discoveries
Bachelor Party Finds One Last Taste of Freedom, Also a Mastodon Skull
Kelly Conaboy · 06/15/14 02:48PMThe Way to Reheat Pizza Is in a Skillet
Tom Scocca · 01/15/14 05:56PMHamilton Nolan · 09/12/13 01:40PM
Your Wish Was Granted, Adorable New Mammal Species Discovered
Maggie Lange · 08/15/13 11:29AMSmithsonian researchers announced the discovery of a new species today—and it's not the usual slimy earth bug! This new species is a distractingly delightful mammal with stylish fur and an energetic attitude. It's called an olinguito and according to the Smithsonian researcher who discovered the creature, "it looks kind of like a fuzzball."
Oh My God Particle: Physicists Confirm Observation of Higgs Boson
Maggie Lange · 03/14/13 08:42AMPhysicists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research confirmed today that they have discovered a subatomic particle that is a crucial building block of the universe. Called a Higgs boson, this particle will help to explain what gives matter in the universe size and shape. The existence of the particle was predicted in 1964 as a component of the most widespread model of the physical universe. The particle takes its proper name from Peter Higgs, the physicist who proposed its existence, but the boson particle has been popularly nicknamed the "God particle."
England Buried King Richard III Under a Parking Lot; Digs Him Up Like 'Our Bad'
Caity Weaver · 02/04/13 05:36PMPreviously Unknown Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale About Suicidal Candle Discovered
Robert Kessler · 12/13/12 02:30PMA Danish historian claims to have found a lost work by fairy tale auteur Hans Christian Andersen. The Associated Press reports Esben Brage was rifling through the belongings of wealthy Danish families at the National Archives last October when he found the six-page story, because he's retired and everyone needs a hobby.
Unbreakable WWII Code Found on Long-Dead Pigeon
Mallory Ortberg · 11/24/12 01:29PMBecause sometimes life is every bit as exciting and riddled with mysteries as you had hoped it would be as a cunning, hopeful child, a man in southern England has discovered the remains of a homing pigeon carrying an encrypted message for a British intelligence agency while renovating his 17th-century fireplace. The man, David Martin, found the remains of the pigeon back in 1982 but the existence of the message remained a secret until earlier this month.
Scientists Discover Massive "Super-Jupiter" Planet
Mallory Ortberg · 11/19/12 10:11PMBecause space is just amazing, astronomers in Hawaii announced today that they've found a planet 170 light-years away from Earth that is more than thirteen times larger than the largest planet in our solar system (that's Jupiter, for those of you just tuning in). They've also managed to take a photo of its surface, which is a fairly rare occurrence, and the rest of us get to benefit from living in the really tremendous kind of era where anyone can just look at photographs taken in outer space over lunch at our desks.
Couple Discover Medieval Shaft/Possible Time Portal Under Their Couch; Wife Is Pissed
Caity Weaver · 08/30/12 04:35PMScientists Discover Pluto's Fifth Moon
Taylor Berman · 07/11/12 09:29PMLondon Finds the Remains of Shakespeare’s First Theatre Right Where They Left Them: Underneath London
Caity Weaver · 06/06/12 11:17PM'Beautiful Feathered Tyrant' Too Fat to Fly
Caity Weaver · 04/05/12 12:37AMA team of Chinese and Canadian scientists announced on Wednesday that farmers had discovered a new species of dinosaur as big as a T-rex, covered in feathers, in a small quarry in northeast China. The dinosaurs, found in a pack of three, are the largest feathered animal ever discovered – alive or extinct.
Science Locates the Elusive Fish Fart
Hamilton Nolan · 03/27/12 01:58PMLess-Great Fragment of Great Wall of China Discovered in Mongolia
Caity Weaver · 02/29/12 09:34PMMonster Cockroach Can Jump
Maureen O'Connor · 12/14/11 10:20AM'Elvis Monkey' Has a Michael Jackson Nose
Maureen O'Connor · 12/12/11 02:27PMGreat strides in the field of anthropomorphically amusing animals: Among 208 new species discovered in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia is an "Elvis monkey" that "looks like it wears a pompadour." The Elvis monkey has no nose (Michael Jackson monkey?) and lives in the Himalayan forests of Myanmar, a World Wildlife Fund report explains:
Meet Pluto's New Moon
Adrian Chen · 07/20/11 04:41PMLong Lost, Possibly Lickable Toad Found
Jeff Neumann · 07/14/11 07:15AMThe last time anyone saw a Sambas stream toad, also called the Bornean rainbow toad, was back in 1924 on the island of Borneo. Then last month, researchers from Sarawak Malaysia University found and photographed three of them living in trees in a remote forest on Borneo. How fascinating! And what an important discovery! But the most important question is, will licking one make you hallucinate?