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An image of the galaxy NGC 1097, home to the black hole researchers just weighed

New Research

How Do Scientists Weigh a Supermassive Black Hole?

A new method puts the mass of one black hole at 140 million times the mass of our Sun

Scientist know that Venus' surface, depicted here based on radar data, was shaped by volcanoes, and a new study suggests they may still be active.

New Research

Venus (Probably) Has Active Volcanoes

And they’re (probably) erupting!

An emerald ash borer, the problem the wasp is supposed to address

Trending Today

Colorado Hopes This Asian Wasp Can Save its Trees

Researchers are hoping to use one non-native species to fight another, more destructive one

Fermented foods, like pickles, may influence social anxiety levels — though it's unclear exactly how and why.

A Pickle a Day May Keep Your Anxiety at Bay

Fermented food appears to calm the nerves of the socially challenged

These 15th-century female musicians are clearly in grave medical danger.

Cool Finds

Some 19th-Century Physicians Thought Music Could Infect the Brain

When it comes to music in the brain, medicine has come a long way

New Research

How Elephant Poop is Helping Nab Ivory Poachers

Scientists match DNA in seized tusks to elephant dung to map where poaching is taking place

Cool Finds

70-Year-Old Tree Cut Down in NYC Will be Cloned and Planted Again

Residents of Astoria, Queens asked an arborist for help when a beloved neighborhood tree got the ax

Straights and flushes are terrible hands in "Kansas City Lowball," which a poker player unexpectedly found himself playing at the World Series of Poker

Trending Today

A Poker Contender Entered the Wrong Tournament (and Won Anyway)

Christian Pham overcomes an embarrassing mistake to take home some big money

Poop or a caterpillar? The giant swallowtail caterpillar is one of a few species that elude birds by pretending to be their poop.

New Research

Here Are The Animals That Are the Best at Pretending to Be Poop

Moth caterpillars change their posture to look like bird dung, and they’re not alone

Lithium ion battery used in a laptop computer

New Research

Researchers Have Finally Figured Out How to Stop Lithium Batteries from Spontaneously Combusting

Unexpected fires have kept experts cautious about the potential of lightweight batteries

Bart Shepard, the director of the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium collecting fish using a specialized decompression chamber

Cool Finds

More than 100 New Marine Species Were Just Discovered in the Philippines

The creatures hail from a rarely before explored region of the ocean’s water column

A chimpanzee family in Uganda in 2010.

Cool Finds

What Does it Really Mean to Be 99 Percent Chimp?

This video breaks down our statistical similarity to chimpanzees

These tags were used to identify slaves before emancipation

Trending Today

Juneteenth Didn’t Stop the Enslavement of Black People in Houston

The delayed enforcement of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation still didn’t bring freedom to many black Texans

Artist's illustration of HIV

New Research

This is Why Developing an HIV Vaccine is Really Hard

For three decades researchers have been working to protect against the tricky virus

Napoleon in battle, presumably craving rotisserie chicken

Cool Finds

Napoleon Had a Thing for Rotisserie Chicken

The military powerhouse ate chicken dinners 24/7 — even as his army starved

Trending Today

Every Year, Norway Hosts an Oil Cleanup Drill

The annual release of offshore oil is no accident — it’s a chance to train, test, and prepare for the possibility of a catastrophic oil spill

Some parks, like Assateague National Seashore, have already come up with plans to deal with the effects of climate change and how their visitation rates could shift in response.

New Research

How Will Climate Change Affect National Park Attendance?

A new analysis of the effect of global warming on tourism has things heating up in some areas, staying lukewarm in others

The first $10 Federal Reserve Note featured Andrew Jackson.

Trending Today

Andrew Jackson Wasn’t Always on the $20 Bill

The controversial president’s face has only been on $20 bills since 1928

A wildlife camera captured this image of an adult Louisiana black bear foraging in a forest clearing.

Cool Finds

Louisiana’s Bears Are Making a Comeback

The state thinks the bears are doing well enough to merit removal from protected status. Others disagree

The algorithm ranked the "The Scream" by Edvard Munch as a highly creative work of its time.

New Research

History’s Most Creative Paintings, As Picked by a Computer

Some masters got snubbed

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