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Secrets in the News: April 18 – 24, 2015

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Cave hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea) painting found in the Chauvet cave and made public on January 17, 1995, by the Minister of Cultur Jacques Toubon. Date: 27 September 2006, Carla Hufstedler

Cave hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea) painting found in the Chauvet cave and made public on January 17, 1995, by the Minister of Cultur Jacques Toubon. Date: 27 September 2006, Carla Hufstedler

1. A Scuttled WW II Ship Used for Atomic Bomb Tests Found ‘Amazingly Intact’
Scuttled in 1951 after being used in atomic bomb tests, the USS Independence aircraft carrier has been located about by the Farallon Islands, 30 miles from San Francisco, California. “After 64 years on the seafloor, Independence sits on the bottom as if ready to launch its planes.” Read more at Live Science.

Watch Secrets of the Dead: The Man Who Saved the World and discover the little-known story of how close to nuclear destruction the world came in 1962.

2. “Operation Mummy’s Curse” Case Closed with Return of Stolen Artifacts to Egypt
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) repatriated 16 illegally smuggled ancient artifacts to the Egyptian government this week, including a Greco-Roman-style Egyptian sarcophagus and a few ornamental wooden boots. Investigators, most of whom work in ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit, recovered the artifacts in a years-long, top-secret mission called “Operation Mummy’s Curse.” Read more at the Washington Times.

3. 170-year-old Shipwrecked Champagne
Scientists say that 170-year-old Champagne found on a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea tasted pretty good. It is believed to be the oldest wine ever tasted. Read more at Discovery News.

4. Ancient Recipe for Hangover Discovered in Greek Texts
A century ago, in the ancient town Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, researchers discovered over 500,000 documents. The most recent publication from this discovery is a volume containing studies of about 30 medical papyri, including a 1,900-year-old papyrus with a hangover treatment. Read more at Live Science.

5. A Replica of the Prehistoric Chauvet Cave Opens
To protect the earliest known cave paintings in Chauvet Cave in southern France while still educating the public about them, a stadium-sized replica was created near the cave. Read more at BBC.

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