News
How many generations of humans have there been?
27+ min ago (524+ words) Modern humans have been around 300, 000 years. How many generations is that? Whether using family records, DNA tests or genealogy websites, many people can trace their family histories back generations. The world-record holder for the longest family tree is Chinese philosopher…...
What is jetlag, and how can you avoid it?
1+ day, 27+ min ago (654+ words) Long-haul travelers often feel totally out of whack for several days after arriving at their destination. Jet lag is a natural phenomenon, but can it be prevented? Most long-distance travelers have felt the discombobulation of changing time zones: being excessively…...
Fingal's Cave: Scotland's 'cave of melody' where eerie echoes bounce off pillars of solidified lava
1+ day, 21+ hour ago (360+ words) Fingal's Cave is a hollow inside the Scottish island of Staffa that is characterized by massive, interlocking hexagonal columns of volcanic rock and astonishing acoustics. Why it's incredible: The cave is formed entirely of hexagonal volcanic rock columns. Fingal's Cave…...
Bead net funerary shroud: A 2, 500-year-old beaded veil from Egypt depicting the deceased's transformation into Osiris
5+ day, 23+ hour ago (309+ words) This funerary shroud was made from thousands of multicolored beads and woven to represent a human face and a large scarab beetle. The shroud was made from a net of thousands of colored beads. Name: Bead net funerary shroud What…...
How did animals survive the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs?
1+ week, 27+ min ago (460+ words) It helped to have a number of features to aid survival following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Around 66 million years ago, a gigantic asteroid smashed into Earth and wreaked chaos globally. In all, 75% of Earth's species went extinct, including the nonavian…...
How hot is Earth's core?
1+ week, 1+ day ago (537+ words) What's the temperature in Earth's core, and how did we figure that out? When Earth first formed around 4. 5 billion years ago, it was a ball of molten rock. Over time, heavier elements, like iron and nickel, sank to the planet's…...
Bright-blue 'potash ponds' shine alongside a dark-green river in Utah " Earth from space
1+ week, 5+ day ago (412+ words) Where is it? Moab, Utah [38. 47920940, -109. 68412599] When was it taken? June 26, 2017 The multicolored stripes are solar evaporation ponds, which are located around 8 miles (13 kilometers) southwest of the town of Moab in the heart of the Colorado Plateau " a roughly 130, 000-square-mile (340, 000 square…...
Daunian kyathos: A 2, 700-year-old ceramic cup from Italy decorated with an exuberant-looking, bug-eyed fellow
1+ week, 5+ day ago (206+ words) A pre-Roman ceramic cup or ladle that could inspire kitchenware today " this li'l dude is excited to mix! An ancient ceramic vessel, possibly a wine ladle, from southern Italy. What it is: A painted, one-handled ceramic cup or ladle Where…...
Don Juan Pond: Antarctica's salty, syrupy lake that never freezes, even when it's minus 58 F
2+ week, 1+ day ago (341+ words) Don Juan Pond is a mysterious lake in Antarctica that contains so much calcium chloride, it doesn't freeze in subzero temperatures. Name: Don Juan Pond Why it's incredible: The lake's high salinity keeps it from freezing even in subzero temperatures....
Lion's head pendant: An ancient Egyptian board game piece that was later repurposed into a magical religious object with baboons
2+ week, 5+ day ago (299+ words) An ancient Egyptian board game piece was repurposed centuries later in Sudan into a dazzling gold-and-amethyst pendant. A lion's head carved out of amethyst has been set into a golden base decorated with baboons. Name: Lion's head pendant What it…...