Enormous, Crocodile-Sized Amphibians Mysteriously Died Together in Wyoming 230 Million Years AgoPaleontologists found a group of four-legged Triassic creatures preserved in the same bone bedbut they dont know what killed the animals A skull of the Triassic amphibian Buettnererpeton bakerigets uncovered for the first time in 230 million years. Researchers found it in a cache of skeletons that were well-preserved and appear to be relatively undisturbed over time. Dave LovelaceRoughly 230 million years ago, a group of alligator-sized amphibians convened on a floodplain in what is now west-central Wyoming. For some mysterious reason, the creatures all died around the same time.Sediment slowly covered their bodies. For millennia, their fossilized bones remained hidden inside layers of rockuntil now.Paleontologists recently unearthed the creatures well-preserved skeletons and are now trying to piece together what killed them, according to a new paper published April 2 in the journal PLOS One. The fossil cache may also offer new insights into the lives of these long-extinct amphibians, called Buettnererpeton bakeri.B. bakeri was a primitive, four-legged amphibian that lived in North America during the Triassic Period, which spanned between 201 million and 252 million years ago. The species belonged to a group of amphibians known as metoposaurid temnospondyls, which were the ancestors of todays salamanders, frogs and toads.Researchers think B. bakeri lived in freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers, where it hunted fish and amphibiansand anything else tasty that came along. But they dont know much about the creatures lifestyle and habits, because they havent found very many B. bakeri fossils.The recent discovery might change that: The bone bed unearthed at a site called Nobby Knob in Dubois, Wyoming, more than doubles the total number of known B. bakeri specimens. While digging through rocks dating to 230 million years ago, paleontologists found the fossilized remains of at least 19 individuals, writes Live Sciences Skyler Ware. The Wyoming cache more than doubles the number of known B. bakeri specimens. Kufner et al., PLOS One, 2025The bones are relatively undisturbed and seem to be arranged in much the same way they were positioned when the animals died. This suggests the amphibians perished in calm waters and were gently buried by layers of fine sediment over time. Even very delicate parts of the creatures skeletons were preserved, according to a statement from the journal. Paleontologists also found fossilized poop, plants and bivalve mollusks at the site.There are some articulated bones that are nearly absent in other metoposaurid bone beds in North America, and completely unknown for Buettnererpeton, study co-authors Dave Lovelaceand Aaron Kufner, who are both geoscientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, tell Popular Sciences Andrew Paul.Since the bones dont appear to have been moved by strong currents, researchers suspect the creatures died around the same time and in the same placeleaving behind something of a paleontological crime scene, as Paul Smaglik writes for Discover magazine.This assemblage is a snapshot of a single population, rather than an accumulation over time, Kufner says in the statement.But what were they all doing together? And what caused the mass die-off? One possible explanation is that the animals got stuck when nearby waterways dried up during a drought. They may have gathered to breed.For now, at least, their deaths remain an unsolved mystery.More broadly, scientists dont know whether die-offs like this one were common for the large Triassic amphibians, because most bone beds discovered so far contain remains that were transported there by flowing water. Its possible the B. bakeri mass mortality event was a rare fluke.Scientists want to explore these and other questions by conducting future research. By studying the Wyoming fossils further, they also hope to learn even more about B. bakeris biology, as well as the Triassic ecosystems in which they lived.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

New ResearchWhy Were These Teenagers Chosen as Human Sacrifices at an Ancient Mesopotamian Cemetery?Researchers previously assumed that some of the graves at the site were royal burials. A new study presents a different theory, which challenges existing ideas about early class structures Thousands of years ago, people had been buried both inside and outside of this cist tomb. Cambridge Archaeological JournalIn modern-day Turkey, a cemetery dating to the early Bronze Age holds burials full of luxurious goodsand numerous human sacrifices.Archaeologists have long been puzzled by the details of the sacrificial rituals. But a recent study published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal has revealed a telling detail that sheds new light on the narrative: The richest tombs in the cemetery are filled with teenagers. Beadwork associated with burials inside and outside a cist tomb Cambridge Archaeological JournalThe site, called Baur Hyk, is located in Turkeys southeastern Siirt province at the margins of the ancient region ofMesopotamia. Between roughly 3100 and 2800 B.C.E., communities began performing conspicuous and sometimes violent funerary rites at the cemetery, per the study.Eighteen graves have been found at the site: simple pits, pits covered with stone and buriedchambers built with stones, which were filled with copper items, cloth and beads.Previously, researchers had identified one of these treasure-filled burials as a royal tomb. It held two children, who were surrounded by goods and apparenthuman sacrifices. Metallic, copper-based grave goods from Basur Hoyuk Cambridge Archaeological JournalExperts initially thought these burials belonged to royals, whose attendants were sacrificed and buried alongside them in a ritual symbolizing the transition to the afterlife and the maintenance of social order even after death, as La Brjula Verdes Guillermo Carvajal writes. This theory was based on the idea that by the early Bronze Age, Mesopotamian societies were ruled by kings and organized into social hierarchies.But the new study complicates that idea. When researchers analyzed nine such sacrifices from the cemetery, they found that the victims were chosen for specific reasons: Many of them were girls, and most had died between the ages of 12 and 18. They also werent biologically related.The fact that they are mostly adolescents is fascinating and surprising, lead authorDavid Wengrow, an archaeologist at University College London, tellsLive Sciences Kristina Killgrove. It highlights how little thought scientists and historians have really given to the importance of adolescence as a crucial stage in the human life cycle.The study suggests that rather than class structure or close kinship, the children at Baur Hyk were killed and buried together because of their age.We are dealing with adolescents brought together, or coming together voluntarily, from biologically unrelated groups to carry out a very extreme form of ritual, Wengrow tells Live Science.Adolescence is a stage of development unique to the human life course that has long been a crucial arena for social experimentation, write the researchers. As such, its possible that the ancient inhabitants of Baur Hyk chose human sacrifice victims based not on class, but on ritual associations of youths or ranked age sets that formed long before such arrangements broke out into the wider arena of human political affairs.The researchers will continue to examine the skeletons of Baur Hyk. As Wengrow tells Live Science, many of the buried teenagers dont appear to be locals. The team is still working to learn more about their origins.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Cool FindsToddler Discovers 3,800-Year-Old Egyptian Amulet While Hiking With Her Family in IsraelThe 3-year-old picked up an ancient Canaanite scarab that dates back to the Middle Bronze Age The family handed the scarab over to the Israel Antiquities Authority, which plans to display it in an upcoming exhibition. Emil Aladjem / Israel Antiquities AuthorityZiv Nitzan was on a hike with her family when a rock on the ground caught her eye. But when the 3-year-old girl picked up the small stone and cleaned it off, she realized it was no ordinary rock.Instead, the toddler had chanced upon a 3,800-year-old treasure, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA)announced this week.Archaeologists say Nitzan picked up an ancientCanaanite scarab that dates to the MiddleBronze Age. When her siblings realized what shed found, they asked their parents to take a look. The family then handed the scarab over to the government.There are thousands of stones over there and it was upside down, but somehow out of all those stones, she picked this one, the girls mother, Sivan Nitzan, tells the Washington Posts Vivian Ho.Scarabs are small, decorated objects that originated in ancient Egypt. Theyre typically shaped like dung beetles, which ancient Egyptians considered a sacred symbol of new life, per the IAA.These beetles create dung balls or dung pats, then lay their eggs inside or nearby. When the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the dung.Ancient Egyptians also revered dung beetles because the rolling of the dung balls reminded them of the sun god rolling the sun across the sky, according to theIsrael Museum. Because they mistakenly believed the beetles could spontaneously reproduce, they also connected the bugs with the primary god of creation.In the Egyptian language, the beetles name stems from the verb for to be created or to come into being, per the IAA.During the Middle Bronze Age, scarabs were used as seals and amulets, as Daphna Ben-Tor, curator of Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum, says in the IAA statement.They were found in graves, in public buildings and in private homes, Ben-Tor adds. Sometimes, they bear symbols and messages that reflect religious beliefs or status.Nitzan discovered the scarab during a family outing at theTel Azekah archaeological site near the city of Beit Shemesh. Over the past 15 years, archaeologists have unearthed evidence of many changing cultures over the course of history at Tel Azekah, per the IAA. The Bible also references the area around Tel Azekah as the site of the famed battle between David and Goliath.Recent archaeological findings suggest Tel Azekah was home to one of the most important cities in the Judean Lowlands during the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze ages, says Oded Lipschits, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University who is leading the excavation work at the site, in the statement.A 3.5-Year-Old Girl Discovers an Ancient Seal Dating Back 3,800 Years During a Family Hike - IAA PRWatch on Located high above sea level, Tel Azekah was once the control point of a strategic junction of roads that traveled in all directions, according to the website of the archaeological expedition at the site. For millennia, Azekah flourished and grew, as its community benefited from Azekahs rich natural and strategic location.The scarab is just one of the many Egyptian and Canaanite artifacts discovered at Tel Azekah, which attests to the close ties and cultural influences between Canaan and Egypt during that period, Lipschits adds.The IAA thanked Nitzan for her discovery by presenting her with a certificate of appreciation for good citizenship. The agency also plans to highlight the scarab during an upcoming exhibition at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel.It will be placed alongside other Egyptian and Canaanite artifacts, many of which have never been displayed before. The exhibition will include seals of the pharaohs, Egyptian statues, ritual vessels and other examples of Egypts cultural influence on Israel.If she put it in her pocket and kept it, we wouldnt know about it, Yoli Schwartz, a spokesperson for the IAA, tells the New York Times Jonathan Wolfe. Were very happy to show it to the public.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

