This is one im-peck-able performance. An injured bird in an Amsterdam zoo made history as the first in the world to receive two 3D-printed beak prosthetics. The southern ground hornbill at Artis Zoo got the custom-made artificial beaks — printed from plastic and attached with screws by surgeons — to replace his upper and lower … Read more
The mystery of Amelia Earhart’s long-lost aircraft may finally be solved — as researchers believe searchers spent nearly nine decades looking in the wrong place. A 17-member team from Purdue University and the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) has launched a high-stakes expedition to Nikumaroro, a remote South Pacific atoll overrun by massive, three-foot land crabs. … Read more
Danger ahead. With Halloween just around the corner, California drivers should look out for these super spooky streets, including one long road that runs straight through the City of Angles. California is home to two of the most haunted roads in the world, at least according to believers in the paranormal (and two new rankings). … Read more
We live in a time of dizzying change. Our society is polarized by warring political and cultural beliefs. Violence stalks our streets and even our schools. It feels like we are at the edge of a precipice. But we have been there before. One hundred and seventy years ago, San Francisco, the epicenter of today’s … Read more
Picture this: Thousands are gathered in traditional garb to enjoy giant pretzels, sausages, roasted chicken — and of course, beer. Children are squealing, friends are singing along to the brass band — and a man is tapping some white powder onto the back of his hand. And snorting it!? Don’t worry, it’s not what you … Read more
This California outpost may be abandoned, but it’s got plenty of spirit. Tucked high in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains sits a state park where a once-booming gold mining camp has been frozen in time — dusty, deserted and eerily untouched. Scores of weathered buildings still stand, including a saloon, church and stores still stocked … Read more
Live from New York, it’s Knicks MVP Jalen Brunson. Jalen Brunson once again made Knicks history as the first Big Apple basketball star from the franchise to host “Saturday Night Live.” Brunson, who just turned 30 earlier this month, traded in his basketball skills for sketch comedy as he dazzled in the season 52 premiere … Read more
A sweeping new study of the Roman Empire’s vast road network is challenging the age-old saying, “All roads lead to Rome.” The study, published Sept. 15 in the journal Nature Communications, analyzed roughly 190,000 miles of Roman roads spanning Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The team combined existing data to create a new … Read more
Fur-ever immortalized. Archaeologists have unearthed a mosaic a Roman household commissioned to honor its beloved dog and cat nearly 2,000 years ago. The artwork, believed to date to the late second or third century AD, was found inside the remains of a Roman villa beneath the ancient harbor city of Adramytteion on Turkey’s Aegean coast, … Read more
New York City has always been a city in motion — forever reinventing itself, tearing down the old to make room for whatever comes next. Over time, the once-ubiquitous elevated trains disappeared underground. Horses gave way to automobiles. Factories and warehouses became coveted lofts. Neighborhoods changed names, faces and fortunes. But the city that never … Read more
A treasure-hunting crew searching a legendary 17th-century underwater shipwreck off the Florida Keys has recovered a massive 55-pound copper ingot — the latest find along a trail that its captain believes could lead to more treasure. The ingot was found by divers with Mel Fisher’s Shipwreck Expeditions at the wreck site of the Nuestra Señora … Read more
After years of managing her eating disorder, one woman got her hands on a prescription for GLP-1 weight loss drugs from a telehealth service — and says it was “criminally easy” to do so. Kate, identified only by her first name, told Australia’s ABC News that she had a history of anorexia nervosa prior starting … Read more
It was a sex scandal for the ages. An X-rated artwork depicting a momentous event in England’s past could rewrite our understanding of UK history — thanks to the portrayal of an alleged sordid royal affair. The Bayeux Tapestry, which recently returned to the UK from Normandy, France for the first time since its creation … Read more
A woman spent the summer sleeping like a medieval person — waking up after four hours of sleep to write poetry and letters — and says it made her more “alert.” Anna Fox, 26, a graduate student studying medieval literature from North Carolina, US, experimented with the historical sleeping pattern after becoming fascinated by the … Read more
Researchers are gearing up to resume their search for Amelia Earhart’s lost plane in the Pacific Ocean after setbacks delayed the search. Purdue University officials said in a recent statement that researchers will travel to Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific to investigate the Taraia Object, a satellite-imaged anomaly believed by some to be Earhart’s lost Lockheed Electra. The expedition, … Read more
America: the land of the free (and the home of the brave). The land of opportunity. A nation of immigrants. A country built on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. A country built on slavery. Democratic. Republican. Once great. Still great. Great again. Never great. United. Divided. Under threat. Stronger than ever. An ideal. A … Read more
They’re wicked cultured. Last month in Boston, the storied Museum of Fine Arts opened a new exhibit called “Something’s Brewing.” It traces the economic and social impact of tea, coffee and chocolate in the Bay State, including the famous Boston Tea Party in 1773. The humble Dunkin’ cardboard cup is now included in a prestigious … Read more
Researchers at Yale University believe they’ve solved a centuries-old mystery over how a member of one of Italy’s most famous families died. In a study published in the journal iScience, researchers analyzed ancient DNA from Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici, the Renaissance ruler of Tuscany, who died suddenly in 1587. Francesco I de’ Medici and his wife, Bianca … Read more
Call it “the Odyssey effect.” As film fans battle it out to watch an ancient Greek battle on IMAX, Mount Olympus — the legendary home of the gods, according to Greek mythology — is getting international protection from UNESCO. This week, the United Nations hub for historic preservation named Mount Olympus as one of its … Read more
All among the living and undead know Count Dracula. But vampires have a long and more established pedigree than readers of Bram Stoker may recognize. These bloodsuckers have even made their ways to American shores. In his new book, “Exhumed: Unearthing the History of the American Vampire” (Running Press), Aaron Mahnke starts with the “vampire … Read more