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The burial chamber containing the model looms

New Research

Model Looms Are Missing Link in China’s Textile History

Four miniature pattern looms found in a burial in Chengdu show how the Han Dynasty produced cloth to trade on the Silk Road

DNA of Ancient Skeleton Linked to Modern Indigenous Peoples

A new study has established a genetic link between a 10,300-year-old man and native groups living in the Pacific Northwest today

Charles Manson Leaping at Judge Charles H. Older, October 5, 1970.

New Exhibit Highlights the Art of the Courtroom Sketch

For decades, these drawings offered the public its only glimpse into high-profile court cases

Garment workers and union members from the Puritan Underwear Company taking part in the 1916 May Day parade in New York. While these parades were common early in the century, they began to disappear over time.

The US Declared “Loyalty Day” in the 1950s to Erase Worker Protest

Under Eisenhower during the Cold War, “Loyalty Day” was declared to paper over International Workers’ Day

Trending Today

Latest National Report Card Shows Little Student Improvement in Music and Art

This is the third time that the National Center for Educational Statistics has assessed eight-graders in music and visual arts

A field hospital in Virginia, photographed in 1862, shows the grim conditions during the Civil War.

Fearing a Smallpox Epidemic, Civil War Troops Tried to Self-Vaccinate

People knew that inoculation could prevent you from catching smallpox. It was how Civil War soldiers did it that caused problems

New Research

Scientists Make Sturdy Bricks From Mars-Like Soils

Their findings may be a step forward in the mission to build structures on the Red Planet

Field. Oil on panel by PIX18 / Creative Machines Lab at Columbia University

Cool Finds

Check Out This Year’s Entries to the RobotArt Competition

Thirty-eight teams have submitted almost 200 artworks painted by robots, many guided by artsy artificial intelligence

New Research

Why Mother and Baby Humpback Whales Whisper to One Another

The quiet communication helps them avoid killer whales and randy male humpbacks

Vindija Cave in Croatia where some of the samples were collected

New Research

Scientists Extract DNA From Ancient Humans Out of Cave Dirt

The new technique promises to transform the study of the hominid family tree

A Nude Sculpture of George Washington Is Coming to New York

The work was made in preparation for a larger, clothed statue by the Italian artist Antonio Canova

By 1948, when this photo montage was made, Times Square was a riot of lights and special effects. Many of these lighted signs were the work of Douglas Leigh.

Times Square’s Glitzy Look was One Man’s Bright Idea

Douglas Leigh’s ability to imagine new kinds of advertising shaped the signs of the city

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Network of WWI Training Tunnels and Trenches Found in England

They were meant to prepare soldiers for gruelling conditions on the frontlines of Belgium and France

The Mississippi was in its high season, and the water was fast and cold.

This Civil War Boat Explosion Killed More People Than the ‘Titanic’

The ‘Sultana’ was only legally allowed to carry 376 people. When its boilers exploded, it was carrying 2,300

Thank luciferin for mushrooms' mysterious glow.

New Research

The Secret Behind Bioluminescent Mushrooms’ Magic Glow

Scientists use chemistry to account for an astonishing phenomenon

"The first ascent of the Matterhorn," by Gustave Dore, who was not actually there.

The Tragic Story of the First Ascent of the Matterhorn

Edward Whymper had tried seven times to reach the top of the Matterhorn. He made it on the eighth try–at great cost

New Research

Dog Genome Project Reveals Secrets of Canine Family Tree

Researchers have been barking up the same tree for over 20 years

Raw image of the storm on Saturn's north pole

Trending Today

Cassini Sends Back First Images From Its Saturn Dives

The stream of raw images include new pictures of the strange hexagonal storm swirling around its north pole

Sold: Diary of 28-Year-Old JFK

Kennedy recorded his impressions of a formative trip through post-War Europe

What Coconuts Can Tell Us About Escaping Alcatraz

Researchers are using GPS-enabled coconuts to monitor currents to determine if three men could have survived a 1962 escape from “The Rock”

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