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Discoveries

A full view of the oddball, Chimerarachne yingi.

Found: 100-Million-Year Old Arachnid with a Tail

The creepy-crawly is unlike any living spider

Laser Scans Reveal 60,000 Hidden Maya Structures in Guatemala

Houses, fortifications, pyramids and causeways were among the discoveries

Young Tourist Finds 90-Million-Year-Old Fish Fossil at Colombian Monastery

Palaeontologists were first alerted to the fossil by a 10-year-old tourist

Old Age Doesn’t Seem to Kill Naked Mole Rats

The wrinkly rodents are as likely to die at the age of 1 as they are at 25, according to a new study

Amateur Historian Reveals Forgotten Stretch of the Berlin Wall

The dilapidated structure appears to be an early iteration of the infamous Cold War partition

Cool Finds

Extremely Rare (and Peculiar) Fish Found Off Coast of Tasmania

The new population could double the known numbers of these oddball creatures

This Recently Discovered 1,700-Year-Old Mouth Harp Can Still Hold a Tune

The mouth harp, found in Siberia’s Altai Republic, produces music when you strike or pluck it with a finger

The Hill of Montmartre with Stone Quarry (1886)

Newly Identified Vincent van Gogh Drawings Go on Display

The two works were drawn during the artist’s formative years in Paris

Excerpt from Folio 5 recto from the Book of Deer.

Possible Remains of ‘Lost’ Monastery Discovered in Scotland

The elusive monastery is associated with the Book of Deer, which contains the oldest-surviving examples of Scottish Gaelic writing

A cross-section of underground ice is exposed at the steep slope that appears bright blue in this enhanced-color view from the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Huge Deposits of Ice Found Just Beneath Mars’ Surface

Erosion has exposed eight sites of enormous quantities of water ice

New Research

This Is the Largest Known Prime Number Yet

The newly discovered prime is 23 million digits long

Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China, may not have discovered an elixir to life but he did achieve his own form of immortality through his teracotta army

2,000-Year-Old Texts Reveal the First Emperor of China’s Quest for Eternal Life

Qin Shihuang issued an executive order demanding that his subjects search for an immortality elixir

The finds from Clapham’s Coffee House, some of which are pictured here, included teapots, wine glasses, and clay pipes.

Archaeologists Discover 500 Artifacts from 18th-Century British Coffeehouse

Among the finds were cups, saucers, sugar bowls, coffee tins and an impressive collection of teapots

Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer stands with the taxidermied remains of her groundbreaking discovery.

In the 1930s, This Natural History Curator Discovered a Living Fossil–Well, Sort of

Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer was convinced she’d found something special in a pile of fish, but it took some time for her discovery to be recognized

Winding Ice Age Cave Discovered Beneath Montreal

The cave stretches for more than 600 feet and splinters off into a number of different passageways

Hundreds of pterosaur eggs were found, 16 of which contained partial embryonic remains.

Cache of 120-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Pterosaur Eggs Found in China

Some of the eggs contained embryonic remains, offering unprecedented insight into the pterosaur’s early life phases

Archaeologists in California Unearth a Large Sphinx—From the Set of ‘The Ten Commandments’

Director Cecil B. DeMille gave the order for the entire set be buried beneath the sand after shooting on the blockbuster concluded

11 Cauldrons Found at Iron Age Settlement in England

The cauldrons, most of which were buried in a circle, appear to have been used in ceremonial feasts

Close-up of tent detail in Verplancks Point watercolor

Newly Discovered 235-Year-Old Watercolor Shows Off General Washington’s Wartime Tent

The painting offers a unique glimpse into the Revolutionary War

Found: A Rare White Crocodile in Australia

Its name is Pearl

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