New Orca Calf Is a Descendant of the Budd Inlet Six, the Last Killer Whales Captured in United States Waters in 1976The black and slightly orange Biggs killer whale was spotted swimming with its mother, Sedna, in the Salish Sea The black and peachy-orange orca calf was seen swimming with, Sedna, a descendant of one of the Budd Inlet Six. Tom Filipovic / Eagle Wing Whale & Wildlife Tours / Pacific Whale Watch AssociationOn a Sunday afternoon in March 1976, SeaWorld contractors herded a family of orcas into Budd Inlet at the southern tip of Puget Sound. Using underwater explosives, planes and power boats, they corralled the killer whales into a net, in hopes of taking them into captivity to entertain guests at marine parks.The men had a federal permit that allowed them to capture the whales. But Ralph Munro, then an aide to Washingtons Governor Dan Evans, didnt like what he saw. Munro was out sailing in Budd Inlet as the situation unfolded.It was terrible to watch, to hear the whales scream as they tried to escape, he told the New York Times Wallace Turner in 1987. We were horrified at the cruelty, at the bombs in the water, the nets, the fright of the whales.The scene still haunted him more than three decades later, when he told the Seattle Times Lynda V. Mapes that it just didnt seem right.Like going down the street, and seeing someone kicking a dog, he told the publication in 2018.The orcas, which belonged to the Biggs killer whale population, became known as the Budd Inlet Six. Their capture triggered public outcry and a media frenzy, as well as a successful legal challenge spearheaded by Munro. Eventually, the orcas were releasedSeaWorld agreed to stop capturing orcas in Washington waters, and orca hunts in the United States ceased.Munro, who later served as Washingtons Secretary of State, died March 20 at the age of 81. But his legacy lives on: The same day Munro died, people spotted a newborn calf swimming in the Salish Sea that is a descendant of one of the Budd Inlet Six.The calf, identified as T046B3A, was seen swimming alongside its mother, 14-year-old Sedna (T046B3). Sednas grandmother, Wake (T046), was one of the six orcas captured in March 1976 in Puget Soundwhich means she belongs to a family whose story was nearly cut short almost 50 years ago, according to a statement from the Pacific Whale Watch Association.Wake gave birth to at least eight calves, which led to 16 grand-calves and six great-grand-calves so far, according to the association.Without the direct efforts of Ralph Munro, at least 30 Biggs killer whales would have never been born, according to the statement. Today, Biggs killer whales are thriving in Salish Sea waters.Biggs killer whales live in the North Pacific Ocean. They are genetically and culturally distinct from the regions other orca population, known as the resident killer whales, which swim in tight-knit family pods and primarily feast on salmon. Biggs killer whales, meanwhile, travel in smaller groups and hunt other marine mammals like porpoises, seals and sea lions. The two populations often share the same coastal waters, but they do not interbreed.An estimated 380 Biggs killer whales and more than 300 northern resident killer whales live in the Salish Sea. By contrast, just 73 endangered southern resident killer whales remain in existence. Researchers say the differences in population size are likely due to varying food availability, threats to survival and differenthunting styles. The calf's skin folds and orange coloring suggested it was just a week or two old at the time of the sighting. Tom Filipovic / Eagle Wing Whale & Wildlife Tours / Pacific Whale Watch AssociationThe new Biggs calf was spotted in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca with more than a dozen other orcas. Since the initial sighting, the calf has been glimpsed several other times.It was pretty exciting, there [were] a lot of whales, Tomis Filipovic, a wildlife photographer with Eagle Wing Whale & Wildlife Tours in Canada who spotted the calf, says to CHEK News Liz Brown. Three different matrilines in there, two of which were related and between those groups there are a lot of babies.Based on the calfs fetal folds and distinctive orange coloring, experts suggest the creature was around one to two weeks old at the time of the initial sightings. Baby orcas appear black and orange, rather than white, because they are born with a thinner layer of blubber, which allows their blood vessels to get closer to their skin.When a calf is all scrunched up in moms belly, its all folded, it gets wrinkles in skin, says Erin Gless, executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, to CityNews Vancouvers Cecilia Hua. We can still see this in the first few weeks of life.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Art Meets ScienceCan A.I. Resurrect a Delacroix Mural That Was Destroyed in a Fire More Than 150 Years Ago?A new project called Digital Delacroix is training cutting-edge technology on the French painters style to unravel the lost artworks secrets Delacroix mural at the Palais Bourbon, home to the French National Assembly Sorbonne UniversityIn the final days of theParis Commune of 1871, a radicalexperiment in self-governance and insurrection that started after the nations humiliatingmilitary loss to Prussia, the Communards realized that their cause had gone up in flames.The French Army, initially pushed out of the city by the Communards, returned to Paris with a vengeance. In the mayhem, the Communards set fire to the city, including theTuileries Palace, thePalais de Justice and theHtel de Ville, which served as the city hall of Paris and the seat of the Communard government.Eventually, the army retook Paris, and the stately buildings were reconstructed. But the archives and art within the Htel de Ville were forever lost. Among the most devastating losses were a series of allegorical murals by theRomantic painterEugne Delacroix.At their center was Peace Descends to Earth, a vivid panel that 19th-century French criticThophile Gautier described as the earth weeping, raising her eyes to heaven to plead for an end to her sorrows, per theNew York Times Frank Rose.Napoleon III gave toQueen Victoria in 1855.Now, researchers are hoping to unravel the murals secrets. Virtually recreating Peace Descends to Earth with the help ofartificial intelligence is among the goals ofDigital Delacroix, an ambitious project led by Barthlmy Jobert, an art historian at Sorbonne University in Paris. The Htel de Ville after the fires of 1871 Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsAs Jobert sees it, well-trained A.I. can help infer links between Delacroixs existing studies for the mural and his distinctive style.We wont give you an exact reproduction of the room as it was. Thats impossible, Jobert tells the Times. But we will give you what it could have been.Schmidt Sciences, a philanthropic venture by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy, announced this week that Digital Delacroix was the first recipient of its Humanities and A.I. Virtual Institute (HAVI) grants. The funding is in the high six figures, according to the Times. A sketch forPeace Descends to Earthcreated in 1852 Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsWe study humanities for much the same reason we study science: to gain knowledge of our world and our role within it, Wendy Schmidt says in astatement. She explains that the initiative seeks out projects that marry emerging technologies with deeply intertwined human histories and cultures.Joberts project fits the bill. In addition to the mural reconstruction, Digital Delacroix also promises to digitize some 2,500 of Delacroixs letters and make murals painted at thePalais Bourbon and thePalais du Luxembourghome to the French National Assembly and Senate, respectivelymore accessible to the public.Because letter digitization is a relatively straightforward process, the first order of business is to take high-resolution photos of the murals and, using photogrammetry, build virtual rooms that visitors can tour. A 3D rendering of a Delacroix mural at the Chapel of the Holy Angels at Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris Sorbonne UniversityWith these high-quality photos, Jobert and his team can then begin their secondary goal: determining which sections of the murals were painted by Delacroix himself and which were made by his assistants.This question of multiple authorship is a really tricky one,Brent Seales, a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky and the director of HAVI, tells the Times.Seales recently led the A.I.-assisted effort todecode 2,000-year-old scrolls charred by Mount Vesuvius eruption. Now, he hopes that A.I. will be able to discern faint stylistic differences between Delacroix and other artists.Evidence of authorship is subtle and individualizeda constellation of small things tied to the specific behavior and training of a unique person, Seales tellsArtnets Jo Lawson-Tancred. While individual things might be a weak indicator, like a stroke style or a color selection, the aggregation of a number of these things makes for a unique signature.Technology that can identify different brushstrokes is experimental. Instead of generative A.I. like ChatGPT, which has advanced byleaps and bounds since its launch in 2022, this phase of the Digital Delacroix project relies onanalytical A.I.Progress in that field is slower. Still, We think theres a high possibility it will work, Xavier Fresquet, deputy director of theSorbonne Center for Artificial Intelligence, tells the Times.Eventually, the researchers hope that the A.I. will become a Delacroix expert, able to instantly pick out his brushstrokes from existing works and subsequently determine how the painter might have crafted the murals in the Htel de Ville.A.I. is a new lens through which we can view master works, Seales tells Artnet. Anything that resurrects our appreciation of such a significant artist is a great reminder of the genius of the past and the promise of the future.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Art Meets ScienceArt Exhibition Immortalizes Switzerlands Rhne Glacier, Predicted to Disappear by 2050Ohan Breidings Belly of a Glacier combines experimental film and photography to reflect on a moment of lossand to fight against it Photographs of the Rhne glacier and the attempts to save it Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary ArtIn 2019, researchers installed a memorial for the first Icelandic glacier to disappear due to climate change. The plaque at the base of what was once theOkjkull glacier read: In the next 200 years, all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it.In the past six years, glaciers have not stopped melting. Researchers have predicted that more than half of the worlds glaciers coulddisappear by 2100.Funerals and memorials continue.The latest effort to reflect on these losses is Belly of a Glacier, an experimental film and photography exhibition by Swiss-American artistOhan Breiding, which will be on view at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art through mid-December.The focus of Breidings exhibition is SwitzerlandsRhne glacier, which feeds the Rhne river and Lake Geneva. In recent decades, it has melted with alarming speed: It loses roughly33 feet of ice thickness annually. Scientistspredict that the Swiss Alps will lose half of their glacier volume by 2050.None of us was prepared for what it would feel like to open this show in this exact moment with what were facing in climate disasters across the world,Lisa Dorin, the deputy director at theWilliams College Museum of Art, which presents the exhibition in collaboration with Mass MoCA, tells theArt Newspapers Barbara Reina.In a half-hour film, which theBerkshire Eagles Jennifer Huberdeau calls one part documentary, one part eulogy, Breiding captures residents of Obergoms, a Swiss village, draping the Rhne glacier withthermal blankets to insulate it from the rising temperatures. Thermal blanket draped across the Rhne glacier Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary ArtBreiding intersperses sounds of a glacier losing chunks of ice with close-up footage of a calf emerging from its mothers birth canala play on the word calving.Calving is for the mother calf to give birth to a calf, but in glaciologists terms, its about the death of a glacier, about the breaking off of a big iceberg into a glacial lake, or an ocean, Breiding tells theWilliams Records Tahlia Gerger and Amita Khurana.The film also spotlights researchers at the National Science FoundationsIce Core Facility in Colorado. Drilled from glaciers, ice cores preserve key climatic data over time. Visitors can watch the short film while sitting on ice core boxes. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary ArtI became just so deeply fascinated with ice as one of our oldest record keepers of time, Breiding says to the Berkshire Eagle.Like the ice cores, Belly of a Glacier creates a record of the earths changing climate, freezing the Rhne glacier in time and allowing viewers to enjoy its beauty, even as it melts away in real life.Weve never experienced [these changes] as humans. Weve never experienced a loss of something thats so ancient within our short lifetimes, and so its about what our feelings are doing and the loss thats deeply inside of us, and what were going to do with that loss, Breiding tells the Williams Record. A plaque memorializing a lost glacier Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary ArtA wall of 111 photographs titled To dress a wound from the light that shines in it features images of the Rhne glacier from various perspectives, including shots of the villagers trying to protect it with blankets. These photos are interspersed with close-up shots of parts of the artists body.The stunning photographs and video make the loss feel very personalas it should, given that we are part of the ecosystem being forever transformed by climate change, saysSusan Cross, a curator at the museum, in astatement.Belly of a Glacier is on view at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams through December 14, 2025. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Trending TodayThe Science Behind the MLB Torpedo Bats That Everyones Talking AboutHow Do They Work? And Are They Really Better?Developed by a physicist, these bats have their widest part, called the barrel, closer to the players hands to offer a better chance of hitting the ball on their sweet spot "Torpedo bats," like the one shown here used by New York Yankees player Jazz Chisholm Jr., have a slightly bulbous shape that's similar to a bowling pin. Mike Stobe / Getty ImagesEver since the New York Yankees hit nine home runsa team recordagainst the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, the internet has been abuzz with chatter about the torpedo bats some players used during the staggering 20-9 win.But what are torpedo bats, exactly? And how do they work?To the untrained eye, torpedo bats dont look all that different from standard bats. But to the athletes and coaches who live and breathe professional baseball, they represent a major advancement in the sports equipment.The same bat design has been in existence for a century and a half, maybe, says Alan Nathan, a physicist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to NPRs Bill Chappell. And to come up with something new, to me, is always very exciting.With a torpedo bat, the barrelor the widest part of the batsits closer to the hitters hands. The bat is thinnest at the handle, then widens out at the barrel, then slims down toward the tipsort of like a bowling pin.Torpedo bats are custom-made for each player, with the barrel placed where that specific hitter tends to strike the ballan area known as the sweet spot.This means more woodand, thus, more massat the area of the bat that will be making contact, increasing a players margin for error at that area. The goal is to help hitters connect with the ball on the bats barrelat their specific sweet spotmore frequently. More sweet spot strikes, the thinking goes, translates to more hits and more homers.Shifting the center of mass closer to the hitters hands reduces the bats swing weight, which can make it feel lighter and easier to control. In theory, this design change not only allows players to swing faster, but it also makes them more agilethey should be able to make quick adjustments to their swing once the ball leaves the pitchers hand. Moving the barrel down the bat might also make that area easier to see in the players peripheral vision, allowing them to line up their swing more accurately.Because youre able to swing the bat faster, you have a little longer to watch the ball before you commit, says Lloyd Smith, a mechanical engineer at Washington State University, to Scientific Americans Stephanie Pappas.Even seemingly small adjustments can be helpful when pitchers are throwing balls at close to 100 miles per hour. Torpedo bats probably dont help players hit the ball harder or faster. But the shifted barrel may help them hit more accurately, which should improve their overall batting average.These nontraditional bats were developed by Aaron Lenny Leanhardt while he was working for the Yankees. (Hes now a field coordinator with the Miami Marlins.)Leanhardt is a scientist. Before starting his baseball career in 2017, he earned a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and a doctorate in physics from MIT. After that, he was a physics professor at the University of Michigan for seven years.Leanhardt came up with the idea for torpedo bats after talking with lots of players, who all wanted to make better contact with the ball and hit it with their bats sweet spot, reports the Athletics Brendan Kuty. He spent roughly two years honing his invention.Its just through those conversations where you think to yourself, why dont we exchange how much wood were putting on the tip versus how much were putting in the sweet spot? Leanhardt tells the Athletic.He adds: Its just about making the bat as heavy and as fat as possible in the area where youre trying to do damage on the baseball.Some Major League Baseball (MLB) players began quietly using the bats in 2023 and 2024. But public awareness of them skyrocketed last weekend, after the Yankees monster day against the Brewers. Yankees players hit three home runs in a rowon the first three pitches in the game.Are torpedo bats legal? Officials have confirmed they dont break any MLB rules, which require that a bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.Its too early to tell whether the bats will measurably improve players performance. But, so far, they seem to be boosting the Yankees: The team has hit 17 home runs through their first four games, which is a new MLB record, per Bleacher Reports Scott Polacek. (Though NPR notes that three of the Yankees nine homers were hit by Aaron Judge, who was using a regular bat.)Regardless of the bats true efficacy, they do seem to be giving players a confidence boostand that could be just as important.The game of baseball is so superstitious, Dan Russell, an acoustics scholar at Penn State University, tells NPR. It doesnt matter what the thing is, if you found something that makes you more confident, its going to work.Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe echoed that sentiment. He used a torpedo bat to hit a home run during the teams win over the Brewers on Saturday.Its probably just a placebo, Volpe tells MLB.coms Bryan Hoch. A lot of it is just looking up at your bat and seeing how big the barrel is, but its exciting. I think any 0.01 percent mentally that it gives you confidence, it helps.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Cool FindsArchaeologists Uncover Two Nearly Life-Size Statues Carved Into the Wall of a Tomb in Ancient PompeiiThe figures appear to represent a married couple. Experts think the woman, who is holding laurel leaves, may have been a priestess The figures adorn the wall of a tomb found in a necropolis near one of Pompeiis city gates. Pompeii Archaeological ParkTwo nearly life-size statues have been discovered inside a cemetery in Pompeii, the ancient Roman city destroyed by Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 C.E. Experts think the figures are a funerary relief depicting a couple once buried at the site.The statues adorn the wall of a tomb found in a necropolis near Porta Sarno, one of Pompeiis city gates, according to a statement from Pompeii Archaeological Park. The cemetery is filled with cremation burials. Carved into the tombs wall are several niches that once held funerary urns, as well as a carved relief depicting a woman and man standing side by side.As researchers write in the parks digital magazine, the sculptures were likely carved during Romes Late Republican period (between the second and first century B.C.E.). Tombs of this kind are rare in southern Italy.The researchers theorize that the funerary sculptures represent a married couple, though they say they cant be certain. This could be her husband, but it could also be her son, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the archaeological park, tells theGuardians Angela Giuffrida. There was no inscription, so we dont know. The man and woman may represent a married couple, but researchers say they can't be sure. Pompeii Archaeological ParkThe male figure wears a simple toga, while the woman wears a large cloak over a tunic and many accessories. Her carved jewelry includesamphora-shaped earrings, a wedding ring, bracelets and a necklace with a lunula pendant (a crescent moon). As the researchers write, Roman girls wore lunula amulets until marriage to protect themselves from evil.In her right hand, the female figure holdslaurel leaves, which Roman priestesses and priests once used to purify spaces. In her left hand, she holds a cylindrical container that may represent a scroll.She really looks like a very important woman in the local elite, Zuchtriegel tells the Guardian. There is also this idea that she could have been a priestess of Ceres, holding these plants and what appears to be a papyrus roll.Ceres is the Roman goddess of agriculture, fertility and motherhood. In Roman religion, she was symbolically connected to the moon, as its phases were thought to correspond with harvests, which could explain the female statues lunula pendant, per the journal. The female figure holds laurel leaves, which Roman priestesses and priests used to purify spaces. Pompeii Archaeological ParkSince women in Roman society were commonly relegated to the domestic sphere and to the tasks of the Roman matron, being a priestess was the highest social rank to which a woman could aspire, write the researchers.As leaders of religious cults, priestesses would have overseen rituals in temples and taken part in processions dedicated to Ceres, Sophie Hay, a British archaeologist working at Pompeii, tells theTelegraphs Nick Squires. She was the goddess of agriculture and cereals but she was also associated with fertility and new life. She was widely revered.The funerary reliefs age and quality alone make them rare finds. However, the fact that the female figure may represent a priestess holding religious objects makes the discovery exceptional, as the researchers write. The statue also offers valuable insight into the religious practices of Pompeiis ancient residents, providing new evidence that Ceres has a clear place in the officially sanctioned religion in Pompeii, with a dedicated priestess.Later this month, the funerary reliefs will be displayed in an exhibition at the archaeological park called Being a Woman in Ancient Pompeii. Visitors will be able to observe as experts clean and conserve the sculpted figures.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Enhanced Brain Implant Translates Stroke Survivors Thoughts Into Nearly Instant Speech Using Artificial IntelligenceThe system harnesses technology similar to that of devices like Alexa and Siri, according to the researchers, and improves on a previous model Researchers connect stroke survivor Ann Johnson's brain implant to the experimental computer, which will allow her to speak by thinking words. Noah BergerA brain implant that converts neuron activity into audible words has given a stroke survivor with severe paralysis almost instantaneous speech.Ann Johnson became paralyzed and lost the ability to speak after suffering a stroke in 2005, when she was 30 years old. Eighteen years later, she consented to being surgically fitted with an experimental, thin, brain-reading implant that connects to a computer, officially called a brain-computer interface (BCI). Researchers placed the implant on her motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls physical movement, and it tracked her brain waves as she thought the words she wanted to say.As detailed in a study published Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, researchers used advances in artificial intelligence (A.I.) to improve the devices ability to quickly translate that brain activity into synthetic speechnow, its almost instantaneous.The technology brings the same rapid speech decoding capacity of devices like Alexa and Siri to neuroprostheses, study co-author Gopala Anumanchipalli, a computer scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, says in a statement. Neuroprostheses are devices that can aid or replace lost bodily functions by connecting to the nervous system.Using a similar type of algorithm, we found that we could decode neural data and, for the first time, enable near-synchronous voice streaming, he adds. The result is more naturalistic, fluent speech synthesis.Chang et al. - Supplementary Video 2Watch on Previously, the research team had worked with Johnson to generate speech using an automated voice and digital avatar. That system, which had a delay of about eight seconds to decode her brain patterns, would speak full sentences at once.Older BCIs like that, which generate speech only after processing an entire sentence, are similar to a conversation via text, says Christian Herff, a computational neuroscientist at Maastricht University in the Netherlands who wasnt involved in the study, toNature News Miryam Naddaf. I write a sentence, you write a sentence, and you need some time to write a sentence again, he says. It just doesnt flow like a normal conversation.Now, the enhanced experimental device can continuously identify words from brain activity and translate them into speech within about three seconds, per Nature News.Its not waiting for a sentence to finish, Anumanchipalli says to the Associated Press Laura Ungar. Its processing it on the fly.Chang et al. - Supplementary Video 1Watch on To train the artificial intelligence, researchers asked Johnson to mouth phrases that appeared on a screen from a list of 1,024 words, such as, hey, how are you? The system learned to interpret the resulting brain activity in continuous, 80-millisecond increments, which Anumanchipalli calls a streaming approach, per the AP. It converts her intent to speak into fluent sentences, he adds. The A.I. was also trained on recordings of Johnsons voice before her stroke to make its speech sound more like her.The system performed well when the team tested it with words outside of the training data, demonstrating that it is indeed learning the building blocks of sound or voice, study co-author Kaylo Littlejohn, a researcher at UC Berkeleys Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, says in the statement.Despite clear improvements from previous trialsand a huge jump in efficiency over Johnsons current communication systemthe enhanced BCI was still not quite as natural as regular human speech. It produced between 47 and 90 words per minute, while humans usually speak around 160 words per minute, according to Nature News.This is where we are right now, Edward Chang, a study co-author and neurosurgeon at UC San Francisco, says to the publication. But you can imagine, with more sensors, with more precision and with enhanced signal processing, those things are only going to change and get better.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

