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The view from low-Earth orbit

Google Wants to Send Data Centers to Space—and Just Launched an Experimental Satellite to Test Whether Its Ambitious Plan Will Work

The tech giant aims to use the near-constant sunlight available in low-Earth orbit to power data centers. The experimental satellite, launched October 1, holds four computer chips that can run Google’s Gemini A.I. for 15 minutes at a time

Dozens of Victorian-era “hairworks” from Leila’s Hair Museum, which closed for good last year, are now on display at the Morbid Anatomy Library in Brooklyn.

Dozens of Curious Artworks Created With Woven Strands of Human Hair Come to New York’s Morbid Anatomy Library

So-called hairworks were popularized during the Victorian era as a means of grieving the deceased

The indri is the only known species of lemur that sings.

These Wild Lemurs Sing Just Like Opera Stars, Widening Their Mouths as They Hit the High Notes, Study Suggests

Scientists suspect this musical trait arose independently in humans and indris, which split from a common ancestor some 74 million years ago. Today, the lemurs make loud, haunting calls to communicate with one another in the dense forests of eastern Madagascar

Researchers discovered Callipallene pilosuspedes, a new species of sea spider, in the Salish Sea.

Scientists Discover Two New Species of Sea Spider in the Pacific Northwest—and They Look Like They Came Straight Out of a Horror Movie

You don’t need to worry about the critters coming after you, since they’re only a fraction of an inch across. They join the roughly 1,400 known species of ocean-dwelling spiders

The life-size statue depicted Benjamin Harrison, the nation’s 23rd president.

An Arson Investigation Is Underway After a Suspected ‘Senseless Act of Vandalism’ Destroys a Newly Installed Benjamin Harrison Statue

The 3D-printed piece was created by students and faculty at Indiana University Indianapolis and had been installed on September 16

The exhibition features damaged art from all over the world.

A New Exhibition Spotlights 4,500 Years of Broken, Shot-Up and Degraded Artworks to Explore the ‘Power of the Fragment’

The show, on view in Florence and coming to D.C. next year, examines the history and impact of destroyed sculptures throughout time and across cultures

This is my best side 

See the Hilarious Animal Shenanigans Captured in Photos and Videos Shortlisted for the 2026 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

From a sneezing moose to a real-life angry bird, this year’s competition received a whopping more than 10,000 entries from 112 countries

Mountains and Clouds (1976) photographed in 2020, when the clouds had been removed from the atrium

After a 12-Year Absence, Alexander Calder’s Mammoth Last Sculpture Finally Returns in Full to Capitol Hill

Calder’s final work, “Mountains and Clouds,” was removed from the Hart Senate Office Building in 2014 over fears about its structural integrity

Osiris is one of three beluga whales that died at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The other died at Oceanografic Valencia in Spain.

Four Beluga Whales Died Weeks After Being Rescued From a Defunct Marine Park in Canada. Were the Animals Too Sick to Be Moved?

They were among 30 whales transferred from the facility over the summer. It had faced multiple allegations of animal neglect and cruelty before closing in 2024

Archaeologists found a slate arrowhead they estimate to be between 5,000 and 6,000 years old.

In an Exciting but ‘Brutal’ Find, a 5,000-Year-Old Arrow Emerges From Norway’s Rapidly Melting Mountain Ice

Archaeologists discovered 48 prehistoric arrows during a recent three-week expedition in the mountains of Jotunheimen

Backpack has a quiet presence on the river—and his size suggests his peaceful strategy is effective.

Meet This Year’s Chonky Champion of Fat Bear Week: Backpack, a Laid-Back 20-Year-Old Male Who’s a ‘Stoic Presence on the River’

The brown bear, who now weighs between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds after fattening up on salmon, earned his nickname as a cub. When he was little, he enjoyed riding on his mom’s back as she swam across a river

An archival photo is the only remaining evidence of the artifact that first pointed to the extent of Meretneith’s power.

New Research

The First Female Pharaoh? An Old Photo of Ancient Hieroglyphics Highlights the Status of One of Egypt’s Earliest Queens, Researchers Say

The black-and-white photograph of a long-lost artifact depicts four serekhs, symbols of Egyptian rulers, and two of them, a recent study suggests, are hers

Starship orbited Earth twice, although it was supposed to circle the planet six times.

SpaceX’s Giant Starship Rocket Reached Earth Orbit on Its First Try, but Engine Problems Forced It to Return to the Planet Early

Two aerospace companies are competing to create the lunar lander NASA uses when it returns humans to the moon’s surface. But to reach our lunar companion, a spacecraft will first have to get to Earth orbit

Art historians believe the rediscovered red-chalk sketch may have been a character study for the young girl who appears in the Manet’s The Old Musician (1862). 

An Enigmatic Chalk Drawing, Rediscovered in a Private Italian Collection, Has Been Identified as the Long-Lost Work of Édouard Manet

The sketch of a young girl, in the red chalk characteristic of Manet’s 1860s life studies, is thought to be linked to several of the artist’s paintings

Enceladus is one of Saturn's 293 known moons.

Could Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Host Alien Life? Earth Microbes Can Live in Its Simulated Environment, Boosting Its Potential Habitability

Enceladus is covered in ice, but that layer might hide a subsurface ocean. Researchers have long wondered if the salty body of water has the right conditions to host life, and now, a team suggests that an Earthly, heat-loving organism could thrive there

Parts of New Jersey experienced severe flooding over the weekend during the nor'easter.

A Shark Was Spotted Swimming Through the Flooded Streets of New Jersey During the Nor’easter

The creature has been identified as a smooth dogfish, a harmless species found throughout the western Atlantic Ocean. It wasn’t the only animal caught in the chaos brought by the storm system

The tree was discovered in two pieces on the morning of September 28, 2023.

England’s Beloved Sycamore Gap Tree Is Showing Signs of Life, Three Years After Vandals Chopped It Down

Numerous leafy shoots are now sprouting around the base of the tree’s stump, which is located near Hadrian’s Wall in northern England

A few of the ancient Roman artifacts found beneath the Bath Assembly Rooms

When Jane Austen Took a Turn About the Ballroom in Bath, Ancient Roman Artifacts Were Hiding Beneath Her Feet. Now, Archaeologists Have Finally Found Them

Recent excavations at the Bath Assembly Rooms in England revealed Roman-era coins, roof tiles, pottery, glassware, a network of ditches and a fragment of a military helmet

MRI scanners create detailed images of the inside of the body using a powerful magnet and radio waves.

MRI Scans Might Reveal Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease Seven Years Before a Telltale Marker Appears in the Brain

Not all researchers are convinced that the brain changes detected via MRI are robust enough to become a diagnostic tool. But the findings could help researchers better understand the mechanisms that drive the neurodegenerative disease

Built in the mid-16th century, the Villa Silvestri Rivaldi sat abandoned for decades just a short walk from Rome’s Colisseum. A new improvement project is revitalizing the complex and bringing its interior artworks to light. 

In One of Rome’s Most Famed and Neglected Villas, Centuries-Old Risqué Frescoes, Painted Over by Nuns, Have Reappeared

Nearly a year into a $40 million restoration of the Villa Silvestri Rivaldi, conservators are rediscovering and reviving 16th-century art

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