The Latest Breaking News from the Field Museum

The Indian Heritage Trail in Kenya: How a Railway Built a Diaspora That Never Left

The Line That Cost 2,500 LivesBetween 1896 and 1901, the British colonial government shipped roughly 32,000 workers from India, most of them from Punjab and Gujarat, to build a railway across 900 kilometres of East African terrain. They called it the Uganda Railway. Winston Churchill, who visited the finished line…

Times Life · Aug 24

Newly discovered New Guinea snake species named after Guns N’Roses guitarist Slash

Snake is already under threat from industries like coffee farming and mining, researchers say

The Independent UK · Aug 21

These 300-million-year-old baby fossils just turned a major evolution theory upside down

Ancient fossilized babies of crocodile-like predators are rewriting evolutionary history. Previously, scientists believed early land animals hatched, underwent a tadpole phase, and then transformed, much like modern amphibians. However, new discoveries reveal these early tetrapods skipped the tadpole stage, suggesting their life cycles were more akin to fish or mammals,…

The Economic Times · Jun 19

Feathered fossil provides clues about how earliest birds first took flight

‘Beautifully preserved’ Archaeopteryx has tertial feathers that appear to have been key to making it aerodynamic

The Guardian - UK · May 14, 2025

Free days at Chicago museums and attractions: When and where to go

For year-round free admission, consider becoming a member of your favorite museum, zoo or outdoor garden attraction.

Chicago Sun-Times · Jan 15, 2025

Judge to appoint receiver to take control of West Suburban, Weiss Memorial hospitals amid legal battle

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Stanton will appoint a receiver on Tuesday. The receiver’s role will be to “secure the assets” of the safety-net hospitals.

Chicago Sun-Times · Jun 11, 2024

Mutant blue-eyed cicadas discovered outside Chicago during rare double brood event

Most of the periodical cicadas emerging across the eastern U.S. in this year's rare dual emergence event have blood-red eyes, but sightings of blue-eyed variants have recently been reported.

LiveScience · May 29, 2024

Ed Burke’s unwelcome birthday present

The disgraced — and now guilty — former member of the Chicago City Council enters his eighth decade as a convicted felon.

Chicago Sun-Times · Dec 21, 2023

Ed Burke ‘had his hand out for money.’ Powerful politician convicted of extortion, bribery in historic verdict

A jury of nine women and three men heard from 38 witnesses over 16 days of testimony as prosecutors made their case that Burke was “a bribe taker” and “an extortionist.”

Chicago Sun-Times · Dec 21, 2023

Former Ald. Ed Burke wielded power to ‘satisfy his own greed,’ prosecutor alleges in closing arguments

‘You have heard about a pattern of unlawful activity,’ prosecutor Diane MacArthur said. ‘Standing at the center of that steady drumbeat of unlawful activity is this man, Edward Burke.’

Chicago Sun-Times · Dec 14, 2023