Cool Finds

Geoffrey Chaucer, the "Father of English Literature," said "ax."

People Have Been Saying "Ax" Instead of "Ask" for 1,200 Years

"Ax" for "ask" isn't wrong, it's just different

The Line Between Weirdness And Normalacy Depends Entirely on Your Point of View

In 1956, an anthropologist described Americans as a people with a "pervasive aversion to the natural body"

A Swarm of Tumbleweed-Like Robots Might Be the Ideal Desert Data Gatherers

The hardy robots can traverse places that would be difficult or very expensive to send human data-gatherers

This Little Minnow Will Be the First Fish Ever Taken Off the Endangered Species List

Thanks to successful conservation efforts, the Oregon chub has successfully rebounded from near-extinction

Watch the First Ever NYC Blizzard Caught on Film

Not only is this the first ever film of a blizzard in the Big Apple, it is probably the first ever film of any American blizzard ever

Wikipedia Wants to Archive Famous People's Voices

If you have a Wikipedia profile, the Wikipedia Voice Intro Project wants to hear you

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This Terrifying Parasite Bears an Uncanny Resemblance to the Queen in "Aliens"

Phronima hollow out their prey and ride around in their corpse

A Tiny Scrap of Paper Offers a Glimpse Into Jane Austen's Inspiration

The small scrap of paper transcribes part of a sermon, the theme of which Austen later explored in "Mansfield Park"

The Hasselblad EDC, the custom camera designed for use on the Moon.

At Auction: One of the Only Cameras to Ever Make it Back From the Moon

James Irwin's custom Hasselblad was one of the only cameras to make it back from the Moon... or was it?

Welcome to South Korea, please turn around.

Korea Is Using a Kinect to Monitor Its Border

The Microsoft Kinect is at the center of a lively community that includes hackers, artists and, now, South Korea's border patrol

I can fall out now please?

Shopping Carts Are Way More Dangerous Than You Might Expect

There are a lot of things to fear in this world. Allow us to add another thing to that list: shopping carts

A nurse training program at the Central State Hospital.

Psychiatric Records for African American Patients Are Rare, And This Hospital Has a Century's Worth

Researchers are attempting to digitize and preserve the tens of thousands of patient records from the Central State Hospital

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It Takes Just Five Seconds to Find Out If You’re a Good Liar

But maybe don't read too much into this test

No One Knows Why Ancient Egyptians Built This 4,600-Year-Old Pyramid

The new pyramid joins the list of other mysterious step pyramids built before the Great Pyramid at Giza

Human flesh might resemble this nice beef fillet.

Human Flesh Looks Like Beef, But the Taste Is More Elusive

It's like pork. Or maybe veal

The Grand Fleet, 1916. This sketch was made by Muirhead Bone, who, according to the U.K. Ministry of Defence "became the first official war artist in 1916"

The British Employed Official War Painters in Both World Wars

Between 1939 and 1945 the War Artists Advisory Committee purchased about 6,000 pieces of art from over 400 artists

The Great Debate Over Whether 1+2+3+4..+ ∞ = -1/12

Can the sum of all positive integers = -1/12? It can, sort of...

Making Paint Out of Goat’s Milk Is an Ancient Idea

And, actually, it works pretty well

Googling your symptoms is probably a bad idea.

Medical Students Are Fixing Wikipedia Entries

Wikipedia is still the leading source of information for patients and providers. Which is a problem, since Wikipedia entries have mistakes

Mr. Garrick and Miss Bellamy in the characters of Romeo and Juliet

Old Illustrations Tell the Secret of How They Were Made

Old books are full of beautiful, intricate engravings. But without expertise in printmaking, how can you tell how those images were made?

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