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In March, thieves stole Vincent van Gogh's The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884 from a Dutch museum shuttered by Covid-19.

Van Gogh Masterpiece Stolen From Dutch Museum Shuttered by COVID-19

Thieves pilfered “The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884” from the Singer Laren in the early hours of Monday morning

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery offers a free audio tour of its presidential portraits.

Virtual Travel

Explore World-Class Museums From Home With Smartify’s Free Audio Tours

The app features a database of some two million artworks housed at more than 120 venues

The USS Stickleback (left) was accidentally broadsided by the USS Silverstein (right) on May 29, 1958.

Cool Finds

Wreck of Cold War-Era Submarine Found Off the Coast of Oahu

After 62 years underwater, the USS “Stickleback”—the casualty of an accidental friendly collision—has finally been found

Cracked-open and burnt fragments of crab pincers, found in the cave of Figueira Brava.

Neanderthals Really Liked Seafood

A rare cache of aquatic animal remains suggests that like early humans, Neanderthals were exploiting marine resources

People cross Park Avenue after it was announced that some streets will be closed off as lockdown continues in response to the coronavirus outbreak on March 27, 2020 in New York City.

Covid-19

How—and When—Will the COVID-19 Pandemic End?

Americans have some time before social distancing measures can let up—and every day counts

Matilda McCrear died in 1940 at the age of 81 or 82.

Researcher Identifies the Last Known Survivor of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Matilda McCrear was just 2 when she was captured and brought to Alabama on the “Clotilda”

According to traditional Japanese folklore, Amabie predicts good harvests and protect against disease.

Covid-19

Amid Pandemic, Artists Invoke Japanese Spirit Said to Protect Against Disease

Illustrators are sharing artwork of Amabie, a spirit first popularized during the Edo period, on social media

Hayabusa2 deployed a camera to film the plume of regolith thrown up by the impact.

New Research

Japan’s Experiment to Calculate an Asteroid’s Age Was a Smashing Success

The spacecraft Hayabusa2 hurled a four-pound copper ball toward the asteroid’s surface at about 4,500 miles an hour to create an artificial crater

Britain's weather can be fickle, but digitizing past data could help researchers forecast the future.

Education During Coronavirus

Bored at Home? Help Great Britain ‘Rescue’ Its Old Rainfall Records

Precious data points logged on paper are in dire need of a hero. Could it be you?

With pyramids closed to visitors, workers are deep cleaning the structures.

Covid-19

Amid COVID-19 Closures, Egypt Sanitizes the Giza Pyramids

The country has shut down its museums and archaeological sites in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus

Archival image, July 9, 1973: (Original caption) A woman seems hesitant about buying fish at a shop in Tokyo recently (June 25) after the Japanese Health and Welfare Ministry's June 24th warning that no one should eat more than 567 grams (about one pound four ounces) of fish a week to avoid the possibility of dangerous mercury poisoning.

New Research

A Dead Cat’s Brain Revives Discussion of 1960s Mercury Poisoning Disaster in Japan

The exact molecule behind the Minamata mercury disaster, caused by a chemical plant’s wastewater, remains a point of disagreement

Education titles are doing particularly well, with sales of children’s nonfiction education, reference and language arts books up 12 percent from the same period last year.

Education During Coronavirus

Children’s Educational Books See Uptick in Sales Amid COVID-19 School Closures

Titles related to “home-life” subjects—like preserving and canning—have also experienced a boost in sales

Parks reopened in Wuhan on Thursday, March 26.

Covid-19

China Plans to Lift Lockdown on Wuhan, Where COVID-19 Was First Detected

With no new infections reported in Hubei province in recent days, restrictions are easing up—but experts worry about possible ‘second wave’ of cases

Hundreds of neatly piled beer bottles unearthed at the site of a long-gone inn in Leeds

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Leeds Unearth 600 Lead-Spiked, 19th-Century Beer Bottles

The liquid inside is 3 percent alcohol by volume—and contains 0.13 milligrams of lead per liter

A mountain gorilla in Uganda

Covid-19

COVID-19 Could Threaten Great Ape Populations, Researchers Warn

No SARS-CoV-2 infections have yet been detected in our closest living relatives. But there is precedent for viruses jumping from people to other great apes

A wealthy widower built the unusual property over a 36-year period.

Virtual Travel

Take a Free Virtual Tour of the Winchester Mystery House

The California landmark is closed, but you can explore its bizarre architectural features from afar

The Baldwins' home was reconstructed in 1966 and is now a museum showcasing the missionary's life in the mid-1800s.

Archaeologists Unearth Remnants of Kitchen Behind Oldest House Still Standing in Maui

The missionary who lived in the house during the mid-1800s delivered vaccinations to locals during a smallpox epidemic

Cartoonist Albert Uderzo poses with Asterix (R) and Obelix (L) prior to a press conference at the Monnaie de Paris on March 25, 2015.

Albert Uderzo, Co-Creator of ‘Asterix and Obelix’ Comics, Dies at 92

The pint-sized, mustachioed Gaul immortalized in the French cartoon has spawned films, a theme park and many other spin-offs

Researchers excavate an altar in the capital of the Maya kingdom of Sak Tz'i'.

Cool Finds

Community-Researcher Collaboration Reveals Ancient Maya Capital in Backyard

A recent excavation located the first physical evidence of the capital of the Maya kingdom of Sak Tz’i’, founded in 750 B.C.

Education During Coronavirus

Stuck at Home? Take Yale’s Most Popular Course Ever: The Science of Happiness

In its first year, the class attracted more than 1,200 students. The online version is abbreviated, but free

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