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Cool Finds

Never-Before-Seen Colony of 1,000 Brooding Octopuses Found Off California Coast

The deep sea creatures are raising their eggs on the Davidson Seamount in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Look inside, if you dare. Or if you have a forensics degree.

Cool Finds

Is This the Bag That Held Sir Walter Raleigh’s Mummified Head?

Legend has it his wife retained his embalmed head. But while the sack dates to the correct era and was found in his son’s home, scholars are not convinced

China Reverses Its Ban on the Use of Rhino and Tiger Parts in Medicine

Conservationists worry that the decision will further imperil threatened species

Contemporary hot chocolate bears little resemblance to the bitter drink enjoyed by ancient South and Central American civilizations

Cool Finds

Cacao Was First Cultivated in South America, Not Mexico and Central America

New study pinpoints birth of chocolate to some 5,300 years ago, or nearly 1,500 years earlier than previously believed

Celebrate the spookiest night of the year by participating in a "game" that lets you guide a real person's actions

This Halloween, a Social Experiment Will Allow Internet Users to Control the Actions of a Real Person

MIT Media Laboratory’s BeeMe is the love child of ‘Black Mirror’ and psychologist Stanley Milgram’s notorious experiments on free will and obedience

A visitor at the reopening ceremony for Syria's National Museum, in Damascus, Syria.

Forced to Close by Civil War, the National Museum of Damascus Re-Opens Its Doors

The museum’s collections were among 300,000 artifacts hidden by officials as violence spread in Syria

Though acute flaccid myelitis is not nearly as widespread as polio was at the height of its outbreaks, nor is the polio virus present in patients with AFM, yet symptoms, including paralysis, starkly resemble the disease. Pictured: Child gets polio vaccine on sugar cube circa 1970s.

A Polio-Like Illness Is Causing Paralysis in Children

Acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, remains very rare, but cases have been peaking every other year since 2014

Viking tar kiln.

New Research

Was the Vikings’ Secret to Success Industrial-Scale Tar Production?

Evidence suggests that the ability to mass-produce tar bolstered their trade repertoire and allowed them to waterproof and seal their iconic longships

Cool Finds

See L.A.’s Strangest Sculpture Shine Bright Once Again

Built in the 1970s, the Triforium was designed to sync light and music but the costly venture was ahead of its time

During the summer, Mount Kilauea bombarded Hawaii's Big Island with lava bombs, volcanic ash and smog

These Are the United States’ 18 Most Dangerous Volcanoes

Hawaii’s Mount Kilauea, Washington’s Mount St. Helens top the list, which forecasts eruptions’ potential impact on people, property, infrastructure

Hovenden House.

Trending Today

Developers and Preservationists Clash Over Underground Railroad Stop

Opponents say a plan to build 67 townhomes near Hovenden House and Abolitionist Hall outside Philadelphia will destroy the area’s heritage space

A dumbo octopus, "showing off."

See Rare Footage of the Elusive, Ethereal Dumbo Octopus

A team of researchers spotted the creature thousands of feet below sea level with the help of a remotely operated vehicle

Obvious' "Portrait of Edmond Belamy" exceeded expectations at Thursday's sale

Christie’s Is First to Sell Art Made by Artificial Intelligence, But What Does That Mean?

Paris-based art collective Obvious’ ‘Portrait of Edmond Belamy’ sold for $432,500, nearly 45 times its initial estimate

Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin on a spacewalk in 2013, completing maintenance on International Space Station.

New Research

Hanging Out in Space Deforms Brain Tissue, New Cosmonaut Study Suggests

While gray matter shrinks, cerebrospinal fluid increases. What’s more: These changes do not completely resolve once back on Earth.

The damage inflicted to the glass box encasing Magna Carta

Man Arrested for Trying to Steal an Original Copy of the Magna Carta

The suspect was apprehended after taking a hammer to a glass case containing the 13th-century document

Federal police forensic specialists investigate the cause of the fire that tore through Brazil's National Museum in Rio de Janeiro.

Five Things We’ve Learned Since Brazil’s Devastating National Museum Fire

Luzia, the oldest human fossil in the Americas, was recovered from the rubble

The 28 footprints capture an early reptile-like creature's unusual diagonal gait

Cool Finds

The Grand Canyon’s Oldest Footprints Are 310 Million Years Old

Researcher Stephen Rowland says the creature that left the tracks was “doing a funny little side-walking step, line-dance kind of thing”

Eugène Delacroix, "Crouching Woman," 1827

Art Institute of Chicago Now Offers Open Access to 44,313 Images (and Counting)

Now you can view the museum’s masterpieces without taking a flight to Chicago

New Research

Meet Africa’s Newest Crocodile Species

The African slender-snouted crocodile has been split into two species and both of them are critically endangered

Part of Bellinghausen Station

Trending Today

Russian Researcher Charged With Attempted Murder In Antarctica

Earlier this month a researcher stabbed another individual at Bellinghausen Station after suffering an “emotional breakdown”

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