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New Research

Some of the marks seen on the woman's skull predated her death, while others were likely left by natural forces following her burial.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Solve Mystery of 5,600-Year-Old Skull Found in Italian Cave

Natural forces moved a Stone Age woman’s bones through the cavern over time

Muhammad Suranto and Muhammad Rizky Fauzan captured a black-browed babbler in October 2020, took photos of it for identification, and released it safely.

New Research

Long-Lost Babbler Bird Documented in Borneo for the First Time in Over 170 Years

The animal was last recorded between 1843 and 1848, when a scientist collected the first and only museum specimen

The researchers virtually opened the letters with an advanced X-ray machine. They then used computers to analyze the folds and create a readable, digital model of the unfolded message.

Art Meets Science

How Researchers Are Reading Centuries-Old Letters Without Opening Them

A new technique enables scholars to unlock the secrets of long-sealed missives

The study begins with fossilized kauri trees (pictured) that died over 41,000 years ago.

New Research

Did an Ancient Magnetic Field Reversal Cause Chaos for Life on Earth 42,000 Years Ago?

The study links new, detailed data about Earth’s atmosphere to a series of unfortunate events that occurred around the same time

“There’s all sorts of reasons they shouldn’t be there,” says British Antarctic Survey biologist Huw Griffiths

New Research

Mysterious Sponges Live on a Boulder Under 3,000 Feet of Antarctic Ice

When scientists aiming to collect a sediment sample were stopped by a boulder, they found unexpected life instead

When the two microflyers twirled around eachother midair, the researchers dubbed the maneuver "The Tango."

New Research

New Microflyers Could Soar in the Atmosphere’s Most Mysterious Layer

The mesosphere is too dense for satellites to orbit there, but too thin for planes and balloons to fly

A new study analyzes the downy feathers of 249 Himalayan songbird species, including this brown-throated fulvetta, using specimens from the National Museum of Natural History's vast collections.

Himalayan Songbirds Adapted to the Cold by Sporting Thicker Down ‘Jackets’

High-elevation birds might use their downy feathers to keep from wasting energy shivering to stay warm

The Yorkshire pigs in the study, named Omelet and Hamlet, outgrew their pen after 12 weeks.

New Research

Pigs Can Learn to Play Video Games When Tempted by Treats

The four swine in the study always wanted to be the first at the computer each day

Rome's Basilica dei Santi Apostoli has housed bones said to belong to St. James and St. Philip since the sixth century A.D.

Bones Venerated as St. James the Younger’s Don’t Belong to the Apostle, Study Suggests

Researchers dated the femur fragments to between 214 and 340 A.D.—at least 160 years after the saint’s lifetime

Researchers recorded striking similarities between Stonehenge and a razed stone circle at the Waun Mawn archaeological site in Wales.

Cool Finds

How a Stone Circle in Wales Paved the Way for Stonehenge

New research suggests early Britons used megaliths from a dismantled Welsh monument to construct the iconic ring of standing stones

Dementia is "the impaired ability to remember, think or make decisions that interferes with doing everyday activities," per the CDC.

New Research

Large Study Shows People With Dementia Are at Higher Covid-19 Risk

The condition may present both physical and social risk factors that make transmission more likely

The newly discovered face cream represents the earliest known instance of a Chinese man using cosmetics.

Cool Finds

This 2,700-Year-Old Chinese Face Cream Combined Animal Fat and ‘Moonmilk’

Researchers found the ancient moisturizer in a nobleman’s tomb

The protein RAC1 can cause some sperm to spin in circles until they die

New Research

Mice Sperm Sabotage Other Swimmers With Poison

A study in mice found that poison-spewing sperm make others swim in circles, but carry the antidote for themselves

The "jaws" of the carnivorous Venus flytrap plant are actually modified leaves.

New Research

Magnetic Fields Detected in Venus Flytraps

Researchers used sensitive instruments to measure weak magnetic fields when the flytrap’s ‘jaws’ closed up

New high-speed footage settles a controversy over how electric charges make the connection that leads to bolts of lightning.

New Research

Super High-Speed Footage Captures the Moment a Lightning Bolt Forms

The video shows the electricity reaching from the sky and up from a lightning rod until a thin connection appears

The researchers determined that a right-handed craftsperson created the markings in a single session.

Cool Finds

120,000-Year-Old Cattle Bone Carvings May Be World’s Oldest Surviving Symbols

Archaeologists found the bone fragment—engraved with six lines—at a Paleolithic meeting site in Israel

Tangle-web spiders can catch prey up to 50 times their size thanks to their pulley system-like hunting strategy.

New Research

Small Spiders With Big Appetites Use a Pulley System to Catch Large Prey

New research and videos show how spiders in the Theridiidae family hoist up prey 50 times their size

Einsteinium was first created in 1952 in the aftermath of the first hydrogen bomb test on the island of Elugelab, which is now a part of the Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean.

New Research

Scientists Take Fundamental Measurements of Einsteinium for the First Time

The highly radioactive element was first created in a 1952 hydrogen bomb test

Paul Delaroche's 1831 depiction of the princes in the Tower, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York

New Research

Did Richard III Order the Deaths of His Nephews as They Slept in the Tower of London?

New research outlines evidence pointing to the English king’s guilt

The mud shell was added after the woman's original mummification, perhaps to repair damage inflicted by grave robbers.

Cool Finds

Why Was This Egyptian Mummy Encased in Mud?

Researchers have never previously observed the unusual, low-cost embalming method

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