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In the background, an image taken from the Northern Hemisphere of Comet NEOWISE on July 18, 2020. Inset, the Hubble Space Telescope's most recent snapshot of NEOWISE, taken on August 8 as it careens away from Earth.

Hubble Snapshots Reveal That Comet Neowise Survived Its Trip Around the Sun

A close-up taken in August shows the 11,000-mile-wide cloud of dust and gas that shrouds the comet

Wolverines make dens in snowpack to raise kits

First Wolverine Family Makes a Home in Mount Rainier National Park in 100 Years

A trio of wolverines—a mom and two kits—were spotted on camera traps in the park

Paleontologist David Schmidt (left) and a crew of student volunteers worked together to find and excavate a huge Triceratops skull in South Dakota.

Cool Finds

College Students Unearth Massive Triceratops Skull

On an annual summer fossil collecting trip, the undergraduates struck it big in South Dakota

Two volunteers found a cache of 425 gold coins that date back to the ninth century A.D.

Cool Finds

Israeli Teens Discover Trove of 1,100-Year-Old Gold Coins

The 24-carat currency dates to the ninth century, when the Abbasid Caliphate ruled much of the Near East and North Africa

El Greco, The Assumption of the Virgin, 1577–79

A History of El Greco’s Masterful—and Often Litigious—Artistic Career

A 57-work retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago charts the evolution of the 16th-century painter’s distinctive style

L-shaped foundations of the medieval Great Sacristy, as seen from the roof of Westminster Abbey

Cool Finds

Lost Medieval Sacristy, Burial Grounds Unearthed at Westminster Abbey

Demolished in the 1740s, the 13th-century structure once housed the church’s altar linens, chalices and other sacred items

Geologist Allan Krill spotted these markings on a boulder the side of the Bright Angel Trail in 2016. The boulder weighs several hundred pounds.

Fallen Boulder at the Grand Canyon Reveals Prehistoric Reptile Footprints

313 million years ago, two reptilian creatures crept over this boulder’s surface

Some redwoods were still on fire on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020 in Boulder Creek, CA.

Wildfire Burns California’s Oldest State Park—but Most Redwoods Should Recover Soon

However, the park lost its historic core infrastructure, including headquarters, amphitheater and campgrounds

Prototype biodegradable flip-flops made using algae.

New Research

Researchers Use Algae to Make Biodegradable Flip-Flops

The shoes break down in about 18 weeks under the right conditions

Commuters wearing face masks walk to work in Tokyo on April 7.

Covid-19

How a Japanese Museum Is Documenting Life During Covid-19

New exhibition features everyday objects that would have been unfamiliar before the pandemic

An artist's rendering of the mosaic, which is on view at Union Station in Washington, D.C. through August 28

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

A 1,000-Square-Foot Mosaic of Ida B. Wells Welcomes Visitors to D.C.’s Union Station

The artwork, installed in honor of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, celebrates the pioneering civil rights leader and journalist

Ten-year-old Fionntan Hughes found the sword on his first day using a new metal detector.

Cool Finds

Using a Metal Detector, 10-Year-Old Boy Finds Centuries-Old Sword in Northern Ireland

Fionntan Hughes had just received the device for his birthday

The stomach of a 15-foot fossil ichthyosaur excavated in China contained this massive chunk of another large marine reptile. The ichthyosaur swallowed its prey shortly before it died and was fossilized.

This 15-Foot Ichthyosaur Died With a 13-Foot Meal in Its Stomach

The shocking size of the marine predator’s quarry may force paleontologists to rethink the marine reptile’s role in the Triassic ecosystem

The Hanasaari B power plant was commissioned in 1974 as a coal-fired power plant.

Helsinki Power Plant May Be Transformed Into Arts and Culture Center

The Finnish capital plans to decommission the Hanasaari power plant by 2024. Could it be the next Tate Modern?

On August 18, 2020, flood waters threatened the Leshan Giant Buddha following heavy rains in Leshan in China's southwestern Sichuan province, where thousands of residents have been displaced by rising waters.

Flooding Endangers World’s Largest Buddha Statue

Rising waters in China dampened the toes of the Leshan Giant Buddha for the first time since 1949

Dead Horse Bay gets its unsavory-sounding name from the numerous horse-rendering plants that operated along its marshy shoreline from the 1850s until the 1930s.

New York’s ‘Glass Bottle Beach’ Closed After Survey Finds Radioactive Waste

The Dead Horse Bay shoreline was a magnet for beachcombers and sightseers who came to peruse the eroding contents of 1950s landfill

Studying the cat's bone structure revealed it was probably a domesticated cat, rather than a wildcat, swamp cat or sand cat.

Scientists ‘Digitally Unwrap’ Ancient Egyptian Animal Mummies

Detailed scanning technology provides a detailed look at a kitten, cobra and bird

In Vacaville, California, the Hennessey Fire ignited on Tuesday afternoon and "nearly doubled in size in a matter of minutes," according to Getty.

In California, More Acres Have Burned in the 2020 Fire Season Than in All of 2019

Over 500,000 acres have burned in California, sparked by dry lightning storms and an extreme heat wave

A unique moss species thrives underneath translucent quartz rocks in the hot, dry Mojave Desert while its neighbors shrivel.

New Research

Desert Moss Beats Heat by Growing Under Quartz Crystals

Researchers find the translucent rocks keep the moss moist while letting just enough light pass through its milky interior

The chocolate factory in Olten, Switzerland, quickly fixed its ventilation problem and resumed production.

Last Week, This Swiss Town Was Briefly Showered in Cocoa Powder

A broken ventilation system at a Lindt factory spewed crushed cocoa nibs into the air

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