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The inventors of the laser probably didn't anticipate its use in things like rock shows or freaking out cats.

Today We Use Lasers For Almost Everything. But They Took a Long Time to Seem Useful

After the first laser was built in 1960, it took a long time before laser products were on the mass market

This familiar landscape is always in flux.

Cool Finds

Surf Through Newly Digitized Images to See Rome’s Ever-Changing History

The Eternal City is always evolving. Now, a new web resource shows how

French privateers and the newly reformed U.S. Navy fought in the Quasi War. "Despite these effective U.S. military operations, however, the French seized some 2,000 U.S. vessels during this conflict," writes historian Nathaniel Conley.

This Unremembered US-France 'Quasi War' Shaped Early America’s Foreign Relations

America wasn't officially at war with France between 1798 and 1800, but tell that to the U.S. Navy

Even though the idea of sliced bread took off like a shot, it took the inventor of the bread-slicing machine years to convince bakers to try his invention.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Take a Look at the Patents Behind Sliced Bread

It took a surprising amount of technological know-how to make the bread that birthed the expression

Senator William Blount was impeached on this day in 1797.

This 1797 Impeachment Has Never Been Fully Resolved

Can an impeached senator be tried? Who knows! Let’s unpack this constitutional question

This dwelling housed resistance to Mexico City's new Spanish conquerors.

Cool Finds

Mexico City Dig Uncovers Traces of Aztec Resistance to Spain

For residents of Tenochtitlan, rebellion didn’t just happen on the battlefield

One of the cuneiform tablets handed over by Hobby Lobby

Trending Today

Hobby Lobby Hands Over 5,500 Illegally Imported Artifacts

In 2010, the arts-and-crafts retailer purchased thousands of cultural artifacts smuggled from Iraq

These glowing corals live deep in the Red Sea.

New Research

Deep-Water Corals Glow for Their Lives

New research sheds light on the secrets of fluorescent coral reefs

The Bonneville Crater on Mars

New Research

Mars Surface May Be Too Toxic for Microbial Life

The combination of UV radiation and perchlorates common on Mars could be deadly for bacteria

A relatively significant number of people lace up their shoes to run across the country every year.

A Brief History of People Running Across America

Fictional character Forrest Gump wasn’t the only one to do it, not by a long shot

The Hohlenstein-Stadel femur

New Research

Humans May Have Bred With Neanderthals Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

DNA from a Neanderthal femur is offering new clues to ancient interactions

3-D forensic facial reconstruction of a shíshálh Chief who lived nearly 4,000 years ago.

High-Status Indigenous Family Brought Back to Life With Digital Reconstruction

Some 3,700 years ago, the relatives were given elaborate burials along the coast of British Columbia

Utahns will once again be allowed to see this view when they order a drink.

Trending Today

Utah Just Did Away With Liquor-Hiding “Curtains”

As liquor laws loosen, the “Zion Curtain” may become a thing of the past

France's Simone Veil Will Become the Fifth Woman Buried in the Panthéon

It is an exceptional honor reserved for esteemed French citizens

This structure in Tuscany holds clues to why Roman concrete is still so strong.

New Research

Why Ancient Roman Concrete Is So Strong

A rare chemical reaction strengthens it even today—and that could help threatened coastal communities

The hearth Hemings may have warmed herself by in Monticello's south wing.

Cool Finds

Sally Hemings Gets Her Own Room at Monticello

A renovation at Thomas Jefferson's estate will give the slave he likely fathered at least six children with a display in what may have been her quarters

Tree rings are easiest to see in trees that grew in temperate places, because the temperature changes at different times of the year.

Why an Astronomer Turned to Trees to Try to Solve a Celestial Mystery

Andrew Ellicott Douglass's theory of sunspots and climate was wrong, but he still pioneered the science of tree-ring dating

Trending Today

"Corpse Hotels" Are in Demand in Japan

Crematoria are too busy, so a new type of business stepped in to make the wait more comfortable

One of the mine-hunting dolphins being retrained to find vaquita porpoises

Trending Today

Mexico Will Use Dolphins to Herd the Endangered Vaquita to Safety

Mine-hunting dolphins will help researchers transfer the remaining creatures into marine sanctuaries

This 1540 painting by Titian has had 11 owners.

Cool Finds

New Website Tracks Paintings Provenance from Brush to Gallery Wall

<i>Mapping Paintings</i> makes it easier to figure out an artwork’s chain of ownership

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