Smart News

“[The ring's] sentiment reflects the high mortality of the period, the motif and inscription acknowledging the brevity and vanities of life,” says scholar Mark Redknap.

Cool Finds

Trove of Treasures, From Gold Skull Ring to Tudor Coins, Unearthed in Wales

The macabre jewelry is a unique example of "memento mori" art, which aimed to remind viewers of their mortality

Previous research has shown that a gorilla's larger body size is linked to reproductive success and social rank. The chest-beating could be another way for the gorillas to convey their size to others and, in turn, avoid fights that could result in serious injury or death.

Gorillas Beat Their Chests to Communicate With Each Other

The larger male apes have lower frequencies in their pounds and may use chest-beating to signal their social status, strength, and size to others

Workers felling 150-year-old oak trees in the Villefermoy forest, near Echouboulains, France, on March 15. The wood will eventually used to reconstruct Notre-Dame Cathedral's roof and spire.

Hundreds of Centuries-Old Trees Felled to Rebuild Notre-Dame's Iconic Spire

French authorities cut down some 1,000 historic oaks as part of the Paris cathedral's ambitious reconstruction process

A team uncovered the lost city while searching for a mortuary temple last September.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Egypt Discover 3,000-Year-Old 'Lost Golden City'

Hailed as one of the country's most significant finds in a century, the site dates to a time of political, religious and artistic change

The 50-foot-wide racetrack used to study muons traveled by barge around Florida and up the Mississippi, and then by truck across Illinois.

New Research

New Measurements of Muons Might Rewrite Particle Physics

The gap between theoretical predictions and the experimental measurements isn’t a full-blown discovery yet

Prince Philip, who died on April 9 at age 99, married then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947.

How Prince Philip Modernized—and Fought to Preserve—the Monarchy

The U.K.'s longest-serving royal consort died Friday at age 99

A new Netflix documentary, "This Is a Robbery," delves into the mystery of a 1990 art heist.

Based on a True Story

Five Things to Know About the Gardner Museum Heist—the Biggest Art Theft in Modern History

In 1990, two thieves made off with a $500 million cache of art by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and more. Three decades later, the works remain missing

La Soufrière volcano erupted less than 24 hours after evacuation orders were given on Saint Vincent Island.

Evacuations Ongoing After 'Explosive Eruption' on Caribbean Island

Seismic activity on the island of St. Vincent prompted mandatory evacuations hours before the eruption started

A lightning-caused wildfire in 2013 creates white smoke rising from the tundra in front of the Baird Mountains.

New Research

Climate Change Linked to Increase in Arctic Lightning Strikes

A warming climate makes Arctic lightning possible, and resulting wildfires release immense amounts of carbon from the permafrost

Officials are unsure when the damage occurred but suspect that it took place several months ago.

Vandals Deface 'Irreplaceable' Native American Rock Carvings in Georgia

The unknown criminals painted the 1,000-year-old petroglyphs in bright colors and scratched their surfaces beyond recognition

A new study found rat poison in the bodies of more than 80 percent of 133 dead bald and golden eagles from across the U.S.

New Research

Study Finds Rat Poison in Dead Eagles From Across the U.S.

More than 82 percent of 133 eagles tested had so-called anticoagulant rodenticides in their bodies

New research says the United States would need to more than double its current seedling production to add 30 billion trees by 2040.

New Research

To Fight Climate Change With Trees, America Needs More Seedlings

New research estimates the U.S. would need to double production to meet its reforestation goals

A virtual reconstruction featured in Baalbek Reborn

Virtual Travel

Virtual Tour Restores Baalbek's Stunning Roman Temples to Their Former Glory

The free online experience allows users to toggle between views of the ancient Lebanese city today and as it appeared in 215 A.D.

White Lies Matter stole the Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair from Confederate Circle, a private section of Old Live Oak Cemetery in Selma, Alabama.

Activist Group Will Return Stolen Confederate Monument—After Converting It Into a Toilet

"White Lies Matter" had pledged to deliver the stone chair intact if the United Daughters of the Confederacy displayed a specific banner

Artists Roderick and Rozell Sykes founded St. Elmo Village, a creative enclave that could become a Los Angeles historic landmark, in 1969.

How Los Angeles Plans to Preserve the City's Black Cultural Heritage

Just 3 percent of L.A.'s historic landmarks commemorate African American history. A new three-year project hopes to change that

A previously unknown Thomas Gainsborough portrait of composer Antonín Kammel

Cool Finds

Newly Discovered Gainsborough Portrait Reveals Likeness of Overlooked Composer

The acclaimed British artist's painting of Czech musician Antonín Kammel may be worth upward of $1.3 million

The markings on the slab may represent river systems, settlements, fields and barrows.

Cool Finds

Is This 4,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Slab the Oldest Known Map in Europe?

New research suggests the stone, first discovered in 1900, may have represented the territory of an ancient king

Since mid-March, more than 30,000 tourists have visited the eruption site, which is just 20 miles from Iceland’s capital, Reykyavík.

New Fissure in Iceland Volcano Prompts Evacuation of Tourists

Scientists re-evaluated the safety of the eruption site after a new fissure began spewing steam and lava a half-mile from the original craters

New research finds lions that have just yawned together are more likely to move in unison.

New Research

Contagious Yawning May Keep Lion Prides in Sync

A study finds after yawning together, lions were 11 times more likely to copy the actions of the individual that yawned first

During the dive mission, the divers found and captured footage of the ship's bridge, midsection, and bow that had hull number "557" still visible on both sides.

Explorers Survey World's Deepest Known Shipwreck

The American destroyer U.S.S. Johnston sank on October 25, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippine Sea

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