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This weekend, thousands of people are expected to gather at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Evidence a Wooden Prototype for Stonehenge May Have Aligned With the Solstice 500 Years Before the Stone Circle

The remains of a wooden monument in southern England, three miles away from Stonehenge, may demonstrate Neolithic people’s interest in the heavens

A 6-year-old boy found this single-edged sword in a field in southern Norway in April.

Cool Finds

A 6-Year-Old Boy Spotted Something Sticking Out of the Ground in a Field. It Turned Out to Be a Viking Sword

Henrik Refsnes Mørtvedt was on a school field trip when he found the roughly 1,200-year-old weapon. The single-edged blade will now be preserved at an Oslo museum

The researchers say the early strains of plague they identified were highly lethal.

New Research

New Discovery That Hunter-Gatherer Children Died of Plague More Than Five Millennia Ago Sets Back the Date of the Earliest Outbreak

The skeletons of nomadic families unearthed in Siberia harbor “Yersinia pestis” bacteria, which challenges theories about conditions needed for the disease to spread

Located in Sherwood Forest, the Major Oak failed to produce leaves this spring and is now presumed dead.

Major Oak, the 1,200-Year-Old Tree with Ties to the Robin Hood Legend, Is Presumed Dead After Failing to Produce Leaves

The legendary bandit who stole from the rich and gave to the poor is said to have used the massive tree as a hideout while running from the sheriff of Nottingham

A black-and-white photograph from the 1910s of a girl named Gladys by Hooks Brothers Studio in Memphis

This Photography Studio Captured the Beauty of Black Life in the South. Soon Its Archive, Once Hidden Away, Will Have a New Museum Home

The Hooks brothers documented life and joy in Memphis during the 20th century. Their images will be put on public view when the Memphis Art Museum opens

Astronomers used galaxy cluster MACS J0416 (background), as a magnifying glass to view the extremely faint galaxy LAP1-B (inset), which is visualized here based on the James Webb Space Telescope's infrared data.

Astronomers Discovered a ‘Cosmic Fossil’ in the Making—the Most Chemically Primitive Galaxy Seen Yet—by Peering Back to the Edge of Time

The James Webb Space Telescope observed 13-billion-year-old light, using a closer galactic cluster like a magnifying glass. The work helps experts understand the universe’s earliest stars and mysterious ultra-faint dwarf galaxies

David Drake’s 1857 ceramic jar is featured prominently in the museum’s redesigned 18th-century galleries ahead of its America at 250 celebration. 

America's 250th Anniversary

By Signing His Name to Massive Jars, This Enslaved Artist Defied Literacy Bans in the South. Now, His Masterpiece Is on View With a Famed Paul Revere Bowl

Born into slavery around 1800, David Drake was a skilled ceramicist. His work will be on display at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston as the institution marks America’s 250th birthday

Chinese money plant

Researchers Find a Mathematical Pattern Used in City Planning Hidden in the Leaves of a Common Houseplant

The major veins of Chinese money plant leaves form what’s called a Voronoi diagram. It might be caused by a plant-growth hormone that emanates in waves from developing leaves’ pores

Researchers created a map of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks across Earth's topsoil.

Nearly All Plants Depend on Tiny Underground Fungi. The Microbes’ Vast Global Networks Were Just Mapped for the First Time

If lined up end to end, the thin, tubular threads that make up the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks in Earth’s topsoil could stretch between our planet and the sun almost one billion times

Archaeologists discovered musket balls thought to have been fired during the Battle of Bunker Hill.

America's 250th Anniversary

In June 1775, the American Patriots Faced Off With the British at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Archaeologists Are Uncovering Evidence of the Fighting 251 Years Later

Researchers discovered gun parts, musket balls and other artifacts in Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood

Teachers wonder whether pottery was purposefully stashed in the tunnels for storage.

Cool Finds

Hidden Tunnels Dating Back to Henry VIII’s Reign Were Discovered at This English Boarding School, Where the King Once Lived

Bones, bottles and pottery were found at the New Hall School, which was once Henry VIII’s Palace of Beaulieu. Before that, Anne Boleyn’s father owned the estate

The new species is covered in spots and dashes.

Scientists Discover a New Species of ‘Walking’ Shark in Papua New Guinea. They Suspect It’s at Risk of Going Extinct

The creature belongs to a unique group of sharks whose members can use their strong pectoral fins like legs to get around

Archaeologists discovered the artifacts on Liberty Hill, a strategic hilltop near Fort Ticonderoga.

America's 250th Anniversary

Archaeologists Unearth Hundreds of Artifacts at Fort Ticonderoga, the Site of America’s First Offensive Victory of the Revolutionary War

The objects were discovered on Liberty Hill, the place where many Continental Army soldiers heard the text of the Declaration of Independence for the first time

The capsule is cylinder-shaped to minimize edges, through which water could seep.

America's 250th Anniversary

For Its Birthday, the U.S. Will Give Americans of the Future a 900-Pound Time Capsule Filled With Art, Natural Treasures and a Clever Copy of the Declaration of Independence

The capsule was created and filled at the direction of Congress, through the America250 commission. It will be interred beneath an original sculpture on July 4

A city-dwelling male bowerbird near the structure that it built to woo mates, called a bower.

Male Bowerbirds in Australian Cities Are Turning Human Trash Into Treasure to Impress Potential Mates

Even rural birds prefer human-made objects, such as colored glass and wire, when given the choice between them and natural decorations, like leaves and shells, according to a new study

About two-thirds of patients ages 40 and older with a common form of breast cancer might be able to forego chemotherapy—usually delivered intravenously—as part of their treatment plans.

This ‘Practice-Changing’ Gene Test Could Tell Doctors Which Patients With Breast Cancer Can Skip Chemo, Clinical Trial Suggests

Chemotherapy comes with debilitating side effects, including brain fog, nausea and nerve damage. New research suggests that many people with a common type of breast cancer need just radiation and hormone therapy to prevent recurrence

Located on the Atlantic coast, the Giant's Causeway is one of the most popular natural landmarks in Northern Ireland.

Scientists Uncover New Clues About the Volcanic Origins of the Giant’s Causeway, an Iconic Geologic Structure in Northern Ireland

The UNESCO World Heritage Site, which features 40,000 near-perfect hexagonal columns, formed roughly 60 million years ago during a period of intense volcanic activity

The southern lights curve above the Earth as the ISS orbited above the Indian Ocean southwest of Perth, Australia.

See a Stunning View of the Southern Lights Dancing Across the Earth Captured by a NASA Astronaut

Jessica Meir, commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission, shared photos and videos of a green aurora she shot while sheltering in a capsule outside the International Space Station

The adult male fox was evaluated by veterinarians and released three days later into the Laguna Colombia State Reserve, where conservationist Rafael Chacón snapped additional photos.

See the First-Ever Photographs of Cozumel’s Elusive Dwarf Fox, One of the Rarest Canids in the World

No one had seen the creatures in more than two decades, leading scientists to wonder whether they’d gone extinct. That changed in September 2023

Eric Conrad donated the table to the Betsy Ross House on Flag Day.  

America's 250th Anniversary

You Can Now See Betsy Ross’ Sewing Table in Philadelphia, Thanks to a Flag Day Donation From Her Great-Great-Great-Great Grandson

The origins of the Stars and Stripes are murky, but generations of Americans have admired stories about Ross creating the first American flag

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