Was Antarctica Once Atlantis — And Did the Earth Itself Bury It in Ice?
The admiral spread the map across the table in 1513. Drawn on gazelle skin, it showed coastlines no European was supposed to know. Along the bottom edge…
The Last Days of the Dinosaurs, Written in Argentine Stone
The age of dinosaurs ended in fire. About 66 million years ago an asteroid slammed into ancient Central America and triggered Earth’s fifth mass extinction, erasing roughly…
The River Dropped — and Handed Back a 40-Foot Oak Boat
For centuries it lay hidden under the water of the Styr, in Ukraine, wrapped in dark peat and silence. Then the river fell to an unusually low…
Entire Carbonized Herculaneum Scroll Virtually Unwrapped
NAPLES, ITALY—Scientists have fully “unwrapped” an entire carbonized papyrus scroll preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, CNN reports. Known as PHerc. 1667, the scroll is one…
1200 BC: THE YEAR CIVILIZATION COLLAPSED
In the span of roughly fifty years — a single human lifetime, a brief chapter in the long story of recorded history — almost every great civilization…
Florida’s 7,000-Year-Old Burial Pond Still Holds Brains
On a quiet stretch of US Highway 1 in Titusville, Florida, there is a pond. It looks unremarkable — dark water, cypress trees, the kind of place…
The Storm That Uncovered a 2,500-Year-Old Dagger Carved With the Night Sky
The Baltic does its best work in bad weather. Wind, surf, and a hard rain clawing at the soft clay cliffs along the Polish coast — and…
Megalodon’s Terrifying True Size Confirmed By Rediscovered Fossil
Megalodon’s enormous size is estimated from limited fossils, including vertebrae and teeth. (lexaarts/Creatas Video+/Getty Images Plus) In 1978, a wonder emerged from the crumbling earth of the Gram Clay…
THE LIGHTNING SACRIFICE: INCA CHILDREN ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD
Near the border of Argentina and Chile, rising to 6,739 meters above sea level, Volcán Llullaillaco stands as one of the highest active volcanoes on Earth. Its…
The Lost Tomb of Genghis Khan: 800 Years of Searching
He built the largest contiguous land empire in history. His armies rode from the Pacific coast of China to the gates of Vienna. His descendants ruled from…