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Cool Finds

Newly Discovered Artifacts Reignite Feud Over Which Town Is Connecticut’s Oldest

Wethersfield and Windsor both date back to the early 17th century, but which came first is a matter of debate

A Rapa Nui sculptor has offered to create an exact replica of the famed Easter Island head

Rapa Nui Representatives Visit British Museum to Discuss Repatriation of Moai Statue

The four-ton sculpture was taken from an island temple and gifted to Queen Victoria in 1869

Quai Branly Museum in Paris houses a collection with more than 300,000 indigenous art of Africa, Asia, America and Oceania.

French Report Recommends the Full Restitution of Looted African Artworks

The report was commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron, who has advocated for repatriation

New Research

Brown Recluse Silk Is Stronger Than Steel Because It’s Constructed Like a Cable

Thousands of nanotendrils come together to form the flat, super-strong spider silk

The skull-collecting ants use chemical mimicry, a behavior usually observed amongst parasitic species, to entrap prey

These Ants Immobilize Prey With Acid Then Drag Them Back to Nest for Dismemberment

Decapitated heads, dismembered limbs litter the floor of Formica archboldi nests

Civil War Photo Sleuth's software identifies up to 27 "facial landmarks" evident in images uploaded to database

Art Meets Science

Facial Recognition Software Is Helping Identify Unknown Figures in Civil War Photographs

Civil War Photo Sleuth aims to be the world’s largest, most complete digital archive of identified and unidentified Civil War-era portraits

Cool Finds

Did These Ancient Juglets—Found in a Bronze Age Burial in Israel—Contain Vanilla?

The finding suggests vanilla was being used 2,500 years earlier and half a world from where we thought, but vanilla experts are skeptical on the findings

The Golden Record features images of life on Earth, nature sounds, greetings recorded in 55 different languages

Art Meets Science

New Catalogue Describes Everything We’ve Sent Into Space

Entries include Doritos’ advertisement, Klingon Opera invitation, Beatles song

Your Cat’s Tongue Is a Rough, Pink Engineering Marvel

Researchers have found how spines on the sandpapery tongue keep kitties clean and cool

The Statue of Liberty’s Original Torch Gets a New Home

The torch, which was replaced in the 1980s, has been moved to a new museum on Liberty Island

The museum featured replicas of a pioneer school, mining cabin, blacksmith's shop and more

Paradise’s Gold Nugget Museum Falls Victim to Camp Fire

The beloved local institution was founded in 1973 to commemorate the town’s prospecting past

New Research

Why Wombats Make Cube-Shaped Poos

New research shows differences in elasticity in the intestines shapes the poo as it moves through

Confederate Troops on the Las Moras, Texas

Trending Today

Texas Will Finally Teach That Slavery Was Main Cause of the Civil War

Slavery has been upgraded to the primary cause in the curriculum, however states’ rights and sectionalism will still be taught as “contributing factors”

To attract females, males release a series of mating calls

Hurricane Harvey Didn’t Stop These Fish From Mating

Spotted seatrout engaged in normal spawning patterns as the eye of the storm passed directly over their habitat

Promising Peanut Allergy Treatment Could Become Available in the Near Future

A new study has found that gradually exposing children to peanut protein could increase their tolerance—though the treatment does not offer a complete cure

Monet's "Water Lilies" panels were installed at the Musee d'Orangerie in 1927, one year after the artist's death

Step Into Claude Monet’s World With This Immersive VR Exploration of ‘Water Lilies’

New VR experience whisks participants from Paris museum to Impressionist’s Giverny garden and studio

The Rothschild bronzes depict two muscular men riding astride panthers

Washboard Abs and Unusual Toes Convince Experts These Sculptures Were Crafted by Michelangelo

Analysis makes the newly attributed early 16th-century Florentine sculptures the Renaissance giant’s only surviving bronzes

Dorcas Reilly preparing her famous green bean casserole at the Campbell Soup corporate kitchen in 2005.

The Woman Who Invented the Green Bean Casserole

Dorcas Reilly came up with the iconic American dish in the 1950s

A still from Neck n' Neck

Cool Finds

Missing Disney Cartoon From 1928 Discovered in Japan

The short featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is one of seven missing Disney cartoons about the character the predates Mickey Mouse

A man cleans a skull near a mass grave at the Chaung Ek torture camp run by the Khmer Rouge in this undated photo.

Landmark Verdict Finds Two of Khmer Rouge’s Surviving Leaders Guilty of Genocide

It is the first time that such a verdict has been meted out against high-ranking members of the brutal Cambodian regime

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