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Stone tools found at the Dhaba site from the same time as the Toba volcanic super-eruption.

Ancient Humans May Have Survived Supervolcano Eruption Nearly 74,000 Years Ago

Stone tools in north-central India suggest that ancient residents adapted to a world cooled by volcanic ash

Not one, but two rare cloud features hovered side by side, lit by the sunrise, on Monday morning over Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

Two Rare Cloud Features Appear Over New Hampshire’s Mount Washington

The formations are “sculpted” by differences in air pressure and usually last less than a minute

A rhesus monkey photographed in Florida in 2017.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like a Horde of Herpes-Infected Monkeys?

Feral rhesus macaques are invasive in Florida, but there are no easy solutions for managing them

Mulleriblattina bowangi, a cockroach that lived in caves during the Cretaceous

Oldest Known Cave-Dwellers Are 99-Million-Year-Old Cockroaches

The pale-bodied pests belong to a family that’s still around today

A gray whale "spyhopping" off the coast of Alaska. Gray whales migrate over 12,000 miles along North America's west coast.

New Research

How Storms on the Sun Interfere With Whale Migration

The new research gives weight to the hypothesis that gray whales use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate

A half-submerged stone inscribed with Luwian hieroglyphs detailing the fall of Phrygia

Cool Finds

Ancient Inscription Unveils the King Who May Have Toppled Midas

A newly discovered stone hints that a lost civilization defeated the ancient Turkish kingdom of Phrygia around the eighth century B.C.

The common merganser appears to have the ring from a plastic bottle stuck around its mouth and neck.

Duck Ensnared in Plastic Sparks Rescue Mission in Central Park

Rangers and bird enthusiasts are searching for a common merganser that appears to be unable to eat due to plastic debris that has become stuck in its bill

NASA's InSight lander, with its dome-shaped seismometer

InSight Lander’s First Big Batch of Data Reveals Mars’ Seismic Activity and Surprising Magnetism

The robot’s new data has answered plenty of questions, but raises new ones as well

Icebergs breaking off of Pine Island Glacier into Pine Island Bay, where researchers found an uncharted island now named Sif.

Melting Glaciers Reveal a New Island in Antarctica

Earlier this month, Antarctica experienced its third major melt event of the summer, including record high temperatures

Greg Lecoeur won the title of Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020 for his Frozen Mobile Home, a playful snapshot of seals circling an iceberg.

Dazzling Display of Seals Wins Underwater Photographer of the Year Award

French photographer Greg Lecoeur triumphed over more than 5,500 submissions from hundreds of artists around the world

Evidence that blue tits (pictured) rely on social cues to determine whether to nibble on a snack or not wasn't clear, but a new study shows they can even learn from videos.

By Watching Videos, Birds Can Learn to Avoid Gross Foods

A new study suggests that great tits and blue tits eat fewer unpalatable snacks after observing videos of ‘disgust responses’ in other birds

Posed in Hampton, Virginia, Katherine Johnson stands before a backdrop of gathering clouds, "symbolic of the obstacles ... that she had to face in her career," says curator William Pretzer.

Women Who Shaped History

Smithsonian Curators Remember Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician Highlighted in ‘Hidden Figures,’ Who Died at 101

An African American woman who battled workplace discrimination, Johnson performed crucial calculations to send astronauts into space

This remarkably well-preserved horned lark died toward the end of the last ice age

This Bird Froze 46,000 Years Ago. Now, It Can Tell Scientists About the Last Ice Age

A likely ancestor of today’s horned larks, the specimen was preserved in pristine condition by permafrost

A coral-covered propeller of a U.S. SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber stands on the sea floor in Truk Lagoon.

Three U.S. Planes Lost During World War II Found in Pacific Lagoon

Project Recover, a nonprofit dedicated to locating MIA service members, identified the planes’ location

The coins show the first three dinosaurs found in modern-day Britain.

Three Ferocious Dinosaurs Featured on New U.K. Coins

Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus were the first dinosaurs to be discovered in modern-day Britain

Archaeologists uncovered nine walls made of human bones beneath Saint Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium.

Walls Made of Ancient Human Leg Bones Found Beneath Belgian Church

The macabre creations are likely the product of an overcrowded cemetery cleared out hundreds of years ago

View of Takarkori shelter from the west.

New Research

Fossilized Fish Bones in the Sahara Desert Show How Diets Changed With the Climate

Thousands of years ago, hunter-gatherers in the “green Sahara” ate mostly catfish and tilapia

A bumblebee, barred from touching a sphere that's visible in lit conditions, learns about the object through sight alone.

Like Humans, Bumblebees May Create Mental Images in Their Brains

After touching an object in the dark, the insects can recognize it later through sight alone—a complex cognitive feat

Watch a Musician Play Violin During Brain Surgery

Keeping patients awake during operations can help neurosurgeons avoid damaging areas of the brain that govern functions like vision, movement or speech

On Sunday, a National Weather Service employee snapped a photo of two ice volcanoes erupting on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Why Are Ice Volcanoes Erupting on the Shores of Lake Michigan?

They’re not really volcanoes. But they do spew freezing cold water, and that’s very cool

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