An immersive curation of the world's rock art

A living archive of humanity’s ancient art and symbols, our shared history that is embedded as rock art and cave art in the landscape

A cave painting might be the oldest illustrated story ever recorded

A nearly 44,000-year-old cave painting may be the oldest story ever recorded, offering viewers a tale of human-like creatures on a hunt. This article details the discovery of the cave and its archaeological implications.

New York artist Donald Judd turned Marfa, Texas, a small town in the middle of the West Texas desert, into an internationally recognized artists' oasis.

See the extraordinary and ephemeral installations from Burning Man 2025

Despite having to work in a muddy desert for just a few days, Burning Man attendees manage to create large, abstract, and visually incredible works of art.

In the 1930s, three Australian soldiers were sent to fight emus with machine guns—and lost

As part of a post-WWI initiative to turn veterans into farmers, soldiers were given plots of land. After emus were found damaging the farmland, three men were sent to handle the flightless birds. These men ended up losing to the second-largest bird species in the world and potentially exacerbating crop losses by sending swaths of the birds running and trampling over wheat.

The Canadian artist considered the 'Picasso of the North'

Norval Morrisseau's art is bold, with vivid colors and striking angles. His interviews were similar, with the artist often challenging the way questions were posed and his life was characterized, believing he was being unfairly pigeonholed as an Indigenous artist. This overview of Morisseau's work and life is a helpful primer on the artist, the perfect place to start before jumping into the deep end.

Sculptor and painter Charles M. Russell focused on the Old West

The Montana artist, known for his realistic portrayals of cowboys and Native American life, began to gain national attention after traveling to New York and establishing connections in the art world. Still, he spent most of his time in Great Falls, Montana, where he completed approximately 4,000 works.

The artwork at Burning Man is impressive and transient

Huge sculptures, mutant vehicles, concert stages, the Man, and other spectacles created at Burning Man each year are often destroyed by the end of the event. If they aren't burned, they'll often be repurposed or trashed.

Possible globster sighted on the Oregon coast.

A man riding an ATV on the Oregon coast comes across a “sea monster", which is actually likely a decaying carcass of shark or whale.

Marfa, an art colony in the West Texas desert with a population of around 2,000, has its own NPR affiliate.

The world’s oldest tattoos belong to 'Iceman' Ötzi

Ötzi is the corpse of "the Iceman" found in the Alps along the Italian and Austrian border in 1991. His mummified body was covered with lines and crosses along the “hard-working” areas of his body, signifying their potential application for therapeutic pain management.

The world's longest-burning fire

This coal fire in New South Wales, Australia, a common occurrence at coal mines, has been burning for at least 5,500 years, and shows no signs of stopping.

Marina Abramović helped popularize performance art

Working across continents for over five decades has made Abramović one of the most recognizable and prolific performance artists in history. Her shocking oeuvre has involved self-harm, public nudity, exotic animals, and fire.

Indigenous art's influence on pop art often goes uncredited

Keith Haring’s iconic imagery, often known for its accessibility, was deeply inspired by the artwork of the Indigenous people of Australia. Their artwork influenced aspects of Haring's paintings, such as flat block colors and symmetrical compositions. While some critics find Haring to have appropriated their culture, others find his work to be pushing a message of unity and togetherness.

Ancient humans settled Australia more than 50,000 years ago

Archaeological evidence shows that modern humans reached Southeast Asia about 70,000 years ago and they spread to Australia by at least 50,000 years ago. It marks the oldest evidence of open-sea migration by humans on record.

Recreating ancient faces: where art meets archaeology

Artistic renderings and reconstructions of ancient people are one way to bring the past to life, providing viewers with insights into and empathy for those who came before. This article details how modern artists and archaeologists work together to...

What we know about the mysterious colossal squid

The colossal squid, the world's largest invertebrate, remained hidden from human discovery until nearly a century ago. Explore the world of the enormous and mysterious creature, including its features, habitat, and scientific significance. You can even plan a visit to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and marvel at a real-life display.

A popular tag in World War II announced 'Kilroy was here'

The graffito appeared seemingly everywhere throughout the 1940s and followed a similar pattern: A man with an oversized nose peering over a ledge, with the phrase written below it. Scholars believe it was an American form of similar tags that appeared in Australia and England, making "Kilroy" a meme long before the word had entered the lexicon.

