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First Video of Baby Dumbo Octopus Shows They’re Fully Formed From Birth

The deep sea creatures, which are named after Disney’s floppy-eared elephant, use their giant fins for navigation

How Exploding Beetles Can Survive Being Eaten Alive

Bombardier beetles can escape the stomachs of toads by setting off a powerful chemical reaction

These Arabica coffee beans could help support biodiversity—as long as they're grown in the shade.

New Research

Coffee Growing Can Be Good For Birds No Matter What Bean You Choose

Whether you swing arabica or robusta, your coffee can support biodiversity—as long as it’s grown in the shade

Fragments of Famed ‘UFO’ Discovered in Archives of London Museum

Though experts deemed it a hoax, the ‘Silpho Saucer’ created a sensation when it was discovered in the 1950s

Colorado State University archeologist Chris Fisher has used the laser mapping technique in Mexico and Honduras.

Laser Mapping Shows Ancient City in Mexico Contained 40,000 Buildings

Researchers used LiDAR scanning to reveal the sprawling metropolis of Angamuco

In 2018, researchers at the Art Gallery of Ontario released X-ray scans of this hidden painting beneath Picasso's The Crouching Beggar. The artist used the mountains in the painted-over landscape to shape the curves of his subject's back.

Researchers Uncover Hidden Details Beneath Picasso Painting

Using new imaging techniques, researchers reveal the secrets of the 1902 work “La Miséreuse Accroupie” (“The Crouching Beggar”)

The exhibition features a pair of 18th-century stork scissors, heavy tailors’ shears and calligraphy scissors

Exhibition Cuts Into the Fascinating History of Scissors

Fashion and Textile Museum traces scissors’ role in life and death, fairy tales, crime and punk

Tombs in the ancient city of Hierapolis, in modern-day Turkey.

New Research

How the Roman “Gates of Hell” Killed Animal Sacrifices but Let Human Priests Escape Unharmed

In ancient times, the gates seemed to respond to supernatural powers, but it’s actually all about science

This Butterfly Recently Returned to Scotland. Now, It’s Laying Eggs

The white-letter hairstreak, which is native to the UK, had disappeared from Scotland for more than a century

Gilbert Stuart Williamstown Portrait of George Washington

Lock of Washington’s Hair Found in 18th-Century Almanac

It was once common practice to give away locks of hair as gifts and keepsakes

The scholar, educator, and political activist Angela Davis was the nation’s most iconic revolutionary for a generation.

Angela Davis’ Archive Comes to Harvard

The papers illuminate her rise from philosophy professor to global icon and activist

Gustav Klimt, Two Reclining Female Nudes, about 1916/17

‘Lost’ Klimt Drawing Found in Cupboard of Museum Personal Assistant

The recovered work is now on view at Austria’s Lentos Museum in a show marking the centenary of the deaths of Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and ​Koloman Moser

An abstract image because it's hard to see three individual photons.

New Research

Scientists Create a New Form of Light by Linking Photons

Photons typically don’t interact, but physicists bound three together in the lab

New Research

Borneo’s Orangutan Population Plummeted by Half in 16 Years

Current population could fall by more than 45,000 over next 35 years

Portrait of the unknown judge.

Can You Identify the Judge in This Courthouse Portrait?

Officials of the John Adams Courthouse in Boston are asking the public for help in uncovering the identity of the anonymous jurist

Tesla Roadster Has Six Percent Chance of Crashing to Earth in the Next Million Years

Don’t worry, it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon—and even if it does most of it would burn up on entry

The flattie spider has the fastest-leg driven turn on the planet. Researchers say this finding has practical applications.

New Research

Meet the Spider With One of the Fastest Spins on the Planet

These spiders can twirl around faster than a blink of an eye to strike its prey

New Research

This Electronic “Skin” Already Has a Sense of Touch. Now It Can Also Heal Itself

The new e-skin can both heal itself and be recycled, limiting electronic waste

FDA Approves Blood Test That Can Detect Concussions

The test is quick, effective and could help prevent unnecessary exposure to radiation

Members of the U. S. figure skating team pose before boarding a Belgian Sabena airline plane at New York's Idlewild Airport on February 14, 1961. The plane crashed on February 15 near Brussels Airport, killing all on board.

The Beijing Winter Olympics

The Devastating Impact of the 1961 Plane Crash That Wiped Out the Entire U.S. Figure Skating Team

On this day in 1961, the U.S. figure skating team was headed to the World Championships in Prague. They never made it

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