Head-on view of the Voynich Manuscript showing its layered parchment pages and binding

The Voynich Manuscript May Have Been Read in the Wrong Order for a Century

A new study argues the Voynich Manuscript may have been bound out of order, meaning codebreakers could be analyzing the mystery in the wrong sequence.

The ancient Lycurgus Cup viewed from above, with green carved figures surrounding ruby-red glass at the British Museum

This Roman Cup Turns From Green to Red. A New Sculpture Recreates the Trick.

A Sheffield technician and a glass artist have recreated the Lycurgus Cup’s green-to-red transformation in a new sculpture. The real breakthrough is more precise than the headlines.

Medieval skeletal remains lying inside the reused Roman sarcophagus from Westminster Abbey.

The Roman Coffin at Westminster Held a Medieval Skeleton—and Traces of Another Coffin

A Roman dedication, a medieval cross and the ghostly outline of a wooden coffin reveal three layers of history inside Westminster Abbey’s reused sarcophagus.

Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night, with a dark cypress, swirling blue sky, bright stars and a yellow crescent Moon above a village.

The Moon in Van Gogh’s Starry Night Points to a Different Date—But His Letter Gets in the Way

A new sky reconstruction points to July 22, 1889. Van Gogh’s June letter and a disputed view of the landscape keep the famous painting’s date from becoming a solved mystery.

A full-size touring car mounted on the Sega Touring Car Championship arcade attraction at Kyoto Joypolis.

Sega Put an Entire Car in an Arcade With a Blair Witch Walk-Through

A new photo archive preserves Sega’s full-car racing cockpit, a Blair Witch attraction and Shenmue’s forklift booth—the strange physical world around Japan’s turn-of-the-millennium games.

Ribs and front and back views of Shanidar A’s shoulder blade, showing a round perforation.

A Neanderthal Shoulder Blade May Preserve a Fatal Spear Wound

A round hole suggests a fatal penetrating injury. A split tooth records something different: survival after earlier harm. The evidence from Shanidar Cave supports a complex story, not a solved murder.

Close-up of a gray pyrrhotite-rich rock from Escanaba Trough, with glittering mineral grains and yellowish patches against a black background.

Deep-Sea Rocks Started Smoking Before Researchers Switched On the Grinder

Two rocks recovered from the deep Pacific heated and smoked during laboratory preparation. The surprise was not hidden petroleum: a changed mineral structure offered the stronger explanation.

Renoir’s Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano, showing a seated woman in a pale dress and blue-green sash beside an upholstered chair.

Stolen Renoirs Were Hidden Behind a Wall—A Discarded Cover Helped Lead Police Back

Two stolen Renoirs were recovered from behind a wall after a discarded painting cover helped investigators connect the theft to a suspect.

Technician Emory Toomey installs a navigation camera on NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft in a cleanroom

NASA’s Dragonfly Just Simulated the Hardest Flight It Will Make on Titan

NASA’s Dragonfly has completed its most comprehensive simulated flight yet, rehearsing the autonomous decisions it will need to reach Titan’s surface safely.

Artist’s concept of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory orbiting above Earth

NASA Ends Swift Observatory After Nearly 22 Years of Chasing Cosmic Explosions

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has ended its nearly 22-year mission, leaving behind a vast public archive and a rapid-response model that reshaped astronomy.

◀ ▶
Latest