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Blazes at Budj Bim National Park in southeastern Australia unearthed a previously unknown channel.

Cool Finds

Australian Bushfires Reveal Hidden Sections of Ancient Aquaculture System

The eel-farming system of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is older than both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids

Anarchist Emma Goldman, who dedicated her life to combatting inequality, repression and the exploitation of workers

At Long Last, an Exhibition Celebrates Centuries of Women at Work

A new show at New York’s Grolier Club features the collection of Lisa Unger Baskin, who sought to share the untold stories of women in the workforce

Kelsey Rose Juliana, one of 21 plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States, speaks at a rally in Portland, Oregon on Tuesday, June 4, 2019. That day, three federal judges heard arguments for the case.

Appeals Court Dismisses Kids’ Climate Case

The court conceded that the case was compelling but concluded that “such relief is beyond our constitutional power.”

Researchers in India studied whether 160 stray dogs would react to commands like gesturing toward a bowl. This image, taken in 2012, shows street dogs surrounding an Indian tea vendor in Allahabad.

Stray Dogs May Understand Human Signals, Too

A new study has found that strays in India, when presented with two covered food bowls, were more likely to approach the one an experimenter pointed toward

An image of asteroid 2020 AV2, taken on January 8, 2020 by the Elena robotic unit part of the Virtual Telescope Project

Astronomers Spot First Asteroid Nearer to the Sun Than Venus

Such “intervenusian” rocks are both rare and difficult to detect

Marcus Gheeraerts II, Portrait of a Woman in Red, 1620

The Evolution of Pregnancy Portraits, From Tudor England to Beyoncé

A new show at the Foundling Museum in London highlights artists’ depictions of pregnant women over the past 500 years

After months of careful negotiations, the mayor of Gotha was able to secure the return of the long-missing paintings.

Cool Finds

Five Old Master Paintings Recovered 40 Years After German Heist

Authorities suspect the artworks were smuggled into West Germany during the 1980s

The contested 1889 self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh Self-Portrait, Painted During Bout of Psychosis, Confirmed as Authentic

A five-year research effort validates an 1889 painting completed during the artist’s stay at an asylum

Ninety-six sculptures from the Torlonia Collection will go on view in Rome later this year.

A Long-Hidden Collection of Ancient Sculpture Is Making Its Grand Debut

The statues are “surprising, rewarding and promising beyond belief,” says one expert of the private Torlonia Collection

The work vanished in February 1997, shortly after it was authenticated as a genuine Gustav Klimt portrait.

Cool Finds

Painting Found Inside Walls of Italian Gallery Authenticated as Stolen Klimt

“Portrait of a Lady” went missing from the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in February 1997

These are the only living Wollemi pines on the planet.

Australian Firefighters Have Saved the Last Groves of a Rare, Prehistoric Tree

Just 200 Wollemi pines exist in a remote gorge, prompting a critical operation to protect them from bushfires

'Directional Velcro' on birds' feathers prevent gaps from forming between them when hit by a gust of wind.

New Research

‘PigeonBot’ Uses Real Feathers to Fly Like a Bird

The flying robot is better at following directions than its namesake

Untitled image from Restricted Residence

Nearly a Decade After Fukushima, Photos Capture Residents’ Bittersweet Return

A new photo series titled “Restricted Residence” features 42 thermal images of locals and their changed landscape

A wolf puppy named Flea, among 13 pups tested in a new study. Sadly, Flea does not fetch.

Watch Wolf Puppies Play Fetch

New research suggests canines’ love for chasing and returning tossed balls wasn’t purely a product of domestication

Christopher Tolkien at Keble College, Oxford, in 1992

Christopher Tolkien, Son of J.R.R. Tolkien and ‘First Scholar’ of Middle-Earth, Dies at 95

Following his father’s death in 1973, Christopher began editing and publishing the “Lord of the Rings” author’s unseen writings

Ginkgo trees, which produce characteristic fan-shaped leaves, can live for thousands of years.

New Research

A Genetic Elixir of Life Helps Millennia-Old Ginkgo Trees Escape Death

These trees have developed an army of molecular weapons to stay healthy in old age

The classic 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit has always been contested but authors of the new study say the figure is probably right and human body temperatures have actually decreased over time.

Human Body Temperature Is Getting Cooler, Study Finds

Our average normal temperature may no longer be 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit

Photosynthetic bacteria in the concrete make it bright green until it dries and turns brown.

New Research

Scientists Design Bacteria-Based Living Concrete

Its designers hope that it could help with construction in deserts or even on Mars

Betty Pat Gatliff poses next to a facial reconstruction of boy pharaoh Tutankhamen.

Forensic Artist Betty Pat Gatliff, Whose Facial Reconstructions Helped Solve Crimes, Dies at 89

With her detailed reconstructions of missing persons and murder victims, Gatliff helped give identities to the nameless dead

John Duke Kisch collected the Separate Cinema Archive over 40 years.

George Lucas’ New Museum Acquires Major Archive of African American Film History

The Separate Cinema Archive contains more than 37,000 objects dating from 1904 to the present

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