Smart News

An empty Machu Picchu pictured on June 15, 2020. Travel restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic have decimated Peru's tourism industry.

Covid-19

Machu Picchu Reopens for a Single Stranded Tourist

Jesse Katayama, 26, waited seven months for his chance to see the mountainous 15th-century Inca settlement

The statue, which stands across from the New York County Criminal Courthouse, inverts the myth of Perseus slaying Medusa.

Why a New Statue of Medusa Is So Controversial

The gorgon, seen holding Perseus' severed head, stands across from the court where Harvey Weinstein was tried

The deceased's mummified remains were wrapped in burial linen and laid to rest in a wooden coffin.

Cool Finds

Ancient Egyptian Coffin Opened for the First Time in 2,600 Years

The sarcophagus is one of 59 unearthed at the Saqqara necropolis in recent months

Theories surrounding the source of the pollution are still swirling.

Hundreds of Dead Animals Wash Ashore on Russian Beach After Reports of Mysterious, Toxic Sludge

Investigations are still underway, but experts theorize that leaked hazardous materials from military bases are to blame

This mosaic of Bennu was created using observations made by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that was in close proximity to the asteroid for over two years.

New Research

Asteroid Bennu Could Shed Light on How Ingredients for Life Reached Earth

New, detailed imagery of the asteroid’s surface show that it’s covered in boulders and carbon-containing molecules

Old Faithful erupts before a crowd of onlookers in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park in 1966.

New Research

Climate Change Could Make Yellowstone's Famous Geyser Less Faithful

Old Faithful stopped erupting for decades following severe drought 800 years ago and global warming could put it back on hiatus

The stolen items' owner estimates their value at around $645 million.

A Stolen Mao Zedong Scroll Was Found Cut in Half

Prior to the defacement, the nine-foot-long calligraphy work was valued at an estimated $300 million

The United Nation's World Food Program claimed this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

World Food Program Wins 2020 Nobel Peace Prize

This year's award seeks to highlight the need for global solidarity in a time of crisis, says prize committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen

Skull of a Glyptodon from Buenos Aires, Argentina. A member of an extinct group of relatives of armadillos with several species reaching sizes above a ton that migrated from South America to North America.

New Research

Nearly Half of South America's Mammals Came From North America. New Research May Explain Why

An analysis of thousands of fossils revealed extinctions plagued South American fauna, reducing the number of potential migrant species

The male skeleton's neck and legs were arranged in an unnatural position, while the woman's remains were held in place by large stones.

New Research

DNA Analysis Suggests Mother and Son Were Buried in Famous Viking Grave

Researchers had previously posited that the man was an executed enslaved individual buried alongside the noblewoman he served

California reached another devastating milestone this year: four million acres in total have been burned so far this fire season, more than doubling the state’s previous record from 2018’s Mendocini Complex Fire.

California’s First-Ever Gigafire Blazes Through the State, Scorching More Than One Million Acres

Scientists say that hotter and drier conditions resulting from climate change have fueled this record-breaking fire

Rotten fish contain a smellable chemical found in bad breath, faeces and blood, but some people identified it as sweets or roses.

New Research

If Rotten Fish Smell Like Roses to You, a Genetic Mutation Might Be to Blame

A new study in Iceland found a connection between a person’s ability to sniff stinky fish and a gene called TAAR5

The house that served as Buffalo Bill's lair in Silence of the Lambs is on sale for $298,500.

You Could Own the House of Horrors From 'Silence of the Lambs'

The property appeared as serial killer Buffalo Bill's lair in the classic 1991 film

Blue whales are the world’s largest animals, and they can grow to the length of three school buses in a row.

Blue Whales Sing All Day When They Migrate and All Night When They Don't

Their mysterious songs could be an 'acoustic signature of migration'

Louise Glück, an esteemed American poet and teacher, won this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.

American Poet Louise Glück Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

The esteemed writer and teacher previously won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

A 14th-century latrine in Riga, Latvia

New Research

Archaeologists Mine Medieval Toilets for Traces of Gut Microbiomes

New techniques could help researchers understand human diets in different times and places

Fires scorched the West in last month, the hottest September on record.

We Just Lived Through the Hottest September Ever Recorded

The heat has fueled fires, one of the most active Atlantic hurricane seasons and melting Arctic sea ice

Each bare patch of clay-crusted earth is about 13 feet across.

New Research

The Magical Mathematics Behind 'Fairy Circles'

Competing theories suggest that the patches come from termite activity, grass competition over water, or a combination of both

An artist's recreation of what the Roman home may have looked like in its prime

Cool Finds

Ancient Roman Villa Discovered Beneath Italian Apartment Complex

Come November, the 2,000-year-old dwelling will open as a multimedia museum

Sarah Forbes Bonetta, as seen in 1856 (left) and 1862 (right). Hannah Uzor's new portrait is based on the 1862 photograph.

The Little-Known Story of Queen Victoria's Black Goddaughter

A newly commissioned portrait of Sarah Forbes Bonetta is now on view at the monarch's seaside house, Osbourne

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