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The mysterious Mycenaean collapse and the possible role of climate change continue to fascinate historians and archaeologists alike. If you ever visit the ruins of Mycenae or Tiryns, it is hard not to be amazed by the massive Cyclopean walls that surround these ancient cities. For centuries, however, historians have looked at these fortresses and wondered what could have brought down such a powerful civilization, one so advanced for its time that it still captivates experts and visitors alike. During the Late Bronze Age, these palatial centers ranked among the most dominant powers of the Aegean and the wider Mediterranean,...

When the experienced rock carving hunter Tormod Fjeld was driving his daughter Ada to a nearby location, the two of them decided to take a closer look beneath Kolsåstoppen, a hill in Bærum, Eastern Norway.That was when they found something remarkable: magnificent ships carved into the rock.Perhaps these carvings show people in Norway 3,000 years ago -- sitting in their ship, maybe even wearing helmets.They also spotted a large footprint of the sole of a foot, as well as a hand with five thick fingers.And then more ships appeared -- some carved upright, others upside down.

While the massive Essex-class fleet carriers grabbed the headlines with their sprawling air groups and high-speed strikes, the "Jeep carriers" of the Casablanca class provided the indispensable backbone of Allied maritime operations. Note: Just because you can think up a reason to criticize doesn't mean that you are obligated to do so. Pedantic is not a compliment folks. Kaiser's Coffins: The Casablanca Class | 21:02 The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered 1.64M subscribers | 67,484 views | May 15, 2026

Explanation: Like salsa verde on your favorite burrito, a green aurora slathers up the sky in this 2017 June 25 snapshot from the International Space Station. About 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth, the orbiting station is itself within the upper realm of the auroral displays. Aurorae have the signature colors of excited molecules and atoms at the low densities found at extreme altitudes. Emission from atomic oxygen dominates this view. The tantalizing glow is green at lower altitudes, but rarer reddish bands extend above the space station's horizon. The orbital scene was captured while passing over a point south...

A new study suggests that about 59,000 years ago, someone used a small stone tool to drill into a badly decayed tooth, remove diseased tissue and expose the pulp chamber. The patient may have done it himself, or allowed another Neanderthal to do it. Either way, the procedure points to a striking level of skill, pain tolerance and practical medical understanding...By the time archaeologists found it in Chagyrskaya Cave, in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, the molar had lost nearly all of its crown. Its enamel was gone and the chewing surface had been worn flat by a hard...

A hefty, never-before-seen asteroid is racing toward Earth at around 20,000 mph (32,000 km/h) and will zoom past our planet closer than some satellites on Monday (May 18), scientists say. You can watch the unusually close encounter for yourself, even if you don't have access to stargazing equipment. The asteroid, dubbed 2026 JH2, was discovered May 10 by astronomers at the Mount Lemmon Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, who also spotted the superbright Comet Lemmon last year. The space rock, which has since been verified by other observatories across the globe, likely circles the sun every 3.7 years on an elliptical...

An artificial intelligence data center was running up a water bill for the ages, and local residents were the ones to point out the problem. In November, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Microsoft had a new “superfactory” named Fairwater spanning over 1 million square feet outside of Atlanta. Chief Technical Officer Mark Russinovich explained why the site is so massive. “To make improvements in the capabilities of the AI, you need to have larger and larger infrastructure to train it,” he said in a statement. The site developer, Quality Technology Services, purchased the plot in 2022 for $154 million. Ironically, Microsoft...

Explanation: Comet R3 PanSTARRS might be best remembered as an Orion comet. A key reason is because Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) was near its most spectacular -- in terms of tail visibility -- when passing in front of the iconic constellation. Although rare, other bright comets, too, have ventured across Orion, including Lovejoy in 2015, Hale-Bopp in 1997, and the Great Comet of 1264. Best visible in long duration exposures, the featured image was captured last week from the Craigieburn Mountain Range in New Zealand. Visible in the deep background image are the Orion Nebula, Barnard's Loop, and through R3's...

NASA’s TESS mission has released its most complete cosmic mosaic yet, revealing thousands of confirmed and candidate exoplanets scattered across the night sky. © Credit: NASA NASA has unveiled the most complete panoramic view yet from its Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), offering a breathtaking look at a sky crowded with thousands of potential alien worlds. The newly released all-sky mosaic combines years of observations into a single image that highlights nearly 6,000 confirmed and candidate exoplanets discovered across the galaxy. Beyond its visual impact, the map represents one of the most ambitious planet-hunting efforts ever conducted and marks another...

