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Catalonia

In Catalonia a Christmas Log Delivers Presents in An Unusual Way

Called Tió de Nadal, the log is decorated with a smiling face and fed until Christmas, but that’s not the strangest part of the tradition

Cool Finds

Why There’s a Dangling Thing In Our Throats

The riddle of the uvula may not be solved yet, but it looks like we have some ideas

Cool Finds

Meet The Culprits Behind Bright Lights And Strange Floaters in Your Vision

So-called entoptic phenomena remind us that what we see isn’t always a clear view of the world around us

New Research

Mercury Was Once Bigger, Then It Shrank

As the planet cooled, it contracted and shut off the surface lava flows about 3.8 billion years ago

Knott's Merry Farm Snoopy's Merriest Tree Lighting held at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA.

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CBS Executives Thought ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Would Fail

There wasn’t much CBS executives liked about the Christmas special

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There’s More to Frankincense and Myrrh Than Meets the Eye

Frankincense and myrrh have interesting medicinal properties

Cool Finds

How Candy Canes Are Made by Hand

Hand made sweets are still crafted in specialty shops

Shrine to Uwais al-Qurani and Ammar Bin Yasser. After: October 6, 2014. All three tombs on the outside of the shrine, their minarets and a section of the linking arcaded pricinct have been destroyed.

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Satellite Photos Show Hundreds of Syrian Heritage Sites Damaged In Ongoing Fighting

The new satellite photos show the extent of the damage

New Research

Canada’s Outdoor Ice Skating Rinks’ Days Are Numbered Thanks to Climate Change

Skating rinks are already open for fewer days in the year than they were just a decade ago

Cool Finds

Never Mind Mars, What About a Trip to Venus First?

There’s a serious proposal to send astronauts to a floating cloud city in Venus’s atmosphere before heading to Mars

A surfer rides large waves at Baker Beach in San Francisco during one of the largest storms to hit Northern California in the last five years.

New Research

Get Set For Frequent Flooding In Coastal U.S. Cities

Sea level rise is increasing the odds of nuisance flooding

The aftermath of a bomb blast in Tel Aviv, 1996.

New Research

Living Under the Threat of Terrorism Might Shorten Lives

Constant fear of terrorist attacks is linked to elevated heart rates, which is a predictor of increased risk of death

Cool Finds

These Two Guys Recreate Famous Paintings Using Only Office Supplies and a Phone

FoolsDoArt cranks out slapstick renditions of works ranging from “American Gothic” to “Girl with the Pearl Earring”

New Research

Don’t Give Your Kids Gifts to Show Affection

Setting up a connection between things and reward early in life primes people to be materialistic

Sculptures in St. Anthony's Chapel in Pittsburgh.

Cool Finds

Pittsburgh Has a Huge Collection of Relics

St. Anthony’s Chapel contains the largest number of relics outside of the Vatican

New Research

A Bedbug Trap That Might Actually Work

Researchers are learning to use bed bugs pheromones against them

Cool Finds

Truffles Have a THC-like Substance in Them

This produces a euphoric smell that likely evolved as a way to trick animals into eating them

A Megalodon tooth -- not the one found recently in California

Cool Finds

Fossil Hunting Is Best After Big Storms

California’s storms unearthed treasures along beaches and in foothills including a Megolodon tooth and a Steller’s sea cow ribs

A Persian leopard cub at Zoo Augsburg in Germany

Cool Finds

By Keeping Poachers Out, Mine Fields Give Endangered Animals Somewhere to Hide

The heavily-mined Iran-Iraq border is a sanctuary for the Persian leopard

Sandra, covered with a blanket, gestures inside its cage at Buenos Aires' Zoo, December 8, 2010.

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Argentinian Orangutan Is “Non-Human Person,” Says Court

Being in the zoo impinges on her freedom

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