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An aquarium near Asheville, N.C., posted updates for weeks after saying in February that Charlotte, a round stingray, was pregnant. The news drew international headlines — but the facility now says the ray is sick, not pregnant. In this image from an April video update, the ray has a noticeable bulge on her back. Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO / Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO / Screenshot by NPR

Members of the Life Guards, a division of the Household Cavalry in London, on June 8, 2024. Three military horses have been recovered after bolting through central London on Monday morning. Benjamin Cremel/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Benjamin Cremel/AFP via Getty Images

A generic drug that's used to treat transplant patients has been shown to extend the life span of some animals. Guido Mieth/Getty Images hide caption

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Guido Mieth/Getty Images

Anti-aging drug Rapamycin to prevent gum disease 

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10'000 Hours/Getty Images

Boeing crew flight test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, center, pose with Expedition 71 flight engineers Mike Barratt, left, and Tracy Dyson, both NASA astronauts, in their spacesuits aboard the International Space Station's Quest airlock on June 24, 2024. ‎/NASA via AP hide caption

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‎/NASA via AP

Paleontologist Dany Azar holds up one of his treasures that he discovered in Lebanon in a piece of amber from the early Cretaceous: The oldest mosquito ever found. Ari Daniel/For NPR hide caption

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Ari Daniel/For NPR

In Lebanon, the 'Amber Man' digs up golden time capsules from the age of the dinosaurs

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Reconstruction of a Lokiceratops rangiformis being surprised by a crocodilian in the 78-million-year-old swamps that would have existed in what is now northern Montana. Andrey Atuchin/Museum of Evolution hide caption

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Andrey Atuchin/Museum of Evolution

This photo shows a white buffalo calf born on June 4, 2024, in the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, a spiritually significant event for many Native American tribes. Jordan Creech/via AP hide caption

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Jordan Creech/via AP

"Beethoven" (1936). A new study suggests the German composer and pianist may have suffered from lead poisoning. The Print Collector/Getty Images hide caption

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The Print Collector/Getty Images

Beethoven was a classical and romantic composer, but his body was full of heavy metal

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Cows graze in a field in Luncavita, Romania, in this file photo. Denmark will impose cattle farmers with a tax on livestock carbon dioxide emissions starting in 2030, claiming it will be the first country to do so in a move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from each of its cows. Vadim Ghirda/AP hide caption

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Vadim Ghirda/AP

New insights into the brain's waste-removal system could one day help researchers better understand and prevent many brain disorders. Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images hide caption

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Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images

The brain has a waste removal system and scientists are figuring out how it works

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Individually, periodical cicadas aren’t especially noisy, but when they cluster, their collective song can get as loud as a gas-powered lawnmower. Professor Kasey Fowler-Finn holds one in St. Louis last month. Zach Dyer/KFF Health News hide caption

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Zach Dyer/KFF Health News

Cicadas and kids with autism

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K-9 Maggie returns to her handler, Special Agent Lindsey Bates, during a demonstration of an explosives search following a graduation ceremony for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent Canine Handlers and their dogs at the ATF training facility in Front Royal, Va., on June 21. Nathan Howard/for NPR hide caption

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Nathan Howard/for NPR

A new generation of adorable crime-fighters collect their diplomas

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Freelance science writer Sadie Dingfelder is the author of the new book Do I Know You?, which explores human sight, memory and imagination. Little, Brown Spark, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company hide caption

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Little, Brown Spark, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company

A tornado is seen near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday. More severe weather was forecast to move into the region, potentially bringing large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes in parts of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska, according to the National Weather Service. Nick Rohlman/The Gazette/AP hide caption

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Nick Rohlman/The Gazette/AP

Jets of gas being released from newly forming stars are captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. NPR/NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI) hide caption

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NPR/NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI)

The Chang'e 6 capsule landed in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia on Tuesday. CCTV Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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CCTV Screenshot by NPR

Chang'e 6 Sample Return

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A red giant star and white dwarf orbit each other in this animation of a nova similar to T Coronae Borealis. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center hide caption

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NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

A bedroom of the Olympic Village in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, photographed in February. The buildings will be cooled with a system of water pipes beneath the floor, rather than air conditioning. Thibault Camus/AP hide caption

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Thibault Camus/AP