Half of the residents of Coober Pedy—a small mining town in South Australia—live in underground homes to avoid the area's scorching temperatures.

How 'the Iceman' got his tattoos remains a mystery

Ötzi the Iceman, discovered in 1991, is one of the oldest human mummies ever found—and his 61 tattoos remain a mystery. This explainer looks at how researchers believe the tattoos were made, what their placement suggests about ancient medicine and culture, and why we’re still piecing together their true purpose today.

‘The Artist Is Present’ is one of the most famous performance pieces in history

The exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art invited visitors to sit in silence in the company of a master performer. Many shed tears or gestured affectionately, claiming to have felt a profound connection with Abramović. (This resource contains some artistic nudity.)

This famous painting was hung upside-down for 77 years

According to a curator at a German museum, an abstract painting by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian has been displayed upside down for seventy-seven years at a number of museums.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Mary Cassatt created a massive mural titled "Modern Woman" for the 1893 World's Fair, but it mysteriously disappeared after the fair ended and hasn't been found since.

Two marsupials thought to be extinct discovered in New Guinea

The pygmy long-fingered possum and the newly described ring-tailed glider were discovered in 2026 after scientists believed the species had been extinct for 6,000 years. The pygmy long-fingered possum is partially defined by its unusual trait of one finger on each hand that is twice as long as the others.

This Town Advertised the World’s Largest Well. It Wasn’t.

Leonard Knight built a folk art landmark in the California badlands

Slab City is an unofficial off-the-grid community on the site of a decommissioned Marine Corps base in the Southern California desert. Knight began constructing his enormous and colorful "Salvation Mountain" in 1984. In 2000, it was designated "a folk art site worthy of preservation and protection."

The world's largest coral, as seen from space

The world’s largest individual coral colony—measuring over 100 feet wide and 100 feet long—was discovered in the Solomon Islands. This coral is so large it can be seen from space, and is estimated to be between 300 and 500 years old. The coral's size and health provide hope amidst a global coral bleaching crisis, wherein three-quarters of coral reefs have experienced significant bleaching in recent decades. See the photos from space and learn more here.

The unsolved mysteries of Machu Picchu

Who lived there? How did they get all that granite up there? Who were the 100 bodies found buried here, and why did some of them have elongated heads? Explore eight of Machu Picchu’s unanswered questions while scrolling through panoramic, clickable street-view images of the site, in this guide from Google Arts and Culture.

Fly through the Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system

Stretching farther than the width of the continental US and with depths as much as four times those of the Grand Canyon, the Valles Marineris is believed to have formed when Mars’s crust tore open during intense volcanism in the planet’s past.

Watch a diving expedition through the world's longest coral colony, which spans more than a football field and whose exact location is kept secret for its protection.

Take a 3D underwater trip near the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, comprising more than 900 islands and almost 3,000 individual reefs. This video lets you tag along with divers as they explore the reef off the southern coast of Lady Elliot Island in full 3D (use the direction buttons in the upper left of the video, or your keypad).

Marina Abramović took 3,500 photos of China while performing ‘The Lovers’

During the 90-day performance that took place on the Great Wall of China, Abramović lived in isolation, nearly fell into an abyss, and wrote poetry—among other transformative experiences.

Take an interactive tour through Australia's Great Barrier Reef, featuring spherical panoramas of marine wildlife, including manta rays, loggerhead turtles, and bottlenose dolphins.

Bringing dinosaurs back to Mongolia

The Gobi Desert, which crosses Mongolia and China, was a dinosaur hotspot, offering visitors splendid freshwater lakes and a lush, humid climate. These past verdant vast valleys have become the largest dinosaur fossil reservoir in the world, and with that title comes those seeking to remove such items, whether for personal satisfaction or scientific study. This article explains the fight to restore Mongolia's fossil heritage.

Tattoos suppressed during colonization are experiencing a revival

A few decades ago, the distinct facial tattoos worn by Maori people were on the brink of disappearing. Then, Maori artists brought the cultural practice back into the spotlight. This TVNZ story follows one reporter’s mother as, at 59 years old, she receives tā moko from a Maori artist.

Everything to know about emus

Emus are flightless birds native to Australia, second only to ostriches in size among avians. Reaching up to six feet and weighing more than 100 pounds, the grayish-brown emu can run 30 mph, lives in small flocks, and travels widely for food and water as a nomad. Learn more about the emu's many delightful quirks in this irreverent and informative podcast.