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“After almost eight years, we need to ‘unteach’ him the dog paddle, so he can swim like a normal alligator.” National GeographicMr. Stubbs with his new 3D-printed tail. An alligator in Arizona is getting a second chance at a normal life after receiving a new 3D-printed tail. The alligator, Mr. Stubbs, lost his tail several years ago while being transported illegally by a group of animal traffickers. According to National Geographic, he was found in 2013 alongside other exotic animals in the back of a semi-truck and shortly afterward was transported to the Phoenix Herpetological Society....

With powerful members and mysterious rituals, the Skull and Bones Society has long been associated with sinister conspiracy theories. Legend has it that in 1918, under cover of darkness, Yale student Prescott S. Bush, dug up the grave of Geronimo. Bush, along with several co-conspirators took the skull and two bones of the famed Apache leader back to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where they’ve been on display at the headquarters of one of America’s most mysterious secret societies....

And that number doesn’t even count inbreeding between first cousins. It was only parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. FlickrAfter looking at nearly half a million people’s genetic data, researchers found 125 cases of extreme inbreeding, suggesting that there are approximately 13,200 such cases across the U.K. population as a whole. When researchers began building the U.K. Biobank for genetic data in 2006, they set out to study the relationship between people’s DNA and their likelihood of developing certain diseases....

With ever-changing white sandy beaches and turquoise-blue ponds, it’s hard to believe that Lençóis Maranhenses National Park really exists. At the northeastern tip of Brazil lies a sandy oasis that transforms with the seasons: Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. In the winter, the stark white-sanded park — which when translated from Portuguese literally means “bedsheets of Maranhão,” the state where the park resides — resembles more of a harsh desert than a tropical wellspring....

Visarute Angkatavanich’s betta fish photography transforms the common fish into work of art. Source: 500px Sure, betta fish are pretty boring when they are left to swim alone in small, clear containers. Yet when captured under the lens of photographer Visarute Angkatavanich, bettas are anything but basic. Angkatavanich’s betta fish photography went viral last year when sites like This Is Colossal shared his photographs of colorful fish contrasted against black and white backdrops....

Roman mosaic of Hercules found in Turkey, 500-year-old “goatelope” discovered in Austria, elite grave with 169 gold rings uncovered in Romania. Roman Mosaic Featuring Life-Sized Depictions Of Hercules Found Inside A 1,900-Year-Old Bathhouse AA PhotoUsing life-sized figures, this gigantic mosaic shows Hercules battling a series of mythological beasts, from the Nemean Lion to the Lernean Hydra. According to mythology, Hercules was the son of Zeus, king of the gods in ancient Greece, and a mortal woman named Alcmene....

Years before the polio vaccine and Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” were born into existence, pesticides like DDT were thought to cure most ailments. Yes, this happened in San Antonio, Texas. The director of the city’s Department of Health, H.L. Crittenden, ordered the spraying of DDT along every one of over a thousand streets in May, 1946 in an ill-fated attempt to wipe out polio. A handful of other cities joined in, like Rockford, Illinois, and Paterson, New Jersey....

Jane Wilde and Stephen Hawking married in 1965, shortly after Hawking learned that he had motor neuron disease. As his illness progressed, his wife became his primary caregiver. Wikimedia CommonsA young Stephen and Jane Hawking on their wedding day in 1965. In 1963, Jane Wilde learned that her boyfriend, Stephen Hawking, had motor neuron disease. Doctors told the 21-year-old that he had, at most, two years to live. But two years later, the young lovers married — and embarked on a 30-year marriage....

The Black Swallower shouldn’t be judged by its size: it can swallow fish over twice its size in a single bite. Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesA Black Swallower. The Black Swallower isn’t a mythical creature or an urban legend relic. The Black Swallower is a real deep sea fish that really has a way of eating. Standing (or rather swimming) at an average of 10cm in length, the Black swallower’s claim to fame: eating fish bigger than itself....

“[The] triumphal arc, which was built in the 3rd century in memory of the Roman Empire’s victory against the Persians, looks magnificent.” Ancient OriginsAn arch that comprises a mere fraction of the ancient ruins uncovered in Anavarza. Roman gladiator events so often show up in movies, legends, and the like that it’s sometimes hard to remember that these bloody spectacles actually once happened in real life. And Turkish archaeologists digging in the southern province of Adana’s Dilekkaya village recently came face to face with direct evidence of these violent shows that unfolded centuries ago....

