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A close-up of Abraham Lincoln's signature on the Emancipation Proclamation.

Cool Finds

Dozens of Rare Documents From American History Just Sold at Auction

Original copies of the 13th Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation just sold for millions

Joseph Wright's "An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump," 1768

New Research

Doctors Diagnose Diseases of Subjects in Two Famous Paintings

The doctor will frame you now

Poverty doesn't just affect a child's chances for the future—it appears to change poor kids' very DNA.

New Research

Poverty Linked to DNA Changes That Could Lead to Mental Illness

Could a better understanding of the biomarkers of lower socieconomic status help raise kids out of poverty?

The Next Pandemic

Research Reveals More Complete Picture of the Devastation Wrought by the Black Death

By examining pottery remains in over 50 rural settlements, archaeologists now better understand the extent that the population was wiped out by the plague

"Red and Green II" Georgia O'Keeffe, 1916 Watercolor on paper, laid down on paper.

Cool Finds

A Painting Georgia O’Keeffe Wanted Destroyed Is on Display for the First Time in Nearly 60 Years

O’Keeffe’s watercolor returns to the town where she painted it

An artist's representation of an artificial meteor shower.

Trending Today

This Startup Wants to Open the 2020 Olympics With a Man-Made Meteor Shower

Could the only thing better than fireworks be fireworks launched from space?

An ad looking for a woman named Fanny who escaped along with her daughter. The 7-year-old girl is described as a mulatto, which could suggest she is the daughter of the slaveowner seeking them out.

New Research

An Archive of Fugitive Slave Ads Sheds New Light on Lost Histories

Wanted ads posted by slave owners reveal details of life under slavery

Cool Finds

These Are America’s Most Well-Read Cities

Did your bookish burg make Amazon.com's list?

Cool Finds

Fake Blood and All, the Next-Gen Veggie Burger Is Set to Debut at Whole Foods

With creations of pea proteins and beet pulp, Beyond Meat hopes to mimic beef as closely as possible

A beer funnel, one of the pieces of equipment used to make beer in China 5,000 years ago

Cool Finds

Gan Bei! Chinese Brewed Beer 5,000 Years Ago

Researchers analyzed deposits on ancient pots and jugs to find out Chinese brewers made sophisticated barley beers 1,000 years earlier than thought

Fewer young Americans than ever are leaving their parents' nest to live with a partner or spouse.

Trending Today

Young Adults Are More Likely to Live at Home Than With Significant Others

Is Mom's basement the battlefield for a new social groundswell?

Trending Today

Bug Poop Is Turning the Taj Mahal Green

To make matters worse, constant cleaning is damaging the monument’s delicate marble

Sarah Josepha Hale was the 19th century's answer to Oprah.

Cool Finds

Five Fascinating Details About the Media Mogul Who May Have Written 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'

Everywhere that Sarah Josepha Hale went, success was sure to go

Scarlet tanager

New Research

Where Red Birds Get Their Vibrant Hues

Two studies identify the same gene that makes red birds crimson—and perhaps helps them shed toxins, too

Trending Today

Auschwitz Museum Finds Victim's Jewelry in False-Bottomed Mug

A women’s ring made of gold and a necklace was carefully wrapped in a piece of canvas

A pile of discarded prayer flags lays in front of Mount Everest, which claimed four lives in just four days over the weekend.

Trending Today

Four People Have Died on Everest in as Many Days

The mountain's terrible toll has set the 2016 climbing season off to a rocky start

Cool Finds

Houston Opens Up Its Huge "Underground Cathedral" to Visitors

A haunting 1920's city reservoir full of 25-foot columns and shafts of light is now open to the public

An artist's rendering of the Indian Space Research Organization's prototype Reusable Launch Vehicle.

Trending Today

India’s Space Agency Just Launched a Mini Space Shuttle

One small step towards a cheaper space program

Cool Finds

When It Rains in Boston, the Sidewalks Reveal Poetry

Water-resistant spray paint creates hidden poems on Beantown’s streets

Cool Finds

How Forensic Scientists Once Tried to "See" a Dead Person's Last Sight

Scientists once believed that the dead's last sight could be resolved from their extracted eyeballs

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