For several hundred years, the term “Tartary” – or its Latin version, Tartaria – appeared on European maps, usually floating somewhere between Eastern Europe and China. This post explores the etymology of the place name and the various regions to which it referred.
Read MoreLIMA – Peru’s government has significantly reduced the protected area around its famed Nazca Lines, a move critics and archaeologists fear could leave the ancient geoglyphs vulnerable to hundreds of nearby informal mining operations.
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Florence Bascom broke barriers in the 19th century as a leading geologist of her time. This post discusses her life and career with the United States Geological Survey including the geologic maps she made which are in the Geography and Map Division collections.
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Scientists have released the first X-ray images of a mysterious spherical object found in Colombia that locals claim is of alien origin. The so-called “UFO” was spotted in March over the town of Buga, zigzagging across the sky in a pattern that defies description of conventional aircraft. The object was discovered shortly after landing and has since been analysed by scientists, who have found it to be made up of three layers of metal-like material and 18 microspheres surrounding a central core they call a “chip”, the Daily Mail reports. Radiologist Dr. Jose Luis Velasquez, who examined the sphere, said…
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Researcher Jean Ward recently made a curious discovery while examining a series of images captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. The photographs in question were taken by the rover’s Mastcam on April 30, 2025—specifically on Sol 4526 of its ongoing mission—and depict an unusual, disk-shaped object partially embedded in the slope of a Martian hill. Ward conducted an analysis of the images, focusing intently on the anomalous structure. To enhance clarity, the researcher performed digital retouching, removing the automated grid overlay imposed by the rover’s imaging equipment. This refinement allowed for a sharper view of the…
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Imagine ancient Mars as a surprisingly mild world where rain or snow fell from the sky, and rivers flowed into hundreds of lakes. A new study from the University of Colorado Boulder suggests the Red Planet was once warm and wet—very different from today’s frozen desert. Geologists found that heavy rain or snow likely carved Mars’ valleys and channels billions of years ago. The research, led by Amanda Steckel, was published on April 21 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. “You could pull up Google Earth images of places like Utah, zoom out, and you’d see the similarities to…
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From dire wolves to woolly mammoths, the idea of resurrecting extinct species has captured the public imagination. Colossal Biosciences, the Dallas-based biotech company leading the charge, has made headlines for ambitious efforts to bring back long-lost animals using cutting edge genetic engineering. It recently announced the birth of pups with key traits of dire wolves, an iconic predator last seen roaming North America more than 10,000 years ago. This followed on the heels of earlier project announcements focused on the woolly mammoth and the thylacine. This all fuels a sense that de-extinction is not only possible but imminent. But as…
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“Lantingji Xu” scroll (Shenlong version). Today’s lunar calendar day is the third day of March (Chinese: 三月初三), is the Shangsi Festival, a traditional festival in ancient China. Legend has it that on the Shangsi Festival in 353, Wang Xizhi held an Orchid Pavilion Gathering and wrote the “Lantingji Xu”. The original is lost. This Tang Dynasty copy by Feng Chengsu (馮承素) is considered the best of all the extant copies.
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In a remote cave system within West Texas’s San Esteban Rock, researchers have made an extraordinary discovery: a 6,500-year-old cache of ancient hunting equipment, buried deep within the cavern. This remarkable collection includes weapons and personal items that offer a rare and vivid glimpse into the tools and daily practices of the region’s prehistoric inhabitants. The excavation, conducted by the Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS) with support from the University of Kansas’ Odyssey Archaeological Research Fund, has yielded a complete set of hunting tools that archaeologists had previously only hypothesized about. Among the artifacts are stone points crafted for…
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Archaeology confirms the Bible (and has done so over and over again through the years)—including with a new set of excavations under the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
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Freshwater turtle conservationists are celebrating successful breeding and habitat protection programs that have offered endangered species a lifeline.
