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The wreckage of a mid-19th century ship washed ashore north of Ludington, Michigan, on April 24.

Cool Finds

High Waters in the Great Lakes Reveal Two Centuries-Old Shipwrecks

In the month of April alone, the remnants of two historic vessels washed up on Lake Michigan’s shores

A virtual tour isn't the same as an in-person experience, but it can still afford some great views.

Nostalgic for the North? Take a Virtual Dogsled Ride in Fairbanks, Alaska

Armchair travelers can also enjoy 360-degree views of the city’s famed Northern Lights

Rutabagas are a cross between turnips and cabbages first described in 1620

France Is Slowly Bringing Back Its ‘Forgotten Vegetables’

Root vegetables like rutabagas and Jerusalem artichokes were ration staples during the Nazi occupation of Paris

An artist's reconstruction of Spinosaurus, showing a paddle-like tail that would have helped it swim.

Groundbreaking Fossil Suggests Spinosaurus Is First Known Swimming Dinosaur

Its paddle-like tail, unearthed in Morocco, suggests the Cretaceous carnivore ventured into the water to hunt

Left: A hero shrew. Right: A hero shrew’s spine.

Hero Shrews’ Extreme, Superstrong Backbones Are the Stuff of Legends

Rumored to withstand the weight of a full grown man, their spines have now been studied in unprecedented detail

Joy Harjo is the author of eight poetry books, among them The Woman Who Fell From the Sky, which received the Oklahoma Book Arts Award.

Women Who Shaped History

Joy Harjo, First Native American Writer to Be Named U.S. Poet Laureate, Reappointed for Second Term

Harjo, a member of the Muskogee Creek Nation, says the appointment “honors the place of Native people in this country, the place of Native people’s poetry”

Stream the free concert on YouTube tonight at 8 p.m. EST.

Virtual Travel

How to Watch the National Air and Space Museum’s Free Virtual Concert

Catch the musical event, featuring Sting, Death Cab for Cutie front man Ben Gibbard and other artists, on YouTube tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern time

A composite image combines ten new scans of Johannes Vermeer's Girl With a Pearl Earring.

Art Meets Science

Researchers Reveal Hidden Details in Vermeer’s ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’

New scans revealed the figure’s now-faded eyelashes and green backdrop, but her identity remains a mystery

Chincoteague ponies take a moment to graze after swimming across the Assateague Channel in 2015.

New Vaccine Offers Hope in Chincoteague Ponies’ Battle Against Swamp Cancer

Over the past three years, the disease has claimed the lives of seven of the famously resilient ponies

An 18th-century ink rendering of Hua Mulan on silk

Researchers Uncover New Evidence That Warrior Women Inspired Legend of Mulan

Nearly 2,000 years ago, women who rode horseback and practiced archery may have roamed the steppes of Mongolia

Video calls also remove several of the nonverbal cues that humans rely on for communication.

Why Video Calls Are Surprisingly Exhausting

Expressing yourself and trying to read others’ faces in a grid of video feeds is a taxing task

An anole lizard holding on to a perch by its toepads during simulated hurricane-force winds.

Hurricanes Make Lizards Evolve Bigger Toe Pads

New study extends previous results limited to just two islands to 188 species of lizard across Caribbean as well as Central and South America

A tourist visits Mousa Broch, the tallest known Iron Age broch and one of Europe's best-preserved prehistoric buildings

Why Scottish Archaeologists Are Building a Replica of an Iron Age Stone Tower

By building a new broch, the project aims to better understand how and why the original structures were constructed

An example of the blue bioluminescence produced by microscopic organisms called dinoflagellates, which can chemically synthesize their own light

Dolphins, Surfers and Waves Sparkle in Bright Blue Bioluminescent Glow Off California Coast

A rare bloom of microscopic organisms capable of making their own blue light has transformed several of the state’s beaches

A previous version of the Land O'Lakes logo, featuring Mia, an indigenous woman dubbed the "Butter Maiden"

Land O’Lakes Drops the Iconic Logo of an Indigenous Woman From Its Branding

The story behind the image, and its removal, led to mixed reactions from the public, including native communities

The Leith glass factory's cone-shaped furnaces appear in the background of painter William Reed's Leith Races.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Remnants of Lost Scottish Wine-Bottle Glass Factory

The 18th-century Edinburgh factory once produced a million bottles a week

Venus' volatile atmosphere expands in the sun, creating a low pressure area that drives strong winds around the planet.

New Research

The Forces Behind Venus’ Super-Rotating Atmosphere

Earth’s sister planet spins slowly, but its atmosphere whips around at high speeds

As many home bakers who have only recently taken up sourdough making have found out, some starters are, well, non-starters.

What Does Your Sourdough Starter Smell Like? Science Wants to Know

A citizen science project aims to chart the microbial diversity present in starters all over the world

An artist's rendering of a fossil frog found on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Cool Finds

Paleontologists Find Antarctica’s First Frog Fossil

The find could help pin down when the South Pole turned icy

Trimeresurus salazar, or Salazar’s pit viper, named for the Harry Potter character Salazar Slytherin

Meet the New Species of Snake Named After Salazar Slytherin of the Harry Potter Franchise

Perhaps the fictional Hogwarts founder would have appreciated the honor

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