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More than 60 bushfires destroyed 200 homes in Australia.

Australia Is Battling ‘Catastrophic’ Bushfires

‘I’ve been in this industry for 40 years and I have not seen a scenario like this before,’ one fire official said

New Research

Birds Sniff Each Other’s Bacteria to Help Choose a Mate

A new study finds the microbiome in a bird’s preen oil determines its scent, which can impact its reproductive success

Google's Art Camera scanned dozens of works of art in high resolution.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Teams Up With Google to Digitize Puerto Rico’s Art

The devastation of Hurricane Maria highlighted the importance of preserving the island’s cultural treasures

One of the wrecks discovered off the coast of Vaxholm

Cool Finds

This Wreck May Be the Sister Ship of Sweden’s Ill-Fated ‘Vasa’ Warship

Divers discovered the wreckage of two 17th-century warships off the coast of an island near Stockholm

Some of the 824 bones uncovered at a site in Mexico

Two Traps Where Woolly Mammoths Were Driven to Their Deaths Found in Mexico

The discovery may offer rare evidence that humans were actively hunting the great creatures

Researchers debate whether Iron Age Scots hunted the massive fin whales or simply made the most of animals swept ashore.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Hollowed-Out Whale Vertebra Containing Human Jawbone, Remains of Newborn Lambs

Iron Age Scots made the unusual vessel with the bone of a fin whale, Earth’s second largest whale species

The recently opened Apollo moon sample.

Trending Today

NASA Opens Pristine Tube of Moon Dust From the Apollo Missions

Studying the lunar material will help scientists understand the best way to analyze new samples from future missions to the moon

The late star’s “performance” will be crafted with CGI based on footage and photographs of Dean. Another actor will contribute the voice work.

The Controversial Resurrection of James Dean

In a move broadly decried as distasteful, filmmakers plan on digitally resurrecting the actor for a new role on the silver screen

Roma or Sinti girl imprisoned in Auschwitz, as seen in pictures taken by the SS for their files

London Library Spotlights Nazi Persecution of the Roma and Sinti

The Roma and Sinti’s wartime suffering “isn’t necessarily a subject that people know that much about,” says the curator of a new London show

In residential district of Lahore, a health worker fumigates to kill off mosquito larvae to combat the spread of dengue.

New Dengue Vaccine Looks Promising, but Major Hurdles Remain

The virus currently infects almost 400 million people a year

A composite image of Mercury's 2016 transit.

How to Watch Mercury’s Rare Transit Across the Sun

Step one: Protect your eyes

The 78-card deck didn't actually make it into the James Bond film Live and Let Die.

See Surreal Tarot Cards Designed by Salvador Dalí for a James Bond Movie

The spooky deck features images of classic art and Christian symbolism with a signature Dalí twist

A brain with a normal olfactory bulb on the left and a brain lacking the bulb on the right.

New Research

Some Women Without the Brain’s Olfactory Bulbs Can Still Smell. Scientists Say It Makes No Sense

Left-handed women missing the brain structures were still able to smell as well–or better—than average

Texas state law classifies retired police dogs (and other law enforcement animals) as surplus government property not to be used for private benefit.

Trending Today

Texas’ Retired Police Dogs No Longer Have to Be Sold or Euthanized

A new state amendment allows handlers and other qualified caretakers to adopt retired police pups at no cost

Light Detection and Ranging technology revealed architectural details and topographic data on Raleigh Island.

Using Drone-Mounted Lasers, Scientists Find Ancient Bead-Making, Island-Dwelling Community in Florida

Archaeologists used LiDAR to spot a large settlement, where residents produced an important pre-Columbian commodity

The lonely rover is heading through Gale Crater to dig around for hints of microbial life.

See Mars’s Eerie Horizon in New Images From Curiosity Rover

Gale Crater—where the image was captured—was likely covered with lakes and rivers of liquid water around three billion years ago, scientists suggest

The three-story Victorian property still looks much like it did in Rockwell's day.

A Victorian Property Featured in an Iconic Norman Rockwell Painting Is Now on Sale

The building is depicted in “Home for Christmas,” which captures the holiday season in Rockwell’s hometown

For 100 years, the Iron Scow was lodged in the same place in the "powerful upper rapids" above the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, according to Niagara Parks. On Halloween weekend this year, it shifted for the first time.

A Historic Boat, Stuck Above Niagara Falls Since 1918, Finally Breaks Free

But the vessel’s joyride didn’t last long; it is now lodged in a new location some 160 feet downriver

New Research

Sunlight-Tracking Polymer, Inspired by Sunflowers, Could Maximize Solar Power

The SunBOTS bend toward light source and could help solar cells capture more direct sunlight all day long

The markings range from letters to shapes, patterns and symbols.

You Can Now Explore a 3-D Model of Cave Covered in Creepy ‘Witches’ Marks’

Visitors spotted hundreds of etchings designed to ward off evil while exploring a cave in England’s Creswell Crags

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