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Scientists behind a new theory about the Pyramids of Giza have defended their findings after being accused of spreading ‘fake news’ for claiming to discover an ‘underground city’ beneath the ancient necropolis. The world has been embroiled in controversy following a potentially revolutionary study by three Italian researchers—Professor Corrado Malanga (University of Pisa), Filippo Biondi (University of Strathclyde), and Egyptologist Armando Mei. Their research suggests the presence of ‘vertical cylinders’ 2,000 feet beneath the Khafre pyramid, along with ‘spiral staircases’ leading to hidden chambers and channels. They theorize these may indicate advanced ancient technology, such as an underground water system.…
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For centuries, there have been unconventional beliefs about the shape of the Earth. This post provides a historical overview of alternative theories about the Earth’s form.
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Have you ever had a dream so vivid that you thought it was real, only to wake up and realize it was all in your mind? What if our waking reality is similar—not a fixed, physical stage, but a construct of consciousness? Science has leaned on a materialistic view, asserting that the physical world is primary and consciousness is merely a byproduct of brain activity. Yet, emerging evidence from physics, consciousness studies, and ancient wisdom suggests that consciousness is fundamental, creating our perceptions of the physical world, including the laws of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Beyond Space and Time…
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During the 19th century in both England and America, physical fitness became an important aspect of structured health and education programs. In 1880, recognizing the public’s growing interest in the use of dumbbells and clubs, New York City champion strongman Guss Hill (1858 – 1937) made his publishing debut with an early exercise book.
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A deep-sea fisherman has revealed his latest eerie catch—a bizarre, otherworldly creature that has been compared to something out of a sci-fi movie. With a large, bulbous body resembling a brain, tiny shrunken eyes, and a gaping mouth, the fish looks like it belongs on another planet. Roman Fedortsov, the fisherman behind the discovery, hauled it from the northern Pacific Ocean and shared footage of the strange find with his 600,000 followers. He identified the creature as an Aptocyclus ventricosus, commonly known as the smooth lumpfish or smooth lumpsucker. This deep-sea species, a type of marine ray-finned fish, can grow…
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Often missionaries face the difficulties of language and culture. Saints Cyril and Methodius were no exceptions. But they faced the difficulties by writing the foreign language in a new alphabet and translating the liturgy for the local people.
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A strange metallic object was spotted hovering above the icy waters of the Beagle Channel, Ushuaia, Argentina. The images, shared widely across social media platforms over the weekend, show disc-shaped UAP. The tourists, aboard a catamaran en route to observe penguin colonies, initially focused on capturing Tierra del Fuego’s stark landscapes. It was only later, while reviewing their photos, that they noticed the anomaly: a smooth, bronze-toned object suspended mid-air, its surface glinting in the sunlight. The clarity of the images—showing the object tilted at an angle—has ruled out claims of camera malfunctions or lens flares. Eyewitnesses described the object…
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Hailing from Australia, Rodgers made a home and community for himself in Japan’s ancient capital across more than four decades.
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What came first, galaxies or planets? The answer has always been galaxies, but new research is changing that idea, reports universetoday.com. Could habitable planets really have formed before there were galaxies? In the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang, there were no heavy elements. There was only hydrogen, which comprised about 75% of the mass, and helium, which comprised the remaining 25%. (There were probably also trace amounts of lithium, even beryllium.) There was nothing heavier, meaning there was nothing for rocky planets to form from. After a few hundred million years, the first stars and galaxies formed. As successive…
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This post highlights some of the maps that were scanned and made available on the Library website in 2024.
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Humoristic cartoon from Puck on the establishment of diplomatic relations between Greece and Persia. In 499 BC, the Persian Achaemenid Empire tried unsuccessfully to conquer various ancient Greek city-states. Finally in 449 BC a de facto peace was concluded and the Greco-Persian Wars effectively ended, but the two sides refused to have any relations. In 1902, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah of Persia and George I of Greece agreed to de jure recognition and after 2393 years established diplomatic relations.
