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Death

Kenai lived to be 23, much longer than the 15-18 years of a typical sea otter.

Kenai the Sea Otter, Rescued From Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Has Died

One of the last two otters rescued from the Exxon Valdez oil spill has just passed away

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Isaac Newton’s Death Mask: Now Available in Digital 3D

Using a mask made upon the great physicist’s death, scientists created a 3D scan of Newton’s visage

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DNA Pulled From Maggots’ Guts Used to Identify Deceased Woman

Maggots that resided at the crime scene gave investigators a clue to the deceased’s identiy

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Does This Cat Know When You’re Going to Die?

Oscar the cat seems to know who will die and when - or perhaps he’s just looking for someone to pet him

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US Official Killed in Libya Mourned by Online Gaming Community

To friends around the world, fallen U.S. State Official was better known as “Vile Rat,” his moniker in the online gaming community to which he was an avid participant

Neil Armstrong giving a different speech as part of a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony.

Neil Armstrong’s Previously Unheard Speech, Recorded One Year Ago

Recorded surreptitiously, the 43 minute-long speech captures Armstrong’s presentation one year prior to his passing

Killer Economy – Science Suspects Recession to Blame for 1,000 Suicides in England

While jobs declined in England between 2008 to 2010, researchers found that suicides increased

How Lincoln’s Assassination Launched the Funeral Industry

The doctor who embalmed Abraham Lincoln changed the way Americans think about funerals.

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The Man who “Discovered” Cold Fusion Just Passed Away

Martin Fleischmann, who in 1989 claimed to have discovered cold fusion, died in his home in England on Friday, August 3rd, following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

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Sir Bernard Lovell, The Man The Soviets Tried to Poison With Uranium, Dies at 98

Lovell, of the Lovell telescope, made several advances in radio astronomy and physics.

Gore Vidal: Left in 1948 (Image: Library of Congress) Right, in 2008

Read a 2007 Essay in Smithsonian by Gore Vidal, Last Writer of His Kind

Why more writers should be as fearless, and as prickly as Vidal

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A Brief History of Death By Subway in NYC

A few highlights of death on New York City’s subways over the years

Sally Ride on board the challenger

How Sally Ride Was Even Tougher Than Ripley in Alien

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Thinking About Your Own Demise Inspires Environmentalism

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Nora Ephron, 71, Was Good At Endings

Nora Ephron died last night at 71, of pneumonia brought on by acute myeloid leukemia

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The Last of His Kind, Tortoise Lonesome George Dies, Leaving No Offspring

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What’s the Difference Between Clinically Dead, Figuratively Dead and Just Plain Dead?

Gripping Photos of Fallen Soldiers’ Bedrooms

A photographer’s images of domestic tranquility pay tribute to U.S. service members

The winner of the 1911 Indianapolis 500 averaged about 75 mph, less than half the winning speed in today's race.

One Hundred Years of the Indy 500

A century ago, the first Indianapolis 500 race started in high excitement and ended in a muddle

British archaeologists looking for evidence of prehistoric activity in the English county of Dorset discovered instead a mass grave holding 54 male skeletons.

A Viking Mystery

Beneath Oxford University, archaeologists have uncovered a medieval city that altered the course of English history

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