Smart News

Invasive species, like the zebra mussels seen here, have been on scientists' radar for decades. But intensifying storm surges and flooding caused by hurricanes are moving these, and other non-native species, to new locations.

'Storm Tracker' Maps Shows How Hurricanes Spread Invasive Species

The U.S. Geological Survey launched the program in 2018 after hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate scrambled coastal ecosystems

Satellite imagery of Tropical Storm Zeta as it passes over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

Zeta, 2020's 27th Named Storm, Bears Down on Louisiana

Downgraded to a tropical storm after striking Mexico, Zeta is expected to regain strength and make landfall in the U.S. as a Category 1 hurricane

Scientists have known about ice in the dark, deep craters at the moon's poles, some of the coldest known places in the universe, but voyaging into one just wouldn't be likely.

New Research

The Moon Has More Water and Ice Hidden All Over Its Surface Than Originally Predicted

Scientists discovered that water is stored in tiny patches all across the moon's surface, not just in the deep, freezing craters of its south pole

Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait With Monkeys, 1943

How Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera Defined Mexican Art in the Wake of Revolution

A touring exhibition now on view in Denver traces the formation of Mexican modernism

Art historians used clues in the paintings' artistic techniques to estimate their age.

Cool Finds

These Newly Discovered Buddhist Temple Paintings May Be Among Japan's Oldest

Art historians used infrared photography to identify images that could date to around 685 A.D.

Two-headed snakes struggle more when their heads are joined close together.

In Florida, Pet Cat Brings Home a Rare Two-Headed Snake

The snake is now in the care of Florida Wildlife Conservation's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

The Santa Claus and Rudolph puppets are expected to sell for between $150,000 and $250,000.

Iconic 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' Puppets Are Up for Auction

You could own the Santa and Rudolph figurines featured in the classic 1964 holiday special

An entomologist with the Washington State Department of Agriculture vacuums invasive Asian giant hornets out of a nest discovered last week in the city of Blaine on October 24, 2020.

Entomologists Destroy Asian Giant Hornet Nest Found in Washington

The crew sucked nearly 100 hornets from the tree-hollow hive—the first ever found in the U.S.—using a vacuum and captured escapees with nets

Anne Boleyn was the only Tudor figure beheaded with a sword instead of an ax.

Why Henry VIII Orchestrated Every Detail of Anne Boleyn's Execution

The Tudor king had his disgraced queen killed by beheading rather than burning

Satellite records show a 13 percent decrease in sea ice per decade since the 1980s.

Arctic Sea Ice Fails to Refreeze by Late October, Setting a New Record

At this rate, the Arctic will experience its first ice-free summer as early as 2035

Halloween features a full moon every 19 years, and it's always a blue moon.

This Halloween, Look for the Hunter’s Blue Moon

The second full moon of the month gives Halloween an extra spooky atmosphere

Installation view of "Russian Avant-Garde at the Museum Ludwig: Original and Fake, Questions, Research, Explanations"

Why a German Museum Is Displaying Fake Paintings From Its Collections

A taboo-breaking exhibition at Cologne's Museum Ludwig spotlights misattributed Russian avant-garde works

David Copperfield has sold more tickets than any other solo performer in history.

How Harry Houdini and David Copperfield's Jewish Heritage Shaped Their Craft

The illusionists join Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Steven Spielberg in the National Museum of American Jewish History's hall of fame

Two eight-year-old Twinkies that Pennsylvania man Colin Purrington found in his basement.

Scientists Study Twinkie Mummified by Mold

Tests on the eight-year-old snack food put the myth of the immortal Twinkie to rest

Kiliii Yuyan, Umiaq and north wind during spring whaling, 2019

How Indigenous Peoples Adapted to the Arctic's Harsh Climate

A new exhibition at the British Museum spotlights an ingenious way of life threatened by global warming

Jacob Lawrence, There are combustibles in every State, which a spark might set fire to. —Washington, 26 December 1786, Panel 16, 1956, from Struggle: From the History of the American People, 1954–56

Cool Finds

Long-Lost Jacob Lawrence Painting Spent 60 Years Hanging in NYC Apartment

A museum visitor realized she'd seen the missing work—part of the artist's "Struggle" series—in her neighbor's living room

Researchers say the sunken ship may hold panels from Russia's famed Amber Room, which went missing during World War II.

Cool Finds

Shipwrecked Nazi Steamer May Hold Clues to the Amber Room's Fate

Divers have found sealed chests and military vehicles in the "Karlsruhe," which was sunk by Soviet planes in 1945

To get a glimpse of what's happening in the deep blue, scientists deployed instruments to measure changes on the sea floor. This hydrothermal vent exists at 3,300 meters deep.

The Deepest, Darkest, Most Frigid Depths of the Ocean Are Warming

Thermometers anchored to the seafloor revealed that even the deep sea is not impervious to rising global temperatures

The Gollum snakehead is unusual among subterranean critters because it has both eyes and a colorful complexion.

New Research

Subterranean Fish Named 'Gollum' Belongs to a New Family

The freshwater fish belongs to a never-before-described taxonomic family, making it one of the biggest finds of the last decade

A probable witches' mark found at the site of the abandoned St. Mary's church in Buckinghamshire, England

Cool Finds

Eerie Witches' Marks Found Among Ruins of Medieval English Church

Archaeologists in Stoke Mandeville found carvings probably designed to ward off evil spirits

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