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This approximate true-color image of the Gusev Crater is one of the three potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 rover.

Life in the Cosmos

Check Out NASA's Three Options for the 2020 Mars Rover Landing

Scientists have narrowed down potential sites for the next rover to set wheel on the red planet

Henrietta Lacks was a real person—and her cancer cells have led to many medical discoveries.

Trending Today

New Claims Prove the Henrietta Lacks Controversy Is Far From Over

The family of the woman who changed science forever is seeking compensation

Clifford the Big Red Dog has been delighting children for years. This collection was released by Scholastic in honor of the pooch's 50th birthday in 2013.

The Aww-Inspiring Origins of Clifford the Big Red Dog

Norman Bridwell, Clifford’s creator, was also a lot like his creation

World Health Organization workers gear up to go into an old Ebola isolation ward in Lagos, Nigeria.

New Research

Superspreaders Caused Much of the 2014 Ebola Epidemic

Just three percent of infected people caused two thirds of overall infections

One of the first teddy bears has been in the Smithsonian's collection for over a half-century.

Some of the Most Important (and Cutest) Teddy Bear Moments of the Past 114 Years

The American toy was introduced in 1903, and almost immediately made its mark

The "Little Laundress" was manufactured by a sister company to the one that invented the Erector Set.

This Sexist 1920s Toy is Part of the Reason for the Women in STEM Gap

Boys got Erector Sets. Girls got this stellar consolation prize

File this case to the "true crime" section.

Thieves Rappelled Into a London Warehouse in Rare Book Heist

The burglars made out with more than 160 books worth an estimated $2.5 million

A sea turtle entangled in a fishing net swims off the coast of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, on 8 June 2016

Art Meets Science

Winning Nature Photos Capture Triumph and Turmoil in the Animal Kingdom

From poaching to panda recovery, the winners of the World Press Photo competition chronicle human interactions with nature

The smooching couple in the center left gave the bakery its nickname.

Cool Finds

How a Pompeiian Bakery Became This Year's Hot Date Destination

The romance never dies at the House of the Chaste Lovers

A bobtail squid is imaged by the Deep Discoverer remotely operated vehicle during Dive 07 in Atlantis Canyon. The squid is less than one foot in length.

Surprising Levels of Pollution Found in the Depths of the Mariana Trench

Even deep-sea creatures can't escape pollutants

Cool Finds

These Photos Show Just How Colossal the World's Tallest Sandcastle Is

The new Guinness World Record holder is a 48.8-foot creation on Puri Beach that celebrates world peace. It's <i>shore</i> to impress

Lake Oroville's dam is in danger of breach—but California's drought is still far from over.

Trending Today

Despite Dam Danger, California’s Still In a Drought

Look beneath the surface for an unresolved water crisis

The interior of the Islamic Art Museum after a car bomb damaged the museum in 2014

Trending Today

Egypt's Museum of Islamic Art Triumphantly Re-Opens

The museum has restored 160 artifacts damaged by a 2014 truck bomb and has expanded, putting three times as many artworks on display

Esther Howland popularized and mass-produced Valentine's Day cards like this one, using lace and colorful paper.

How to Make an Authentic Civil War Valentine

Handmade Valentine cards were popularized (and commercialized) in the U.S. during the Civil War years

Fit for a beauty...or a beast.

Win a Stay at a Castle Fit for "Beauty and the Beast"

Though it's a Scottish castle, not French château, it's sure to be a fairytale trip

Flowering quinoa

New Research

Genome Mapping Could Lead to Cheaper and More Abundant Quinoa

New data on the "superfood" could help breed varieties that require less processing and can thrive in poor soil conditions

The cockeyed squid keeps one eye to the sky and another peeled to the darkness below.

New Research

Why This Squid Has One Giant and One Tiny Eye

The creature’s mismatched eyes help it survive in the ocean depths

What could be the only photos of Paul Gauguin and his Tahitian muse have surfaced. Gauguin is at the center of this photo, kissing a woman that could be his mistress Pahura.

Cool Finds

Rare Photographs Could Show Paul Gauguin in Tahiti

The newly discovered photos are from the summer of 1896

This is wheat. And if Salish Blue has anything to do with it, it may one day become obsolete.

New Research

New Self-Sustaining “Wheat” Could Change the Farming Industry

It’s called Salish Blue, and it’s more than a science experiment

These grainy images, thought to have been originally published in a magazine dedicated to the paranormal, are all that remain of the "Coso artifact." The object itself hasn't been seen in decades. Clockwise from top: The "geode" in which the artifact was found, an x-ray of the interior, and a side view after the "geode" had been cut in half.

When Some 1920s Garbage Was Mistaken for an Ancient Artifact

The "Coso Artifact" was fuel for those who want to believe that the truth is out there

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