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Cool Finds

The rain brought relief from fire, but coaxed funnel spiders from their hideouts.

Australia Rains Bring Relief From Fires—and a Surge in Deadly Spiders

Encouraged by wet and hot conditions, male funnel-webs spiders are venturing out to find mates

The remains of a pre-Hispanic temazcal recently found in Mexico City

Cool Finds

14th-Century Steam Bath Found in Mexico City

The discovery has helped archaeologists pinpoint the location of the ancient neighborhood of Temazcaltitlan

Despite how this iguana looks, it is actually note dead, just cold-stunned. It will likely thaw-out as the sun warms it back up.

Florida’s Weather Forecast? Cold, With a Chance of Iguanas

Stunned by chilly weather, the invasive lizards were dropping out of trees in the Sunshine State

Scientists filmed a pair of rhenium atoms (simulated here in green) as they bonded over a carbon nanotube (grey)

New Research

Watch First-Ever Footage of Atoms Forming and Breaking Bonds

The team used transmission electron microscopy to film the atoms dancing down a carbon nanotube

Blazes at Budj Bim National Park in southeastern Australia unearthed a previously unknown channel.

Cool Finds

Australian Bushfires Reveal Hidden Sections of Ancient Aquaculture System

The eel-farming system of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is older than both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids

Researchers in India studied whether 160 stray dogs would react to commands like gesturing toward a bowl. This image, taken in 2012, shows street dogs surrounding an Indian tea vendor in Allahabad.

Stray Dogs May Understand Human Signals, Too

A new study has found that strays in India, when presented with two covered food bowls, were more likely to approach the one an experimenter pointed toward

An image of asteroid 2020 AV2, taken on January 8, 2020 by the Elena robotic unit part of the Virtual Telescope Project

Astronomers Spot First Asteroid Nearer to the Sun Than Venus

Such “intervenusian” rocks are both rare and difficult to detect

After months of careful negotiations, the mayor of Gotha was able to secure the return of the long-missing paintings.

Cool Finds

Five Old Master Paintings Recovered 40 Years After German Heist

Authorities suspect the artworks were smuggled into West Germany during the 1980s

The work vanished in February 1997, shortly after it was authenticated as a genuine Gustav Klimt portrait.

Cool Finds

Painting Found Inside Walls of Italian Gallery Authenticated as Stolen Klimt

“Portrait of a Lady” went missing from the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in February 1997

A wolf puppy named Flea, among 13 pups tested in a new study. Sadly, Flea does not fetch.

Watch Wolf Puppies Play Fetch

New research suggests canines’ love for chasing and returning tossed balls wasn’t purely a product of domestication

The classic 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit has always been contested but authors of the new study say the figure is probably right and human body temperatures have actually decreased over time.

Human Body Temperature Is Getting Cooler, Study Finds

Our average normal temperature may no longer be 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit

The Pachacamac Idol, a 1200-year-old wooden carving that held spiritual significance to the Inca

This Inca Idol Survived the Spanish Conquest. 500 Years Later, Archaeologists Are Unveiling Its History

A new analysis suggests the Pachacamac Idol, once thought destroyed, is probably older—and less bloody—than once believed

The front of one of the barb-spring padlocks recovered from the Pictish settlement at Lair in Glenshee, Scotland

Cool Finds

Medieval Padlock Hints at Prosperity of Scotland’s Pictish Farmers

Archaeologists uncovered a thriving farming community whose members wanted to keep their valuables safe

Researcher Alexandra Green, recording cows

Cows Communicate With Unique Moos

A new study has found that the animals use distinct vocalizations across a range of emotional contexts

Even for grasshoppers, being upside-down can be a high (blood) pressure situation.

Like Humans, Grasshoppers Grapple With Gravity’s Effects on Blood Pressure

After putting the insects into a linear accelerator, researchers got some surprisingly weighty results

Hernán Cortés had Aztec treasures melted into gold bars for easier transport back to Europe.

Cool Finds

Spanish Conquistadors Stole This Gold Bar From Aztec Emperor Moctezuma’s Trove

Forces led by Hernán Cortés dropped the looted treasure during a hasty retreat from the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in June 1520

Layers of dirt accumulated over the centuries, hiding the painting under what is now the church's gift shop.

Cool Finds

Artwork Discovered in Vienna Cathedral’s Gift Shop May Be the Work of German Renaissance Master Albrecht Dürer

The find is particularly intriguing because it represents the first evidence that Dürer visited the Austrian city

These scavenging bird could use a lesson or two in manners.

Vulture Poop Has Compromised a Customs and Border Protection Radio Tower in Texas

Officials are scrambling for a solution to the fecal fiasco

The high-status 16th-century woman (right) appears to have suffered from leprosy, a disfiguring disease that likely left its mark on her skin, tissues and bone.

Artists Reconstruct Centuries-Old Faces of Early Edinburgh Residents

Skulls uncovered beneath St. Giles’ Cathedral gave faces to a 12th-century man and a 16th-century woman

This illustration of Venice accompanied a manuscript of one friar's journey from Venice to Egypt and Jerusalem.

Cool Finds

14th-Century Illustration of Venice Is the Oldest Found Yet

The drawing accompanied one friar’s first-person account of a trip from Venice to Jerusalem and Egypt

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