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New Research

Who Were the First People to Eat Chickens?

A find in Israel shows evidence of chicken consumption from as early as 400 B.C.E.

A stone etching on the grave of crewmember Lt. John Irving depicts the dire conditions that the Franklin expedition faced when they reached the Canadian Arctic.

New Research

Franklin’s Doomed Arctic Expedition Ended in Gruesome Cannibalism

New bone analysis suggests crew resorted to eating flesh, then marrow

Cool Finds

This Fungus Eats the Butts off Cicadas

It’s totally not a big deal, though

Cool Finds

This Video of Lightning in Slow Motion is Strangely Entrancing

Hypnotize yourself with lightning at 2,000 frames per second

Cool Finds

These Drones Hunt Whale Snot

Snotbots will make mucus collection less stressful for whales

With carrot liqueur, one distillery takes a cue from Bugs Bunny

Cool Finds

Carrot Liqueur Could Be Coming to a Cocktail Near You

What’s Next?! Kale?!

Malaria infected blood cells (blue)

Trending Today

The First Malaria Vaccine Could Be Released Soon

The vaccine isn’t as effective as hoped however, and needs several more approvals

New Horizons snapped this parting shot of Pluto on July 15, 2015.

New Horizons Snaps a Final Shot of Pluto

So long, dwarf planet!

The fragments comprise two parchment leaves, written in Hijazi script on sheep or goat skin.

New Research

Carbon Dating Reveals One of the Oldest Known Copies of the Quran

Manuscript fragments found in U.K. library were written between 568 and 645

The Scanadu Scout is just one of the many devices that attempt to act like a real-life tricorder

Cool Finds

A List of All the Times People Have Tried to Build a Working Tricorder

Star Trek-style scanning has been a bit more complicated than expected

New Research

Your Pupils May Expand When You Daydream

But researchers aren’t totally sure why or how the two are connected

Brain tissue infected with Naegleria fowleri glows green.

New Research

Brain-Eating Amoebas May Kill You With Help from Your Own Immune System

The amoeba’s presence in the brain triggers swelling that may do more harm than good

Trending Today

Bakers Are Still Searching for the Perfect Egg Replacement

Egg prices are hitting record highs, raising demand for substitutes

This fasciated flower — a White Mule’s Ear, found in Island Park, Idaho — has the same disorder found in flowers near Fukushima

Cool Finds

Don’t Freak Out Over the Funky Flowers That Appeared Near Fukushima

The odd appearance is due to a plant disorder called fasciation

Trending Today

An Explosion at a National Lab is Being Linked to Meth

A former combustion research lab seems to have been used for a very different purpose: cooking methamphetamine

Orson Welles as Macbeth in the 1948 film with Jeannette Nolan as Lady Macbeth

Cool Finds

Listen to 98 hours of Shakespeare’s Poems and Plays Performed by Great Actors

The playlist includes the voices of Edith Evans, Dylan Thomas, Orson Welles and Sir Ian McKellen

The tasty bruschetta in the study.

New Research

Great Appetizers Can Spoil the Main Meal

The contrast is key

A graphical abstract from the paper shows the bat approaching its pitcher plant partner.

New Research

This Plant Calls to Bats So They Will Poop in it

Specially shaped reflectors bounce back the squeaks of echolocating bats

Anthophyllite asbestos from Georgia

Trending Today

Why Are People Still Using Asbestos?

The story holds parallels with that of the tobacco industry

Two black rhinos, a mother and her calf, explore a watering hole at Etosha National Park in Namibia.

Cool Finds

Researchers are Fitting Rhinos With Hidden Horn Cameras

One non-profit wants to outfit the animals with cameras and heart rate monitors to save them

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