The Body Model Used During a Famous Scene in E.T. Is Heading to AuctionCreated by Italian special effects designer Carlo Rambaldi, the three-foot-tall prop can be seen in the film hiding among stuffed animals in 10-year-old Elliotts closet The three-foot-tall model has an aluminum skeleton coveredin latex, foam, straw, acrylic paint and adhesive. Sotheby'sFans of Steven SpielbergsE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial have a chance to own an important prop used in the beloved 1982 science fiction film.Abody model of E.T.the friendly brown alien who befriends a young boy after being left behind on Earthis heading to the auction block. Auction organizers expect it to fetch up to $900,000 during Sothebys There Are Such Things: 20th-Century Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy on Screen sale.The three-foot-tall body model was used during one of the movies most iconic scenes, in which the orphaned extraterrestrial hides among stuffed animals in the closet of 10-year-old Elliott (played byHenry Thomas). With his eyes wide, E.T. sits silently among a pile of toys to avoid being detected by Elliotts mother (played byDee Wallace).The model consists of an aluminum frame covered in latex, foam, straw, acrylic paint and adhesive, all attached to a metal base. Sothebys says the models wear is consistent with its age and production use.It belongs to the estate ofCarlo Rambaldi, the Academy Award-winning Italian special effects artist who worked on E.T., as well as King Kong, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien and many other sci-fi films.Rambaldi died in 2012, but his family held onto the E.T. body model and other items from his storied special effects career. Sothebys is also offering up several of Rambaldissketches of E.T., ananimatronic reproduction he made of the aliens left eye and two sand worms he created for the 1984 film Dune.Carlo Rambaldi Special Effects Artist interview from the 1980'sWatch on We hope that the artifacts being offered will bring immense joy to those who will cherish them in the years to come, just as they have brought great emotions to my family and shaped the magic of my childhood, says Rambaldis daughter, Daniela Rambaldi, in a statement. These iconic pieces hold a special place in our hearts, and it is our sincere wish that they continue to inspire and captivate future generations.While writing the screenplay for E.T., Melissa Mathison intentionally omitted any mention of the lovable aliens physical characteristics, according to Sothebys. That meant it was up to Spielberg and Rambaldi to determine the creatures aesthetic. They drew inspiration from Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway and Carl Sandburg, as well as a painting Rambaldi had made in 1952 titled Women of the Delta. Rambaldi also studied his familys Himalayan cat, Kika.I remember saying to Carlo, heres some pictures of Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway and Carl Sandburg. I love their eyes, Spielberg said in a 1996 documentary, per Popular Sciences Andrew Paul. Can we make E.T.s eyes as frivolous, and also wizened and as sad, as those three icons?Rambaldi and four assistants worked long hours to create multiple body models of E.T. to be used during filming, includinganimatronic versions that could move and talk.Carlo Rambaldi was E.T.s Geppetto, Spielberg said in a statement after Rambaldis death, per the New York Times Daniel E. Slotnik.The film racked up numerous accolades, includingfour Academy Awards in 1983. At one point, it was thehighest-grossing movie ever made. Rambaldi played a big role in the movies success, thanks to his meticulous craftsmanship in bringing the title character to life, says Cassandra Hatton, Sothebys vice chairman of science and natural history, in a statement.This model embodies the artistry of an era before CGI took hold, a nostalgic and iconic piece of Hollywood history as captivating as the stories themselves, she adds.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Four Civilian Astronauts Capture Imagery of Earths Icy Poles on Fram2, the First Crewed Mission to Polar OrbitThe mission, funded and commanded by a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, was launched by SpaceX on Monday and has grabbed headlines for its flight path The Fram2 mission captured this view of polar ice from orbit. SpaceXSpaceX launched a crew of four private astronauts into space on Monday, on the first human mission to orbit on a trajectory that passes above both the Earths poles.The people aboard the companys Crew Dragon capsule include cryptocurrency entrepreneur Chun Wang of Malta, film director Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway, robotics researcher Rabea Rogge of Germany and adventurer Eric Philips of Australia. The trip was financed by Wang, who paid an undisclosed amount of money to SpaceX.Called the Fram2 missionafter the Fram, a Norwegian ship that explored the South Pole in the 20th centurythe rocket took off from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, around 9:47 p.m. Eastern time March 31. Then, it did something out of the ordinaryit flew south. The Fram2 crew are the first humans to be launched on a polar orbit.From left to right: Eric Philips, Rabea Rogge, Jannicke Mikkelsen and Chun Wang. SpaceXNo previous crewed mission has taken this trajectory, which requires large amounts of power, leading to a significant loss of performance for that launch vehicle in terms of how much mass it can put into orbit, said Craig Kluever, an aerospace engineer at the University of Missouri, to Jackie Wattles at CNN last week. Despite these challenges, the rocket lifted off without issue.Usually, launches from Kennedy Space Center fly east or northeast to avoid populated areas of Florida and Cuba. SpaceX said for this mission, it made modifications to the flight software that would allow the capsule to be moved away from those regions in the event of an emergency as it traveled south, writes Scott Neuman for NPR.Upon reaching space, the private astronautsall of whom are on their first space flighthad a bit of adjusting to do. The first few hours in microgravity werent exactly comfortable. Space motion sickness hit all of uswe felt nauseous and ended up vomiting a couple of times, Wang posted on social media.We had a movie night watching our own launch and went to sleep a bit earlier than scheduled. ... By the second morning, I felt completely refreshed.During their three- to five-day trip, the Fram2 crew will conduct 22 science experiments that include taking the first X-ray of the human body in orbit and growing oyster mushrooms. On their first day in space, the team connected with ham radio enthusiasts in Europe and worked on a study about how human cognition adapts to the spaceflight environment within the first few hours of reaching space, per SpaceX.The missions new flight trajectory will unlock new possibilities for human spaceflight and provide a deeper understanding about our planet and its polar regions, according to a statement from Fram2.But scientists point out that most of the experiments on board dont require a polar orbit, according to Qasim Nauman and Isabella Kwai of the New York Times, and the trip, some say, isnt that scientifically remarkable.Its run of the mill as far as I can tell, says Bleddyn Bowen, a researcher of space politics at Durham University in England, to the New York Times.LIVE: SpaceX launch of the Fram2 missionWatch on The polar orbitwhich is a common course for satellites, but unprecedented for humansmight mostly serve to draw attention to the mission, per CNN, and it recognizes the crews interest in polar exploration.This is a private mission. You need something to say thats different and exciting about it, says Christopher Combs, an aerodynamics researcher at the University of Texas at San Antonio, to CNN. Its interesting that nobodys ever actually done a true polar orbit, and its great that weve got commercial providers that are making space travel increasingly routine.He adds that the mission is a notch above gimmick, but not exactly a groundbreaking milestone.The mission will end with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, which no human crew for SpaceX has done before. The companys flights usually land off the coast of Florida, reports Josh Dinner for Space.com, but the company is moving its landings to the West Coast to minimize the odds of its space debris causing any damage.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Two Great Empires Traded for Financial Gain and Achieved a Brilliant Cultural Exchange as WellA new show illuminates the rich artistic wonders that arose out of the 400 years of commerce between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman EmpirePortrait of Doge Cristoforo Moro (ruler of Venice from 1462-1471), attributed to Lazzaro Bastiani; Ottoman-inspired fabric by 20th-century textile designer Mariano Fortuny. Civic Museums Foundation of Venice - Correr Museum (2)For 400 years, the Eastern Mediterranean was the domain of two great powers: the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire. As rivals, they fought seven different wars, but in peacetime they eagerly pursued mutual profit.The Venetians were very pragmatic, and they wanted to do trade, says Trinita Kennedy, co-curator of the traveling exhibition Venice and the Ottoman Empire, which makes its final stop at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville in late May. The Ottomans had all the spices and luxury goods.The show includes some 150 works of art from Venices civic museums, as well as from the recently salvaged wreck of the Venetian merchant ship Gagliana Grossa, which sank en route to Istanbul in 1583, bearing 5,000 panes of glass intended for the sultans palace. The objects tell the story of a richand enrichingrelationship, in which the Ottomans offered the maritime republic not only commercial opportunities but also a cultural exchange that fueled its creativity. As one Venetian ambassador put it, being merchants, we cannot live without them. Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan, Vittore Carpaccio, tempera and oil on panel, 1501-05 Civic Museums Foundation of Venice - Correr MuseumDoge Francesco Morosini Offers Venice the Reconquered Morea, Gregorio Lazzarini, Civic Museums Foundation of Venice - Correr MuseumSubscribe to Smithsonian magazine now for just $19.99This article is a selection from the April/May 2025 issue of Smithsonian magazineGet the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.More about:ArtEuropean HistoryExhibitionsItalyMuseums