The NYC subway: A series of infamously crowded, noisy, filthy underground tunnels that transport about 5.7 million people every weekday — and, apparently, disease. Last year, a team of researchers and volunteers at Weill Cornell Medicine swabbed benches, poles, and seats in all 466 open NYC subway stations on their hunt for bacteria. The resulting study found 637 different microbes in stations around the city, the majority of which are “harmless,” said Christopher Mason, an assistant professor in Weill Cornell’s Department of Physiology and Biophysics....

Text messages show that pro-life Senator Tim Murphy might not practice what he preaches. At the same time that a strict anti-abortion bill was being presented to the House of Representatives, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette broke the news that the bill’s co-sponsor, Rep. Tim Murphy, (R – Penn.) might not be as anti-abortion as he seems. Text messages obtained by the Post-Gazette show an exchange that took place in January between Murphy and his then-mistress Shannon Edwards....

New evidence has unlocked the mysteries of the ancient Beringian population, a previously undiscovered group of Native Americans. She was just six weeks old when she died in the middle of Alaska some 11,500 years ago. But now, the small piece of DNA that researchers managed to extract from her remains has rewritten the early history of North America. Following the 2013 excavation of the Upward Sun River camp in Alaska’s Tanana River Valley, researchers have now fully analyzed the DNA of the remains found there....

Bernie Tiede was a beloved mortician in Carthage, Texas, and even after he shot his 81-year-old companion Marjorie Nugent dead in 1996, his town still stuck by his side. Twitter/Texas MonthlyBernie Tiede, pictured with Marjorie Nugent, not long before her 1996 murder. Bernie Tiede, a beloved funeral director in Carthage, Texas, was friendly, well-liked, considerate, and helpful. Taking great pride in his work, he was a consoling shoulder for the bereaved throughout the late 1980s and early ’90s – especially the elderly....

When crawling the ocean floor off California, researchers happened upon the most unbelievably adorable marine creature on Earth: a stubby squid (Rossia pacifica). Footage from the Nautilus exploration vehicle revealing its discovery of a stubby squid (Rossia pacifica). When recently crawling the ocean floor off the California coast, remotely-operated vehicles controlled by the Nautilus exploration vessel happened upon the most unbelievably adorable marine creature on Earth: a stubby squid. Footage from the Nautilus exploration vehicle revealing its discovery of a stubby squid (Rossia pacifica)....

David Dahmer changed his name and chose to live in anonymity after the gruesome murders of his older brother, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, came to light in 1991. Close relatives of notorious criminals, pariahs, and villains of all stripes often go underground after their family names achieves infamy — and David Dahmer, brother of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, is no exception. Like Adolf Hitler’s nephew, who changed his name and served in the U....

David Kaczynski felt he had no choice but to turn his beloved older brother over to the FBI, who as the Unabomber, killed three people over a 17-year span — and injured many more. David Kaczynski and his older brother Ted were part of a seemingly normal household. The siblings grew up in a working-class Chicago family in the 1950s and their parents taught them that with hard work, they could achieve anything....

For those who don’t feel the open casket does the dearly departed justice, they should consider the process of extreme embalming, which poses the loved one on display as though they were still alive — it’s not for the faint of heart. REUTERS/Alvin BaezThe body of Fernando de Jesús Díaz Beato, on display at his funeral in 2016. For those who believe a funeral should be a celebration of one’s life — or a memorial to remember— instead of a time for mourning, then perhaps you should consider extreme embalming for when your time comes....

Source: Kyle Anderson In the United States, many conceive of the 20th century as a time when man successfully separated humanity from nature. One of the most obvious examples of this can be found in popular visions of modern architecture. After World War Two, the American economy thrived and suburban development quickly churned out homes to meet nationally increasing demand. And thus the suburbs as we think of them today were born....

We call it an epidemic today, but for centuries medical experts encouraged the use of heroin. Opium — the yellow/brown dried poppy juice used to make morphine and heroin — has been numbing pain and claiming addicts longer than any other drug known to man. Though today they’re mostly associated with the deadly epidemic quickly spreading across America, opiates — specifically heroin — didn’t always have such a bad rap. In fact — and as far back as ancient times — doctors would prescribe them for, well, just about everything....