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A visitor walks on the Badwater Basin salt flats on August 18, 2020 in Death Valley National Park, California.

Death Valley Hits a Blistering 130 Degrees, Potentially Setting New Record

If confirmed, this scorcher would be the hottest temperature recorded on Earth since at least 1931

Some groups stuck together for four years.

New Research

Grey Reef Sharks Hunt With the Same Group for Years—but Don't Call Them Friends

They're more like reef proximity associates

Archaeologists discovered these fossilized fragments of grass deep inside South Africa's Border Cave.

Cool Finds

200,000-Year-Old Bedding Found in South Africa May Be World's Oldest

New study suggests ancient humans slept on layers of grass and ash, which was used to ward off insects

George IV commissioned architect John Nash to design Buckingham Palace's picture gallery as a home for his art collection.

Buckingham Palace's Art Collection to Be Exhibited in Public Gallery for First Time

The 65 works set to go on view include masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Titian

Susan B. Anthony (seen here in 1898) was fined $100 for casting her vote in the 1872 presidential election.

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

In 1872, Susan B. Anthony Was Arrested for Voting 'Unlawfully'

President Donald Trump posthumously pardoned the pioneering activist on the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage

Death Valley National Park saw a record-breaking 130 degrees Fahrenheit on August 16. The measurement might be the hottest temperature recorded on Earth since at least 1913, according to the National Weather Service.

Coalition Calls for Naming Heat Waves Like Hurricanes

The group’s climate and health experts say naming and categorizing extreme heat events could save lives

The first infestation of spotted lanternflies in the U.S. was found in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 2014.

Invasive Spotted Lanternflies Reach Eight New Jersey Counties

The insect is an 'excellent hitchhiker,' says the New Jersey Department of Agriculture

The newly discovered banana cultivation site

Cool Finds

Traces of 2,000-Year-Old Banana Farm Found in Australia

The discovery contradicts conceptions of early Indigenous peoples as exclusively hunter gatherers

In April 2019, a devastating fire destroyed Notre-Dame Cathedral's iconic spire.

Virtual Travel

In Paris, Virtual Reality Experience Shows Notre-Dame Before and After 2019 Fire

The 18-minute documentary features footage of usually inaccessible spots, including the attic and sacristy

Oxburgh Hall, a moated Tudor manor house in Norfolk, England, is currently undergoing a major renovation project to fix its roof.

Cool Finds

Thousands of Rare Artifacts Discovered Beneath Tudor Manor's Attic Floorboards

Among the finds are manuscripts possibly used to perform illegal Catholic masses, silk fragments and handwritten music

Post-tropical cyclone Kyle was identified as a tropical storm on August 14 and it has since dissipated.

In a New Record, 11 Named Storms Have Already Formed in the Atlantic

Forecasters now estimate that 2020’s Atlantic hurricane season could see up to 25 named storms

Researchers collecting tears from Broad-snouted caiman.

New Research

Microscopically, Crocodile Tears Look Sort of Like Our Own

Humans are the only species known to cry in response to emotional turmoil, but a new study finds reptile and avian tears aren't so different

The charred shoulder blade of a young adult who was cremated in northern Israel some 9,000 years ago. The bone contains the embedded point of a flint projectile.

Humans in the Near East Cremated Their Dead 9,000 Years Ago

Archaeologists found the charred bones of a young adult in the ancient Israeli village of Beisamoun

Thousands of volunteers helped transcribe the Library of Congress' Lincoln letters.

Education During Coronavirus

Read Thousands of Abraham Lincoln's Newly Transcribed Letters Online

The missives, preserved by the Library of Congress, include notes to and from the beloved president

A male Thoropa taophora, pictured near Sununga beach in Brazil.

This Frog Mates With Two Females in an Unusual Love Triangle

Relationships like these are rare among amphibians, scientists say

Viburnum titus is a common landscaping plant in Europe and the United States, but its blue fruits hadn't been closely studied until now.

New Research

Structural Complexity Gives This Fruit Its Metallic Blue Color

The super blue viburnum fruit gets its hue not just from blue pigment, but from the structure of its fat

An illustration of the 30-foot-long, dinosaur eating crocodilian Deinosuchus.

30-Foot 'Terror Crocodile' Ambushed Dinosaurs at Water’s Edge

Study says the five-ton extinct reptiles had teeth the size of bananas

US satellite SpaceX Starlink 5 is seen in the night passing above Denmark, on April 21, 2020.

How Will Amazon’s Planned Satellite Megaconstellation Impact the Night Sky?

The company plans to launch 3,236 satellites, but astronomers are worried about possible ramifications

Potential human ancestor Homo heidelbergensis used this 480,000-year-old bone hammer to create flint tools.

Cool Finds

Europe's Oldest Bone Tools Hint at Early Hominin Sophistication

480,000 years ago, Homo heidelbergensis used hammers to fashion flint tools in what is now southern England

A pink adult flamingo stands, surrounded by gray babies, in southern France. Flamingos are born gray and slowly turn pink as they age, due to their diet.

Record-Breaking 60,000 Flamingos Flock to Southern France

More than 50,000 adults and 12,000 babies were counted in aerial photos, suggesting a record-breaking year for the pink birds

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