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Two Alpine ibexes butt heads, slamming their horns together in a powerful battle that could be heard from far away. They wandered up the slope together afterward.

See 15 Stunning Images That Won the German Society for Nature Photography’s Annual Contest

From a lunging frog to the majestic movements of penguins, the honored photographs capture the wonder of wildlife and beauty of natural landscapes

Curiosity had a 28.6-pound rock dubbed "Atacama" stuck to its arm for a while.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Had a Martian Rock Stuck on Its Arm for Days. Watch It Finally Shake the Stubborn Stone Off

While drilling has fractured rocks, this is the first time the instrument has ever accidentally pulled a whole chunk from the ground, according to the space agency

The 20-karat gold wire was installed some time before the man died.

New Research

Why Did This Wealthy Scotsman Pay a Jeweler to Wrap His Teeth in Gold Wire Hundreds of Years Ago?

What an early example of a dental bridge reveals about health, wealth and social values in the late medieval and early modern world

The golden artifact, a sword scabbard fitting perhaps belonging to an elite warrior leader 

Cool Finds

A Hiker in Norway Found an Elite Warrior’s Golden Sword Ornament. It Was Likely a Sacrifice to the Gods Made During a Time of Turmoil

Volcanic eruptions, climate change, crop failures, famine and plague all may have swept through Norway in the sixth century C.E., putting pressure on leaders and their communities

Kenya's Great Rift Valley

East Africa Might Break Off From the Continent Sooner Than Scientists Thought—and a New Ocean May Fill the Gap

A new study suggests that a rift in Kenya and Ethiopia has reached a critical stage in the split-up process, and that water may flood it in a few million years

Archaeologists think the green minerals found in the cave might be malachite, which is treated and processed to make copper.

New Research

Mysterious Green Rocks Discovered in a Remote Cave in Spain Might Be Signs of Prehistoric People Working With Copper

The find challenges assumptions that people in the region thousands of years ago did not spend much time at high altitudes

A 19th-century painting of HMS Erebus, one of two ships involved in John Franklin's 1845 expedition to the Arctic

New Research

This Sailor From the Franklin Expedition Died in the Arctic in a Uniform That Didn’t Belong to Him. Now, DNA Has Revealed His Identity

New research has identified four members of the doomed 1845 search for the Northwest Passage, including the owner of a paper-stuffed wallet that has long mystified historians

Analysis of a skeleton from an early medieval site

New Research

The Fall of the Roman Empire Was Less a Clash of Civilizations and More an Opportunity to Mix and Mingle, a New Genetics Study Shows

Researchers who analyzed genomes from early medieval graves in modern-day Germany hypothesize that people from the former Roman Empire formed families with Germanic people soon after the empire fell

Researchers studied social learning in the birds by introducing a novel food item: colorfully dyed almonds.

Wild Cockatoos Learn Which Snacks Are Safe to Eat by Copying Their Friends, New Research Suggests

Munching on the wrong items can lead to illness, but social learning might help the birds avoid making a potentially deadly mistake. The phenomenon could help explain why certain cockatoos have fared so well in urban environments

Illustration of a time sequence as the celestial body moves in front of a distant star

This Tiny Celestial Body Past Pluto Shouldn’t Have an Atmosphere—but Astronomers Say They May Have Detected One

Worlds this small and distant are thought to be too cold and have too little surface gravity to hold onto gases. But the findings suggest that icy, rocky objects in the solar system’s outer reaches are more dynamic than we thought

Nicknamed “Gabi,” the humanoid robot monk took part in ceremonies at a temple in Seoul this week. 

Meet ‘Gabi,’ the Robot That Just Became a Monk at a Buddhist Temple in South Korea. It’s the Latest Robot to Take Up Religious Practice

The humanoid promised to obey humans, save energy and treat other robots peacefully. South Korean Buddhist leaders have recently started to embrace artificial intelligence

The paintings on the Burgtheater’s ceiling depict the history of Western theater.

Before ‘The Kiss,’ Gustav Klimt Got His First Big Art Assignment at This Austrian Theater. Now Visitors Can See His Ceiling Paintings Up Close for the First Time

As a young man, the artist who later became famous for working gold leaf into portraits earned a Golden Cross of Merit from an emperor for his contributions to Vienna’s Burgtheater

The treatment involves wearing a headset for various at-home sessions.

The Future of Mental Health

FDA-Approved At-Home Brain Stimulation Device Aims to Treat Depression by Changing Patients’ Brain Excitability

The treatment consists of a Bluetooth headset that patients can connect to an app on their smartphones. It could mark a revolution in mental health medicine

Chonkers, a Steller sea lion, is much larger than his companions, California sea lions.

Chonkers the Massive Sea Lion Drew Crowds to San Francisco’s Famed Pier 39. Then, a New Chunky Showstopper Stole His Identity

The Steller sea lion was an unusual visitor to the pier, which typically hosts smaller California sea lions. However, he may have moved on days ago, during which time a humongous member of the area’s more common species tricked onlookers

The European green woodpecker was one of the most skittish birds observed.

Urban Birds Seem to Be More Fearful of Women Than of Men—and Scientists Don’t Know Why

The study examined 37 bird species in cities across five European countries. The animals allowed men to get about three feet closer than women, on average, before flying away

The collection includes writings on Franklin’s experiments with electricity.

Before He Was a Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin Founded the Lending Library. Now His Belongings Are on Display There Before Heading to Auction

In 1731, book lover Franklin created the Library Company of Philadelphia, where this week visitors can see a collection of his papers worth an estimated $3 million to $4.5 million

A remotely operated vehicle captured this image of the ceramics from the Camarat 4.

Here’s What Underwater Robots Are Finding at France’s Deepest Shipwreck, a 16th-Century Merchant Vessel Resting at the Bottom of the Mediterranean

Known as the “Camarat 4,” the ship was loaded with cannons, cauldrons and hundreds of ceramics—which are still visible on the seafloor. Researchers are surveying the site and carefully recovering a small selection of artifacts

The Painter in His Bed etc., Georg Baselitz, 2023

After World War II, This German Artist Turned the Art World Upside Down—Literally, by Inverting His Paintings

Georg Baselitz, the renowned painter who played with perspective and flipped canvases on their head, died recently at age 88

The HPV vaccine defends patients against cervical cancer. 

Could Australia Be the First Country to Eliminate Cervical Cancer? It’s on Track, but HPV Vaccination and Screening Rates Are Falling

The country implemented a national vaccination program to prevent the disease in 2007. New data show that in 2021, no women under age 25 were diagnosed with cervical cancer, marking a major milestone

William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies

‘Lord of the Flies’ Comes to Television for the First Time in a New Miniseries. In the 1950s, the Now-Famous Novel Almost Never Got Published

Publishers rejected the original manuscript for “Lord of the Flies” many times, yet the story still sparks a buzz today. Author William Golding later won the Nobel Prize in Literature

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