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Two tacos, extra ghost pepper sauce, please!

New Research

Tree Shrews Love Hot Peppers Because They Don’t Feel the Burn

A genetic mutation prevents Chinese tree shrews from feeling the heat of capsaicin, making them the only other mammal besides humans that enjoys hot foods

The Meghalayan Age’s “timestamp” is an isotopic shift found in a single stalagmite growing from the floor of the Mawmluh Cave in Meghalaya, India

Welcome to the Meghalayan Age, the Latest Stage in Earth’s 4.54-Billion-Year History

Geologists say the stage began 4,200 years ago, when a global mega-drought devastated agricultural societies

Trending Today

Plans for the Emanuel Nine Memorial Unveiled

The monument to the nine black parishioners slain in Charleston in 2015 will include two wing-like benches that arc around a marble fountain

Combing Through the Fishy Origins of Human Hair

New research from UVA suggests the first vertebrates to colonize dry land carried scaly souvenirs with them

Cool Finds

Jupiter Officially Has 12 New Moons

The new satellites are mostly tiny and include one oddball that is on a collision course with some of the 78 other moons orbiting the planet

To create her dazzle camouflage design, Auerbach used a process known as marbling, or swirling pools of ink on paper to generate fluid patterns

Art Meets Science

NYC Fireboat Rebranded in Vibrant Dazzle Camouflage to Commemorate WWI

Vessels cloaked in clashing colors, patterns attempted to confuse U-boat commanders by distorting their perception of a ship’s speed, size and location

Trending Today

Indian Supreme Court Orders Government to Restore the Taj Mahal — or Demolish It

After the government failed to file plans for restoring the monument, which is discolored by bug poo and pollution, the court has demanded action

Tsar Nicholas II and his family

DNA Analysis Confirms Authenticity of Romanovs’ Remains

Will Russia’s fallen royal family finally receive a full burial from the Orthodox Church?

Babies’ Cries May Predict What They Will Sound Like as Adults

A new study has found that vocal pitch arises very early in life

Archaeologists unearthed the 14,400-year-old breadcrumbs while excavating a pair of stone fireplaces in northeast Jordan

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Evidence of Bread Baked Before Advent of Agriculture

The bread, which was found in northeast Jordan, dates back about 14,400 years and likely resembled modern-day wraps

Stanley Kubrick filming Spartacus four years after writing the screenplay for the novella Burning Secret. The screenplay of Stefan Zweig's work was believed to be missing until it was discovered earlier this year.

Professor Discovers ‘Lost’ Stanley Kubrick Screenplay

Kubrick wrote the script for Burning Love in 1956, but the film never made it to the big screen

"Wheat Field with Cypresses," based on Vincent van Gogh

Art Meets Science

This Is What Robotic Art Looks Like in 2018

The 2018 RobotArt competition fielded more than 100 submissions entered by 19 teams from all over the world

Covering the tūpuna (Māori ancestral remains) with the leaves of the kawakawa

Preserved Māori Head Returns to New Zealand

The sacred items were once widely collected by Europeans. In recent years, New Zealand has worked to secure the repatriation of these ancestral remains

Cool Finds

Drought Reveals Giant, 4,500-Year-Old Irish Henge

The circular structure in the Boyne Valley was discovered by drone photographers searching for signs of hidden Neolithic sites

This gilded mummy mask was recently discovered in a burial chamber in Saqqara, Egypt. Archaeologists called the find a "sensation."

Mummification Workshop and Trove of Burial Relics Found in Egypt

‘We are standing before a goldmine of information,’ one expert said

Eight of 11 black rhinos translocated from Nairobi to Tsavo East National Park died after failing to adapt to the sanctuary's saltier water

Eight Endangered Black Rhinos Have Died in a Sanctuary

Preliminary investigation suggests the rhinos died as a result of salt poisoning

Anna Freud's signet ring.

Cool Finds

Exhibit Reveals Rings From Freud’s “Secret Committee”

The founder of psychoanalysis handed out the rings to students, colleagues and friends who supported and spread his theories

Behaviors requiring the most pressure were smashing bones for marrow and producing flint flakes

Did the Human Hand Evolve as a Lean Mean Bone-Smashing Machine?

Of nearly 40 things Pleistocene people might have done with their hands, getting to yummy marrow requires the most force and dexterity

Trending Today

Man With World’s Longest Fingernails Finally Gets a Manicure

After growing out the nails on his left hand for 66 years, Shridhar Chillal has sold the 31 feet of keratin to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not

Researchers sampling the Iceman's stomach contents in 2010

Before He Died, Ötzi the Iceman Ate a Greasy, Fatty Meal

A detailed analysis of the mummy’s stomach contents suggests he knew precisely what to eat to survive in harsh Alpine conditions

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