Cool Finds

The rook in question certainly wasn't the first chess piece ever created, but it may be the oldest found to date.

Is This Chess Piece Unearthed in Jordan the World's Oldest?

The two-pronged rook, found in a seventh-century trading post, shows how quickly the game spread across the Islamic world

Elizabeth's penmanship deteriorated over time, with the speed and sloppiness of her writing rising in direct correlation with the crown's increasing demands.

Elizabeth I's 'Idiosyncratic' Handwriting Identifies Her as the Scribe Behind a Long Overlooked Translation

The Tudor queen wrote in an "extremely distinctive, disjointed hand," says scholar John-Mark Philo

The newly discovered Viking ship

Archaeologists Use Georadar Tech to Find Buried Viking Ship in Norway

Researchers say the vessel is probably more than 1,000 years old

Via Getty: "A group of young women in traditional costumes play Galician music with bagpipes, tambourines and drum in the historic center during the San Froilan festivities on October 6, 2019 in Lugo, Galicia, Spain."

Scientists Show Humans May Share a 'Musical Grammar'

Across 60 cultures, songs sung in similar social contexts have shared musical features

A cat statue is displayed after the announcement of a new discovery carried out by an Egyptian archaeological team in Giza's Saqqara necropolis.

Archaeologists Reveal Rare Mummified Lion Cubs Unearthed in Egypt

CT scans identified two of five mummified big cats as young lions, but the remaining animals' identities remain unclear

Artist's illustration of the 8th-century Viking man's burial

Unusual Viking Grave Includes Nested Boats Buried 100 Years Apart

Archaeologists don't know why the two vessels were buried on top of one another, but the practice may be linked with property rights

Researchers Discover Secret Breeding Ground of World's Most Endangered Crocodile

Over 100 recently-hatched gharials were found deep in Nepal's Bardia National Park

Why did this cheeky snake have two hind legs?

New Fossils Unlock Evolutionary Secrets of Two-Legged Snakes

Scientists have known about the ancient snake group Najash for years, but were not able to gain a thorough understanding of its skull until now

This carving is the first Nazca Line to be identified by artificial intelligence.

Archaeologists Identify 143 New Nazca Lines

The trove of newly documented geoglyphs includes a humanoid figure identified by artificial intelligence

One of the infants was around 18 months old at time of death, while the second was between 6 and 9 months old.

Archaeologists Unearth Remains of Infants Wearing 'Helmets' Made From the Skulls of Other Children

Members of Ecuador's Guangala culture may have outfitted the infants in skulls as a protective measure

The study involved 104 Labrador retrievers between four weeks and 16 years old.

Calculate Your Dog's Age With This New, Improved Formula

A study of the epigenetic clock in Labradors shows calculating a dog's age is much more complicated than just multiplying by seven

A golden ring once given as a present by the famed Irish writer Oscar Wilde has been recovered by a Dutch "art detective" nearly 20 years after it was stolen from Britain's Oxford University.

Art Detective Tracks Down Oscar Wilde's Stolen Friendship Ring

Authorities previously believed the ring, taken from Oxford in 2002, was melted down by an individual unaware of its true significance

The centuries-old painting—now identified as a genuine Botticelli—has finally emerged from storage.

An Unidentified Botticelli Painting Spent Decades Hidden in Welsh Museum's Storeroom

The newly attributed masterpiece was previously believed to be a crude copy of the artist's work

Sweet Narwhal will be adoptable soon, but he is not for sale. He is a very good boy, of course.

Meet the ‘Unicorn Puppy’ With an Extra Tail on His Head

Narwhal’s unique appendage may be the remnant of his parasitic twin

Two cows photographed in 2017 on Cedar Island. Three cows, not pictured, were found later following Hurricane Dorian.

Three Cows Swept Away by Hurricane Dorian Have Been Found Alive

Officials think the brave bovines swam between four and five miles to the Cape Lookout National Seashore

Ocean X recovered 900 bottles of alcohol from a 102-year-old shipwreck.

Tsar Nicholas II's Last Shipment of Booze Recovered From the Baltic Sea

Salvagers hope that some of the 900 bottles of cognac and Benedictine are still drinkable

Birds Sniff Each Other's Bacteria to Help Choose a Mate

A new study finds the microbiome in a bird's preen oil determines its scent, which can impact its reproductive success

One of the wrecks discovered off the coast of Vaxholm

This Wreck May Be the Sister Ship of Sweden's Ill-Fated 'Vasa' Warship

Divers discovered the wreckage of two 17th-century warships off the coast of an island near Stockholm

Researchers debate whether Iron Age Scots hunted the massive fin whales or simply made the most of animals swept ashore.

Archaeologists Unearth Hollowed-Out Whale Vertebra Containing Human Jawbone, Remains of Newborn Lambs

Iron Age Scots made the unusual vessel with the bone of a fin whale, Earth's second largest whale species

A composite image of Mercury's 2016 transit.

How to Watch Mercury’s Rare Transit Across the Sun

Step one: Protect your eyes

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