloths Don't Just Live in Slow-Mo, They Can Put Their Metabolism On Pause

Unlike most mammals, sloths don't use vast amounts of energy when it's hot, instead opting to slow down and conserve power, more like birds or reptiles

Swedish researchers used phase-contrast imaging to examine the soft tissue of a 2,400-year-old mummified hand

Now We Don't Have to Unravel Mummies to Study Them at a Cellular Level

Phase-contrast imaging enabled researchers to non-invasively examine a mummified hand's blood vessels, skin layers and connective tissue

One of the human figures depicted in the newly documented petroglyphs

Cool Finds

An Unknown Ancient Civilization in India Carved This Rock Art

Hikers are cataloging the petroglyphs in the western part of Maharashtra state

An illustration of the winners of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: James Allison (left) and Tasuku Honjo (right).

Trending Today

Two Scientists Earn Nobel for Discovering a New Pillar in Cancer Therapy

The award recognizes work that figured out how to encourage the immune system to fight cancer

Mugging for the camera

Cool Finds

World's Largest Forest Antelope Photographed in Uganda for First Time

The lowland bongo and other mammal species were recorded during the first camera trap survey of Semuliki National Park

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New Research

Watch the Strongest Indoor Magnetic Field Blast Doors of Tokyo Lab Wide Open

The unexpectedly large 1,200 tesla boom could help researchers explore quantum physics and help in the quest for nuclear fusion

iPad art

Westminster Abbey’s Newest Window Was Designed by David Hockney—on an iPad

It was commissioned in celebration of Elizabeth II’s reign

View of the restored Guarini chapel

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21 Years After Fire, Shroud of Turin Chapel Restored to Former Glory

The space, originally designed by priest and mathematician Guarino Guarini, includes a spectacular and intricate wood and marble dome

Altar Frontal (1741), Isfahan. Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

Armenia

The Met’s Latest Show Traces Armenia’s Cultural Evolution

<i>Armenia!</i> features more than 140 artifacts, including gilded reliquaries, illuminated manuscripts, textiles

Philip James de Loutherbourg's 19th-century depiction of the Battle of Bosworth Field highlights the chaotic nature of the clash

Local Council Approves Plan to Turn Portion of Battle of Bosworth Site Into Driverless Car Testing Track

The 1485 clash between Richard III and Henry VII precipitated rise of Tudor dynasty

Cool Finds

Moths Love Sipping the Salty Tears of Sleeping Birds

A researcher in the Amazon happened up on the rare sight in the dead of night while looking for reptiles and amphibians

Urban cats are more likely to hunt down birds, mice than rats

Cats Are Surprisingly Bad at Killing Rats

Over a 79-day period, feral felines killed just two rats, instead opting to hunt less challenging prey

Pain surging from the right side of the abdomen is often an indication of appendicitis, which is typically treated with surgical removal of the organ. Researchers were able to use antibiotics to relieve symptoms and avoid surgery in some patients, a new study suggests.

Antibiotics May Treat Appendicitis Without Surgery

A new study has found that around 60 percent of patients who were treated with antibiotics did not have a recurrence of appendicitis within five years

New Research

People Braved Australia's Western Desert Roughly 45,000 Years Ago

Newly dated artifacts from a rock shelter show humans were in the inhospitable Little Sandy Desert at least 10,000 years earlier than previously thought

Annie Kenney in 1909

Newly Discovered Letter Sheds Light on Overlooked Suffragette

Annie Kenney, who took part in the movement’s first militant act, wrote to her sister after being released from prison

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