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View out of the window during the inaugural Flight to the Lights

Cool Finds

New Charter Flight Takes Passengers to See the Southern Lights

The first "Flight to the Lights" took 130 skygazers to get up close with the Aurora Australis

The O'Briens have amassed over 1.25 million insects over six decades.

Cool Finds

This Couple Just Donated Their Collection of More Than a Million Insects

The O’Briens have carried on a decades-long love affair with the critters—and each other

Put on your sunglasses—when in action, this artificial sun is 10,000 times brighter than the usual solar radiation here on Earth.

Cool Finds

This New Man-Made Sun Is 10,000 Times More Intense Than Sunlight on Earth

It’s a bright idea that just might help humans create solar fuel

Miles of pipe slated for the Keystone XL stacked in a field near Ripley, Oklahoma after construction stalled in 2012.

Trump Administration Approves Construction of Keystone XL Pipeline

Supporters say that the pipeline will bolster job development in the U.S., but opponents worry about the project's environmental impact

The University of London's Senate House inspired Orwell's description of the Ministry of Truth. Orwell's wife Eileen Blair worked in the building during World War II, when it was the real headquarters of the Ministry of Information.

George Orwell Wrote '1984' While Dying of Tuberculosis

Orwell, like thousands around the globe today, struggled with tuberculosis for many years before finally succumbing to the disease

Asperitas clouds

Cool Finds

Cloud Atlas Adds First New "Species" in Almost 70 Years

The update includes 12 new cloud-related features, including volatus clouds, contrails, and wave-like asperitas discovered by citizen scientists

George Francis Train, somewhere around 1855-1865.

This Eccentric 19th-Century Transportation Magnate May Have Inspired Jules Verne

George Francis Train traveled around the world three times in his increasingly weird life

Hundreds of Liquor Bottles, Downed by British Soldiers during WWI, Found in Israel

For nine months, the troops waited for orders to advance into Jerusalem. And while they waited, they drank

Mount Etna's glowing lava flow can be spotted at bottom left.

Mount Etna’s Fiery Eruptions Are Visible From Space

Astronaut Thomas Pesquet captured an image of the volcano's glowing lava

Bird-like versus lizard-like hips define the two major categories of dinosaurs

New Research

New Study Restructures the Dinosaur Family Tree

Detailed analysis of dino fossils suggests that <i>Tyrannosaurus</i> and its relatives may be on the wrong side of the tree

Among all those poppies is something less beautiful—noxious, invasive weeds.

Trending Today

After Intense Downpour, Superblooming California Has a Problem

In a word: weeds

A new website features 100 years of Japanese animation.

Cool Finds

New Website Documents 100 Years of Japanese Animation

From propaganda to experimental cartoons, these films showcase the early days of a national art form

Researcher Sarah Inskip examines the skull of Context 958.

Facial Reconstruction of Medieval Man Sheds Light on England’s 'Ordinary Poor'

"Context 958" lived a harsh life and died destitute

Ganges River

Trending Today

India's Ganges and Yamuna Rivers Are Given the Rights of People

A few days after a New Zealand river gained the rights of personhood, an Indian court has declared that two heavily polluted rivers also have legal status

Scientists used this MRI scanner to compare the brains of blind and sighted people.

New Research

Blind People’s Brains Rewire Themselves to Enhance Other Senses

New study finds marked differences between the brains of blind and sighted people

Rock art from the Ennedi Plateau

Trending Today

Vandals Deface Rock Art In Chad's Ennedi World Heritage Site

Names were written in French and Arabic on some of the area's rock art, which can date back as far as 8,000 years

A San man prepares his arrows for hunting in the Living Museum of the Ju’Hoansi-San, Grashoek, Namibia

Trending Today

San People of South Africa Issue Code of Ethics for Researchers

This much-studied population is the first indigenous people of Africa to develop such guidelines

New Research

Ancient Crustacean Named After David Attenborough

The name, ‘Cascolus ravitis,’ is an allusion to the legacy of the beloved naturalist

This, the first passenger elevator, was installed in a New York department store in 1857. The elevator is not round, though the first passenger elevator shaft, installed a mile north of this store, was.

This Innovator Thought Elevators Should Be Round

Peter Cooper thought that round would be the most efficient shape for elevators, and requested an elevator shaft designed accordingly

President Herbert Hoover (center right) plays a rousing game of Hooverball on the South Lawn of the White House.

Cool Finds

Newly Discovered Color Movies Show Herbert Hoover’s Softer Side

From Hooverball to White House frolics, you've never seen the staid president quite like this

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