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Medieval Europe. Where unbathed, sword-wielding knights ate rotten meat, thought the Earth was flat, defended chastity-belt wearing maidens, and tortured their foes with grisly gadgets. Except... this is more fiction than fact. So, where do all the myths about the Middle Ages come from? And what were they actually like? The “Middle Ages” refers to a 1,000-year timespan, stretching from the fall of...

In 1971, Ian Waterman suddenly collapsed from a severe case of what seemed to be gastric flu. His illness passed after a few days, but a stranger set of symptoms lingered. Although his muscles and joints remained healthy, Waterman was unable to move. In fact, he was unable to feel anything from the neck down. Eventually, he was diagnosed with a rare and extreme form of deafferentation, a neurologi...

A new report says an estimated 43,000 people died during Somalia’s longest drought on record last year. Half of them were likely children under five years old. It is the first official count of deaths announced in the drought that is affecting large parts of the Horn of Africa. At least 18,000 people, and as many as 34,000, are predicted to die in the first six months of this year. 一份新报告称，...

Colombia is one of just eight countries where bullfights remain legal. Many places in those countries are establishing restrictions on the activity. Courts and city governments in Spain and Mexico have issued rulings that have discouraged the events. In December, Colombia’s Senate approved a measure to ban bullfighting nationwide. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives could take up the legisla...

As the morning sun shines on the Golden Gate Palace, brother and sister Hisham and Asma prepare for the journey of a lifetime. It is 791 CE, and the Abbasid Caliphate is at the height of its power, stretching from India to North Africa. With over half a million inhabitants, its capital city of Madinat al-Salaam, also known as Baghdad, is the largest in the Islamic Empire, possibly the world. And i...

The American Library Association (ALA) released a new report Thursday about book banning in the country. It found attempted book bans and information restrictions at school and public libraries continue to increase, setting a record in 2022. The report says there were 1,200 known challenges in 2022. That is almost double the number from the year before, and it had also been record setting. The ALA...

Less than two months ago the new South Korean girl group MAVE: released its first music video. It now has nearly 20 million views on YouTube. At first look, MAVE: looks like any other K-pop band. But it only exists virtually. Its four members - SIU, ZENA, TYRA and MARTY - live in the digital world, also called the metaverse. The group’s songs, dances, talks and even their hair are created by...

In this south Texas clearing, an ancient tale that ties the members of four species together is unfurling. The first involved is our soon-to-be queen leafcutter ant. The second is this fungus, a piece of which she scoops into her mouth pocket. The third are these tiny cockroaches, which nestle under her wings. And the fourth is the one that threatens them all. But it’ll reveal itself later. 在得克...

Sea turtles are miraculous. First, they've been around since the late Jurassic, roughly 150 million years ago. Cohorts of the dinosaurs, sea turtles have survived through the challenges of eons, existing still today, where many others have ended their evolutionary run. Second, throughout the centuries and up till today, every living adult sea turtle has overcome the odds, existing as a consequence...

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. It can be found in swathes of city pavements, bridges that span vast rivers, and the tallest skyscrapers on earth. But this sturdy substance does have a weakness: it’s prone to catastrophic cracking that costs tens of billions of dollars to repair each year. But what if we could avoid that problem, by creating concrete that heals...

From space, our planet appears to be more ocean than Earth. But despite the water covering 71% of the planet’s surface, more than half the world’s population endures extreme water scarcity for at least one month a year. And current estimates predict that by 2040, up to 20 more countries could be experiencing water shortages. Taken together, these bleak statistics raise a startling question: are we...

The Screen Actors Guild Awards, or SAG Awards, are known as an important predictor for the Academy Awards, or Oscars. On Sunday night in Los Angeles, the film Everything Everywhere All at Once was a big winner at the SAG Awards. Three actors from the film won awards. In addition, the group of actors in the film won the award for best cast. 演员工会奖或 SAG 奖被称为奥斯卡金像奖的重要预测指标。周日...

Behind some great men, there is a big brother. Leon Monet, Claude Monet’s older brother, is central to a new public art show, or exhibition, in Paris. The exhibition explores the part Leon Monet played in the famous impressionist painter’s life and art. Leon was a color chemist who was four years older than Claude. Historians now understand that Leon helped Claude succeed. He helped in the develop...

