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Pew Research Shows Public Libraries Remain Vital to Communities

The latest poll shows that the majority of Americans think libraries have the resources they need

The low wages in the neighborhoods around Hull House can be seen in these maps, which illustrate income based on household. Each square shows an apartment building, and incomes are shown on the legend below. Black squares earned just $5 a week or less.

Cool Finds

These Early Infographics Illustrated the Plight of America’s Poor

Florence Kelley used hard numbers to effect change

Reports found that critically endangered largetooth sawfish are sometimes passed off as shark in some fish markets.

Anthropocene

Fish Industry On the Hook for Rampant Mislabeling of Species

A new report identifies rampant fraud in the seafood industry

New Research

A Starchy Sixth Sense Could Explain Why Humans Love Carbs

Our tongues may be even more sensitive than once thought

What kept giraffes apart so long that they developed into separate species?

New Research

There Are Four Giraffe Species—Not Just One

The downside to this revelation: several of the new species are critically endangered

New Research

This Slo-Mo Sneeze Video Shows Just How Far Spray Clouds Can Spread

Gross as it may be, by mapping the ejected sneeze droplets, researchers hope to better control the spread of disease

The Billion Oyster Project is trying to help restore oysters to New York City's waterways.

Cool Finds

Thousands of Toilets Submerged in NY Harbor Go From Bathroom Throne to Oyster Home

It’s much too soon to eat them, though

The fragile crystals are created when alcohol dries.

Art Meets Science

These Stunning Images Capture the Unseen Beauty of Booze

Drink to the magic of polarized light microscopy

Babe Ruth pitching for the Boston Red Sox

Cool Finds

This Digital Collection of Babe Ruth’s Scrapbooks Is a Piece of Home Run History

The Baseball Hall of Fame is sharing its collection with the internet

Suspected 1665 Great Plague pit unearthed at Crossrail Liverpool Street site

DNA from 17th-Century Teeth Confirms Cause of London’s Great Plague

Skeletons excavated from a mass grave during London’s Crossrail project yield new clues about the ancient mystery

"World Trade Center as a Cloud" Christopher Saucedo

Trending Today

Inside the 9/11 Museum’s First Art Show

The exhibit marks the 15th anniversary of the attacks

The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries

Even Napoleon Had an Unpublished Manuscript, and Now It’s up for Auction

His handwritten novella captures his feelings toward love at age 26

The Library of Celsus at Ephesus, an ancient Greek colony in southwestern Turkey.

Trending Today

Austria and Turkey Are Butting Heads Over an Archaeological Dig

Turkish authorities have shut down a major dig early due to international tensions

"Everything is awesome," Lego executives might as well be singing.

North America Is Crazy For Lego Toys and the Manufacturer Can’t Keep Up

The bricks keep kids and adults coming back for more

Aleppo, Syria, in 2010. Since 2012, the city has been home to a fierce battle in Syria's civil war.

Trending Today

Five Times Aleppo Was the Center of the World’s Attention

Will the once-regal city survive this moment in the spotlight?

Celebrate 50 Years of International Literacy Day With the British Library

Butterflies, rabbits and Shakespeare: there’s something for everybody

Diesel fumes, like the ones emitted by trains, vehicles and industrial operations, are thought to be to blame for magnetite in the human brain.

New Research

Your Brain Is Full of Magnetic Minerals, and You Might Not Like the Reason Why

Blame air pollution for the microscopic minerals that go up your nose and into your noggin

OSRIS-REx

Trending Today

Watch OSIRIS-REx Head to the Cosmos to Grab a Scoop of Asteroid Dust

Today, NASA will launch the spacecraft which will travel to the nearby asteroid Bennu

A foundry in Phonsavan, Xieng Khouang province in Laos has processed over 85,000 live bombs to date. The country is still riddled with unexploded ordnance—a legacy of the United States' nine-year secret war.

Trending Today

Why the U.S. Is Pledging Millions to Clean Up Bombs in Laos

Decades later, a once-secret war still threatens Laotians

Delayed InSight Mission to Mars Slated to Launch in 2018

With redesigned equipment, scientists hope to unearth how the Red Planet came to be

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