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On September 11, 2026, Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota hosted a naturalization ceremony for 12 new U.S. cit...
09/22/2026

On September 11, 2026, Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota hosted a naturalization ceremony for 12 new U.S. citizens. The ceremony took place underground in the cave’s Target Room, with each new citizen allowed up to two invited guests. The group represented eight countries: Bangladesh, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Jamaica, Mexico, the Philippines and Ukraine. The event was organized in partnership with the U.S. District Court for South Dakota and the Department of Homeland Security’s Denver Field Office. According to the National Park Service, it was the first documented naturalization ceremony held inside Jewel Cave. Staff from nearby national park units also assisted with the event.

A rare olive ridley sea turtle has made history in Southern California. On September 16, 2026, the turtle was observed d...
09/22/2026

A rare olive ridley sea turtle has made history in Southern California. On September 16, 2026, the turtle was observed digging a nest and laying eggs near Seal Beach in Orange County. NOAA Fisheries says the event marks the first documented natural nesting of a sea turtle on the U.S. West Coast. Three days later, another nest was discovered near Huntington Beach Pier, although officials have not determined whether the same turtle created both nests. Wildlife officials have fenced and marked the nesting areas and will monitor the eggs during incubation. NOAA says olive ridley turtles are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Colorado high school teacher Kent Hups made an extraordinary discovery while volunteering on a fossil dig in southwester...
09/22/2026

Colorado high school teacher Kent Hups made an extraordinary discovery while volunteering on a fossil dig in southwestern North Dakota in 2025. He noticed what appeared to be a large three-toed footprint in the Hell Creek Formation and alerted paleontologists. Further excavation revealed four connected footprints stretching about 23 feet. Researchers estimate the tracks are approximately 66.5 million years old and describe them as the first known trackway likely attributable to an adult Tyrannosaurus rex. Each footprint is roughly 1 meter long. Scientists estimate the animal was walking at about 3.4 to 4.5 miles per hour when it crossed the ancient landscape.

Richmond’s streets looked different before electric streetcars arrived. Horse-drawn cars were limited by the animals pul...
09/22/2026

Richmond’s streets looked different before electric streetcars arrived. Horse-drawn cars were limited by the animals pulling them, but engineer Frank J. Sprague developed an electric traction system that addressed several difficult technical problems. In 1888, his Richmond installation used overhead trolley wires to supply electricity to the cars. The system proved technically and commercially successful, helping change attitudes toward electric urban transportation. The Library of Congress notes that Sprague’s Richmond installation marked a turning point in the development of electric traction. Within only a few years, electric street railways were spreading rapidly through American cities, reshaping how people traveled and where communities could grow.

A nineteenth-century portrait session was nothing like taking a quick photograph today. Early photographic processes oft...
09/22/2026

A nineteenth-century portrait session was nothing like taking a quick photograph today. Early photographic processes often required subjects to remain still during exposure, particularly in studio conditions with limited light. Photographers used posing stands and discreet head supports to reduce movement and help keep faces sharp. Painted backdrops, decorative furniture and carefully arranged clothing completed the composition. By the later nineteenth century, photographic studios had become familiar businesses in American towns and cities, offering families a way to preserve their appearance for future generations. The resulting portraits may look rigid to modern eyes, but that stillness was partly a practical response to the technology available at the time.

Scientists studying California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park have identified a new single-celled organism that thrives...
09/22/2026

Scientists studying California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park have identified a new single-celled organism that thrives in extreme heat. Named Incendiamoeba cascadensis, the amoeba can actively divide at temperatures up to 63°C, or 145.4°F—a new record for eukaryotic life. Researchers found it living in a neutral-pH geothermal stream and observed the organism moving at temperatures reaching 64°C. It can also survive brief exposure to 70°C by forming a dormant cyst. The study found genetic features associated with protein stability and DNA repair that may help explain its unusual heat tolerance. Researchers say the discovery expands scientists’ understanding of the temperature limits of complex cells.

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opened to the public in Los Angeles on September 22, 2026, after more than a decade of...
09/22/2026

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opened to the public in Los Angeles on September 22, 2026, after more than a decade of development. Founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the museum in Exposition Park contains a permanent collection of more than 40,000 works of narrative art. Its opening program includes more than 30 galleries and over 1,200 objects, spanning paintings, illustrations, comics, photography, murals and cinema. One major attraction is “Star Wars in Motion,” featuring vehicles, props, costumes and illustrations from the first six Star Wars films, including Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder. The museum also includes two theaters, a research library, gardens and public spaces.

Construction crews working beneath Chicago O’Hare International Airport uncovered an unexpected piece of ancient geology...
09/22/2026

Construction crews working beneath Chicago O’Hare International Airport uncovered an unexpected piece of ancient geology. The 50-ton boulder was found about 30 feet below the airfield during excavation of the South Detention Basin, part of the airport’s ORDNext terminal modernization project. The rock measures approximately 11.5 feet wide, 8 feet deep and 7.5 feet tall. A project geologist identified it as dolostone, a sedimentary rock associated with Illinois’ bedrock that formed roughly 400 million years ago. The boulder was later moved outside O’Hare’s Multi-Modal Facility, where it is now on public display. Chicago officials have also opened a public contest to choose its name.

For many Americans, keeping food cold once meant keeping a heavy block of ice inside the kitchen. By the late nineteenth...
09/22/2026

For many Americans, keeping food cold once meant keeping a heavy block of ice inside the kitchen. By the late nineteenth century, insulated wooden iceboxes lined with tin or zinc had become common household appliances. Ice was placed in an upper compartment, where it absorbed heat as it slowly melted. The resulting water had to be collected and removed, making cold storage a regular household chore. Iceboxes remained widely used well into the twentieth century, even as electric refrigeration developed. The appliance changed more than kitchen storage: it allowed families to preserve leftovers and perishable foods for longer, making cold food preservation increasingly practical in everyday American life.

Forty enormous bison puppets recently moved through New York City as part of “Return of the Buffalo: Tatanka Owe Akupi,”...
09/22/2026

Forty enormous bison puppets recently moved through New York City as part of “Return of the Buffalo: Tatanka Owe Akupi,” a free public art spectacle. The event took place September 18 and 19, 2026, across Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. Each bison was handmade in New York from steel, plywood, burlap and paper and weighed about 80 pounds. Three puppeteers controlled each animal, with two positioned inside and another working near the head. More than 100 performers and Indigenous cultural leaders participated in the event, which explored the history and cultural importance of the American bison and Indigenous communities.

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