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Sumerian literature, among the oldest written records in human history, recounts the stories of the Anunnaki gods and the origins of humanity. These ancient texts hint at a possible connection between humanity and extraterrestrial beings. Legends from various ancient cultures describe anthropomorphic gods, including Oannes, a deity emerging from the sea to impart advanced knowledge that helped the Sumerians establish their civilization. Throughout history, humans have shared tales of divine beings who brought the knowledge necessary for creating a civilized world. These beings are often credited with extraordinary wisdom and abilities. Ancient peoples attributed the foundations of their civilizations to…
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The iconic Stonehenge monument may have been envisioned as a unifying political symbol, but in the end, it turned out to be a failure in achieving its intended purpose. Scientists now believe they have unraveled the mystery behind Stonehenge. According to a study published in Archaeology International, the enigmatic megalith may have been built as a response to increasing immigration from Europe during the Neolithic era. The monument, with its colossal stones transported from distant regions, was possibly intended to preserve the identity of Neolithic Britain and foster national unity. However, the effort was ultimately unsuccessful, as the island’s native…
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I came to You late, O Beauty so ancient and new. I came to love You late. You were within me and I was outside where I rushed about wildly searching for You like some monster loose in Your beautiful world. You were with me but I was not with You. You called me, You shouted to me, You wrapped me in Your Splendour, You broke past my deafness, You bathed me in Your Light, You sent my blindness reeling. You gave out such a delightful fragrance and I drew it in and came breathing hard after You. I …
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Scientists have discovered a huge spiral galaxy with an ordered structure in the early universe, but cannot explain how it grew so big so quickly. Using the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a spiral galaxy with an ordered structure about 32,000 light years in diameter. It existed 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. But galaxies in the early universe are lumpier and lack an ordered structure. So this discovery has stumped astronomers. The study was published on the preprint server arXiv, Live Science writes. Astronomers have discovered an unexpectedly large, well-ordered spiral galaxy in the early universe, 32,000…
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Archaeologists have discovered mummies with 13 golden tongues in Oxyrhynchus. Moreover, one of them had two golden tongues at once. Archaeologists have discovered 13 mummies with golden tongues and fingernails at a cemetery in the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus. The human remains date back to the Ptolemaic period (c. 304-30 B.C.), Live Science reports. In total, archaeologists discovered 52 mummies and 13 golden tongues. Remarkably, one mummy had two golden tongues, and another had nails covered with gold plates. Archaeologists had previously found 16 golden tongues at Oxyrhynchus. Gold was believed to be the “flesh of the gods,” so…
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After the Crab Nebula,
this giant star cluster is the second entry in
18th century astronomer Charles Messier’s famous list of
things that are not comets
Archaeologists in Zambia have unearthed wooden artifacts dating back approximately 476,000 years, challenging the long-standing view that early humans primarily relied on stone tools. These well-crafted objects showcase the intelligence, imagination, and skills of our ancient ancestors. The artifacts, discovered near Kalambo Falls, include a wedge, a digging stick, a cut log, and a notched branch. Their careful assembly suggests they were used to create platforms or foundations for dwellings, demonstrating advanced woodworking abilities far beyond what was previously attributed to early hominids. Preserved in swampy terrain, these items predate the emergence of Homo sapiens. Researchers believe their creators were…
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Could Mars, once a warm and wet world, still harbor life? A team led by Andrea Butturini believes so, focusing on Acidalia Planitia as a potential haven for microbial life, especially methanogens. Their study identifies a subsurface zone between 4.3 and 8.8 kilometers deep where conditions might support life. This area, shielded from Mars’ harsh surface, could retain ancient water and geothermal heat, key for life. Analyzing data from Mars missions, the researchers found Acidalia Planitia, a vast plain, might host methanogens. These microorganisms, which produce methane, can survive in extreme conditions without oxygen or sunlight, thriving on minimal nutrients.…
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The deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean can be found about 100 miles north of Puerto Rico, in a trench where two tectonic plates meet. This post discusses the Puerto Rico Trench’s unique geology and efforts to map it.
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Scientists have discovered a new species of human that went extinct 200,000 years ago in what is now China. Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of 16 individuals that were distinguished by large heads, wide skulls and huge teeth. Their head sizes, which were larger than those of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, led the team to name the new prehistoric species Homo juluensis. The fossilized remains were found alongside thousands of artefacts, stone tools and animal bones that revealed more about their lives, such as that they were hunters and made clothing from animal skins. Researchers believe the species lived in…
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Messier 4 can be found
west of bright red-giant star Antares,
alpha star of the constellation Scorpius
Mary Renault (pseudonym of Eileen Mary Challans) was a British lesbian writer best known for her widely read historical-fiction novels set in ancient Greece.
