The Borso D'Este, a 15th-century Bible decorated with gold leaf and Afghan lapis lazuli, is now on display in Rome for the Vatican’s Holy Year. Created by Italian Renaissance artists for Borso d’Este, the first duke of Ferrara, the manuscript was long considered one of the most valuable books of its time. Known as the "Mona Lisa of Illuminated Manuscripts", its journey reflects centuries of political change: the Este family moved it from Ferrara to Modena before losing power in 1859, after which Austria’s last empress sold it to a Paris collector in 1922. Italian industrialist Giovanni Treccani purchased the two-volume Bible the following year for 3.3 million French francs and donated it to the state. Usually kept in Modena, the manuscript is currently on display in the Italian Senate.
What does it take to infiltrate a movement built on hate?
In the early 1990s, Los Angeles was on edge. The Rodney King beating, the killing of Latasha Harlins, and violent unrest pushed the city to a breaking point. White supremacist groups saw an opportunity, a chance to fan chaos into a full-blown race war. To stop them, the FBI turned to rookie agent Mike German, a soft-spoken law graduate with blond hair, blue eyes, and a youthful appearance.
German stepped into a world of weapons trafficking, homemade explosives, and fractured neo-Nazi factions competing for influence. He played the role of a “successful criminal,” relying on an informant’s legend to open doors. Inside, he faced constant danger: reckless handling of guns, unstable bomb makers, and a culture where accusing someone of being an informant was a casual power move. To earn trust, German immersed himself in extremist literature, mirrored their language, and kept conversations flowing just long enough to capture evidence...
Join former FBI agent Mike German in this week’s podcast selection, 'A Spy Amongst Skinheads', as he embeds himself inside a violent movement preparing for war.
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What happens when Bob Ross originals reach the auction floor?
Los Angeles hosted the first sale in a planned four-city auction of 30 Bob Ross paintings. The proceeds are headed to public television stations in the United States, which lost more than a billion dollars in federal support this year. Ross completed most of his paintings under a work-for-hire agreement, meaning Bob Ross Inc. owns nearly all existing pieces.
Three landscapes opened the series: “Cliffside,” created in 1990 and sold for $115,000; “Home in the Valley,” painted in 1993 and sold for $229,000; and “Winter’s Peace,” also from 1993 and sold for $318,000.
Ross built his following through “The Joy of Painting,” the public television show he hosted through the 1980s and early 1990s. His quiet voice, gentle pacing, and catchphrases turned simple landscapes into cultural comfort. Before appearing on TV, he spent two decades in the United States Air Force.
The US Mint in Philadelphia has struck its final penny, ending a tradition that began in 1793. The penny has taken many forms over the centuries. The earliest version was pure copper and featured an image of Lady Liberty. Abraham Lincoln replaced her in 1909, and by 1982, the Mint shifted mostly to zinc as copper prices climbed. Even as cash use declined, pennies continued to circulate in huge numbers. The Mint issued more than 3 billion coins last year alone, more than half of all new US currency.
Ending production is expected to save the Treasury approximately $56 million per year, following a steep rise in material costs. Recent shortages have already prompted some stores to round totals or request exact change. A bipartisan proposal would formalize that shift by rounding cash purchases to the nearest nickel, a practice that remains illegal in several states.
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What if an ancient empire mastered acoustics long before modern sound engineering?
In the remote Peruvian town of Huaytará, researchers are reexamining a rare Inca structure that looks deceptively simple: three stone walls and an open end. Known as a carpa uasi, or “tent house,” it’s the only surviving example of its kind. Most carpa uasi buildings collapsed centuries ago, but this one endured because Spanish colonizers built the Church of San Juan Bautista directly over it, unintentionally stabilizing the earlier structure.
A team led by UCLA art historianStella Nair and Stanford acoustic expert Jonathan Berger believes the design wasn’t minimal, but purposeful. Their measurements show the walls widen slightly toward the open end, forming a subtle trapezoid that could have amplified sound. The Inca may have used the space to project drums or ceremonial announcements across a gathering place, turning the building into a natural speaker.
Over the course of three weeks, researchers documented the architecture and are now using 3D modeling to reconstruct the original roof and test how sound would have traveled through the space. The work suggests that the Inca paid as much attention to acoustics as to stonework, weaving sound into their architecture just as deliberately as they did in their more famous temples and terraces.
Could a single injection rewrite the future of cholesterol treatment?
A small clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown that a new CRISPR-based drug can sharply reduce harmful blood fats with just one dose. The treatment works by switching off a gene called ANGPTL3, which helps the body produce LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. After two months, participants observed that both markers had fallen by roughly half, with no reported side effects.
LDL cholesterol is the type that sticks to artery walls and contributes to plaque buildup. Triglycerides store energy as fat in the bloodstream. Although diet plays a role, most cholesterol is produced by the liver and intestines. Researchers designed the drug around a rare natural advantage. Approximately one in 300 people carries a mutation that naturally renders the ANGPTL3 gene inactive, resulting in unusually low cholesterol levels and protection against heart disease. The new treatment aims to safely replicate that effect in patients who lack the mutation.
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