Bazej Mikua (left) and Amlie Deblauwe (right), of the Cambridge University Library, 3D scan the manuscript University of CambridgeSome 750 years ago, a medieval scribe copied stories of a knight and a wizard into a manuscript. The knight was Sir Gawain and the wizard was Merlin, two mythical characters of Arthurian legendthe tales of Britains legendary King Arthur and his Round Table. In the 16th century, the manuscripts binding was repurposed to hold a Tudor-period register, and for centuries, the Arthurian story was lost.Eventually, the register ended up in the collections of the Cambridge University Library, and in 2019, researchers discovered an unreadable handwritten fragment hidden inside its binding, which triggered a yearslong restoration project.Now, after deciphering the text with high-tech imaging, Cambridge researchers have concluded its a part of the Suite Vulgate du Merlin, a French sequel to the legend of King Arthur. This medieval bestseller was distributed via handwritten manuscripts in the 13th century, and today, less than 40 copies survive, per a statement by the University of Cambridge. The medieval fragment was discovered in this box of court rolls. University of CambridgeThe Suite Vulgate du Merlin tells us about Arthur's early reign, his relationship with the knights of the Round Table and his heroic fight with the Saxons, Irne Fabry-Tehranchi, the librarys French specialist, tells the BBCs Donna Ferguson. It really shows Arthur in a positive light. He's this young hero who marries Guinevere, invents the Round Table and has a good relationship with Merlin, his advisor.When the manuscripts cover was repurposedto hold the 16th-century property record of a wealthy familys Suffolk mansionthe Arthurian pages were folded, torn and even stitched into the binding of the book, making it nearly impossible to read without damaging, per the statement. So, library researchers enlisted the University Librarys Cultural Heritage Imaging Laboratory to virtually unfold and digitize it. They employed multispectral imaginga technology that photographs multiple layers deepand computed tomography scanning, which created a 3D model.This project was a fabulous opportunity to employ all possible advanced imaging techniques from our photographic arsenal, says Maciej Pawlikowsk, head of the Cultural Heritage Imaging Laboratory, in the statement. This resulted in the creation of a set of unique digital objects which placed the original fragment in a whole new context and has transformed our understanding of it.Every existing copy of the Suite Vulgate is different, writes the New York Times Alan Yuhas. The newly discovered, carefully executed example, containing decorative red and blue letters, was likely made between 1275 and 1315, per the statement. The outer right cover shows wear and tear. University of CambridgeEach manuscript copy of a medieval text, handwritten by a scribe, is going to be changed little by little, Fabry-Tehranchi tells the Times. As the copies come along, each scribe imposes his own taste.This textwritten in Old Frenchcontains two stories from the Lancelot-Grail cycle. As the Times reports, the first stars Arthurs nephew, Sir Gawain, a knight who faces off with Germanic Saxons invading from mainland Europe and disloyal English nobilityincluding his father. Gawain wields the sword Excalibur and, drawing strength from the sun, defeats his father alongside King Arthur.The second tale takes place at a feast hosted by King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. A blind harpist interrupts the meal, escorted in by a white dog, and charms Arthur with music. The harpist then asks to hoist the kings flag, or standard, in battle, which is essentially a death wish. But the musician is actually the disguised wizard Merlin, who transforms the standard into this magical dragon who blows fire on the battlefield, Fabry-Tehranchi tells the Times. A multispectral image reveals the stamp "Huntingfield," which may have been added in the 16th century. University of CambridgeThis story was still popular centuries after the manuscript was made, but by the 1500s, British readers were mainly consuming Arthurian legend in English, not French, Fabry-Tehranchi tells the BBC. Since this text had lost its appeal, its owners, the Vanneck family of Suffolk, reused its binding.The Elizabethan bookbinders saw it as a piece of rubbish, chief photographic technician Baej Wadysaw Mikua tells the BBC. It could never have crossed their minds what we would do to it. An illustration of Merlin as a harpist at King Arthur's court Suite Vulgate du Merlin, BnF, fr. 749 f. 319 (circa 1285)This isnt the first Merlin-centered story to be recovered after centuries-old misuse. As SmithsonianLady of the Lake pasted into several different volumes.As Fabry-Tehranchi says in the statement, the recent imaging process was done in situ, which helps researchers prevent damage and learn about the archival practices of the era in which the book was rebound.This project was not just about unlocking one textit was about developing a methodology that can be used for other manuscripts, Fabry-Tehranchi says in the statement. Libraries and archives around the world face similar challenges with fragile fragments embedded in bindings, and our approach provides a model for non-invasive access and study.Virtual opening of CUL's Vanneck Merlin fragmentWatch on Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Books, British History, Computers, Cool Finds, England, France, Kings, Literature, Photography, Technology

African penguins in captivity are living longer than their wild counterparts, prompting caretakers to reconsider their habitat as they age. New England AquariumLike humans, African penguins tend to slow down as they age. They might suffer from arthritis and other age-related conditions, and theyll spend more of their time resting.Now, the geriatric birds at the New England Aquarium can live out their golden years in peace and comfort on a new, secluded island created specifically for their unique needs.The nonprofit aquarium in Boston unveiled its new penguin retirement retreat in mid-March. So far, eight of the aquariums dapper black-and-white seabirds are settling into the new habitat.We think of this island like assisted living, where were helping the birds be more comfortable in a calmer environment, says Diana Major, penguin manager for the New England Aquarium, in a statement. Being relaxed is key, and we think the new retirement home will ultimately lead to happier and healthier penguins.In the wild, African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) typically live to be between 10 and 15 years oldif they make it that far. The seabirds are critically endangered, grappling with issues like pollution and climate change in the coastal waters of South Africa and Namibia.Predatory gulls and ibises eat up to 40 percent of the birds eggs, and they continue to prey on chicks after they hatch. Adults are also hunted by caracals, leopards, mongooses, fur seals and sharks. As the penguins age, they do a lot more resting. New England AquariumOverfishing presents another problem. As humans harvest more fish, there is less fish for them to eat, which means theyre having to swim farther and farther out to find food, says Jen Kottyan, bird curator at the Maryland Zoo, which has an African penguin program, to the Daily Free Press Lauren Albano. They have less food to feed their young, because theyre burning off all those calories that they need swimming back and forth.Scientists say the birds could become extinct in the wild by 2035. But the New England Aquarium and other zoos are trying to help restore the wild population under efforts coordinated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.In captivity, African penguins dont have to deal with the same challenges as their wild peers, and they benefit from around-the-clock care from a dedicated team of keepers and veterinarians. The New England Aquarium offers them amenities, including physical therapy, eye drops, foot ointment, acupuncture and special fish that have been injected with extra water to promote kidney functioning. The birds are also regularly screened for conditions like arthritis and cataracts. The senior birds can still see and hear their younger peers, they just get to enjoy a calmer, more peaceful environment. New England AquariumAs a result, several of the African penguins at the New England Aquarium are now in their 30s, and more than half of the colony has met or surpassed the wild birds life expectancy.In the wild, they would never reach this age, says Major in another statement. A lot of the time, we see physical issues that we normally wouldnt see in the wild, because in the wild, if you slow down, you get eaten by a shark.Caretakers decided to create a separate area for them to relax and co-exist in peace, without having to compete with younger birds for food or deal with as much territorial behavior. The smaller number of residents means caretakers can keep a closer eye on the aging penguins via in-person monitoring and a video feed. Moving forward, caretakers also hope to add additional accessibility features, like sloping ramps and more flat areas with mats. The geriatric island is separated from the other three African penguin islands by a mesh gate in the water. New England AquariumThe geriatric birds can still see and hear their younger counterpartsthe retirement island is cordoned off from the aquariums three other islands by a mesh gate in the water. But they have a space to spread out and call their own.They all get a good opportunity to eat and take their time and not feel rushed, not get pushed off the island by another animal thats anxious to eat, says Kristen McMahon, the aquariums curator of pinnipeds and penguins, to the New York Times Amanda Holpuch. The birds are definitely quieter, theres less territoriality Theres a little bit more laying down and resting.The residents of what McMahon describes as a country club for older animals include 32-year-old Harlequin and 31-year-old Durban, a mated pair of penguins who have been together since 2000 and raised eight chicks. Then theres Lambert, a 32-year-old male, with a 14-year-old mate named Dyer. Boulders, 34, and Isis, 29, are two females without mates.After the initial six birds got settled in, the aquarium added its oldest African penguin, 35-year-old Good Hope, and his 23-year-old mate, St. Croix, to the mix, per Axios Mike Deehan and Steph Solis.Each bird has its own distinct personality. Some, for example, really like to have their neck scratched or their back scratched, says Melissa Joblon, the aquariums director of animal health, to Nil Kksal of CBC Radios As It Happens.Its very cute, she adds. They are quite intelligent and theyre very personable.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Aging, Animals, Biology, Birds, Penguins, Sea Birds, Wildlife, Zoology

Researchers found grave goods while excavating theLiternum necropolis. Naples Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and LandscapeOver 2,200 years ago, the Republic of Rome founded a colony called Liternum on Italys west coast, just north of present-day Naples. Once home to Cornelius Scipio Africanus, a famed Roman general who defeated Hannibal, the former port city is now an archaeological park, and its ruins include a forum, temple, amphitheater and various burials, including those of Scipio Africanus andas researchers recently discoveredat least one gladiator.According to a translated statement by Naples Superintendent of Archaeology, Fine arts and Landscape, an excavation led by archaeologist Simona Formola recently unearthed two embellished tombs in Liternums necropolis, as well as many smaller burials.The two decorated funerary enclosures were once covered in white plaster and painted red. Theyre separated by a very deep stone well, which may have served a ritualistic purpose, per the statement. One of the enclosures contains a square mausoleum measuring almost 100 square feet. The structure is made of opus reticulatumbricks laid in a diamond patternand contains a volcanic rock called tuff: details suggesting high status individuals were buried here, as Artnet News Richard Whiddington reports. Inside the mausoleum, niches were cut into the plaster, likely to hold funerary urns spanning generations. An aerial view of the excavated cemetery Naples Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape One decorated tomb was plastered and painted red. Naples Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and LandscapeSurrounding the enclosures in the Liternum necropolis are some 20 other burials, including cappuccina tombssimple burials reserved for lower-class ancient Romans. Cappuccina tombs were typically made of clay roof tiles, arranged to form a peaked enclosure over the deceased. The necropolis also contains enchytrismos burials, in which a body is buried inside a large ceramic jug, and some well-crafted, rectangular tombs made of bricks.One of the Liternum necropolis graves is marked by a slab of engraved marble: It indicates the deceased was a gladiator, one of the many slaves or criminals forced to fight and die for the entertainment of ancient Romans in amphitheaters like the Colosseum. A few gladiators rose to prominencelike Spartacus, who led a slave rebellion against the republicbut most of these men were simply expendable pieces of entertainment for Rome. As the local official writes on Facebook, the recently discovered epitaph is a rare and touching testimony to the memory of these fighters in Roman society.Based on the burial structures and artifacts found in the Liternum graveslike coins, lamps and small vasesresearchers believe the cemetery was used between the latter first century B.C.E. and the third century C.E. This era aligns with the onset of Romes Imperial period, which began with the rise of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, around 27 B.C.E. Within the next few centuries, the Roman Empire reached peak power and expansiveness. Researchers found cappuccina tombs, simple burials made of clay roof tiles. Naples Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape The cemetery contained upper-class mausoleums and lower-class individual burials. Naples Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and LandscapeAnother significant discovery in the Liternum graveyard came last year, when Formolas team opened its Tomb of Cerberus and discovered frescoes depicting not only the eponymous Hound of Hades, but also marine centaurs. The necropolis has illuminated ancient Roman funerary practices, according to the superintendent.Mariano Nuzzo in the statement. This necropolis, thanks to its excellently preserved wall structures and tombs, adds an important piece to our knowledge regarding the history of the colony of Liternum. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Ancient Rome, Archaeology, Artifacts, Cool Finds, Death, History, Italy, Roman Empire, Warfare

