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At 33 pounds, Andean condors are the heaviest soaring birds on Earth, but a new study finds they can stay airborne for up to five hours at a time without flapping at all.

New Research

The Andean Condor Can Soar 100 Miles Without Flapping

The impressively efficient flight was recorded during a new study of the giant scavenger’s aerial prowess

Lynne Olver's personal library contains more than 2,300 food-related books.

You Could Help Curate This Ambitious Timeline of Food History

The family of Lynne Olver, the librarian who launched the online portal in 1999, needs help keeping her legacy alive

Doritos are cake.

Why It’s Unsettling That Anything Could Be Cake, According to Science

Psychologists explain why the disconnect between expectations and reality is both amusing and uncomfortable

The wreck of an ancient Greek ship, the Peristera, rests at a depth of 92 feet below the water's surface.

This Ancient Greek Shipwreck Is Now an Underwater Museum

The Peristera, a cargo vessel loaded with thousands of amphorae, sank in the Aegean Sea around 500 B.C.

According to Getty: Photographed in July 2018, this view looking south at Herbert Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta, shows the Milky Way over Mount Temple and the peaks of the Continental Divide. To the left in the clouds, Mars is hiding. Then Jupiter flanks the Milky Way on the right, while Saturn sits within the Milky Way.

How to See Five Planets in the Night Sky This Weekend

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible during the early morning hours on July 19

Wall art dated to around 1900 B.C. shows visitors to Egypt wearing colorful robes distinct from the white clothing worn by locals.

New Research Reveals Surprising Origins of Egypt’s Hyksos Dynasty

An analysis of ancient tooth enamel suggests the enigmatic ancients were immigrants, not invaders

Llamas, alpacas and other camelids produce a special kind of antibody called nanobodies, which may be used to treat and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Covid-19

Llama Cells Could Help Scientists Create a COVID-19 Treatment

Scientists are re-engineering llama antibodies to neutralize the virus

That's a lot of hot dogs!

How Many Hot Dogs Can a Person Eat in Ten Minutes?

83 hot dogs might be the human limit—but only after specific training to stretch the stomach

The view from WindowSwap user Simone's window in Villongo, Italy

Virtual Travel

This Website Highlights Views Outside Windows Across the World

The WindowSwap project provides a virtual travel opportunity for those sheltering in place amid the COVID-19 pandemic

The violin-shaped artifacts lack signs of wear associated with use as tools or weapons.

Cool Finds

Do These 10,000-Year-Old Flint Artifacts Depict Human Figures?

Archaeologists say the objects’ grooves evoke the hips and the narrowing of the neck around the shoulders

Together, COVID-19 cases in California, Florida and Texas accounted for one-fifth of new cases in the world and one-third of new cases in the United States on Monday, July 13.

California, Texas and Florida Emerge as COVID-19 Hotspots

Combined, the three states accounted for nearly 20 percent of the world’s new cases on earlier this week

This beluga whale was spotted off the coast of San Diego, California in late June. The sighting was the farthest south the normally polar species has ever been seen.

In a Rare Sighting, Wayward Beluga Spotted Off San Diego

The whale was seen thousands of miles south of its usual habitat, the farthest south the species has ever been seen

Plimoth Plantation is a living history museum that features a recreation of Plymouth's 17th-century English village and a Wampanoag homesite.

Massachusetts’ Plimoth Plantation Will Change Its Name

The new moniker will incorporate the Mashpee Wampanoag name for the region: Patuxet

A North Atlantic right whale off the coast of Cape Cod in 2015

North Atlantic Right Whales Now Listed as ‘Critically Endangered’

Just about 400 of the whales survive in the wild, and they continue to die at an alarming rate

After the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521, the Spanish forced the Aztecs to tear down their buildings and use the leftover materials to construct a new city.

Cool Finds

Aztec Palace and House Built by Hernán Cortés Unearthed in Mexico City

The Spanish conquistador’s home stood on the site of the razed royal residence

A European bison in the Netherlands, which has also sought to reintroduce the herbivores.

Wild Bison to Roam Britain for First Time in Thousands of Years

A small herd of four European bison will be released into a woodland in southeastern England in spring 2022

Roughly 1.4 million years ago, Homo erectus made this hand ax out of a hippopotamus' thigh bone.

Cool Finds

1.4-Million-Year-Old Ax Made of Hippo Bone Found in Ethiopia

Thought to have been made by Homo erectus, the implement adds range and sophistication to the bipedal hominin’s toolkit

A double-crested cormorant dives into blue-green water.

See Birds Dive, Splash and Play in These Prize-Winning Photos

Stunning images by amateurs and professionals took center stage in the 2020 Audubon Photography Awards

Fires burning in states of Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, and Mato Grosso in Brazil, captured via NASA satellite on August 11, 2019. Researchers are forecasting another active fire season in the region in 2020.

NASA Warns of ‘Active’ Atlantic Hurricane and Amazon Fire Seasons

Forecasts show high risk of fires and hurricanes, in part due to warmer than average sea surface temperatures

Researchers say the Iron Age man—found facedown with his hands bound together near the waist—was likely murdered or executed.

Iron Age Murder Victim’s Skeleton Found in England

The man was buried with his hands bound together at the waist

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