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A Lady-in-Waiting of France strums her instrument on this card from The Courtly Household Cards (Das Hofämterspiel), created in c. 1450.

Lavishly Illustrated Medieval Playing Cards Flouted the Church and Law

Secular and religious officials alike frowned on card playing in Europe’s Middle Ages

February 1, 2016

The moon rises over the Sahara Desert. New research links a rising moon to lower humidity and a decreased chance of rain.

The Moon’s Tidal Forces May Affect How Much It Rains

The higher the moon, the lower the chance of rain

February 1, 2016

GoPro-Armed Vultures Capture Lima’s Trash Problems

By sniffing out illegal dumps, the watchful buzzards will hopefully inspire action to clean up the city’s streets

February 1, 2016

Specialty serveware from the collection of Charles "Chuck" Williams, founder of Williams-Sonoma.

Williams-Sonoma’s Founder Is Getting His Own Museum

The museum will feature the 4,000-plus pieces of cookware that the kitchenware impresario donated upon his death

January 29, 2016

44 Years Ago, Shirley Chisholm Became the First Black Woman to Run For President

Chisholm saw her campaign as a necessary “catalyst for change”

January 29, 2016

Slogans like the one on this propaganda poster for Mao Zedong, "Urgently Forge Ahead and Bravely Advance with Great Leader Chairman Mao,” take on a new smell now that it’s revealed that Stalin may have studied his poop.

Stalin May Have Studied Mao’s Poop in a Secret Lab

Get a whiff of this stranger-than-fiction story of political paranoia and Soviet science

January 29, 2016

The First Person of Native American Descent Was Elected to the U.S. Senate 109 Years Ago Today

Charles Curtis, who would go on to become Herbert Hoover’s vice president, left behind a problematic legacy

January 29, 2016

A beached sperm whale on January 13, in Wangerooge, Germany

At Least 17 Sperm Whales Washed Up on North Sea Shores

The cause of the cetacean tragedy is still a mystery

January 29, 2016

An engraving showing the Pequot War

Colonial America Depended on the Enslavement of Indigenous People

The role of enslaving Native Americans in early American history is often overlooked

January 29, 2016

Cats May Have Been Domesticated Twice

But only one ended up as the house cat

January 29, 2016

Earth as seen on July 6, 2015 from a distance of one million miles by a NASA scientific camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory spacecraft.

The Curious History of The International Flat Earth Society

The recent resurgence of this ancient idea reminds us that flat Earth believers have a long history

January 29, 2016

Step Inside a Dalí Painting at This Virtual Reality Exhibit

Surrealism meets real life in an exploration of a Dalí masterwork

January 28, 2016

Precinct officials count paper ballots for Mitt Romney in the 2012 Iowa caucuses.

Five Things to Know About the Iowa Caucuses

The Hawkeye State knows its way around political chaos

January 28, 2016

Who wouldn't want to let these adorable critters pass through?

British People Are Building Highways for Hedgehogs Through Their Yards

Hedgehog populations in England have declined since the 1970s due urban and suburban development

January 28, 2016

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un laughs during a factory tour in January 2016. North Korea tied with Somalia for "most corrupt" in a 2105 index of global corruption perceptions.

Here Are the World’s Most Corrupt Countries

Corruption is everywhere, but some nations are more corrupt than others

January 27, 2016

OSU archaeologist Loren Davis alongside the bones uncovered underneath the end zone.

Construction Crews Discover Mammoth Bones Beneath an Oregon Football Stadium

10,000-year-old bones were hiding just ten feet beneath the endzone

January 27, 2016

Omo hanging with her herd

Rare White Giraffe Survived Her First Year

The 15-month old calf has so far survived possible predation from lions, leopards, hyenas and human poachers

January 27, 2016

A ground view of the proposed design for "The Weight of Sacrifice," which will serve as the new national World War I memorial.

This Is the Winning Design for the New World War I Memorial

One hundred years later, WWI will finally get a large-scale memorial in Washington, D.C.

January 27, 2016

Argentina Battles a Plague of Locusts, Surging After Mild Winters

Farmers and officials are racing to get massive swarms under control

January 27, 2016

Are you a global citizen? Then you might need one of these.

You Can Get an Antarctic Passport

Pledge your loyalty to the southernmost continent—and to the ideals of peace, equality and sustainability

January 27, 2016

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