Peter Pentz, a curator at the National Museum of Denmark, sees many similarites between the stamp and the Sutton Hoo helmet. John Fhr Engedal Nissen / The National Museum of DenmarkTwo years ago, Jan Hjort was using a metal detector to scan a field on the Danish island of Tsinge when he discovered a small piece of metal covered in engravings. At first, Hjort didnt think much of his find. But when he took a closer look, he realized hed likely stumbled upon something remarkable.Now, researchers say Hjorts find has the potential to rewrite the history of one of Britains most famous artifacts. The images on the small metal stamp are similar to those found on the Sutton Hoo helmet, which was unearthed from an Anglo-Saxon ship burial site in Britain in 1939.Archaeologists have long theorized the helmet originated in Sweden. But Hjorts discovery suggests it may have come from Denmark instead. Discovered in pieces, the Sutton Hoo helmet has been carefully pieced back together. It's now on display at the British Museum. The Trustees of the British MuseumThe helmet was among more than 260 items discovered at an estate in Suffolk, England, in the late 1930s. Self-taught archaeologist Basil Brown and landowner Edith Pretty unearthed elaborately decorated weapons, armor, military equipment, gold coins, horse bridles and an 88-foot-long burial ship that once held human remains. The treasures date to the sixth or seventh century C.E.Scholars believe Sutton Hoo may have been the final resting place of Raedwald, a king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia who died around 624 C.E. The site drew comparisons to Egypts Valley of the Kings, and the hoard became known as Britains Tutankhamun.The helmet was found in pieces, which researchers painstakingly pieced back together. The restored helmetwhich is made of iron and tinned copper alloyis now on display at the British Museum and often appears on guidebooks and posters, per the London Times Kaya Burgess.Functional and beautiful, the helmet is covered in intricate imagery, including bears, warriors on horseback and a dragon. Because of similarities to motifs found on helmets in eastern Sweden, archaeologists long assumed the Sutton Hoo helmet originated there, too. They suspected it might have been an heirloom or a diplomatic gift to Raedwald.But the newly discovered metal stamp, which is known as a patrice, suggests the helmet could have come from Denmark, according to a translatedstatementfrom the National Museum of Denmark. Researchers discovered many similarities between the two artifacts, including the shape of the horses harness, the cuff on the warriors wrist and the warriors hair. The horses also appear to be almost identical. The small metal stamp was discovered on the Danish island of Tsinge. Mads Lou Bendtsen / The National Museum of DenmarkThe stylistic similarities are so significant, says Peter Pentz, a curator at the National Museum of Denmark, to BBC News Adrienne Murray and James Brooks. This is the closest link we've ever seen.The motifs are so similar that Pentz believes they were not only made in the same place, but were also made by the same craftsmen, according to the statement.If the Suttoo Hoo helmet did come from Denmark, that revelation could significantly alter our understanding of the power dynamics in Northern Europe during the 7th century, Pentz tells Arkeonews. It suggests Denmark played a more influential role in Northern Europe than historians previously thought. Denmark may even have been one of the regions leading central powers, with England and Sweden as peripheral outposts.But not everyone is convinced the stamp proves a link between the Sutton Hoo helmet and Denmark, per BBC News. Its possible the stamp originated somewhere else and then was transported to Denmark, for example. And similar motifs have also been found in Germany, which suggests they may not be unique to Denmark.Researchers hope to perform 3D scans of the helmet and the stamp so they can make a more detailed comparison. In the meantime, the metal stamp will be displayed at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen starting in April.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Archaeology, Denmark, England, European History, History, Sweden

A depas goblet excavated from the ruins of Troy by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s University of TbingenIn the first book of the Iliad, the god Hephaestus passes a double goblet around at a banquet on Mount Olympus. He poured the drink, going from right to left, for all the other gods, drawing off sweet nectar from the mixing bowl, the epic poem states.For those who enjoy libations from goblets or glasses, the rowdy evening that ensues should sound familiar. Their laughter broke out irrepressibly, Homer writes. No ones heart went unsatisfied.The Iliadis, of course, a work of mythology. But that doesnt mean all the practices, people and places depicted in the poem are fully fictive.The drinking vessel that Hephaestus passes around, for instance, is often identified as the depas amphikypellon, or depas goblet, a well-known relic among archaeologists that features a slender neck and two large handles. Schliemann's haul from Troy, on view at the Neues Museum in Berlin Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsBut whether the ancient residents of Troy truly sipped wine out of these goblets has long been consigned to the realm of speculation.Now, for the first time, researchers have identified chemical residues associated with wine in goblets unearthed at Hisarlik, the Turkish name for a site believed to be the ancient city immortalized in Homers epic, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Archaeology. Heinrich Schliemann, a German businessman and amateur archaeologist with a penchant for embellishment, discovered and haphazardly excavated the site in the 1870s, wrote Smithsonian magazines Meilan Solly in 2022.Schliemann already conjectured that the depas goblet was passed around at celebrationsjust as described in the Iliad, says Stephan Blum, an archaeologist at Germanys University of Tbingen and a co-author of the study, in a statement. But, characteristic of Schliemanns assertions, there was little hard evidence to back up his sweeping claims.Archaeologists at Troy have unearthed more than 100 depas goblets dated to between 2500 and 2000 B.C.E. They tend to measure between 5 and 15 inches tall and can contain up to a liter of liquid, according to the statement. A depas goblet in situ at Troy University of TbingenFor the study, the researchers drilled two-gram samples out of the inner walls of two vessel fragments excavated by Schliemann. Then, they heated the samples to more than 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to isolate compounds in the mixture, the researchers identified the presence of succinic and pyruvic acids. Both are associated with alcoholic fermentation.The evidence of succinic and pyruvic acids was conclusive: They only occur when grape juice ferments, says Maxime Rageot, a biomolecular archaeologist at Germanys University of Bonn, in the statement. So now we can state with confidence that wine was actually drunk from the depas goblets and not just grape juice.As Popular Sciences Andrew Paul points out, however, these goblets werent everyday items.Schliemann discovered his astonishing cache of goblets among a cache of hundreds of objects made of gold, silver, copper and electrum, a mixture of precious metals, wrote Joshua Hammer for Smithsonian in 2022. He called the hoard Priams Treasure after the mythical Trojan king Priam. Although the treasure was later dated to about 1,000 years before the Trojan War took place in the 12th or 13th century B.C.E., it offered evidence of the stratification of social classes in Troy, raising questions about who had access to wine in ancient times.Did ancient Troy really exist? - Einav Zamir DembinWatch on To determine if wine was only the drink of Troys elitesand its godsthe researchers conducted similar chemical tests with ordinary cups that were found in the outer settlement of Troy and therefore outside the citadel, Blum explains in the statement.Common vessels, the team discovered, contained the same chemical signatures of wine. It is clear that wine was an everyday drink for the common people, too, Blum adds.These results upend longstanding assumptions that wine was an elite beverage during the third millennium B.C.E. Like grapes on the vine, further research into the practices of wine drinking at other sites across the ancient world promises to be fruitful.Schliemann was right: The depas amphikypellon was certainly used for wine consumption, writes Blum for the Conversation. Whether this was tied to religious practices, rituals and public banqueting, or simply drinking wine as part of everyday life remains uncertain.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Alcohol, Ancient Civilizations, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Archaeology, Chemistry, Cool Finds, Legend, Myth, Turkey, Wine

This Eight-Pound Miniature Dachshund Survived 16 Months on a Rugged Australian Island. But Shes Still Evading RescuersValerie the wiener dog is still on the loose, more than a year after she escaped during her parents vacation on Kangaroo Island Valerie was just a year old when she went missing on Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. Kangala Wildlife Rescue via FacebookA tiny, eight-pound dog has defied the odds by surviving in the wild on a rugged Australian island for more than a year. But even as rescuers have tried to bring her to safety, so far, the scrappy pooch has eluded capture.Volunteers and wildlife experts are trying to lure in a miniature dachshund named Valerie on Kangaroo Island, a 1,700-square-mile outpost off the coast of South Australia.Valerie has been on the run for the last 16 months. In November 2023, the then-1-year-old wiener dog came to the island on a camping vacation with her human parents, Georgia Gardner and Josh Fishlock. On the second day of their trip, the couple decided to go fishing at a nearby beach, so they placed Valerie in a playpen with food and toys.But while her owners were away, Valerie broke out of the pen and hid under a parked car. Vacationers who were camping nearby tried to capture the dog, but she got spooked and darted off into the wilderness.The couple spent the rest of their vacation searching for Valerie, with help from some of the islands 5,000 residents. Eventually, though, they had to return to their jobs in Broken Hill, New South Wales, without their beloved pup.Gardner and Fishlock were heartbroken. They assumed Valerie would not survive in the bushland, which is home to several potentially fatal hazardsincluding at least two venomous snake species and wedge-tailed eagles that are known to hunt wallabies, possums and lambs.Even if she did dodge the islands many threats, Valerie was not accustomed to a life of hardship. She slept in bed with her parents each night, wore sweaters when the weather turned cold and got upset if she was left outside for too long. Valerie, who had been a college graduation gift from Gardners family, also loved accompanying her parents to cafes and shops.She was an absolute princess, Gardner tells the Washington Posts Victoria Craw, adding that Valerie was anxiously attached to her parents.She was not a very outside, rough-and-tough dog, Gardner says to the Guardians Daisy Dumas. To think that she even went one night outside in the rain, oh my gosh.But roughly a year after Valerie went missing, reports started coming in of a small dachshund on Kangaroo Island, wearing a pink collar. The sightings occurred roughly nine miles from Stokes Bay, the area where Valerie had escaped.Now, volunteers with Kangala Wildlife Rescue, a local nonprofit, are doing everything in their power to capture Valerie and reunite her with her parents. Theyre using several trapping and luring methodsincluding aromatic foods like roast chicken and tunato try to catch the dog. Theyre also using video surveillance to keep tabs on her movements.We now know that Valerie is alive, the rescue organization wrote on social media on March 21. She runs at the first sign of humans or vehicles, and despite the best efforts of dedicated island locals, Valerie has been impossible to catch.The island is roughly 75 times the size of Manhattan, so rescuers are hoping they can catch a break in their quest to corral Valerie.This is a tiny dog in a huge area, and we will need help from the public to report any sightings and a lot of luck, according to the social media post.How has a small, domesticated dog managed to survive for so long in the wild? Rescuers believe Valerie is likely subsisting on roadkill and dam water.Its also possible shes receiving help from the islands residents. But, more than likely, shes been making it on her own, because if someone had seen her, they probably would have noticed her collar and reported her.Plus, dogs are extremely resourceful, says Paul McGreevy, a veterinarian at the University of Sydney, to the Guardian. They are the greatest opportunists in the animal kingdom: Thats one of their core skills.Dachshunds, in particular, were bred to be tireless hounds and independent hunter[s] of dangerous prey, according to the American Kennel Club (AKC). These short-legged dogs are known for their bold, vivacious personality, and they can be brave to the point of rashness, per the AKC.Debbie Farnden, a 50-year-old nurse who volunteered to search for Valerie on Kangaroo Island, is not at all surprised the sausage dog has lived this long. Farnden has two dachshunds of her own, so she knows firsthand how quick and agile these dogs can be.Theyre sneaky little buggers and smart enough to stay away from snakes, Farnden tells the London Times James Salmon. They are fast and cunning and will play the waiting game.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Australia, Dogs, Mammals, Pets, Wildlife

Glenn Hodak, a corporal in the U.S. Army Air Forces, has been accounted for nearly 80 years after he died in a fire at the Tokyo Military Prison in 1945. Defense POW/MIA Accounting AgencyAn American soldier who was killed during World War II has been accounted for nearly 80 years after his death.Last week, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that it had identified the remains of Glenn H. Hodak, a 23-year-old corporal in the United States Army Air Forces from Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. Hodak was accounted for on September 25, 2024.During World War II, Hodak was a gunner with the 93rd Bombardment Squadrons 19th Bombardment Group. He was on a bombing mission to Tokyo when his B-29 Superfortress plane was shot down in March 1945.At first, Hodak was reported as missing in action. But investigators later realized that Japanese forces had captured Hodak as a prisoner of war. He was taken to Tokyo Military Prison, where he was killed in a fire on May 26, 1945.The blaze was the result of heavy U.S. aircraft bombing of the Japanese capital, reported Military.coms Richard Sisk in 2024. On the evening of May 23, 1945, more than 500 American B-29 Superfortress bombers took off from the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. When they reached Tokyo, they firebombed the city with highly flammable explosives under a strategic shift that was intended to force a Japanese surrender.The May 1945 bombing came on the heels of another intense U.S. firebombing campaign known as Operation Meetinghouse. Two months earlier, Operation Meetinghouse had killed an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people in Tokyo, many of them civilians.After the war, members of the American Graves Registration Service searched for the remains of American soldiers throughout the Pacific region. In early 1946, they visited the Tokyo Military Prison, where the Japanese government indicated they would find the remains of 62 U.S. service members. In the end, they recovered 65 sets of remains and were able to identify 25 of them, including one set that belonged to a repatriated Japanese unknown.The services staff could not identify the remaining 39 bodies, so they buried the servicemen as unknowns in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.Decades passed without any answers for surviving relatives of the unidentified service members. Meanwhile, the American Battle Monuments Commission meticulously cared for the unknown service members graves at the cemetery, according to the agency statement.In March and April 2022, the remains were disinterred and sent to the agencys laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. In 2024, the agency launched its Tokyo Prison Fire Project, with a goal of identifying the American service members who perished in the 1945 blaze.The project faces considerable forensic challenges due to the condition of the remains, which were burned, damaged and commingled, the agency wrote in a social media post. Within one casket, for example, the agency found at least four sets of DNA.Eventually, forensic anthropologists Aelwen Wetherby and Kristen Grow were able to use dental and anthropological techniques, as well as circumstantial evidence, to identify Hodaks remains. They also used mitochondrial DNA, drawing on a sample provided by Hodaks great-nephew Benjamin Hodak.The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has had recent success accounting for Americans from the Tokyo Prison Fire, the agency says in a statement shared with CBS News Kerry Breen. We have accounted for two service members thus far for this project.Now that his family has been notified, Hodak will be laid to rest in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania, in May. He will be buried next to his mother and two of his brothers, reports Erie News Nows Mike Ruzzi.I was happy that a match was able to be made, Benjamin tells WENYs Jackie Palmer. It's amazing that they were able to find his remains, that we matched, and now they are bringing him home. I just want him back home; the whole family wants him home.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: American History, Bones, DNA, Fire, Genetics, History, Japan, Military, Prisons, Teeth, US Government, US Military, Warfare, World War II

