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Cool Finds

Boaty McBoatface, awaiting orders.

New Research

Results of Boaty McBoatface’s First Research Mission Published

The little yellow submarine named by the internet explored the Southern Ocean, finding surface winds drive mixing in the deep abyss

Cool Finds

Scotland’s Tiny Artificial Islands Date to the Stone Age

Five crannogs in the Outer Hebrides were built 5,000 years ago, perhaps for ritual purposes

The specimen is the first (partial) carcass of an adult Pleistocene steppe wolf—an extinct lineage distinct from modern wolves—ever found

Cool Finds

A Perfectly Preserved 32,000-Year-Old Wolf Head Was Found in Siberian Permafrost

Given the head’s state of preservation, researchers are hopeful that they can extract viable DNA and use it to sequence the wolf’s genome

Some of the charred Cheerios.

Cool Finds

Ancient, Inedible ‘Cheerios’ Found in Austrian Archaeological Site

Made from wheat and barley, researchers believe the dough rings were likely ritual objects, not breakfast cereal

When you're sad, it makes your dog sad.

Keep Calm and Don’t Stress Out the Dog

When humans feel anxious, their dogs do too, according to new study

This is not King Leopold II.

Cool Finds

Museumgoer Spots a Misidentified Portrait of Rodin

A Spanish graphic designer recognized his art hero in a portrait at Madrid’s Lázaro Galdiano museum labeled as the notorious King Leopold II of Belgium

Cool Finds

A 10-Mile-Wide Ladybug Swarm Buzzed Over San Diego

At first, meteorologists thought the shadow on the radar was a storm. But this cloud didn’t bring rain

New Research

Nanoscale Structures Give Dragonfish Their Terrible, Invisible Teeth

Crystals in the enamel and an unusual interior structure render the giant teeth invisible, making the fish one of the deep seas’s most fearsome hunters

Artist's rendering of the planets orbiting PDS 70.

Future of Space Exploration

Astronomers Snap a Rare Picture of Two Baby Planets

The Very Large Telescope imaged Planets PDS 70b and PDS 70c about 370 light years away creating a gap in the gas and dust disk around their star

The warder is the first of five missing pieces to materialize since the remaining chessmen’s discovery in 1831

Cool Finds

A Medieval Chess Piece Potentially Worth $1.2 Million Languished in a Drawer for Decades

The Lewis warder, part of a larger trove of 12th-century ivory chessmen, was purchased for £5 in 1964

New Research

Ancient Fingerprints Show Men and Women Both Made Pottery in the American Southwest

Long thought to be primarily women’s work, new analysis of ceramic fragments shows both sexes created pottery at Chaco Canyon

Cool Finds

The Oldest Film of a Solar Eclipse Has Been Restored and Released Online

In 1900, magician, astronomer and filmmaker Nevil Maskelyne used a special adapter to film the astronomical event in North Carolina

The 92-second clip that shows the Fab Four playing their song “Paperback Writer.”

Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

Lost Footage of One of the Beatles’ Last Live Performances Found in Attic

A man filmed the missing 1966 ‘Top of the Pops’ appearance from his TV set

Cool Finds

Burial Mound Found on Kindergarten Playground Was Used for 2,000 Years

Thirty sets of human remains from the mound in southwest France show locals buried their dead in the same spot from the Stone Age to the Iron Age

Cool Finds

Australia Has Several New Dragon Lizard Species—and One May Already Be Extinct

A new study shows the endangered grassland earless dragon is actually four separate reptile species—and one hasn’t been seen since 1969

New Research

Worn-Out Teeth Expand the Narrative of the Ancient Egyptian Career Woman

Wear patterns suggest a woman buried in the ancient city of Mendes processed papyrus reeds, a job women were not previously known to do

Ruby Taboh's stilton cheese.

Cool Finds

Cheese Made From Celebrity Belly Button and Armpit Bacteria Goes on Display

Five types of “human cheese” from cheddar to Cheshire are on view at the Victoria & Albert Museum

The indecipherable text carved in a rock found in the Brittany village of Plougastel-Daoulas.

Cool Finds

A French Town Is Offering $2,250 Reward to Anyone Who Can Decipher This Mysterious Inscription

The inscription was probably made during the 18th century

New Research

North Carolina’s Offshore Shipwrecks Have Surprising New Tenants—Tropical Fish

As species are pushed north by climate change, the reefs may serve as a refuge for tropical and sub-tropical fish

Cool Finds

1,000-Year-Old Pouch From Bolivia Contains Traces of Five Mind-Altering Drugs

The ingredients include coca leaves and two compounds used in modern ayahuasca rituals

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