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An artist's rendering of a newly described species of flying reptile named Kunpengopterus antipollicatus. The Jurassic-era pterosaur may be the earliest animal known to possess opposable thumbs.

New Research

A Prehistoric Flying Creature Nicknamed ‘Monkeydactyl’ May Have Climbed Trees Using Opposable Thumbs

The newly described Jurassic pterosaur may be the oldest animal known to possess opposable thumbs

The letters used in the ancient alphabet bear a distinct resemblance to Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Cool Finds

Pottery Shard May Be ‘Missing Link’ in the Alphabet’s Development

An inscription found on a 3,500-year-old vessel suggests that a standardized script arrived in Canaan earlier than previously thought

One of the more than 100 earthen mounds preserved at the Mounds State Historic Site

Why Did Cahokia, One of North America’s Largest Pre-Hispanic Cities, Collapse?

A new study challenges the theory that resource exploitation led to the Mississippian metropolis’ demise

The largest pterosaurs had wingspans like small aircraft and longer necks than giraffes.

New Research

Unique Bone Structure Helped Long-Necked Pterosaurs Fly

Bicycle wheel-like spokes connected the vertebrae’s central column to its outer surface, offering serious strength

Grace Hartigan, Masquerade, 1954

Sweeping Survey Unites Works by 100 Women Artists of the Past Century

An ongoing exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, features 200 paintings, sculptures, ceramics and more

The Indian jumping ant (Harpegnathos saltator).

New Research

This Ant Can Shrink and Regrow Its Brain

Indian jumping ants shrink their brains when they become their colony’s queen, but they can also grow the brain back if they quit the gig

The rescue team named their giraffe-carrying vessel the "GiRaft."

Last Two Giraffes Rescued From a Disappearing Island in Kenya

The land mass was once a peninsula in Lake Baringo, but rising waters turned it into a muddy island

The villa's unique layout includes a central circular room and a bathhouse.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Sprawling Roman Ruins Unlike Any Found in the U.K.

An ancient complex in Yorkshire may have been a luxury villa, a religious sanctuary or a mixture of both

Blue pieces of microplastic viewed under a microscope alongside dust, minerals and charcoal collected from a park in Idaho.

New Research

Airborne Microplastics ‘Now Spiral Around the Globe’

Researchers find the tiny synthetic particles can stay aloft for nearly a week and travel large distances in the wind

Archaeologists say the skeletons are in an "average state" of preservation.

Why Were These Ancient Adults Buried in Jars on the Island of Corsica?

Researchers are unsure of the unusual funerary practice’s purpose but point out that such burials were typically reserved for children

Decades before Teotihuacán's conquest of Tikal in 378 A.D., the two cities may have enjoyed a friendly relationship.

Cool Finds

Were These Ancient Mesoamerican Cities Friends Before They Became Foes?

Ruins found in the Maya metropolis of Tikal appear to be an outpost of the distant Teotihuacán

Amy Sherald's posthumous portrait of Breonna Taylor serves as the Louisville show's focal point.

How an Art Exhibition in Breonna Taylor’s Hometown Honors Her Life and Impact

The Louisville show is organized around three overarching themes proposed by Taylor’s mother: promise, witness and remembrance

Researchers took cross sectional scans of a spider web with a laser to make this 3D image of its structure that they eventually translated into music.

Art Meets Science

Researchers Turn Spider Webs Into Music

The eerie compositions offer humans an approximation of how spiders experience their surroundings through vibrations

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as seen from the coast of Futaba town in Fukushima prefecture.

Japan Will Release Fukushima Nuclear Plant Wastewater Into Ocean

Ten years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the site is running out of space to store tritium-containing wastewater

Twenty-eight incidents where wildlife was harmed by PPE were recorded and the first documented case included an American Robin found wrapped up in a mask in Canada, in April 2020.

Discarded Covid-19 Masks and Plastic Gloves Are Killing Wildlife

Biologists are finding single-use items are entrapping and entangling animals all over the globe

The Miaz Brothers' hazy portraits challenge viewers' perceptions, inviting the audience to complete the artworks' narrative.

These Out-of-Focus Paintings Put a Contemporary Spin on Traditional Portraiture

A new exhibition in London showcases the Miaz Brothers’ radical subversion of Old Master classics

Researchers used A.I. to reconstruct the likely colors and brushstrokes of this landscape, which Pablo Picasso painted over to create a 1902 portrait.

Art Meets Science

Scientists Used A.I. to Recreate a Landscape Hidden Beneath a Picasso Painting

Physical reconstructions of the early 20th-century depiction of Barcelona are now on sale for $11,111.11 each

Scholars are set to undertake a "thorough technical and scientific study" of the painting, which was previously attributed to the circle of Spanish artist José de Ribera.

Baroque Painting Almost Sold for €1,500 May Be a Caravaggio Worth Millions

Spanish authorities halted the sale after identifying “sufficient stylistic and documentary evidence” linking the work to the Old Master

New research suggests that Swedish Bishop Peder Winstrup was buried alongside the remains of his grandchild, a stillborn fetus delivered at five or six months gestation.

Why Was This Mummified 17th-Century Bishop Buried With a Fetus?

The stillborn baby was likely the grandson of Peder Winstrup, whose well-preserved remains have been the subject of much study

The female sawfish (pictured) is 16 feet long and estimated to weigh between 800 and 1,000 pounds. It's the longest smalltooth sawfish ever measured by scientists.

Record-Breaking 16-Foot-Long Sawfish Washes Ashore in the Florida Keys

In a rare occurrence, a second 12-foot-long juvenile sawfish was found dead on a different beach in the state during the same week

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