The Most Accurate Virtual Representation of the Universe’s Evolution

Helmed by the University of Helsinki, a simulation named “Sibelius-Dark” produced the most accurate virtual representation of the universe’s development to date. It captures the Big Bang to the present, reproducing the entire evolution of our section of the cosmos. Using the DiRAC COSmology MAchine (COSMA), scientists found one patch of our universe to be unusual, as the simulation predicted a lower number of galaxies …

Photo Books by Groundbreaking Black Photographers

Aperture’s new list of photo books comprises 11 titles by Black photographers who rethink, reimagine and reframe “what history is all about.” Each of the photographers featured within these books challenged systems of power, clarified history or re-contextualized beauty. Included in the list are esteemed and under-recognized artists, from Tyler Mitchell (the first Black photographer to shoot a cover story for Vogue) to Kwame Brathwaite, …

18,000 Ancient Egyptian “Notepads” Discovered

Archaeologists have uncovered 18,000 “notepads” in the ancient Egyptian town of Athribis. Known as “ostraca,” the inscribed pottery fragments provide insight into life in Egypt some 2,000 years ago—with everything from shopping lists to trade records and schoolwork marked onto the remnants. Some of them had repeated phrases, believed to be student punishment. “Around 80% of the ostraca are written in demotic, an administrative script used …