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Nazi official Rudolf Hess delivering a public address in 1937.

DNA Analysis Debunks the Rumor That Rudolf Hess Was Replaced by a Doppelgänger

For decades, rumors have swirled that the Nazi official imprisoned by the British was actually an imposter

A harbor seal checks out one of the team's divers.

A High Schooler Discovered Thousands of Golf Balls Polluting California’s Coastal Waters

She is now the co-author of a study that seeks to quantify this underreported problem

New Study Showcases Three-Toed Sloth’s Unsung Adaptability

Juvenile members of the so-called “specialized” herbivore species draw on a more diverse diet than previously believed

Cool Finds

3,000-Year-Old Quinoa Found in Ontario

The batch of charred grain is the farthest north a now-extinct version of the crop has been found

The first column shows the image being displayed on the LCD screen that the camera couldn't see. The second image is what was reflected onto the white wall, or the scene the camera captured. The third and fourth were produced without knowing the position of the occluded object. The last row, slightly better, shows the image produced with knowledge of the object's location.

Scientists Used an Ordinary Digital Camera to Peer Around a Corner

A team from Boston University recreated an image of an object using its shadow

The museum is located in the tiny Swiss town of Susch

This New Art Museum Is Housed Inside of a Swiss Cave

The brainchild of Polish art collector Grażyna Kulczyk, Muzeum Susch is a gallery “with a disruptive outlook”

Mock-up of the statue in place alongside the Segovian aqueduct

Why a Smiling Statue of Satan Is Stirring Up Controversy in Spain

Some Segovian locals say the affable bust is “offensive for Catholics, because it constitutes the glorification of evil”

New Research

We Finally Know How Long a Day on Saturn Is

By studying oscillations in the planet’s iconic rings, researchers have determined it takes Saturn 10 hours, 33 minutes and 38 seconds to rotate once

Researchers drilled into the depths of Lake Mercer with a pencil-sized nozzle that sprayed hot water

Cool Finds

Trove of Tiny Ancient Animal Remains Recovered From Depths of Antarctic Ice

The crustaceans and tardigrade, or water bear, were found around a kilometer below the surface of the subglacial Lake Mercer

Trending Today

Oops: 4,500-Year-Old Stone Circle Turns Out to Be 1990s Replica

Discovered in Scotland last November, the recumbent circle was made by a local farmer interested in the ancient monuments

The Last Wild Caribou of the Lower 48 Has Been Placed in Captivity

It will soon be released into another herd, but scientists do not know if caribou will even again inhabit the contiguous United States

The chart was hidden amongst a trove of rolled-up papers in the school's chemistry building

Cool Finds

Periodic Table Found During Routine Cleaning at Scottish University May Be World’s Oldest

The chart, believed to date to 1885, was unearthed from storage room in the chemistry building at the University of St. Andrews

Why Were Two Victorian Chess Pieces Hidden in a Barn?

They may have been intended to protect the property’s human and animal inhabitants from evil spirits

Mary Oliver, a Poet Whose Simple Turns of Phrase Held Mass Appeal, Dies at 83

The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer was known for her straightforward meditations on nature, spirituality and the human experience

Yutu-2 sets off on its inaugural journey.

The Cotton Plant That Sprouted on the Far Side of the Moon Has Died

China, which is manning the first probe to land on the lunar far side, was hoping to find out how plants fare in outer space

Beach primrose, Oenothera drummondii.

New Research

Flowers Sweeten Up When They Sense Bees Buzzing

A new study suggests plants can ‘hear’ the humming of nearby pollinators and increase their sugar content in response

A portait of Omar Ibn Said made around the 1850s

Only Surviving Arabic Slave Narrative Written in the United States Digitized by Library of Congress

Omar Ibn Said, a wealthy intellectual from West Africa, wrote about his capture and enslavement in America

Rembrandt Used Unexpected Ingredient to Create His Signature Technique

New analysis shows the Dutch master added lead carbonate plumbonacrite to his impasto mix

A photograph by Hugh Mangum from Photos Day or Night: The Archive of Hugh Mangum, edited by Sarah Stacke with texts by Maurice Wallace and Martha Sumler, Hugh Mangum’s granddaughter.

Photographer’s Innovative Pictures Captured Lesser-Seen Faces of Jim Crow South

Hugh Mangum’s portraits reveal his subjects’ array of emotions and defy stereotypical snapshots

The view in Matera, Italy.

Get to Know 2019’s ‘European Capitals of Culture’

Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and Matera, Italy, have histories that stretch back thousands of years

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