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Emmer wheat

New Research

Sequencing of Wheat Genome Could Lead to a Breadier Future

It took 200 scientists 13 years to finally figure out the complex genome of the important grain

Slow-moving clumps of bacteria form the darker regions of the portrait, while fast-moving, spaced-out bacteria form the lighter regions

Art Meets Science

Light-Reactive Bacteria Create Miniature ‘Mona Lisa’ Replica

Researchers transformed swimming bacteria into replica of the da Vinci masterpiece, morphing likenesses of Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin

Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, Tainan city councilor Hsieh Lung-chieh and Huang Shu-jen, head of a local group established to commemorate "comfort women"

Taiwan Unveils Its First Statue Honoring ‘Comfort Women’

The monument has sparked diplomatic tensions with Japan

How Hungry Baby Urchins Are Saving Hawaii’s Reefs

They helped eat through invasive algae that was suffocating corals in Kāne’ohe Bay

New Research

Egyptians Cracked Recipe for Embalming Resin Well Before Time of the Pharaohs

A new analysis shows that the Egyptian mummies were being made long before 2600 B.C.

The pores visible on the underside of this shark's snout are electrical field-sensitive ampullae of Lorenzini.

New Research

Magnets Help Keep Sharks Out of Fish Traps

Adding cheap magnets to the traps reduced shark and ray bycatch by a third and increased fish hauls by just as much, according to a new study

Child participants doubted themselves and looked to their robot counterparts for guidance

Children Are Susceptible to Robot Peer Pressure, Study Suggests

When robots provided incorrect answers in social conformity test, children tended to follow their lead

The world's oldest cheese has been found in an ancient Egyptian tomb, but after 3200 years of entombment, it probably looked way worse off than this moldy modern sample.

Oldest Cheese Ever Found in Egyptian Tomb

Italian researchers also found traces of disease-causing bacteria in what they believe is probably extremely aged cheese.

Image of the 12th-century Buddha statue

Crime-Fighting Art Expert Helps Bring Stolen Buddha Statue Back to India

The statue comes home 57 years ago after being stolen

The Whitechapel fatberg is a massive clump of congealed fat, wet wipes, diapers and miscellaneous waste

You Can Now Watch the Whitechapel Fatberg’s Decay on Livestream

The toxic clump of sewage oil and waste housed at the Museum of London has, so far, changed colors, ‘sweated,’ hatched flies and grown yellow pustules

It’s often difficult to tell “where the art ends and the building begins”

Swiss Institute Reimagines Duchamp’s Readymades for the Modern World

The exhibition asks visitors to revisit the objects in their daily life that are often taken for granted

Science

New Research

Physics Reveals How to Break Spaghetti Cleanly In Two

Our collective culinary nightmare is over

Stormy weather may have rained on these sea urchins' parade—and sealed their fate

See Shells of Sea Spuds on the Seashore

Hundreds of “sea potatoes”—actually the empty shells of a species of sea urchin—mysteriously washed up on Cornish beach last weekend

If you're feeling doggone lonesome after a poor night's rest, don't fret: the authors say just one good night of sleep can reboot feelings of sociability.

Sleep Deprivation May Cause Infectious Loneliness

A new study found that sleepless nights can make you—and the people around you—feel more socially withdrawn

Study suggests that early humans had opposable, ape-like big toes built for grasping

Researchers Suggest Big Toe Was Last Part of Foot to Evolve

Early hominins’ big toes were equipped for life on the ground and in the trees

New Research

Why Astronomers Want to Look for Earth’s Mini-Moons

A new, powerful telescope in Chile will be able to detect tiny asteroid chunks circling our planet, which could be a goldmine for researchers

New Research

Tools Offer More Complex, Cooperative Picture of Easter Island Society

Basalt axes from one quarry area indicate cooperation between clans, not warfare over resources as previously hypothesized

View the Uffizi’s Ancient Treasures From Afar, in 3D

A new website has digitized 300 objects from the Florence gallery’s Greek and Roman collection

How an Artist Is Rebuilding a Baghdad Library Destroyed During the Iraq War

“168:01,” an installation now on view at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, encourages visitors to donate books to the University of Baghdad

A French Theme Park Taught Crows To Pick Up Trash

Park hopes that its avian garbage collectors will encourage humans to properly discard their rubbish

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