A Little-Known Photographer Captured the First Clear Image of a Total Solar Eclipse 175 Years Ago. Today, These Celestial Events Still Reveal the Mysteries of the Sun

A Little-Known Photographer Captured the First Clear Image of a Total Solar Eclipse 175 Years Ago. Today, These Celestial Events Still Reveal the Mysteries of the Sun

Ever since that first daguerreotype on a light-sensitive metal plate, eclipse observations have continued to unveil the star’s corona and bring people together to experience the solar system’s majesty Kayla Randall | Digital Editor, Museums July 28, 2026 4:40 p.m. A copy of the first daguerreotype photograph of a total solar eclipse Johann Julius Friedrich…

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Predatory Sharks Grew to Enormous Sizes in Prehistoric Times. These Five Strategies Helped Them Get So Big

Predatory Sharks Grew to Enormous Sizes in Prehistoric Times. These Five Strategies Helped Them Get So Big

By cannibalizing their siblings in the womb or avoiding meat-eating pliosaurs, fearsome carnivores like the megalodon ballooned to proportions that would dwarf any shark alive today Riley Black | Science Correspondent July 27, 2026 2:22 p.m. A 52-foot-long model of a female Otodus megalodon is suspended from the ceiling at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural…

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Why the Destination Art Fair Is Here to Stay

Why the Destination Art Fair Is Here to Stay

When collectors won’t go to the art fair, fairs like Contemporary Art Now go to the collectors. Photo: Sayana Cairo Tell someone you are traveling to Ibiza for the art, and they might not believe you. Pushing against that skepticism is Contemporary Art Now, or CAN, a small boutique art fair that invites art lovers…

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Ocean Vuong On Asking Questions Without Answers

Ocean Vuong On Asking Questions Without Answers

In conversation with Observer, the MacArthur fellow and bestselling novelist reflects on metaphor, class and truth. Courtesy the publisher; author photo by Giancarlo Valentine The world demands definition, certainty and arcs of triumph, yet best-selling writer and professor Ocean Vuong offers something very different. His novels and poetry catapult readers into the ineffable, often jolting…

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Tracing Universal Frequencies, Oliver Beer Makes Sound Visible

Tracing Universal Frequencies, Oliver Beer Makes Sound Visible

Installation view: Oliver Beer’s “The Sky in the Cave” at Thaddaeus Ropac London. Courtesy Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, London · Paris · Salzburg · Milan · Seoul. Photo: Eva Herzog Since art history embraced the possibilities of abstraction, numerous artists have tried to translate music—the most abstract of all creative expressions—into painting and other visual forms.…

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A Massive Flow of Rock and Mud Tumbled Down Mount Rainier Centuries Ago. Scientists Pinpointed Its Date to Better Understand the Volcano’s Complex Threats

A Massive Flow of Rock and Mud Tumbled Down Mount Rainier Centuries Ago. Scientists Pinpointed Its Date to Better Understand the Volcano’s Complex Threats

In a recent study, researchers dated a historic lahar called the Electron Mudflow to the summer of 1507, establishing a way to determine when past geologic events around the Puget Sound occurred Megan Gannon | Archaeology Correspondent July 21, 2026 12:48 p.m. Mount Rainier, an active volcano about 60 miles away from Seattle, has sent…

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How Artists Are Using A.I. and Where They Are Drawing the Line

How Artists Are Using A.I. and Where They Are Drawing the Line

Installation view: Rachel Maclean’s “The Enchantment of Reason” at Josh Lilley, London. Courtesy the artist and Josh Lilley Even as A.I.’s integration into daily life continues, visual artists remain divided over a central question: is its use legitimate in artistic creation? Other creative sectors—including video production, graphic design, photo editing, fashion design, architecture and product…

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