Art experts at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh made an exciting discovery while preparing for an upcoming exhibition. The reverse side of Vincent van Gogh's 1885 painting, Head of a Peasant Woman, features a portrait of the famed artist....

The beautiful island country of Madagascar has a dire school shortage. About a third of Malagasy children have no access to education because the schools are too far away or severely overcrowded. Thinking Huts, a non-profit dedicated to increasing global access to education, believes that 22,000 new schools are needed to fulfill the demand. The organization plans to tackle the issue with a series of 3D-printed schools, the first of which was completed in April 2022....

A sprawling seagrass meadow has just been declared the "world's largest single living organism" based on area. The Poseidon’s ribbon weed seagrass (Posidonia australis) is located in Shark Bay, a protected body of shallow water in Western Australia. It covers an impressive 77 square miles (200 square kilometers) — the equivalent of about 280 soccer fields! The record was previously held by a 3.7 square-mile mushroom, dubbed "Humongous Fungus," in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon, USA....

There are over 30 meteor showers annually. However, few are as spectacular as the Perseids. The "shooting stars" have been blazing through the sky at a rate of about a dozen an hour since mid-July. But the best time to watch the natural fireworks show will be between August 11 and August 12, 2022. That's when the pace of the meteors will escalate to between 50 and one hundred an hour....

On June 28, 2022, Carson Pickett made history as the first athlete with a limb difference to play on the US women's national soccer team (USWNT). The 28-year-old, who filled in for defender Emily Fox, was in the game for the entire 90 minutes. She was instrumental in her team's 2-0 victory in the friendly game against Colombia. Pickett has also represented the US on the under-17 and under-23 national teams....

Freya, a 1,300-pound (589 kg) walrus, has been on an epic adventure since leaving her home in the Arctic Ocean in 2019. Over the past three years, the juvenile female has visited the coasts of Sweden, Denmark, England, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Shetland Islands. Freya, who is identified by her small tusks, white scar on her right nostril, and previous injury on her flipper, has now arrived in Norway....

A Roman-era cargo ship that sank near the Greek island of Antikythera over two thousand years ago has been yielding abundant ancient treasures since its discovery in 1900. In late June 2022, researchers revealed their latest find — a marble head depicting the Greek and Roman demigod Hercules. The expedition team believes it belongs to a headless sculpture of Hercules found during the first visit to the shipwreck....

Over the years, there have been numerous attempts to document the surface of the Moon. However, none have been as comprehensive as the map released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences on June 14, 2022....

The residents of Leye County in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are no strangers to sinkholes. The area's 29 majestic sinkholes and underground caves have earned themselves a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. But the one explored by scientists in early May 2022 harbored an extraordinary secret — a pristinely-preserved ancient forest....

The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) was launched into space on December 25, 2021, with high expectations. Scientists hoped the $10 billion space observatory would allow them to explore the origins of the Universe, its galaxies, and perhaps even the formation of the first stars. The initial photos, released by NASA on July 12, 2022, indicate that Webb is living up to its promise....

July is National Ice Cream Month. This means it is your civic duty to consume a scoop or two of the delicious treat daily. The fun tradition was started by former US president Ronald Reagan, who issued Proclamation 5219 in honor of the "nutritious and wholesome food" in 1984. The decree urges Americans to mark the month, or at least July 17 — designated National Ice Cream Day — with "appropriate ceremonies and activities."...

Few countries can measure up to Egypt when it comes to fascinating archaeological discoveries. A collection of 250 beautifully painted sarcophagi with well-preserved mummies is the latest to make headlines. The 2500-year-old artifacts, unveiled on May 31, 2022, were unearthed at Saqqara's "Cemetery of Ancient Animals," near Cairo. The temple complex was dedicated to Bast, the Egyptian goddess of protection and the bringer of good health. It was the burial place of choice for affluent residents of Memphis, the capital city of the Old Kingdom of Egypt....

President Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law on June 25, 2022. The legislation aims to stop dangerous people from obtaining firearms and to provide much-needed funds to improve the nation's mental health system. It is the most significant gun control regulation approved by the US Congress since the now-expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994....

On June 22, 2022, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida revealed they had captured a 215-pound (98-kilo) female Burmese python in Everglades National Park. Measuring 18 feet long (5 meters), it is the heaviest Burmese python ever caught in the state. The previous record-holder was a 185-pound (84-kilo)( specimen captured in Naples, Florida, in 2021....

San Francisco residents may notice something missing the next time they hail a taxi — no driver at the wheel. On June 2, 2022, Cruise, a division of General Motors (GM), was approved to charge for rides in its autonomous cars. Waymo, owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet, has been offering a similar service in Chandler, Arizona, since October 2020. However, Cruise is the first company allowed to operate commercial driverless cars in a major US city....

An unprecedented flood hit Yellowstone National Park on June 13, 2022. The catastrophic event was caused by a combination of unusually heavy rains and rapid snowmelt. The high and fast water flows destroyed bridges and swept away entire roadways, leaving communities and homes isolated. Fortunately, the approximately 10,000 park visitors were safely evacuated....

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber recently revealed that he had been diagnosed with a rare neurological condition known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome. The June 11, 2022, announcement came after the 28-year-old musician postponed three shows on his 2022 Justice World Tour. Bieber subsequently delayed all his upcoming US performances to recover....

School may be out for the summer, but the astronomical start of the warm season will not be until June 21, 2022. Called the summer solstice, it is the day when the North Pole is most inclined towards the Sun. This allows Northern Hemisphere residents to enjoy the longest day of the year. Those in the Southern Hemisphere will mark the start of winter with the year's shortest day....

On Sunday, June 19, 2022, Americans will observe both Father's Day and Juneteenth, the nation's youngest federal holiday. Officially recognized in 2021, it commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. On this day in 1865, America's last enslaved people — a group in Texas — were notified that slavery had been made illegal and that they were free....

Tardigrades are perhaps the most resilient creatures on Earth. Popularly called water bears, or moss piglets, they can thrive in the most extreme of conditions — from the peaks of mountains to the bottom of oceans, to even the vacuum of space. Now, researchers have finally found the one thing capable of killing the otherwise indestructible microscopic organisms — snail slime....

Tens of thousands of Americans across the country took to the streets on June 11, 2022, to once again push for more stringent gun control laws. The rallies come in the wake of the tragic deaths of 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, and ten shoppers at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store on June 2, 2022....

Winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee is never easy. However, this year's champion, Harini Logan, faced some unexpected twists and turns, including an unprecedented spell-off in the final round on June 2, 2022. But the poised 14-year-old from San Antonio, Texas, prevailed to take home the coveted title, trophy, and over $50,000 in cash and prizes....

Car manufacturers often create concept vehicles to showcase their technological prowess. However, most never get past the prototype stage because the designs are too far-fetched or expensive to make on a large scale. But on May 5, 2022, South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai announced plans to further develop the Elevate and Tiger X-1. The radical concept Ultimate Mobility Vehicles (UMVs) were unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2019 and 2021, respectively....

Rafael Nadal has once again proved he is the "King of Clay." On June 5, 2022, the tennis phenom defeated Casper Rudd in three decisive sets to win a record-extending 14th French Open title. The 36-year-old is the oldest men's singles French Open champion and the first male tennis player to win 22 Grand Slam championships — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic each hold 20 Grand Slam titles....