Researchers who examined DNA from famous German composer Ludwig van Beethoven have learned new details about his health. The DNA – which came from Beethoven’s hair – did not provide a cause for his deafness. But the samples did find that he had a genetic risk for liver disease. The DNA also showed evidence that Beethoven was infected with the virus hepatitis B in the last months of his l...

A famous American circus has been reimagined and reborn without the use of animals in the show. The family event now centers on humans performing tricks, including walking on a wire and flying through the air on a trapeze high above the ground. Feld Entertainment owns the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. The company talked to the Associated Press about what people can expect to see a...

Microsoft announced its plan to add artificial intelligence (AI) into its line of office products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook last week. The announcement came a day after Google released its own AI tools to be used with Gmail, Google Docs and other products to developers and selected businesses. Called "Copilot", Microsoft’s AI tools will offer writing and input suggestions in t...

A rocket made almost entirely of 3D-printed parts started its first flight late Wednesday but failed to reach orbit. The 33-meter-long rocket, called Terran 1, took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The startup company Relativity Space created 85 percent of the rocket using 3D printing technology. Most parts came from the company’s large printing center in Long Beach, California. 一枚几乎完全由 3D...

What do a student in China, an office worker in the UK and an astronaut in space all have in common? They all eat instant noodles. And they're not alone – over 100 billion servings of instant noodles are consumed globally each year, making them one of the world's most successful industrial foods. But how did this happen? 中国的学生、英国的上班族和太空中的宇航员有什么共同点？他们都吃方便面。他们并...

A federal government report from December found that half of all U.S. students started this school year behind their grade level in at least one subject. Many American education experts say tutoring is the best way to help students make up for learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, although many schools have received a lot of federal aid, only a small number of students have be...

Designers are increasingly using different kinds of materials to produce products that do not harm the environment. Reused plastic bottles, wood, plant fiber, and even seaweed are being used in place of traditional materials for household goods and clothing. Nina Edwards Anker’s sconces and chandeliers look like ancient pieces of paper placed around electronic lights known as LEDs. But a closer lo...

Have you ever seen a tree covered in parts with green growth and wondered what it was? Were you concerned that the spreading green life might hurt the tree? Well, no need to worry. Those growths could be lichens, moss or algae, and none of them threaten the tree’s health. They are not parasites. 你有没有见过一棵树的一部分长满绿色植物，想知道它是什么？你担心蔓延的绿色生命会伤害到树吗？好吧，不用担...

The Carter Center said recently that only 13 human cases of Guinea  worm  disease were reported worldwide last year. That is a major drop from 3.5 million cases of infected people in 1986. 卡特中心最近表示，去年全球仅报告了 13 例人类麦地那龙线虫病病例。 与 1986 年的 350 万感染病例相比大幅下降。 These early numbers are expected to be confirmed in the coming months. Still, the Carter Cente...

How much do you spend on looking after yourself each month? We all like to look and feel good, so it's nice to spend money on ourselves sometimes! You might spend your hard-earned cash on visiting the hairdresser, a gym membership or pampering yourself with a massage. 你每个月花多少钱照顾自己？ 我们都喜欢看起来和感觉良好，所以有时花钱在自己身上很好！ 您可能会将辛苦赚来的钱花在理发店、健身房会员资...

Ice baths are a popular subject on American social media pages. Kim Kardashian, Harry Styles, Kristen Bell, Lizzo, and other stars have posted about their cold water experiences. 冰浴是美国社交媒体页面上的热门话题。 Kim Kardashian、Harry Styles、Kristen Bell、Lizzo 和其他明星都发布了他们的冷水体验。 Health claims surrounding ice baths include improved mood, increased energy, weight loss and reduce...

Everything Everywhere All at Once won the best picture Oscar at the Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night in Los Angeles, California. 周日晚上在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶举行的奥斯卡金像奖颁奖典礼上，一切都在同一时间获得了奥斯卡最佳影片奖。 The unusual movie about a Chinese-American immigrant family won seven Oscars, including three acting awards for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and...