During her clandestine efforts for the Italian Resistance, Anita Malavasi used these forged papers to travel under the identity of Marta de Robertis. European Resistance ArchiveAnita Malavasis first delivery was salt. In the fall of 1943, she brought a packet of it into the mountains outside the city of Reggio Emilia, in northern Italy, to supply a growing group of soldiers lacking food staples. These fighters were the anti-fascist Resistancemen whod deserted the armies of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and were preparing to fight for freedom.Though Mussolini had been voted out of power that July, Italy was still firmly under German control, and Nazis were killing or deporting any dissident they came upon. Once 22-year-old Malavasi was comfortable sneaking salt past German checkpoints on her bicycle, she started ferrying illicit publications to the mountains, as well as clothes and food. She wore low-cut, fitted dresses and flirted to disarm Axis officers. She smuggled guns by strapping them to her body, beneath her clothes. One day, she biked through a checkpoint with two heavy bags hanging from her handlebarseach containing concealed bombs.Malavasis earlier involvement in the Italian Resistancehelping Axis soldiers desert their postshad been motivated only by humanitarian principles, she said: As a woman, you saved another womans son. But as a clandestine courier, Malavasi came to see her efforts as something conscious, part of a loftier goalan Italy free of fascism. Anita Malavasi in the downtown of Reggio Emilia, right after the Nazis began their occupation of the city in the autumn of 1943. European Resistance ArchiveMalavasi, whose story is little known outside Reggio Emilia, is one of four brave heroines featured in historian Suzanne Copes new book, Women of War: The Italian Assassins, Spies and Couriers Who Fought the Nazis. Cope zooms in on the lives of Malavasi and three other Italian women who contributed significantly to Italys resistance against fascism. Theres Bianca Guidetti Serra, who dodged bullets while delivering newspapers to anti-fascists in the Alps. Carla Capponi, who bombed German vehicles outside Romes opera house and got away with shooting a German colonel on a busy street. And Teresa Mattei, who delivered secret messages for the Resistance and later wrote Italys Constitution.While these women were essential to the Italian Resistance, they also found new frontiers of personal freedom, as their responsibilities exposed them to possibilities of gender equality theyd never known. As Malavasi said after the war, I didnt want to listen to my brothers or father telling me what to do. The Italian people had thrown off fascism, and she had broken free of convention: I did not intend to rebuild it. Women of War: The Italian Assassins, Spies, and Couriers Who Fought the Nazis The gripping, true, and untold history of the Italian anti-fascist resistance during World War II, told through the stories of four spectacularly courageous women fightersSubscribe to Smithsonian magazine now for just $19.99This article is a selection from the April/May 2025 issue of Smithsonian magazineGet the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.A Note to our Readers Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. If you purchase an item through these links, we receive a commission.Filed Under: Books, Fascism, Italy, Movement Leaders, Nazis, Protest, World War II

The excavations that uncovered the British fortifications took place at the site of a proposed single-family home in St. Augustine, Florida. City of St. Augustine Archaeology ProgramWhen a house is slated to be built in the historic districts of St. Augustine, Florida, the city requires that archaeologists conduct a surveyand, if need be, an excavationof the site prior to construction.The aim of this rule, unusual in a state undergoing a population and development boom, is to salvage and document whatever remnants of the past might lie beneath the topsoil of the city that bills itself as the nations oldest.Last month, city archaeologists were called in to examine the proposed site of a single-family home in Lincolnville, a neighborhood that was once home to a Native American village, an orange grove plantation and a prominent historically Black community.As part of initial testing, the archaeologists dug 1-foot-by-1-foot holes across the vacant lot. Immediately, the site showed signs of intrigue.The soil just looked odd, recalls city archaeologist Andrea White on the Break Room, a podcast run by the city. It was mottled kind of like rye bread. It had different colors mixed in all together. So that tells us someone has dug this soil up before.Using ground-penetrating radar from the Florida Public Archaeology Network and a backhoe from the citys Department of Public Works, the researchers stripped back the soil from the site and discovered a long, 15-foot-wide ditch that extended across the property line.What they had unearthed was the first archaeological evidence of British fortifications built during the 20-year interlude when Britain controlled Florida in the mid-18th century.Britain took over St. Augustine in 1763, after the Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years War and two centuries of Spanish rule over Florida. Founded by Spanish conquistadors under Pedro Menndez de Avils in 1565, St. Augustine served as the capital of British East Florida until the Spanish regained control of the peninsula after the American Revolution in 1783. Archaeologists excavate the site in St. Augustine's historic Lincolnville neighborhood. City of St. Augustine Archaeology ProgramDuring that 20-year period, the British inherited Spanish forts and added a network of seven redoubtslong, earthen moundsto beef up defenses.Thats whats interesting about these British redoubts, theyre the only defenses that the British built themselves, White tells the Associated Press David Fischer.This specific redoubt was built in 1781 as part of a secondary ring of defenses to protect the city from attacks from the west and the San Sebastian River, White says on the Break Room.Speaking with First Coast News Jessica Clark, White compares the redoubt to a gun platform or someplace [that] people could have used to shoot at their enemy.Unlike a garrison station or a full-fledged fort, the redoubt didnt house soldiers, so there was no refuse to discover, White tells the St. Augustine Records Lucia Viti. At best, maybe one or two soldiers were stationed at that location. Aerial view of the redoubt, marked by a darker color soil City of St. Augustine Archaeology ProgramFor this reason, artifacts discovered at the site have been sparse. But seeds found at the bottom of the ditch, including tobacco, okra and muscadine, could be evidence of historical agriculture or plants grown to reinforce the earthworks with their roots, according to the Break Room.When the British left St. Augustine two years after the redoubt was built, its likely that they razed the earthworks into ditches or let the once-grandiose defenses naturally deteriorate, White tells the Record.Despite the crucial role that the redoubts played in St. Augustines history, archaeologists have long struggled to pinpoint the exact location of the defenses.Part of the confusion arose from discrepancies between historical maps of British St. Augustine. Although several maps depict the redoubts, they all have slightly different sizes and dimensions, White tells the Break Room.Comparing historical maps bearing little resemblance to modern-day St. Augustine with very small house lots where archaeologists are allowed to dig is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, the citys archaeology program explains in a Facebook post. A general location plus or minus one [or] two city blocks leaves an awful lot of ground to cover.This time, the archaeologists got lucky. They hope that this first redoubt site can serve as an anchor to reference against the historical maps and locate the other six locations of the British defense network.Its a testament that even though weve been doing archaeology for over 30 years in St. Augustine, theres still more to find, Katherine Sims, an archaeologist for the city, tells First Coast News. You never really know until you put a shovel in the ground.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

The Myanmar Fire Services Department conducts emergency search and rescue operations after the March 28 earthquake. Myanmar Fire Services Department's Facebook Account / handout / Anadolu via Getty ImagesA devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake, followed by powerful aftershocks, struck war-torn Myanmar on Fridaymarking one of the countrys strongest quakes in more than a century. Its epicenter was near Myanmars second largest city of Mandalay and the neighboring Sagaing in the central part of the country. Residents felt the shaking severely even in Thailands capital city, Bangkok, located hundreds of miles away.According to Myanmars military leaders, more than 2,000 deaths, 3,900 injured and 270 missing people were confirmed by Monday, as reported by the Associated Press David Rising. The United States Geological Survey (USGS), however, estimates the deaths could ultimately surpass 10,000. In Bangkok, the earthquake caused a skyscraper under construction to collapse, with 17 reported dead and 76 missing, per the United Nations (U.N.).The earthquake struck around 12:50 p.m. local time and occurred as the result of strike slip faulting between the India and Eurasia plates, the USGS tectonic summary reads. This type of earthquake results from a sideways motion along a fault line. What made this one especially deadly was its strength, location near populated areas and shallow depth of just about six miles, writes Science News Carolyn Gramling. Merely ten minutes later, the region was struck by a magnitude 6.4 aftershock.The shaking damaged public infrastructure, including buildings and roads, and it destroyed the bridge that connects Mandalay to Sagaing, said Marie Manrique, program coordinator for the International Federation of the Red Cross, to reporters, per Reuters Olivia Le Poidevin. Additionally, Manrique expressed concerns for large-scale dams.A situation report by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also outlines severe damage at hotels, universities, historical and religious sites, electricity and water infrastructure, communication towers and the Mandalay International Airport.I couldnt process what was happening. I just ran. I barely escaped. The moment I stepped outside, bricks started falling from the ceiling. We all ran to the open field near our house, recounts a 16-year-old student who was in Mandalay during the earthquake, in a Save the Children statement. This was the first earthquake I had ever experienced. It was terrifying.Since 1900, the region has experienced similarly powerful earthquakes six times, not including the most recent one, according to the USGS. In 1990, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake brought down 32 buildings.The New York Times Adam Satariano and Paul Mozur reported Friday that Myanmars military government is censoring some online information regarding the disaster. But the countrys hospitals are reportedly overwhelmed by patients necessitating medical care. Myanmar is currently in a civil war that followed a military coup in February 2021 and has displaced more than three million people.The situation is very complicated, because there are significant communication blackouts in some of the hardest hit areas, and this is due to the ongoing conflict, Federica Franco, the leader of Doctors Without Borders work in Myanmar, says in a voice note sent from Yangon and published by the humanitarian organization.The leader of the military government has announced an open invitation to any organizations and nations willing to come and help the people in need within our country, in what CNNs Ross Adkin, Alex Stambaugh and Kocha Olarn have described as a rare plea from a regime that had largely isolated itself from the world for years. Countries including China, India, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand have sent rescue teams to look for survivors among the rubble.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Death, Earthquakes, Natural Disasters

Newbury is the birthplace of Michael Bond, the British author who wrote the Paddington series. Newbury Business Improvement DistrictDuring a night in the English town of Newbury, two men approached a statue of the beloved British childrens book character Paddington Bear. The installation depicted the fuzzy bear sitting on a park bench while wearing his signature outfita red bucket hat and a blue coatand eating his favorite food, a marmalade sandwich.Security camera footage showed the two men kicking, yanking and prying the statue on March 2. Eventually, they ripped the bear from the park bench, hailed a cab and left, reports the London Times Ali Mitib.Police later identified the culprits as Daniel Heath and William Lawrence, a pair of 22-year-old engineers with the British Royal Air Force. They found the statue in Lawrences car at their base, RAF Odiham. Police recovered the statue and returned it to theNewbury Business Improvement District for repairs. Thames Valley PoliceBoth men pleaded guilty to criminal damage this week and have apologized for their actions. But that didnt stop judge Sam Gooze from reprimanding the men at their sentencing hearing.Paddington Bear is a beloved cultural icon with children and adults alike, said Gooze, a judge in the Reading Magistrates Court, according to a copy of his comments released by the court. He represents kindness, tolerance and promotes integration and acceptance in our society. His famous label attached to his duffle coat [says] Please look after this bear. ... Your actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for.The judge sentenced the men to 150 hours of community service for their act of wanton vandalism, reports the Guardians Amelia Hill. Theyll also each be required to pay 2,725 (over $3,500) for the statues restoration. The bear enjoyed a brief stay at Newbury's police station. Thames Valley PoliceYour actions lacked respect and integrity, two values you should uphold as members of the armed forces, the judge added.The statue was one of nearly two-dozen placed throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland last year to help drum up interest for the new movie Paddington in Peru. The live-action animated film stars Ben Whishaw as the voice of the title character.The new movielike the other Paddington flicksis based on the childrens series by the late British author Michael Bond about a polite Peruvian bear who is adopted by a London family. Bond died in 2017 at the age of 91.Bond was born in Newbury, so the Paddington statue heist caused a great deal of upset within the community and local businesses, according to a statement from Trish Willetts, the chief executive officer of the Newbury Business Improvement District, which was read aloud in court, per Newbury Today.The Paddington Bear statue is a beloved part of Newbury so we did everything we could to locate it and bring the offenders to justice, said Alan Hawkett, an inspector with the Newbury Neighborhood Policing Team, in a statement.The broken statue enjoyed a brief stay at Newburys police station before investigators handed it back to the Newbury Business Improvement District for repairs.The district plans to fully restore the statue and place it back on the park bench, located outside the Camp Hopson department store on Northbrook Street. But, in the meantime, crews have placed a gazebo tent over the bench to not only protect visitors from the jagged edges but also to prevent children from seeing the damage, per the New York Times Michael Levenson.Heath and Lawrence, meanwhile, have also written an apology letter to the Newbury Business Improvement District and the mayor of Newbury.Theres no excuse or justificationthey hold their hands up to their actions on that day, their attorney Tom Brymer said in court, as reported by Newbury Today.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Art, Art Crimes, Books, British History, British Writers, children , Crime, Statues

