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Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara during a time trial in Utrecht, Netherlands, during the 2015 Tour de France

Trending Today

Tour de France Goes High Tech to Battle Mechanical Cheating

Organizers will use thermal cameras developed by the French nuclear agency to detect “mechanical doping” during the 2016 Tour

Inside the quiet forests near what was once Ponar, Lithuania lie mass graves that contain up to 100,000 bodies. Now, archaeologists have discovered a tunnel that 80 survivors used to attempt to escape in 1944. Twelve succeeded.

New Research

Archaeologists Found a Hand-Dug Holocaust Escape Tunnel

The tunnel was dug by desperate prisoners using spoons

The new International Center for Photography Museum is located in New York's bustling Bowery.

Cool Finds

Take a Peek Inside the International Center for Photography’s New Home

The Center’s newest exhibition explores what it means to be constantly in front of the lens

99-million-year-old flight feathers.

New Research

99-Million-Year-Old Bird Wings Found Encased in Amber

The rare fossils from the age of the dinosaurs look a lot like modern-day bird wings

Cool Finds

“Water Windfall” Discovered Under California’s Drought-Stricken Central Valley

Though the aquifer could help with the current and future droughts, researchers caution getting too greedy with the resource

A scientist looks at mirror segments for the NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The mirrors underwent cryogenic testing—made possible by scarce helium gas—to see how they would respond to extreme temperatures. Now, scientists have found a huge cache of helium gas that could make the element more accessible to scientists.

New Research

Scientists Found a Huge Reservoir of Much-Needed Helium

Helium is used in everything from particle accelerators to MRI machines, and a dearth of the gas has long plagued researchers

Smithsonian Curator on the Priceless Impact Pat Summitt Made on College Athletics

The winningest coach in NCAA Division I history left an incredible legacy

Wieger Wamelink inspects his "Martian" crops

New Research

Researchers Will Soon Get Their First Taste of “Martian” Vegetables

After testing them for heavy metals, the scientists will eat vegetables grown in simulated Martian soil later this week

The "Mystic Mountain" image released for the Hubble's 20th anniversary showcases a three-light-year tall pillar of gas and dust stretching out of the Carina nebula. Mostly made of cool hydrogen, the structure is created by stars releasing jets of gas, which is worn away by radiation from other nearby stars, giving it its eroded shape.

Trending Today

Breathtaking Images to Celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope Getting Another Five Years of Life

These amazing views are just a selection of the beautiful images the craft has captured over the years

Rijksmuseum and chill.

Cool Finds

Explore the Netherlands’ Most Iconic Museum

The Rijksmuseum is now the best-represented institution in the Google Cultural Institute

USMT workers set up telegraph lines during the Civil War.

Cool Finds

You Can Help Decode Thousands of Top Secret Civil War Telegrams

Volunteers will transcribe and tease out the messages of of nearly 16,000 communiques

The "Persian Ceiling" installation at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2013

Cool Finds

Sculptor’s New Show is a Riot of Color

Dale Chihuly sets out to “overwhelm with light and color” in ‘Persian Ceiling’

Perhaps it's best that this comet is billions of miles away from Earth.

Cool Finds

This Perfume Smells Like a Comet

Yum?

Journey to the Center of Earth

Watch Scientists Make Their Own Lava

Basaltic rock and a lot of heat equals a homegrown brew that’s as beautiful as it is dangerous

Ski mountaineering legend Kit DesLauriers ascends Mt. Isto, the new highest peak in the Brooks Range

Cool Finds

After 60 Years, An Expedition Determines Highest Peaks in U.S. Arctic

Glaciologist Matt Nolan and ski mountaineer Kit DesLauriers tested a new mapping system to end uncertainty about the highest mountain in the Brooks Range

Cool Finds

Spix’s Macaw, Star of “Rio,” Spotted in the Wild for the First Time in 15 Years

Captured in a backlit cellphone video, the sighting gives conservationists hope for the survival of Brazil’s little blue birds

A squash seedling (though not one of the ancient squash)

Cool Finds

An Ancient Squash Dodges Extinction Thanks to the Efforts of Native Americans

Indigenous people carefully tended an ancient squash for thousands of years and now the seeds are seeing a resurgence in popularity

Fossilized teeth from an ancient sperm whale

Cool Finds

Landfill Surprises Scientists With 12-Million-Year-Old Whale Fossils

The fossilized remains of a sperm whale were discovered in a newly cleared area of an Orange County landfill

Self-driving busses, cars that communicate with streetlights, and more will be headed to Columbus.

Trending Today

Columbus, Ohio Wins $140 Million to Become the Transporation City of Tomorrow

The city beat out 77 others vying for the chance to update its infrastructure with the latest and greatest technology

Screwworm Fly larva

Cool Finds

Researchers Studying “Teen Sex” and Flesh-Eating Maggots Win 2016 Golden Goose Awards

Both quirky and important, these studies went against the grain

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