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All this could be yours—for the right price. An auction for this North Dakota Cold War-era missile site begins on August 11.

You Could Own an Abandoned Cold War Missile Site in North Dakota

The 50-acre fixer-upper has potential as a tourist attraction or a pandemic bunker

Group of Jewish partisan fighters in Soviet territories

The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust

A new exhibition at the Wiener Holocaust Library in London showcases accounts of resiliency and defiance

A wild bumble bee seen pollinating a blueberry bush.

New Research

Wild Bees Are Worth $1.5 Billion for Six U.S. Crops

Study also finds that crop yields are often limited by a lack of pollinators

A clear shard of Roman glass found in northern Jordan. The purple highlights are iridescence caused by weathering.

Ancient Rome’s Finest Glass Was Actually Made in Egypt

Researchers used chemical analysis to determine the origins of the empire’s crystal-clear glass

A hypothetical escape route for Regimbartia attenuata

When This Beetle Gets Eaten by a Frog, It Heads for the ‘Back Door’

New research details how this Japanese water beetle travels through the bowels of its predator to emerge out the other end, alive and unharmed

A tourist visiting the Museo Antonio Canova sat on the base of this sculpture and inadvertently broke off several of its toes.

In Pursuit of the Perfect Photo, Tourist Accidentally Breaks Sculpture’s Toes

Authorities have identified the inadvertent vandal as an Austrian man who was in northern Italy on a birthday celebration trip

“Black and part Black Birds in America: (Crow, Goldfinch),” 2020

Kerry James Marshall’s New Paintings Consider Blackness and Audubon’s Legacy

New series explores black erasure in art and John James Audubon’s own racial identity

A box of offerings included a gold band reminiscent of a miniature bracelet and a llama or alpaca figurine made of the shell of a rare mollusk.

Inca Llama Carving Recovered From Depths of Lake Titicaca

The well-preserved artifact was likely used in a sacred ritual

Two packages of unidentified seeds that arrived, unsolicited in the mailboxes of Washington State residents. Packaging appeared to indicate that the seeds originated in China.

Americans Plant Mysterious Seeds Despite Government Warnings

The USDA urges people not to plant unsolicited seeds they receive. Evidence suggests the packages are part of a scam designed to boost online sales

The digitized trove features letters, photographs, diaries, programs, recordings and other artifacts.

Education During Coronavirus

Explore the Newly Digitized Diaries and Letters of Marian Anderson

Penn Libraries’ online portal includes more than 2,500 artifacts related to the famed opera singer

Jenni Cena, pest biologist and trapping supervisor from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), checks a trap designed to catch Asian giant hornets on July 29, 2020.

Scientists Capture First Murder Hornet in Washington State

It’s a step in the direction of eliminating the invasive species, experts say

Newly discovered fossils indicate the Asio ecuadoriensis owl hunted and ate various smaller species of owl.

This Giant Prehistoric Owl Was an Actual Cannibal

Fossils found in the Ecuadorian Andes suggest the creature was a formidable predator

The Penn Museum in Philadelphia, part of the University of Pennsylvania, as pictured in 2012

The Penn Museum Moves Collection of Enslaved People’s Skulls Into Storage

Per a statement, the Philadelphia institution is actively working to ensure the bones’ “repatriation or reburial”

A Dutch art dealer realized the vase's significance after appraising an elderly European woman's collection.

Cool Finds

Rare Chinese Vase Found in Pet-Filled Home Sells for $9 Million

The 18th-century artifact was made in a style specific to the Qianlong dynasty

A plant press used by researchers in the Hengduan Mountains

How Ancient Monsoons and Tectonic Shifts Shaped This Flowering Mountain Hotspot

The stunning biodiversity of alpine plants in China’s Hengduan Mountains can be traced back 30 million years, according to a new study

A thick cloud of smoke floats up from the Notre-Dame Cathedral as it burns, on April 15, 2019.

Lead From Notre-Dame Fire Discovered in Parisian Beehives

The findings indicate that honey can provide important evidence of environmental pollution, scientists say

Two sociable weaver birds being recognized by a new artificial intelligence-powered software.

New Research

This A.I. Can Recognize Individual Birds of the Same Species

Humans can’t reliably tell birds of the same species apart, limiting our ability to study their behavior, but the new A.I. is 90 percent accurate

Bald's Leechbook, a tenth-century medical text that contains Anglo-Saxon medical advice and recipes for medicines, salves and treatments

This Medieval Potion Kills Stubborn Bacteria

“Bald’s eyesalve” is effective against numerous strains of bacteria—and could help treat diabetic foot and leg ulcers

Sipson Island in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, opened to the public on July 25.

Cape Cod Island Opens to the Public for the First Time in 300 Years

When Sipson Island went on the luxury real estate market in 2018, locals saw an opportunity for conservation

The comparatively massive female anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsonii) with her tiny mate permanently fused to her belly.

New Research

Anglerfish Drop Their Immune Defenses to Find Love

Male anglerfish are major clingers. To avoid mistaking mates as foreign tissue, the deep sea couples lost part of their immune system in evolution

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