Spectrum launched from theAndya Space Center in Norway before plumetting into the icy sea. Isar AerospaceA test rocket developed by a German start-up crashed into the sea about half a minute after taking off from Norway on March 30. Though the rocket, called Spectrum, did not reach space, the test marks the first orbital flight outside of Russia launched from continental Europe.The start-up that built Spectrum, Isar Aerospace, still hailed Sundays launch as a win, stating that it allowed the company to gather important flight data to improve future missions.Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success, says Daniel Metzler, Isars CEO and co-founder, in a statement. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System, a safety measure that shuts down the rockets engines in the event of a malfunction. The launch had been delayed several times due to weather.Theres about a million things that can go wrong and only one way things actually go right, Metzler said in a video interview ahead of the launch, per the New York TimesIsabella Kwai. Frankly, Id be happy if we just fly 30 seconds.The rocket made it 25 seconds before it appeared to lose attitude control, or the ability to regulate its orientation, reports Space News Jeff Foust. Spectrum tipped over in mid-air, then plummeted downward. It exploded about ten seconds later. The rocket fell into the Norwegian Sea in a controlled manner, per the statement, and the launch pad remained intact.First commercial rocket from western Europe explodes shortly after launchWatch on Orbital rockets like this one are meant to place payloads such as satellites into or outside of the Earths orbit. Spectrum, which stretches more than 90 feet long, is intended to carry up to 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds).But for this flight, as Metzler said on a call with reporters roughly four hours after the launch attempt, the company never expected that we would get to orbit, per Space News. We set out to gather data primarily, and that is something that we have successfully achieved.We gathered tons of data.The launch is part of a push from European companies to get ahead in the space race, reports Rob Picheta for CNN. Europe has long depended on Russia for space launches, but it hasnt had access to Russian space stations or launch pads since the countrys 2022 invasion of Ukraine, reports Le Monde. Now, European nations are hoping to foster a new era of independence, with private companies at the helm.As a company with European roots, we are proud to have shown that Europe has an enduring capacity for bold thinking and grand achievements, Metzler adds in the statement. We will be able to serve customers from around the world to bring their satellites into space and to help Europe solve a major blind spot in its security architecture: access to space.Isar isnt the first company to attempt a European orbital flight. In 2023, British millionaire Richard Bransons Virgin Orbit launched a flight over the Atlantic Ocean that reached space but failed to attain orbit, and the company folded a few months later.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Astronomy, Germany, Innovations, Outer Space, Russia , Satellites, Space Travel, Technology

A technician climbs a tower to locate lightning strikes in the study area on Panama's Barro Colorado Island. Evan Gora / Cary Institute of Ecosystem StudiesGetting struck by lightning might not sound like a very wise idea to us, but for one tropical tree species, an occasional zap is a good thing. The almendro trees found in Panamas forests can get a boost from this electrical jolt and have perhaps even evolved to act like lightning rods, according to a new study published last week in the journal New Phytologist. Evan Gora, a forest ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, became interested in the impact of lightning on the trees after noticing they seemed to survive being hitand sustained little damage. Seeing that there are trees that get struck by lightning and theyre fine was just mind-blowing, Gora recalls in a statement.So, Gora and his colleagues tracked 93 trees that were struck by lightning at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. They used a system of lightning strike-locating instruments to pinpoint which trees had likely been hit by bolts. Between 2014 and 2019, the researchers would check in on the trees to assess their condition, two to six years after the strike. Nine of the trees were from the almendro species (Dipteryx oleifera)and they all seemed to be doing much better than their lightning-struck peers.How some trees benefit from being struck by lightningWatch on Within two years of being hit, 64 percent of the other trees died. Meanwhile, the almendro trees thrived. They gained space as the electricity traveled through their branches, their leaves or the air into nearby trees, killing them. In fact, the study found that trees living near a large almendro tree are 48 percent more likely to be killed by lightning than those living near another species. Any tree that gets close essentially gets electrocuted, says Gora to Erik Stokstad at Science.Lightning strikes also reduced the number of parasitic vines, called lianas, on the almendros by 78 percent. These vines would ordinarily grow on top of the tree and steal light from its leaves, but they died back after lightning. Without these benefits, Gora says to Gennaro Tomma at Scientific American, the almendro trees would not live as long.All of this, the researchers suggest, points to the trees having adapted to attract lightning. The trees unusual heightthey can grow roughly 165 feet talland wide crown make them up to 68 percent more likely to be struck by lightning relative to other similar trees, according to the paper. The almendro tree's fruits and the almond-flavored seeds within them are a crucial food source for animals. Evan Gora / Cary Institute of Ecosystem StudiesAlmendro trees are considered a keystone species in Central Americas tropical forests. Their fruit supports more than 100 animal species during the areas dry season. Some of the trees electrical resistance might come from moisture in their wood.The new study challenges our idea of lightning as simply a force of destruction. Its a really creative piece of work that changes our perspective of how we think about lightning as an agent of disturbance, Tommaso Jucker, a forest ecologist at the University of Bristol in England who was not involved with the research, says to Science.The findings of the study are quite novel and make a significant contribution to our knowledge of plant evolution, says Allan Carroll, an ecologist at the University of British Columbia in Canada who was not involved in the research, to Scientific American.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Biology, Central America, Ecology, Evolution, Forests, New Research, Panama, Plants, Rainforest, Smithsonian, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Trees, Weather

For the first time, the "Mission MushVroom" experiment on SpaceX's Fram2 mission will attempt to grow mushrooms in space. Left: Zinnmann via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0. Right: Norman Kuring, NASA / GSFC / Suomi NPPWith NASA aiming to send humans to Mars as soon as the 2030s and SpaceXs Elon Musk aiming for as early as 2029, we are the closest weve ever been to achieving interplanetary crewed spaceflight. In addition to the technological advances required to put a human on Mars, however, is the very practical necessity of developing sustainable food sources in space.Who can eat thermostabilized, dehydrated food for five years? space nutritionist Flvia Fayet-Moore says to Sky News.Fayet-Moore is the founder and chief executive of FOODiQ Global, an Australian company aiming to be the first to grow mushrooms in microgravity. And the firm is about to get its chance: When SpaceXs Fram2 mission launches four private astronauts to space no sooner than March 31, FOODiQs Mission MushVroom experiment will also be on board.Fram2 will be the first crewed mission to orbit over Earths polar regionsand Mission MushVroom will be the first study to grow mushrooms in space, reads a Fram2 statement from Monday. Oyster mushrooms are the perfect space crop, helping astronauts meet their nutritional needs on long-duration space missions like those to Mars, while closing the loop in plant agriculture and helping to minimize inputs and waste. The four private astronauts of the SpaceX Fram2 mission crew pose for a photo. From the left:Eric Philips (Australia), Chun Wang (Malta), Rabea Rogge (Germany) and Jannicke Mikkelsen (Norway). SpaceXThe experiment consists of a small box of substrate (the equivalent of plant soil for growing mushrooms) and mycelium (the root-like structure of the fungus), which scientists hope will fruit into oyster mushrooms while traveling hundreds of miles above Earths surface. The crew member responsible for checking on the experiment is the Australian polar explorer Eric Philips.I will monitor how the fruiting bodies grow, documenting development rate, signs of contamination and various other properties, Philips explains to Jano Gibson of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). This is an exciting opportunity to push the boundaries and play a role in creating sustainable food solutions for spacesomething I never imagined I would explore.Over their three- to five-day mission, the Fram2 crew will carry out 22 science experiments. Another research project, called SpaceXray, intends to take the first X-ray image of a human in space. This achievement will open the door to a vast array of clinical, research and engineering applications, according to the statement.Once back on Earth, any successful mushroom growth will be analyzed in a lab. The team will compare those fungi to control mushroom kits that have been stored in Florida.The researchers consider mushrooms the perfect space crop, because they grow fast, dont need a lot of water and are nutritionalcontaining vitamin D, potassium, selenium and copper, as Fayet-Moore tells the Guardians Donna Lu. Oyster mushrooms can also be eaten raw, which is an important feature. In space, NASA is only prioritizing crops that you can literally pick and eat, because we dont have the capabilities to process food in microgravity yet, Fayet-Moore adds to the ABC.The potential applications of mushrooms in space, however, could transcend the kitchenfor example, NASA is researching the use of mushrooms as architectural material to grow human habitats in space. So, if the MushVroom experiment is successful, it might open the door to making mushrooms something like a Swiss Army knife of multiplanetary existence.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Astronauts, Food, Food Science, Fungus, Mars, New Research, Outer Space, Polar Exploration, Space Travel, SpaceX, Transportation

"Changing Times: Egon Schiele's Last Years, 1914-1918"contains some 130 works from the Austrian artist. Leni Deinhardstein / Leopold MuseumWe are living in the most violent time that the world has ever seen, Egon Schiele wrote in a letter to his sister a few months into World War I. Everything before 1914 belongs to another world, thus, we will always be looking to the future.For Schieles art, once marked by a wild, sexual expressionism, 1914 was indeed a landmark year. The trauma of war, as well as newfound duties of marriage and family, turned the young Austrian artists gaze away from human bodies and external eroticism and towards the human psyche, as Jane Kallir, an art dealer and scholar who focuses on Austrian and German Expressionism, tells the New York Times Nina Siegal.Schieles new artistic era didnt reign for long, however. His future was cut short when he died of the Spanish influenza in October 1918 at the young age of 28.Those four important years are the subject of Changing Times: Egon Schiele's Last Years, 19141918, a new exhibition of some 130 works at the Leopold Museum in Vienna. Curated by Kallir and Kerstin Jesse, it runs from March 28 until July 13.EGON SCHIELE. Last Years | Leopold Museum | TeaserWatch on Even in the relative stability of the pre-war era, Schiele always showed a propensity for artistic reinvention. He dropped out of the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1909, spenttime in jail for indecent drawings and conducted a wild affair with Walburga Neuzil, who was only 16 when he immortalized her in his Portrait of Wally Neuzil in 1912, per theTimes.After his sister married an old art school pal of Schieles in the fall of 1914, he broke off his romance with Neuzil and married Edith Harms, demure middle-class woman closer to his age, the next summer, per the Times.Life, it seemed, had begun to settle for Schiele. But just three days after his wedding, war called him to leave his new bride in their honeymoon suite in Prague, per thedigital exhibition guide.Edith Schiele in a Striped Dress, Seated, 1915 Leopold Museum, ViennaThrough his connections among the Viennese elite, Schiele managed, in 1917, to transfer back to a cushy military post at a supply depot in Vienna where he could continue painting and see his wife. Edith's emotional needs forced Schiele to deal with interpersonal intimacy in a way that was entirely new to him, Kallir explains in a statement.His depictions of Edith from 1914 onwards contain more maturity and depthan understanding of her distress and interest in her humanity.His art became more empathetic as he tried to capture his wife's changing moods, Kallir says in the statement, presenting her as an elegant, thoughtful, reserved or unforgiving individual.Decaying Mill (Mountain Mill), 1916 State Collections of Lower AustriaThe war, no doubt, was also responsible for the gravitational and emotional pulls on the young artist. Carrying out various military duties, he grew a lot on an interpersonal level. In conversations with soldiers, his superiors and prisoners of war, he learnedabout people's different fates and hopes, Jesse says in the statement.He began to depict his fellow soldiers, like the striking 1916 sketch Russian Soldier, which shows a sallow face with red lips, big brown eyes and a green military hat staring back at the vieweras human, despite the war.In landscapes, too, Schiele found ways to reflect his worlds wider turmoil, as the Art Newspapers J.S. Marcus puts it. Decaying Mill (Mountain Mill) captures a wooden mill crumbling inwards as the white waters of the Erlauf River beat past it.Schiele was an artist whose mission was to reconcile contradictions of realism and expressionism, psychological insight and spirituality, Kallir tells the Times. A painting like Decaying Mill balances these contradictions deftly. He later called it probably my best landscape.Seated Woman with Bent Knee, 1917 National Gallery PragueBesides his new devotion to the war and his wife, Schiele also refined his technical skills and style during his late era.Two works in the exhibition exemplify this aesthetic evolution. Modeled on Edith, Seated Woman with Bent Kneefrom 1917 shows his mastery of sharp lines and striking colors. With a sea green top and tousled, fire-red head of hair, she is as dynamic as any battlefield, with a whole lot more humanity.Schieles final oil painting, Portrait of the Painter Albert Paris von Gutersloh from 1918, is as good a sign as any of where Schiele might have gone, had he lived, Kallir tells the Art Newspaper.But Schiele never remained static. He may have found a new style, a new sensibility, but that didnt mean he was wedded to it.Portrait of the Painter Albert Paris von Gtersloh, 1918 The Minneapolis Institute of ArtWhen he returned to his Vienna studio in 1917, Schiele took up work with professional models again. He produced several nude portraits that showed women in distinct positions from innovative perspectives. Whether these artworks show female figures in possession of their sexuality, as Kallir tells theArt Newspaper, or still echo his earlier work and erotic obsessions, is a matter of debate.In Schiele's last year, 1918, his mentor and patron Gustav Klimt died in February. As Viennas new reigning artist, as the Times puts it, Schiele took on new responsibilities. He organized a wildly successful 49th Exhibition of the Vienna Secession and started work on an ambitious cycle of allegorical nudes for a grand mausoleum.Schiele didnt live to see these plans realized. He died on October 31, just three days after Edith, age 25, died of the flu. But in just 28 years, Schiele had created some 3,000 drawings and 400 paintings. Even in his later years, he was still in constant evolution.Some artists made the same number of works in careers that lasted 50 or 60 years, Jesse tells the Times. He died suddenly, so we dont know which way he was going.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Art, Austria, Exhibitions, Exhibits, Museums, Painting, World War I

