Rembrandt's First Elephant

Results from a DNA and anatomy study of the remains of the type specimen for the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) reveal it to actually be an African elephant (Loxodonta spp.), and biologists searching for a new type specimen settled on a description published in 1693 of what is now the preserved skeleton of an individual elephant named Hansken -- an animal who's likeness was captured in sketches by Rembrandt in 1637.

Van Gogh Varnish Discoloration

Using sophisticated x-ray beams at two synchrotron sources in Europe, scientists have identified a previously unknown degradation process between paint and protective varnish in Van Gogh's painting, Flowers in a blue vase, a reaction between the cadmium sulphide in the paint and lead ions in the varnish to form an opaque anglesite (PbSO₄) and cadmium oxalate (CdC₂O₄).