Arts & Entertainment, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 14, 2020

Longest-exposure photo ever was just discovered. It was made through a beer can.

Eight years and one month ago, a Master of Fine Art student at the University of Hertfordshire fitted a beer can with photographic paper and created a low-tech pinhole camera. She then placed the can on a telescope at the university's Bayfordbury Observatory and eventually forgot about the project. Now,...

Jan 20, 2021

Italian cops recover stolen da Vinci replica no one knew was missing

An important copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous “Salvator Mundi” painting is back in the hands of an Italian museum after being stolen at some point in the last year. No one knew it was missing. Police found the copy, which shows Jesus with his right hand raised in a...

Feb 22, 2021

Australia's oldest rock painting is an anatomically accurate kangaroo

A nearly-life-size depiction of a kangaroo — realistic genitalia included — is the oldest known rock painting in Australia. Scientists recently pinpointed its age to 17,300 years ago with a technique that had never been used on Australian ancient art before: measuring radioactive carbon in wasp nests from rocks near...

Feb 22, 2021

Hidden 'madman' message on 'The Scream' traced back to Munch himself

Written in tiny faint letters on the top-left corner of Edvard Munch's painting The Scream, is a mysterious inscription that reads, Could only have been painted by a madman! Experts have long debated the identity of the inscriber, with some suggesting a dissatisfied vandalizer is the author, while others pointed...

Apr 9, 2021

Europe's oldest map, a stone slab, unearthed in France

A 4,000-year-old stone slab, first discovered over a century ago in France, may be the oldest known map in Europe, according to a new study. The Saint-Bélec Slab dates back to the early Bronze Age (2150-1600 B.C.) and was first discovered in 1900 in a prehistoric burial ground in Finistère,...

Apr 11, 2021

Did Marie Antoinette really say 'Let them eat cake'?

Did Marie Antoinette really utter the infamous words, Let them eat cake? The quick answer to this question is a simple no. Marie Antoinette, the last pre-revolutionary queen of France, did not say Let them eat cake when confronted with news that Parisian peasants were so desperately poor they couldn't...

Jun 19, 2021

The best Star Wars Prime Day deals and gifts for 2021

The Force is strong with the Star Wars deals for Amazon.com's annual Amazon Prime Day megasale on Monday and Tuesday (June 21-22). We've been scouring the web for all the best Star Wars Prime Day gifts to give loved ones — including yourself, of course. Here we list the best...

Jun 21, 2021

Dive into LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian's Razor Crest starship is 40% off for Prime Day

If you or your loved one can't get enough of Star Wars, this Mandalorian LEGO set of the Razor Crest might be the perfect gift. Kids can role-play the heroic warrior, the Mandalorian, who enters the Star Wars universe after the fall of the Empire. Take off in bounty hunter...

Jun 22, 2021

Star Wars Baby Yoda Echo Dot is 35% off for Prime Day

If Baby Yoda (aka Grogu the Child) from the Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian stole your heart, you can grab a version for your very own for Amazon Prime Day. Tuesday (June 22) is the last day to save 35% on a Amazon Echo Dot device complete with Baby...

Jul 26, 2021

Michelangelo's fingerprint possibly found on butt of wax statue

A 500-year-old wax sculpture attributed to Michelangelo might hold the famed Renaissance artist's fingerprint, a new analysis finds. Michelangelo reportedly created the wax sculpture as a study for a larger sculpture he planned for St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, according to a statement from BBC Two, which just released...

Sep 3, 2021

Artistic giant Michelangelo was actually quite short

As an artist, the legendary Michelangelo Buonarroti left behind some big shoes to fill. But in real life, the great painter's shoes weren't big at all — and neither was Michelangelo. Italian researchers recently examined three shoes that were found in Michelangelo's home after his death and are thought to...

Sep 23, 2021

Astrophotographers capture stunning views of the night sky (Photos)

The heavens look gorgeous through the lenses of expert astrophotographers. Nebulas, galaxies, the moon and sun, and even the stars take on an artistic glow when captured with the right eye, equipment and light. Here's a look at stunning astronomy images from the Royal Observatory Greenwich's Astronomy Photographer of the...

Oct 13, 2021

William Shatner of 'Star Trek' says he's ready to go to space for real

'Star Trek' actor William Shatner says he is ready to get to space for real. A new video from Blue Origin follows the 90-year-old's thoughts as he gets ready for a suborbital venture to space, expected to take place no earlier than Wednesday (Oct. 13). The video also sounds like...

Jul 10, 2022

Why does ancient Egypt's distinctive art style make everything look flat?

In 1986, the band The Bangles sang about all the old paintings on the tombs where the figures they depict are walking like an Egyptian. Though he was neither an art historian nor an Egyptologist, songwriter Liam Sternberg was referring to one of the most striking features of ancient Egyptian...

Jul 16, 2022

Hidden Van Gogh self-portrait discovered under 'peasant woman' painting

Conservators at the National Galleries of Scotland recently experienced quite a surprise after they X-rayed a painting by Vincent van Gogh. Hidden on the reverse side of the painting Head of a Peasant Woman, which Van Gogh completed in 1885, was a previously unknown self-portrait of the Dutch painter staring...