Explanation: What are some of the most interesting astronomical objects you can see in the night sky? Armed with a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope, if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you can look for the very popular objects in the Messier Catalog. Most of them, but not all, are also visible from the southern half of the Earth. The featured image shows all 110 objects in the catalog at uniform scale -- the same magnification. Charles Messier created the catalog in the 18th century. He was interested in comets, and his catalog was a list...

Bordeaux-no! A Michigan woman was arrested and then rushed to the hospital after she stole a bottle of wine and hid it inside a “body cavity,” cops said. The 48-year-old was allegedly caught by shopkeepers drinking a bottle of alcohol in a Traverse City liquor store without paying for it, and returned the next day to nab a bottle of Chardonnay. Employees attempted to stop her, but were unable to find the pilfered tipple. That is, until police arrested her and found it stashed inside an unnamed bodily orifice at the jail, at which point she was brought to Munson...

The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 ignited the artificial-intelligence boom—and elicited a chorus of warnings from AI bosses of an impending jobs apocalypse. Never mind that they have reason to talk up the disruptiveness of their products, or that rich-world employment is near all-time highs—the dark message has landed. Seven in ten Americans think AI will make it harder for people to find work; nearly a third fear for their own jobs. A dearth of openings for college graduates—especially computer programmers—amplifies the dread. The past offers some solace for the anxious. Labour markets constantly change. Today’s offices would be unrecognisable...

Chilling new interrogation video shows the moment a trans killer calmly confessed to executing her parents — blaming it on her mom trying to thwart her gender transition surgery. Mia Bailey, now 30, copped to slaughtering her parents, Gail and Joseph Bailey, inside the family home in Washington, Utah, in 2024, the footage obtained by KUTV shows. The brazen murderer, who is currently serving two life sentences, told investigators in the newly released clip that her mental health had been declining for years and that’s “why I needed the surgery.” “She was trying to sabotage it. She always had boundary...

The Russians have developed the most sophisticated nuclear missile in the history of the world by a very wide margin, and it is specifically designed to be used in a future nuclear war with the United States. The RS-28 Sarmat is an intercontinental ballistic missile that has a maximum speed of approximately 15,500 miles per hour. It is 116 feet tall, and that makes it roughly as tall as a ten story building. It can carry up to 10 metric tons of thermonuclear warheads, and those warheads can destroy an area the size of the state of Texas. We have...

Robert Fooks swung a pickaxe into his kitchen floor to steal a few more inches of ceiling height. Instead, he cracked open a glazed pottery bowl that had been sitting in the earth beneath his 400-year-old Dorset cottage since the English Civil War. Inside sat roughly 1,000 gold and silver coins, untouched since someone buried them in the mid-1640s.The story surfaced after the coins sold at auction in 2024. The hoard lay hidden beneath the kitchen floor at South Poorton Farm until Robert and Betty Fooks decided to lower the ground level during a renovation...The couple bought the property in...

In 1995, a human skull emerged from the Atlantic Ocean and landed on a beach in Longport, New Jersey. More bones followed over the next 18 years, surfacing across three different Jersey Shore towns. For three decades, investigators called the unidentified remains "Scattered Man John Doe." Now, genetic genealogy researchers have given him back his name: Captain Henry Goodsell, a 29-year-old schooner commander who died in a winter storm 181 years ago.The identification, confirmed in April 2025 and announced by the Ramapo College of New Jersey's Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center in May, marks one of the oldest cold cases ever...

Explanation: The New General Catalog of star clusters and nebulae really isn't so new. In fact, it was published in 1888 - an effort by J. L. E. Dreyer to consolidate the work of astronomers William, Caroline, and John Herschel along with others into a useful single, complete catalog of astronomical discoveries and measurements. Dreyer's work was largely successful and is still important today, as this famous catalog continues to lend its "NGC" to bright clusters, galaxies, and nebulae. Take for example the star cluster known as NGC 188 (item number 188 in the NGC compilation). It lies about 6,000...

DNA testing has finally revealed that two mysterious individuals -- a young boy and a teenage girl entombed together in a rare Anglo-Saxon double burial -- were brother and sister, according to a report by The Independent. The pair initially drew attention two years ago when they were discovered in Cherington, Gloucestershire, because of the unusual way they were laid to rest. Both children had been placed gently on their sides. The young girl faced her brother and had been propped up in a way, perhaps on pillows, that made it look like she was watching over her younger sibling...

According to a statement released by the University of York, researchers have identified rare traces of dyed purple textiles in two Roman infant burials. Known as Tyrian purple, the extremely costly colorant was manufactured by crushing thousands of murex marine sea snails and was typically reserved for use by emperors, royalty, and members of the aristocracy. However, experts were able to detect its presence on garments wrapped around two small children who died and were buried around 1,700 years ago. Their remains are held in the collections of the York Museums Trust. The dye was identifiable through chemical analysis because...