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Teachers

Not only does it cost the Mint more to make a penny than it's worth, but making the penny has an environmental cost, too.

Age of Humans

How Much Does it Really Cost (the Planet) to Make a Penny?

All that copper and zinc for a coin most people throw away—what’s the sustainable solution?

A "Walking Library" in London, circa 1930s

Cool Finds

A Brief History of Taking Books Along for the Ride

Have books, will travel

A furled chameleon tail obviously takes its shape from the rolling of a tube, but its pattern is distinct from that created by rolling an even tube, such as that of a garden hose. The gentle taper of the tail produces a logarithmic spiral—one that gets smaller, yet the small parts look like the large parts.

Art Meets Science

The Science Behind Nature’s Patterns

A new book explores the physical and chemical reasons behind incredible visual structures in the living and non-living world

A Little Free Library in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

Cool Finds

Build Your Own Library at the First-Ever Little Library Festival

The book-sharing stations have popped up all across the United States

Tokyo is the world's largest city...for now.

Age of Humans

Five Things to Know About Megacities

Urbanization is happening fast—here’s what to know about the world’s largest cities

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Cool Finds

Oldest Message in a Bottle Ever Found

The 108-year-old message in a bottle from a British marine researcher washed up on a German beach

The Swiss have a tradition for predicting spring: the Böögg.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, an Exploding Snowman Helps Predict Spring

Think Groundhog Day—but with fire

Romp with Ramona, Ribsy and Henry Huggins at Grant Park in Portland.

Cool Finds

Celebrate Beverly Cleary’s 100th Birthday With a Trip to Her Sculpture Garden

Ramona’s creator is even more timeless thanks to Portland’s tribute in bronze

Germany, Hamburg, Speichrstadt and Hafencity district

Age of Humans

Coastal Cities Need to Radically Rethink How They Deal With Rising Waters

“Transitional architecture” is both a futuristic solution to sea-level rise and a hearkening back to older ways of living

On March 24, 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Harper v. Virginia Board of Electors, that poll taxes for any level of election were unconstitutional.

Breaking Ground

Recalling an Era When the Color of Your Skin Meant You Paid to Vote

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of a ruling that made the poll tax unconstitutional

The Eleanor Roosevelt Monument in Riverside Park, New York, was dedicated at 72nd Street on October 5, 1996.

Cool Finds

It’s Way Too Hard to Find Statues of Notable Women in the U.S.

Only a handful of the country’s sculptures honor women

Bigelow Aerospace's proposed space station, Alpha, would be made up of sausage-link-esque blocks, each the size of a school bus.

Age of Humans

We Thought We’d Be Living in Space (or Under Giant Domes) By Now

An inflatable space habitat test highlights the futuristic visions we’ve had for housing, from cities under glass to EPCOT

New Graphic Novel Writes the Wright Brothers’ Sister Back Into History

Four students journey back to the birth of aviation in ‘The Wrong Wrights’

Students can take virtual field trips to places across the globe.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

How Can Schools Use Virtual Reality?

The expansion of Google’s VR education program could make classrooms more engaging, and also more just

Are you a global citizen? Then you might need one of these.

Cool Finds

You Can Get an Antarctic Passport

Pledge your loyalty to the southernmost continent—and to the ideals of peace, equality and sustainability

Villagers air red lanterns in Xingtai City, north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 25, 2016. Luozhuang Township is a famous lantern production base in Xingtai.

Cool Finds

China’s Lantern Makers Are Gearing Up for the New Year

Delicate, bright and iconic, China’s lanterns symbolize celebration and good luck

New Research

Are We Living in the Plastic Age?

Scientists argue that this material may best define our current period within the Anthropocene

A Detachable Airplane Cabin and Other Strange Aviation Ideas

A recently unveiled concept for a removable, parachute-equipped airplane cabin is only the latest in a long line of far-out designs

New research shows that magical tales have an even longer history than previously suspected.

New Research

Fairy Tales Could Be Older Than You Ever Imagined

Jack may have been climbing that beanstalk for more than 5,000 years

The five planets will be visible to the naked eye, but a telescope can add another layer of delight

Trending Today

Don’t Miss This Month’s Rare Planetary Alignment

Five planets will appear together in the sky—all visible to the naked eye

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