A record number of sandhill cranes gathered in Nebraska in mid-March during their annual spring migration. Matt Urbanski / Crane TrustHundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes are once again flocking to central Nebraska during their annual migrationand so far, the leggy birds appear to be unaffected by the highly contagious bird flu strain H5N1.Wildlife biologists in Nebraska remain concerned about the possibility of the deadly virus spreading through the huge numbers of the gray birds with red caps thatcongregate on the Platte River every spring.But, as they reach the likely peak of their migration this year, the birds seem to be happy and healthy. No crane deaths have been reported in Nebraska so far, reports NTV News Jack Bartlett.Bird flu aside, Nebraska biologists have another reason to celebrate: During their weekly aerial crane survey on March 17, the fifth week of the migration, they counted roughly 736,000 sandhill cranes between the towns of Chapman and Overton, Nebraska, which are roughly 80 miles apart. Thats an all-time, record-high number of cranes counted in the region at onceand its probably an underestimate. The lanky birds, which stand betwen roughly three and four feet tall, are known for their loud, rattling bugle calls. Kylee Warren / Crane TrustSandhill cranes have shown us that theyve been super resilient to lots of different things that weve thrown at them, says Bethany Ostrom, a wildlife biologist with the nonprofit Crane Trust who conducts the aerial counts, to Nebraska Public Medias Arthur Jones and Macy Byars.The number dropped to 705,000 on March 25, during the sixth week of migration, but thats to be expected as the birds start to head north for breeding. Biologists expect the numbers to continue decreasing as the cranes take advantage of favorable wind conditions.5 Record-Breaking Bird MigrationsWatch on Earlier this year, at least 1,500 sandhill cranes were found dead in Indiana from H5N1, raising concerns about the health of migrating flocks. But those birds were part of the eastern population of sandhill cranes, which is separate from the mid-continental group that migrates through Nebraska every year, according to Nebraska Public Media. Experts say the two groups rarely cross paths.Still, the bird deaths in Indiana had Nebraska biologists on high alert. The virus can be spread by migrating waterfowl, and sandhill cranes passing through central Nebraska often share their Platte River habitat with geese, swans, ducks and more than 20 other bird species.In addition, since so many sandhill cranes gather in Nebraska, the highly contagious virus could quickly and easily affect large numbers of the birds. An estimated 80 percent of all sandhill cranes in North America flock to a 75-mile stretch of the Platte River during their annual journey to their northern breeding grounds, according to the Nature Conservancy. Sandhill cranes spend their days eating leftover field corn before retreating to the safety of the braided Platte River at night. Kylee Warren / Crane TrustThe migration takes place from February through April, with individual birds staggering their arrivals and departures. Each bird typically spends about a month in central Nebraska, fattening up on kernels of corn left behind during the last falls harvest. Then, they take to the skies and continue north to Alaska, Canada and eastern Siberia.There is nothing else like it in the world, says Marcos Stoltzfus, director of the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary in Gibbon, Nebraska, to News Channel Nebraskas Peter Rice.The birds have been flying through central Nebraska for at least nine million yearslong before the Platte River formed some 10,000 years ago, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. But, today, the cranes relish the relative safety of the braided river, which helps protect them from predators when they roost each evening. Individual sandhill cranes spend roughly a month fueling up in central Nebraska. Kylee Warren / Crane TrustWhat makes the central Platte River valley attractive to sandhill cranes is the river that we help manage, says Matt Urbanski, a spokesman for the Crane Trust, to KSNBs Madison Smith. We will make sure that theres not a ton of vegetation choking the river out. Well make sure that it can widen, so the sandhill cranes have six to eight inches of water to sit in during the nighttime.With their lanky legs and slender necks, sandhill cranes stand roughly three to four feet tall. Their bodies are covered in grayish-brown feathers, except for a patch of crimson on their heads. Sandhill cranes make a distinctive call that ornithologists describe as a loud, rattling bugle. Sandhill cranes have been flying through Nebraska for at least nine million yearslong before the formation of the Platte River roughly 10,000 years ago. Kylee Warren / Crane TrustYou have the roar of thousands and thousands of them all taking off or coming in to land, says Dusty Barner, who offers sandhill crane viewing tours through his company Dusty Trails, to KNOPs Tristen Winder.Endangered whooping cranes also migrate through central Nebraska, and an H5N1 outbreak could be potentially devastating to the species. Only an estimated 800 whooping cranes remain in existence, a number that includes birds living in the wild and those in captivity.So far this spring, at least two whooping cranes have been spotted among their sandhill cousins in central Nebraska, reports the Omaha World-Heralds Marjie Ducey.Its always a special moment to catch them along with the beautiful skies of Nebraska in spring, Brice Krohn, CEO and president of the Crane Trust, tells the publication.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Biology, Birds, Disease, Disease and Illnesses, Endangered Species, Land Birds, Microbes, Bacteria, Viruses, Nature, Outdoor Travel, Tourism, Travel, Viruses, Water, Wildlife, Zoology

An unidentified man found the armlet in a wetland last fall. Kalmar County Administrative BoardLast fall, a Swedish man spotted something in a marsh on Oland, Swedens second-largest island. At first, he thought the circular objectfound lying on the ground near a construction pitmight be a tool. But it turned out to be a Viking Age iron arm bracelet that could be more than 1,000 years old.After the anonymous man discovered the artifact, he contacted a local archaeologist, who advised him to bring it to the government of Kalmar, the southeastern county where Oland is located. He did so earlier this month. Experts analyzed the ring, comparing it to similar objects from the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm.The C-shaped artifact is decorated ornately. Rows of raised dots grace its length, and its ends are shaped into animal heads, according to a statement posted on Facebook. From the ornamentation, we were able to date it to the Swedish Viking Age, somewhere between 800 and 1050 C.E., Karl-Oskar Erlandsson, an archaeologist at the Kalmar County Administrative Board, tells the Viking Heralds Jonathan Bennett. The iron arm jewelry is decorated with dots and animal heads. Kalmar County Administrative BoardThe Vikings were a group of Scandinavian warriors who violently colonized coastal Europe between the 9th and 11th centuries. Viking men and women of all classes wore jewelry, including necklaces, brooches and arm rings (also known as armlets). Powerful men commonly gave armlets to their followers to both secure loyalty and demonstrate wealth. According to the statement, most surviving Viking armlets are crafted out of silver or bronze.What is unusual is that this one is made of iron, Erlandsson tells radio station P4 Kalmar, per a translation by Sweden Herald. Of the more than 1,000 arm rings in the Swedish History Museums collection, only three are made of iron.This doesnt mean that iron jewelry was uncommon during the Viking Age. Iron accessories may just be more difficult to find today, as the metal is particularly susceptible to corrosion. When its exposed to water and oxygen, iron rusts and degrades. Luckily, the soils and sediments of wetlands lack oxygen. The newly discovered rings marsh burial may therefore have helped preserve it through the centuries, per the statement.Swedish laws may also account for the lack of rediscovered iron Viking jewelry. Unlike with artifacts made of silver or gold, Swedes are under no obligation to contact authorities when [they] find an object made of iron, Erlandsson tells the Viking Herald.The island of Oland has a long anthropological history. Hunter-gatherers first settled there more than 6,000 years ago. The area is home to at least 15 Iron Age ring fortscircular, fortified settlements built up from the fourth century onward. Several Viking graves have been found on Oland.As for how the iron armlet got into the marsh, Erlandsson tells P4 Kalmar that it probably wasnt part of a grave, as the Vikings wouldnt have buried someone in a wetland. The marsh also rules out a Viking settlement as a source.It could be a sacrificial bog, that they have sacrificed to the gods or higher powers, Erlandsson says. So then there may be more objects in this wetland.If the armlets finder chooses to donate the artifact to the county, it will be preserved and further studied, according to the statement. Hoping the marsh is hiding more Viking objects, experts will soon search the area with metal detectors.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Archaeology, Artifacts, Cool Finds, European History, Jewelry, Sweden, Vikings

A partial solar eclipse on June 10, 2021, rises at Lewes Beach in Delaware. NASA / Aubrey GemignaniIf youre in the right place at the right time, the sunrise will look extra spectacular on Saturday, as a partially eclipsed sun peeks over the horizon. Across parts of northeastern North America, the sun and moon will rise together, with the moon obscuring some of the star.This eclipse will have no period of darkness, known as totality. But for those who dont sleep through it, the event offers the chance for a truly rare sighting that may look like devil horns on the horizon.Heres what to know about the sunrise eclipse and how to catch a view of it, both in-person and online.What is a partial solar eclipse?What Is a Solar Eclipse?Watch on When the Earth, moon and sun come into close enough alignment for the moon to block out some of the suns light, sky watchers are treated to a solar eclipse. On Saturday, that alignment wont be perfectso the stars surface wont be fully covered. Instead, the new moon will appear to take a bite out of the sun in a partial eclipse, and the size of that bite will depend on your location.Since this eclipse has no phase of totality, there will be no safe moment to take off your eclipse glasses. Wear them at all times when viewing the sunregular sunglasses are not enough, NASA notes. And dont try to look at the eclipse through an unprotected camera, binoculars or telescope, even while wearing the solar glassesthose lenses will concentrate the suns rays and can cause eye damage through the glasses.Dont have eclipse glasses on hand? You can construct your own pinhole projector to indirectly view the event.Saturdays eclipse comes shortly after the total lunar eclipse that bathed the moon in a blood-red glow over North America on March 14. Thats because solar and lunar eclipses show up in pairstwo weeks apart. They also occur in seasons about every six months. Later this year, another duet of eclipses will grace the skies in September. But the solar eclipse this weekend will have a larger portion of the sun obscured.Where can you see the partial solar eclipse? The eclipse will move from west to east across parts of several continents and the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. NASA offers details on when each location will see the spectacle. NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. Ernie Wright (USRA), Abbey A. Interrante (ADNET Systems, Inc.)From the United States, several areas of the northeast and mid-Atlantic will have some view of the spectacle. But the level of coverage varies dramatically: Sky watchers in Portland, Maine, will see 64 percent coverage, while those in Washington, D.C., will see 1 percent of the suns surface obscured, per NPRs Chandelis Duster. (Search for your city here.)Western Europe will glimpse a partial eclipse during mid-morning, local time, and parts of the Caribbean and West Africa will also fall in the moons outer shadow. After four hours of sweeping across the planet, the eclipses path will end over northern Siberia.For the best view, however, eclipse chasers will be heading to Canada. There, the eclipse will reach its maximum coveragea 93 percent eclipse in Nunavik, northern Quebec, on the eastern side of Hudson Bay. Halifax (83 percent), St. Johns (83 percent) and Montreal (47 percent) might also offer good views in eastern Canada, per NASA.Spots along the coast are a good bet, since the ocean offers a clean horizon to the east, where the sun will be rising. In general, the best views will be from a coastal location as far north as possible, as Jamie Carter writes for Live Science.What is a rare double sunrise, also known as solar horns?In a few locations along the eclipses path, viewers will get a rare glimpse of a phenomenon known as a double sunrise. This happens when the moon blocks part of the sun as it comes up, leaving an illuminated crescent at the bottom of the star, like a smile. The two points on each end of the grin will emerge over the horizon first, giving the appearance of devil horns.Though such a sight is uncommon, it also happened during a partial solar eclipse in Qatar in 2019, when a photographer captured the stunning moment on camera. Another appeared over North America in June 2021.This time, areas of Maine as well as parts of New Brunswick and Quebec, Canada, will have a chance to see the devil hornsgiven the right timing, an unobstructed view of the horizon and clear skies. From the U.S., viewers at Quoddy Head State Park in Lubec, Maine, could observe the double sunrise, and that site will see an 83 percent eclipse.How to watch an eclipse live streamIf you dont have any travel plans in place and wont be in the path of the moons shadow, you can watch the spectacle online from the comfort of your home.Saturday morning, Time and Date is offering a live stream beginning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time. It will jump around, geographically, showing views from sites across North America and Europe.LIVE: Partial Solar Eclipse - March 29, 2025Watch on The Royal Observatory Greenwich will also run a streamand this one is from London, where astronomer Greg Brown will share the science behind the event. You can tune into that feed beginning at 6 a.m. Eastern.Another perk of a live stream? The video should be available later, allowing sleepy sky watchers to tune in for spectacle at a more reasonable time of day.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Astronomers, Astronomy, Canada, Moon, Outer Space, Sky Watching Guide, solar eclipse, Solar System, Sun