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Fewer Americans are reading for pleasure.

Reading for Pleasure Has Declined by a ‘Deeply Concerning’ 40 Percent Over the Past Two Decades

Between 2003 and 2023, the proportion of Americans who read for fun on a given day has been steadily falling, a new study suggests

Some scholars argue that the sprawling medieval tapestry is too fragile to be moved.

French Official Rules That 1,000-Year-Old Bayeux Tapestry Isn’t Too Fragile to Travel to London

The 230-foot-long medieval tapestry is scheduled to go on view at the British Museum next year, but critics worry that transporting the delicate artifact is too risky

Arborists scaled the tree to douse the final flames on August 21.

World’s Tallest Douglas Fir Tree Damaged in Mysterious, Multi-Day Blaze, but It’s Alive After Firefighters Extinguish Flames

The fire started burning on August 16 and only affected a single tree—the historic Doerner Fir in southern Oregon. Authorities are still investigating the cause

Bloom patterns resemble flowers as they unfold.

New Research

College Sophomore Discovers New Origami Pattern That Could Be Used to Build Telescopes and Satellites

Based on the work of a student at Brigham Young University, origami theorists have unlocked a new set of patterns that could change space exploration

Stonehenge at sunset. Construction of the iconic stone circle began around 3000 B.C.E. and continued in several phases.

A Neolithic Cow’s Tooth Helps Point to the Mysterious Origins of Stonehenge’s Iconic Stones

Isotope analysis of a molar from a cow’s jawbone found buried at the monument provides details of the life story of the animal—and how it may relate to the construction of Stonehenge

The church was towed at a speed of 0.31 to 0.93 miles per hour.

To Save This Historic Church, Workers Loaded It Onto Trailers and Rolled It Across Town. See How They Pulled It Off

The 672.4-ton church is one of several buildings that have been relocated in the Swedish town of Kiruna, where Europe’s largest underground iron ore mine is weakening the ground beneath the city center

An illustration of SN2021yfj enveloped in a layer of heavy elements during its supernova explosion

A Unique Supernova ‘Dazzled’ Astronomers and Revealed the Inner Layers of Stars

Researchers observed a supernova in progress that showed the onion-like structure of elements in stars, and the explosion may belong to a class of its own

Scientists are eager to figure out why lead doesn't seem to affect brown anoles.

These Lizards Have So Much Lead in Their Blood, They Should Be Dead. Instead, They’re Thriving

Brown anoles around New Orleans have the highest blood concentrations of lead ever recorded in vertebrates—and scientists aren’t sure why they can survive it

The 102-year-old climber was assisted by his 70-year-old daughter on the journey.

This 102-Year-Old Man Just Became the Oldest Person on Record to Summit Japan’s Mount Fuji

Kokichi Akuzawa is an experienced climber who trained for his journey up the mountain by walking for one hour every morning

The American robin was among the birds most affected by light pollution.

Light Pollution Is Making Days Longer for Birds, Extending the Hours When They’ll Sing

A new study looked at millions of recordings of birdsong and found that some species in areas with more light pollution are active for almost an hour longer than average

The vessel's timbers are shrinking and its iron fittings are disintegrating.

America's 250th Anniversary

Watch as Experts Preserve a 249-Year-Old Gunboat That Sank During the American Revolution

Badly damaged during the Battle of Valcour Island, the “Philadelphia” is now the focus of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

The flip-flop mosaic decorated the floor of a cold pool room in the villa's bath complex.

Archaeologists Are Investigating an Ancient Mosaic Depicting Sandals That Look Strangely Like Modern Flip-Flops

The colorful artwork decorates the frigidarium of the Villa Romana del Casale, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Sicily

Officials in Sartell, Minnesota, pulled the vehicle from the river on August 13.

Two Friends Went Fishing on the Mississippi River. Police Say They May Have Just Solved a 1967 Cold Case

Investigators pulled a 1960s Buick sedan from the waterway in central Minnesota that provides new details about a man’s disappearance more than 50 years ago

Researchers often observed a family of bats roosting together in tight "cuddle balls."

These Big, Meat-Eating Bats Also Have a Cuddly Side. Rare Videos Reveal ‘Hugging,’ Playing and Sharing Food

Scientists observed a family of four spectral bats in their roost in a tree in Costa Rica, capturing an inside look at their social behavior

Cattle graze at the Cotoni-Coast Dairies national monument under federal leases.

Cows, Hikers and Mountain Bikers Coexist at This National Monument, With Help From New Technology

Established in 2017, the Cotoni-Coast Dairies national monument in California is now open to the public

This stone tool found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, along with six others, suggest hominins were present on the island and making tools far earlier than thought.

Cool Finds

1.04-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools Found on Indonesian Island Offer Clues About Some of the Region’s Earliest Human Relatives

The toolmakers or their ancestors might have arrived on Sulawesi by clinging to vegetation during a storm, but their identities remain a mystery

The book is on view inthe Central Library's lobby.

Someone Returned a Library Book That Their Grandmother Checked Out Eight Decades Ago

The San Antonio Public Library received the book in the mail along with a letter: “I hope there is no late fee for it because Grandma won’t be able to pay for it anymore”

The Chapel Choir of the University of Exeter performed the monastic songs from the Buckland Book.

Cool Finds

Hear the Long-Lost Chants of English Monks Whose Monasteries Were Dissolved by Henry VIII

A university choir has revived music found hiding in plain sight in a book once used by monks at southern England’s Buckland Abbey

The partial dire wolf skull was found in Iowa.

A Partial Dire Wolf Skull Is Headed to Auction This Month—and It Could Sell for $30,000

Collectors have a rare opportunity to bid on the remains of the fearsome creature, a large canid that went extinct around the end of the last ice age

Thornton's handwritten memoirs recount the same period of her life.

Read the Dramatic 17th-Century Memoirs of Alice Thornton, Who Wrote Four Versions of Her Life Story

Researchers have digitized all four volumes, which are now available online. The autobiographies offer a compelling window into a tumultuous period in English history

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