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The museum's chocolate fountain is the largest in the world, standing nearly 30 feet tall and featuring around 1,500 liters of liquid chocolate.

The World’s Largest Chocolate Museum Debuts in Switzerland

Launched by Lindt, the attraction features a 30-foot-tall chocolate fountain and a tour of the sweet treat’s history

This book, printed in 1634, contains what may be the first Shakespeare play to reach Spain.

Cool Finds

Rare Edition of Shakespeare’s Last Play Found in Spanish Library

The dusty volume may be the first copy of the Bard’s dramatic works to circulate on Spanish soil

A deadly Australian funnel-web spider bares its fangs.

New Research

Deadly Spiders Evolved Venom to Safely Search for Love

Male funnel-web spiders evolved deadly venom to protect themselves from vertebrate predators when they leave the safety of their burrows to find a mate

A "mummy portrait" affixed to a 3- to 4-year-old Egyptian boy's mummy (left) and a 3-D facial reconstruction based on the child's bone structure (right)

New Research

3-D Reconstruction Reveals the Face of an Ancient Egyptian Toddler

The digital likeness bears a striking similarity to a portrait attached to the front of the boy’s mummy

The emerald ash borer first appeared in Michigan in 2002.

New Research

Invasive Pest Threatens Future of North American Ash Trees

A new study shows that ash tree populations are not growing fast enough to replace the trees killed by ash borer larvae

The R.M.S. Titanic, seen departing Belfast on April 2, 1912

New Research

Did the Northern Lights Play a Role in the Titanic’s Demise?

New study suggests the solar storm that sparked the aurora borealis interfered with the ship’s navigational and radio equipment

Common wisdom tells us that lightning strikes the tallest thing in an open area—so are giraffes at a greater risk of lightning strikes than other animals?

Are Giraffes Doomed to Be Struck by Lightning Because of Their Height?

A recent pair of giraffe deaths sparked the question

The mud-brick buildings of Djenné, Mali, are among six at-risk African heritage sites spotlighted by a new study.

Study Suggests At-Risk African Heritage Sites Are Often Overlooked

Researchers cite a “total lack of quantifiable data on the impacts of climate change on heritage in sub-Saharan Africa”

A diver off the coast of Sisal, Mexico, investigates the wreck of La Unión in 2017.

Researchers Identify Mexican Wreck as 19th-Century Maya Slave Ship

Spanish traders used the steamboat to transport enslaved Indigenous individuals to Cuba

Tropical Storm Beta reached the coast of Texas on Monday night.

Out of Names, National Hurricane Center Calls New Storms by Greek Letters

This season is the second time ever that the list of 21 storm names has been exhausted

One of two perfectly preserved fossil skeletons of the newly discovered burrowing dinosaur Changmiania liaoningensis and an artist's rendering of the species.

New Research

New Species of Burrowing Dinosaur May Have Died During ‘Cretaceous Pompeii’

Perhaps killed by a volcanic eruption while resting at the bottom of its burrow, the four-foot-long digging dino’s remains were immaculately preserved

The Delmenhorst sank in an October 1644 maritime battle.

Cool Finds

Wreck of 17th-Century Danish Warship Found in the Baltic Sea

The “Delmenhorst” sank during a 1644 naval battle between Denmark and a joint Swedish-Dutch fleet

A webcam view of Mount Wilson Observatory's trademark white domes, with fires raging in the background on September 19.

Historic Mount Wilson Observatory Threatened by Bobcat Fire in Los Angeles

Although the immediate danger seems to have passed, the fight to battle the flames threatening the historic observatory continues

Archaeologists unearthed shards of pottery, wine jugs, floor tiles and traces of crops, among other artifacts.

Cool Finds

Sourdough Bread Oven, ‘Air Freshener’ Found at Medieval Irish Monastery

During the 13th century, French monks created a Cistercian community at Beamore in County Meath

Researchers prepared meals made out of maize, wheat and venison every week for a year.

New Research

Millennia-Old Cookware May Be the Key to Recreating Ancient Cuisine

A year-long experiment’s ingredients, tools and cleaning techniques imitated early culinary practices as closely as possible

Poachers are considered unlikely culprits because the dead elephants retained their ivory tusks, which fetch top dollar on the black market.

Toxic Algae Caused Mysterious Widespread Deaths of 330 Elephants in Botswana

Officials say the pachyderms were killed by blooms of the organisms, which polluted pools of drinking water with neurotoxins

The Climate Clock is on display in Manhattan's Union Square as part of the city's Climate Week.

Art Meets Science

Clock in New York Counts Down the Time Remaining to Avert Climate Disaster

The installation began its count down on September 17 with seven years, 103 days, 15 hours, 40 minutes and seven seconds

European authorities recovered 200 rare books, including valuable first editions of works by Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton, last week.

Stolen First Editions by Galileo, Newton Discovered Beneath Floor in Romania

Authorities have recovered 200 rare books pilfered in a 2017 London heist

One of the 14 sealed coffins found at the Saqqara necropolis

Cool Finds

Trove of 27 Sealed Sarcophagi Unearthed in Egypt

Authorities say the 2,500-year-old coffins, found during excavations at the Saqqara necropolis, have likely remained unopened for millennia

A man in California found the logbook in his closet and reached out to a student at Georgetown University to facilitate the donation.

A Newly Digitized Logbook Documents Life and Death on a Slave Trading Ship

The “Mary” departed Africa in mid-June 1796 with 142 enslaved men, women and children on board

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