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Rice terraces in Yunnan, China.

Trending Today

136,000 Varieties of Rice Are Now Protected in Perpetuity

An annual $1.4 million funding grant will allow the International Rice Research Institute to help develop drought, heat- and flood-resistant rice varieties

Af Klint saw herself as a “holy transcriptionist, a technician of the unknown” whose work was simply a stepping stone in the pursuit of knowledge

From Obscurity, Hilma af Klint Is Finally Being Recognized as a Pioneer of Abstract Art

Before the modernists, the Swedish painter’s monumental canvases featured free-wheeling swirls, mysterious symbols, pastel palette

New Research

This Humongous Fungus Is as Massive as Three Blue Whales

A new estimate suggests this mushroom is 2,500 Years Old and Weighs 440 tons

Previous excavations at the site have revealed raven talons, toad bones and even bronze cauldrons filled with the remains of ritually sacrificed puppies

Cool Finds

This Ancient 10-Year-Old Received a ‘Vampire Burial’ to Prevent Return From the Dead

The malaria-stricken Roman child was buried in the ominously named Cemetery of the Babies with a stone inserted into its mouth

More than half of Americans of European descent could be matched to a third cousin or closer through anonymous DNA samples

You Could Be Identified Through a Genealogy Database—Even If Your DNA Hasn’t Been Tested

New study finds that approximately 60 percent of people of European-descent in the U.S. can be matched to a third cousin or closer

Matthew Shepard will be interred at the Washington National Cathedral later this month

Twenty Years After His Brutal Murder, Matthew Shepard Will Be Buried at the Washington National Cathedral

Shepard has endured as a symbol of violent hate crimes against LGBTQ people

The upcoming installation will feature a choral work inspired by Mary Borden's wartime love sonnets

Mary Borden’s Forgotten World War I Ballad to Mark Centenary of Armistice Day

The heiress, poet and activist funded and oversaw military field hospitals during both world wars, penned series of sonnets inspired by wartime experiences

This girl is off to a good start

Growing Up Surrounded by Books Could Have Powerful, Lasting Effect on the Mind

A new study suggests that exposure to large home libraries may have a long-term impact on proficiency in three key areas

The sample included women from 31 out of 34 Chinese provinces and 36 out of 55 ethnic minority groups

New Research

Largest Ever Study of Chinese People’s Genetics Reveals Insights on Migration Patterns, Diet, Disease

Scientists analyzed DNA samples from 141,431 pregnant Chinese women, or roughly 1/10,000 of the country’s population

The Average Person Can Recognize 5,000 Faces

But some participants in a recent study were able to recall as many as 10,000 faces

Cool Finds

You Thought Modern Life Was Bad. This Neanderthal Child Was Eaten By a Giant Bird

It’s not known if the bird killed the child or scavenged its remains, but finger bones found in Poland show they went through a bird’s digestive tract

Trending Today

The Future Is Female for San Francisco’s Public Art Scene

A new ordinance means that at least 30 percent of new public art will depict notable women of history, beginning with Maya Angelou

Well then what would we call a cow that jumps over a moonmoon?

New Research

If a Moon Has a Moon, Is Its Moon Called a Moonmoon?

A new study suggests it’s possible some moons could have moons and the internet wants to give them a name—but scientists have yet to actually find one

Hurricane Michael made landfall along the Florida Panhandle Wednesday, devastating the region with winds of up to 155 miles per hour and storm surges of up to 14 feet

Trending Today

Hurricane Michael Could Worsen—or Alleviate—Florida’s Toxic Red Tide Outbreak

Experts describe conflicting scenarios that alternately find the state’s poisonous algal bloom either weakening offshore or spreading inland

Russian Soyuz rocket carrying astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksey Ovchinin lifts off on Thursday, October 11.

Astronauts Survive Emergency Landing After Russian Rocket Launch Fails

The two crew members landed safely in Kazakhstan after aborting the spaceflight to conduct a high-speed reentry procedure

New Research

Mount Vesuvius Boiled Its Victims’ Blood and Caused Their Skulls to Explode

A new study of residue on skeletons from the 79 A.D. eruption indicates Herculaneum was hit with a 400 to 900 degree pyroclastic flow

How Siberian Huskies Get Their Piercing Blue Eyes

A new study suggests that the defining trait is linked to a unique genetic mutation

Stone tools discovered in Belize's Paynes Creek Salt Works

How Salty Fish Helped the Maya of Belize Bolster Their Economy

A new study suggests that workshops on the coast of Belize were not only producing salt, but also preserving animal meat

Polar bears are shown scavenging on the carcass of a dead bowhead whale that washed ashore on Wrangel Island, Russia.

Weird Animals

Polar Bears May Soon Feast on Whale Carcasses. Global Warming is to Blame.

This scavenging strategy saved sleuths of bears in the past, but it’s not sustainable as temperatures climb at unprecedented rates

Katmai National Park and Preserve has a ton of chubby cubbies. But which bear's bulk will bury the competition in the 2018 Fat Bear Week?

Trending Today

Time to Get Jiggily With it, Fat Bear Week Is Upon Us

Your vote will determine which fish-chomping ursine competitor in Katmai National Park and Preserve is the chubbiest cubby of them all

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