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A typical U.S. Army Meal, Ready-to-Eat.

Cool Finds

Here’s What Military Rations From Around the World Are Made Of

From bibimbap to beans

Screenshot from "American Panorama" showing the origins of foreign-born Americans living in Washington, D.C. in 2000.

Cool Finds

Explore America’s History With These Richly Interactive Maps

“American Panorama” delves into the social, political and economic movements that define this country

The entrance to the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur mall is covered with sparkling archways.

Giant Christmas Displays Are Taking Over Malls Throughout Asia

These malls know how to get into the holiday spirit

Jon Lovitch stands in front of the 2013 incarnation of GingerBread Lane. The village becomes larger and more elaborate each year.

Behold: The World’s Largest (Three-Ton) Gingerbread Village

Experience the glory of GingerBread Lane

Trending Today

Watch a NASA Scientist School the Empire on How to Build a Better Death Star

Darth Vader could have saved a few dollars by building it around an asteroid

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Age of Humans

Video: What Is the Anthropocene and Why Does It Matter?

This animation explains why scientists think we’ve entered a new chapter in Earth’s history

New Research

One-Fifth of Americans Are Online Almost Every Moment

Admit it. You’re among their ranks.

New Research

This Is How Bats Can Land Upside Down

Bats spin like ice skaters to stick their landing

In the movie The Martian, Matt Damon plays a stranded astronaut who has to grow his own food on the red planet. What he did in the film isn't so far off from how we could grow food in harsh environments on Earth.

Age of Humans

What Growing Potatoes on Mars Means for Earth’s Farmers

Matt Damon made it look easy in the recent Hollywood blockbuster, but Mars and Earth aren’t really all that different after all

Activist Tristram Stuart adds to a collection of fruits during an event in Trafalgar Square designed to highlight food waste by feeding 5,000 people on rejected supermarket food.

Age of Humans

This Is How Much Water You Waste When You Throw Away Food

Tossing an apple is like pouring 25 gallons of water down the drain, and the average American does that 17 times a year

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, part 2

Cool Finds

These Brilliant Literary Maps Will Help You Understand Your Favorite Book

A lavishly illustrated atlas for Huckleberry Finn and other classics

Cool Finds

This Giant Van Gogh Painting Is Made of Pumpkins, Watermelons and Squash

How crop artist Stan Herd made an acre-wide ode to “Olive Trees”

Robert Kondo, Remy in the Kitchen, "Ratatouille," 2007

The Art and Design Behind Pixar’s Animation

A new exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt in New York City draws on the rich backstory of what it takes to give computer-animated life to pen and ink sketches

A marionette performs atop a Matsuri float

In Japan, Autumn Means a Parade of (Not-at-All-Creepy) Robot Puppets

A 350-year-old festival in Takayama celebrates creativity — and contains the seeds of modern robotics

Soldiers pose with bison heads captured from poacher Ed Howell. In the early days of Yellowstone, poaching, setting the park on fire and defacing its hot springs were rampant.

Age of Humans

How the U.S. Army Saved Our National Parks

Before the National Park Service, Yellowstone was guarded by the cavalry. Without them, we might not have national parks today

Baby tree saplings, cloned from giant redwoods in California, chill out in the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive's propagation area.

Age of Humans

The Race to Save the World’s Great Trees By Cloning Them

A nonprofit dedicated to preserving old, iconic trees is cloning them in hopes of preserving them for the future

Trending Today

How Decorative Gourd Season Conquered Fall

Strange-looking squash have become big business for farmers

Queen bumblebee, Bombus balteatus, foraging for nectar on the alpine wildflower Polemonium viscosum.

New Research

Bee Tongues Are Getting Shorter as Temperatures Warm

In Colorado, alpine bumblebee tongues are shrinking in response to shifting wildflower populations

Twins Ida and Irene practice swimming in a learn-to-swim program on Eydhafushi, an island in the Maldives.

Age of Humans

Third-Graders in the Maldives Discover the Beauty Beneath Their Seas

Many tourists have experienced the Maldives’ beauty. Most Maldivians haven’t, because they don’t know how to swim

Children at the Free School Under the Bridge, an outdoor, donation-supported school under a highway overpass, learn about not just reading and math, but climate change and the ozone layer.

Age of Humans

How India Is Teaching 300 Million Kids to Be Environmentalists

In an enormous undertaking, schoolchildren nationwide are learning about climate change and the environment

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