Cool Finds

2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000 Was Originally a Female

Who knows, perhaps if HAL had been a lady, we'd all be scared of disembodied female voices and Siri would be a man's voice

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You Get Slow As You Get Older—But Catching a Ruler Is Always Hard

Something as simple as catching a falling ruler triggers a complex process behind the scenes

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Wander Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley With Street View

The Diagon Alley set from Harry Potter has been added to Google Street View

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This Super Weird-Looking Bike Might Break the Speed Record

It has to be pushed to start and caught when he stops to not fall over but this strange fish-shaped bike might be able to beat the speed record

The Bikini’s Inventor Guessed How Much It Would Horrify the Public

The modern bikini, named after Bikini Atoll where the atomic bomb was tested, was first unleashed on the world more than 75 years ago

Which Barbie would you buy?

Barbie Gets a Real-World Makeover

Artist Nickolay Lamm created a 3D doll-sized model of a healthy, average 19-year-old American woman, then made her up like Barbie

How to Survive a Lion Attack

If you're managed to get yourself into a person vs lion situation, you probably don't know what to do about it. Thankfully, the internet is here for you

If Women Assume Fake Names, They Do Better on Math Tests

Assuming a false name helped women perform better on math tests

A coy Buttercup wearing his brand new foot.

Buttercup the One-Legged Duck No Longer Has to Hobble

Buttercup's adorable plight, which concluded on Sunday when engineers successfully outfitted the duck with a 3D printed duck foot

Phobos

Mars’ Tiny-Looking Moon Is Slowly Crash-Landing on the Planet

Mars' moon Phobos may look small in the sky, but it won't for long

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Woman Builds a Prosthetic Leg Out of Legos

Vanity prosthetic legs aren't new - but this is probably the first one built out of LEGOS

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Virus Hunters Are Testing Bats, Camels, Goats And Cats to Find a Deadly Illness’ Origin

Bats have been pinpointed as the most likely culprits behind MERS, though camels are a close second

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Obama Tackles Illegal Wildlife Trade

Obama's plan will specifically address poaching of elephants and rhinos, though he has also reportedly begun conversations with China about curbing demand

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One Thousand Robots Face Off In a Soccer Tournament

The roboticists behind RoboCup want their team of bots to beat the World Cup champions on a level playing field by 2050

Museum to Preserve Lonesome George, in All His Lonesomeness, Forever

There are no other Pinta Island tortoises preserved anywhere else in the world, so George will be alone forever

Happy 315th Birthday to the Steam Engine

Three hundred and fifteen years ago today James Savery's patented the steam engine

A Museum in New York City Is Exhibiting Fragments of a Melting Glacier

After the exhibition concludes, the ice will be relinquished to its original fate - a melted puddle

Invasive Lionfish Are Such Effective Predators They’re Becoming Obese

Unfortunately, so far local human populations haven't taken to eating the invasive, piggy lionfish out of existence

Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson in the ISS’ Cupola, where a micrometeorite hit the window last year.

How Do You Shield Astronauts and Satellites From Deadly Micrometeorites?

Supersonic space dust can do a lot of damage. How do astronauts protect against it?

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Smoke From More Than 800 Forest Fires in Indonesia Is Blanketing Southeast Asia

Most fires appear to be burning in palm oil plantations and land overseen by paper pulp companies, which are owned by Singaporean and Malaysian families

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