Smart News

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the audit found that the majority of America's monuments commemorate white, male historical figures.

History of Now

Scholars Spent a Year Scrutinizing America's Monuments. Here's What They Learned

A major audit of nearly 50,000 monuments reveals the historical figures, themes and myths that dominate the nation's commemorative landscape

Scientists used DNA analysis of mummies from ancient Egypt to reconstruct the faces of three men buried more than 2,000 years ago.

Art Meets Science

3-D Reconstruction Reveals the Faces of Three Ancient Egyptian Mummies

Researchers used a combination of DNA and physical analysis to approximate the trio's visages

An aerial view of the "In America: Remember" installation on the National Mall, which commemorates the nearly 700,000 Americans who've lost their lives to Covid-19.

Covid-19

In D.C., 695,000 Flags—and Counting—Memorialize the Americans Who Have Died of Covid-19

Created by artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, the installation covers the National Mall in white pennants featuring handwritten dedications to the dead

Early humans may have eaten late-stage fertilized eggs, known as balut, or raised the chicks for feathers and meat.    

Thousands of Years Before Humans Raised Chickens, They Tried to Domesticate the World's Deadliest Bird

Fossilized eggs found in rock shelters suggest cassowaries were cohabitating with our ancestors

Some conservationists have held out hope for species like the ivory-billed woodpecker, which was last spotted in 1944.

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and 22 Other Species Declared Extinct

Many organisms included in the latest declaration were feared to be lost long before the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was first passed

The photographs show the "fossil" imprint of a wooden ship that rotted away long before the dig.

You Can Now Explore a Trove of Behind-the-Scenes Photos From the Famed Sutton Hoo Dig

Schoolteachers Mercie Lacks and Barbara Wagstaff captured the snapshots in August 1939

Inspired by the fluttering seeds, researchers designed a tiny, winged microchip that is powerful enough to monitor environmental contamination, biohazards, and airborne disease. Here it is shown next to a lady bug for scale.  

Innovation for Good

This Flying, Chemical-Detecting Microchip Is Smaller Than a Grain of Sand

Inspired by helicopter seeds, the device could soon be used to monitor the environment

"Remember Me," now on view at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, unites more than 100 European Renaissance portraits. Pictured here is Albrecht Dürer's 1508 chalk sketch of an unidentified African man.

Display of 100 Renaissance Portraits Underscores Humans' Enduring Desire to Be Remembered

An exhibition at the Rijksmuseum unites two early likenesses of African men in Europe, among other 15th- and 16th-century masterpieces

Early Etruscans had advanced knowledge of art, farming and metallurgy, leading some historians to believe the civilization originated elsewhere before settling in what is now Italy. DNA analysis shows they were actually locals.

New Research

Where Did the Ancient Etruscans Come From?

A new DNA analysis suggests the enigmatic civilization was native to the Italian Peninsula

Researchers in Turkey have uncovered an all-but-forgotten ancient Greek temple and a 50,000-seat stadium (shown).

Entrance Gate to Greek Temple of Zeus Unearthed in Turkey

Archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Magnesia hope to fully restore the 2,300-year-old sacred structure

The fire destroyed the property's porch, which was built more than 100 years ago but wasn't originally part of the house.

'Suspicious' Fire Destroys Porch at Susan B. Anthony House and Museum

Authorities are investigating the blaze, which left the New York landmark's historic interior and contents largely unscathed

A new study reveals life expectancy in many counties fell by more than 6 months from 2019 to 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Western Europe, Covid-19 Caused the Biggest Drop in Life Expectancy Since World War II

The study authors say the pandemic may have an even greater impact on life spans in less developed countries that were not included in the research

The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure instrument, or SEIS, is a highly sensitive seismometer that detects marsquakes on the Red Planet. 

NASA Lander Records the Largest 'Marsquakes' Ever Detected

As it passes 1,000 days on the surface of the Red Planet, the InSight lander recorded three large bouts of tectonic activity in the past month

The National Gallery's Samson and Delilah (1609-10) is attributed to Peter Paul Rubens, but some scholars have raised doubts regarding its authenticity in recent decades.

Art Meets Science

Did Peter Paul Rubens Really Paint 'Samson and Delilah'?

A.I. analysis renews doubts over the authenticity of a star painting in the London National Gallery's collection

Babies may be exposed to microplastics from putting toys in their mouths or from plastic baby bottles, sippy cups, and pacifiers that might shed pieces of PET.

Baby Poo Has Ten Times More Microplastics Than Adult Feces

The small pilot study included fecal samples from ten adults and six infants in New York state

Two men found the coins while diving in Portitxol Bay along the Mediterranean coast.

Cool Finds

Amateur Divers Discover Trove of 53 Roman Gold Coins in Spain

A wealthy landowner probably hid the hoard to protect it from "barbarian" invaders

The cache of newly returned items includes 15 handwritten papers and a small collection of looted antiquities.

Colonial-Era Papers Stolen From Mexico's National Archive Return Home

The documents, many of which are directly linked to conquistador Hernán Cortés, were smuggled out of the country and auctioned in the U.S.

Believed to be the world's oldest jewelry, the perforated shells date to about 142,000 years ago.

Cool Finds

Are These Snail Shells the World's Oldest Known Beads?

Found in a Moroccan cave, the prehistoric jewelry dates to between 142,000 and 150,000 years ago

In captivity under human care, a polar bear's life expectancy is about 23 years, per AP. Polar bears rarely live past 30 years old in the wild, with most adult bears dying before they reach 25.

North America's Oldest Polar Bear Living in Captivity Dies at 36 Years Old

Snow Lilly, who died at age 36, resided at the Milwaukee County Zoo for almost 16 years after arriving there in 2005

The letters "IMP" stand for imperator, meaning the tile maker was "supplying tiles fit for the emperor" or "on the emperor's demands."

Cool Finds

Tiles 'Fit for the Emperor' Found in Roman Ruins Beneath English Cricket Club

The objects, as well as an inscription at the site, suggest ties to Septimius Severus, who led campaigns nearby in the early third century C.E.

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