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In a world increasingly divided by politics, culture, and ideology, the idea that “all is one” feels like a radical assertion. This concept lies at the heart of The Law of One, a philosophy that claims all beings are interconnected as manifestations of the Infinite Creator. Although rooted in metaphysical teachings, the principles of The Law of One are gaining renewed attention, not only among spiritual seekers but also within branches of science exploring consciousness and the universe’s interconnected nature. What Is The Law of One? The Law of One originates from a series of channeled communications, collectively called The…
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Imagine for a moment that Earth isn’t the pinnacle of life but just a complex farm. In this thought experiment, humanity itself is the crop, and our existence serves a purpose that goes beyond anything our rational minds can conceive. The farmer? An ancient, imperfect entity, a cosmic cultivator whose primary goal is not justice, equality, or goodness, but yield, quality, and productivity. Under this paradigm, human life, morality, and even our most cherished values might all be tools in the cultivation of something much deeper: our consciousness, our soul. Earth as a Farm: A Metaphor for Humanity’s Purpose To…
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Kelly Lambert: We crafted our first rodent car from a plastic cereal container. After trial and error, my colleagues and I found that rats could learn to drive forward by grasping a small wire that acted like a gas pedal. Before long, they were steering with surprising precision to reach a Froot Loop treat. As expected, rats housed in enriched environments – complete with toys, space and companions – learned to drive faster than those in standard cages. This finding supported the idea that complex environments enhance neuroplasticity: the brain’s ability to change across the lifespan in response to environmental…
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Olaf Lipinski: In the 2016 science fiction movie Arrival, a linguist is faced with the daunting task of deciphering an alien language consisting of palindromic phrases, which read the same backwards as they do forwards, written with circular symbols. As she discovers various clues, different nations around the world interpret the messages differently – with some assuming they convey a threat. If humanity ended up in such a situation today, our best bet may be to turn to research uncovering how artificial intelligence (AI) develops languages. But what exactly defines a language? Most of us use at least one to…
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Over 40 years ago, archaeologists in Pommeroeul, a small town in southern Belgium, unearthed a skeleton that seemed, at first, to be a straightforward Roman burial from 1,700 years ago. But when researchers revisited the site in 2019 to perform radiocarbon dating, they stumbled upon a startling discovery. The skull indeed dated to the Roman era, but the other bones told a different story altogether. They were from various historical periods and, even more unusually, came from at least five different individuals. This mysterious skeleton, it appeared, had been pieced together like a morbid puzzle. According to Barbara Veselka, archaeologist…
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Following the ancient tradition within the Church of offering prayers for the faithful departed, today we offer our prayers for all of our deceased relatives and friends, trusting in the power of prayer and the infinite mercy of God.
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At the end of the fifteenth century, simplified versions of medical charts featuring an image of the “Zodiac Man” began to appear in Books of Hours. The Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division contains many examples of these printed editions, one of which uses a skeleton in place of the Zodiac Man.
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Some 13,000 light-years away toward the southern constellation Pavo,
the globular star cluster NGC 6752 roams the halo of our Milky Way
galaxy
Members of Australia’s Mongolian community say an ancient sport offers them an opportunity for self-reflection and connection.
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Theories about the causes of the Salem witch trials range from hallucinogenic mushrooms to psychological disorders and economic pressures. However, a new scientific study may have identified the real cause behind the infamous events in Massachusetts that led to the trial of more than 200 people and the execution of 19 by hanging over 300 years ago. The study points to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century as a crucial factor. By greatly increasing the spread of information, the press helped disseminate books on “demonology,” which fueled fear of witchcraft. One such book, Malleus Maleficarum (or…
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During the 17th and 18th centuries, classical languages were an important component of education in the North American colonies. Viewed through the lens of material and printing history, the books highlighted in this blog post provide a very human picture of classical studies in early America.
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Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) was about 44 million miles away from Earth in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 272 miles above the South Pacific Ocean southeast of New Zealand just before sunrise on Sept. 28, 2024.
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