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A close-up, colorized photograph of a middle-aged man with a stern expression and a thick, reddish-brown beard. He is superimposed over a faded, beige background of densely printed, historical text, suggesting he is a figure related to the document's content, which appears to discuss Cattalo or Beefalo (a cow and buffalo hybrid), based on the filename.

The strange Wild West tale of the first cow-buffalo hybrid

By Bill Gourgey

Photograph of the fresco Trionfo della Morte, taken at its original location in the Camposanto Monumentale in Pisa. The fresco, known as the “Triumph of Death” and attributed to the painter Buonamico Buffalmacco, is not precisely dated; scholarly estimates range from 1335 to 1350. While it does not depict the Black Death explicitly, the selected detail shows victims of an epidemic from diverse social backgrounds, their souls carried off by demons.

Medieval volcanoes may have ignited the Black Death

1804 dollar seen from the front and back of the coin.

A long lost silver dollar may be worth $5 million

A brightly coloured illustration which can be viewed in any direction. It has many elements to it working together: men in suits around a table, someone in a data centre, big hands controlling the scenes and holding a phone, people in a production line. Motifs such as network diagrams and melting emojis are placed throughout the busy vignettes.

How to glimpse a pre-AI internet

Medieval grave slab made from Purbeck stone in museum exhibit case

Medieval shipwreck mistaken for underwater ‘rubbish’

Charles Darwin’s Address Book is a small brown leather notebook, with “VISITS” and “ADDRESSES” printed on its spine (photo 1) and index-letter tabs in alternating black and red. The entries were begun by his wife, Emma Darwin, and are in her pleasant, rounded handwriting (photo 2), shortly after their marriage in January 1839. Latter entries were by Darwin (photo 3), and he continued to use this Address Book throughout his lifetime.

Flip through Charles Darwin’s digitized address book

A scan of an Arabic manuscript of the dīwān of Ibn Sanā' al-Mulk dating back to 1181-1182 (left). The Annual perseid meteor seen in the sky on August 14, 2023. The meteors have a radiant bordering on Cassiopeia and Camelopardalis (right).

Medieval Arabic texts help researchers track down explosive star deaths

By Margherita Bassi

Fibonacci spiral overlaid on cactus blossom

Break out the calculators: November 23 is Fibonacci Sequence Day

Black and white photo of Shoshoni Infant in cradleboard

Indigenous women engineered energy-efficient baby carriers

Front and back of Omega penny design

The U.S. Mint is auctioning the last pennies—and they could sell for millions

Close up of replica of silver goblet from Near East engraved with sun god

4,000-year-old silver goblet tells a tale of chaos and order

Scuba diver investigating propellor of WW2 aircraft crash underwater

80 years ago, a WWII B-17 bomber crashed in the Baltic. Scientists are finally learning who was onboard.

Glass openwork vessel excavated at Cologne dating to around 350–400 CE with an image of an inscription on the right. Inscription: BIBE MVLTIS ANNIS (Drink [may you live] for many years!). Credit: State Collection of Antiquities and Glyptothek, Munich. Photos by Christa Koppermann

Ancient Rome’s fanciest glasses are full of cryptic symbols

Close up of Egyptian ceramic vessel with inscriptions

Opium may have been a daily habit for Ancient Egyptians

Swedish silver medieval coins in a pile

Fisherman searching for worms finds 20,000 medieval silver coins

A historical color photograph of the large Great Lakes freighter, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, sailing on the water. The ship has a prominent white superstructure at the bow with a dark red hull and a tan smokestack near the stern emitting a plume of black smoke. The weather appears overcast.

How the Witch of November doomed the ‘Edmund Fitzgerald’

By Bill Gourgey

Various angles of fragmented human skull

Medieval duke’s remains recount his grisly murder

V0015163ER Two hooded figures and a King grieve over a dead person whil Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Two hooded figures and a King grieve over a dead person while another masked figure comes to cleanse the room of the plague. Woodcut by V. Solis. Published: - Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Centuries of Black Death misinformation started with a poem

A vintage photo collage featuring an oval cut-out image of seven people—three men and four women, who appear to be young college students—dressed in 1920s-era clothing. They are standing close together and looking at the camera. The background is a texture of yellowed, old newsprint with blurred text about a sleep experiment.

In 1925, seven students went 60 hours without sleep—for science

By Bill Gourgey

Musket and cannonballs recovered in Scottish battlefield

18th century lead ammo found in Scottish Highlands