Explorers

Names smoked into the ceiling date back to the 1800s

Enslaved Tour Guide Stephen Bishop Made Mammoth Cave the Must-See Destination It Is Today

In the 1830s and '40s, the pioneering spelunker mapped out many of the underground system's most popular spots

The 'Pole of Inaccessibility' Has Eluded Adventurers for More Than a Century

This winter, explorers will once again set out for the most remote part of the Arctic Ocean

Victor Vescovo entering the Limiting Factor for his record-breaking descent.

Submersible Is First to Reach Bottom of Atlantic Ocean

U.S. equity-firm founder piloted the craft to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench, in a bid to reach the deepest spot in each of the world's oceans

Newly Discovered Cave Could Be Among Canada's Largest

The "Sarlacc Pit," as its been informally dubbed, was discovered last spring during a caribou survey in British Columbia's Wells Gray Provincial Park

Illustration of a sloth in André Thevet's Les Singularitez de la France Antarctique (Paris: heirs of Maurice de la Porte 1558)

The Strange Nature of the First Printed Illustration of a Sloth

As described by a 16th-century French missionary, the South American 'little bear' with the face of 'a baby' was introduced to Europe

Massive Shark Nursery Found Off the West Coast of Ireland

Thousands of eggs and hundreds of catsharks were spotted during a deep sea coral reef survey 200 miles west of the island

Kepler Space Telescope, Revealer of New Worlds, Officially Shuts Down After Historic Mission

Launched in 2009, Kepler discovered thousands of new exoplanets before finally running out of fuel earlier this month

Look inside, if you dare. Or if you have a forensics degree.

Is This the Bag That Held Sir Walter Raleigh's Mummified Head?

Legend has it his wife retained his embalmed head. But while the sack dates to the correct era and was found in his son's home, scholars are not convinced

The Franklin Expedition hoped to find a northwest passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific

Lead Poisoning Wasn't a Major Factor in the Mysterious Demise of the Franklin Expedition

Researchers argue that lead exposure occurred prior to the start of the voyage, not during the stranded crew's battle for survival

Captain James Cook set out on a voyage across the Pacific 250 years ago, seemingly on a scientific voyage. But he carried secret instructions from the Navy with him as well.

Captain Cook’s 1768 Voyage to the South Pacific Included a Secret Mission

The explorer traveled to Tahiti under the auspices of science 250 years ago, but his secret orders were to continue Britain’s colonial project

After 100 Years, Roald Amundsen's Polar Ship Returns to Norway

<i>Maud</i>, which sunk in Arctic Canada in 1930, was floated across the Atlantic to its new home in a museum in Vollen

An obsidian flake tool found at Eastland Port in Gisborne, New Zealand, is one of several artifacts discovered at the site of a 14th century Maori village.

Remains of 14th-Century Village in New Zealand Tells Tales of Māori History

The excavation, which unearthed moa bones and stone tools, helps fill a gap for researchers

The group of Muuscoctopus found on the Dorado Outcrop.

Colony of Beautiful, Doomed Purple Octopuses Found Off Costa Rica

Hundreds of unidentified cephalopods were found nursing their eggs near a deep-sea vent

The Endurance sinking in 1915

Antarctic Research Ship to Search for Wreck of Shackleton's 'Endurance'

The ship sunk in pack ice in 1915, setting off one of exploration's most epic survival tales

Leif Erikson pointing toward North America. Did he use a sunstone to navigate the open seas?

Simulation Suggests Viking Sunstones of Legend Could Have Worked

If they existed, the crystals—used to locate the sun's position on cloudy days—could have helped Vikings sail to far away places

Musician and actor Nive Nielsen portrays Lady Silence, the most prominent Inuk character in 'The Terror.'

Tales of the Doomed Franklin Expedition Long Ignored the Inuit Side, But "The Terror" Flips the Script

The new AMC television show succeeds in being inclusive of indigenous culture

Curasub commissioner/owner Adriaan Schrier and lead DROP scientist Carole Baldwin aboard the custom-built submersible.

How a Team of Submersible-Bound Scientists Redefined Reef Ecosystems

In tropical Curaçao, Smithsonian researchers are constantly confronting the unknown

Elusive Deep-Sea Anglerfish Seen Mating for the First Time

The male clamps down onto his female partner, their tissue and circulatory systems fusing together for life

Wreck of U.S.S. Juneau Discovered in the Solomon Islands

The ship was known as the grave of the five Sullivan Brothers who died aboard it during the Battle of Guadalcanal

A statue of York with Lewis and Clark in Great Falls, Montana.

York Explored the West With Lewis and Clark, but His Freedom Wouldn't Come Until Decades Later

In some ways, he encountered a world unavailable to the enslaved. But in others, the journey was rife with danger and degradation

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