Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Cool Finds

One of the dig sites at Durrington Walls where researchers have uncovered a post that once held a large, prehistoric timber post.

Cool Finds

The So-Called “Superhenge” Was Made of Wood, Not Stone

New research shows that the ancient structure was also taken down in a hurry

Cool Finds

Adorable Stubby Squid Found Off the Coast of Southern California

Researchers aboard the E/V Nautilus happened across a particularly cute stubby squid

Grab a book, grab a mic, get down.

Cool Finds

Finland’s Hot New Karaoke Bar Is a Public Library

Don’t stop believin’ in the power of music

The remains of a teenage boy found near an altar dedicated to Zeus at Mt. Lykaion

Cool Finds

Did the Ancient Greeks Engage in Human Sacrifice?

The remains uncovered at an altar to Zeus on Mount Lykaion may confirm legends about human sacrifice at the shrine

Cool Finds

Tourists in Hawaii Accidentally Discovered Ancient Petroglyphs

A stroke of luck on the beach

Children salute the American flag in 1915.

Cool Finds

The Rules About How to Address the U.S. Flag Came About Because No One Wanted to Look Like a Nazi

During the National Anthem, Americans are asked to put their right hands over their hearts. But why?

Book carts can already get out of control quickly, so careening them along a twisty course was treacherous indeed.

Cool Finds

Librarians Have an Olympics, Too

Brains met brawn in a bookish competition for the ages

Excavations at Tell Yunatsite, Bulgaria

Cool Finds

World’s Oldest Gold Object May Have Just Been Unearthed in Bulgaria

A small gold bead shows that Copper Age people in the Balkans were processing gold 6,500 years ago

Robe volante, c. 1730

Cool Finds

The Robe Volante, the First Comfortable Dress in France, Sells for $150,000

The sweatpants of its day for courtiers, the style was a rebellion against the elaborate, corseted dresses of Louis XIV’s court

This crater with curious ridges in its center is a possible future site for exploration

Cool Finds

Explore Far Out Views From Mars’ Surface With Over 1,000 New Photos

It’s the Martian “magic hour”

Shifen Waterfall in Pingsi Township, Taiwan.

Sponsor Content: Taiwan

Seven Gorgeous Waterfalls to Chase in Taiwan

Rainbows, records and golden water make these majestic falls a can’t-miss

Cool Finds

Cute Sand Cat Spotted for the First Time in a Decade in the United Arab Emirates

Researchers set out to photograph the elusive cat to help create a conservation plan for the endangered feline

Temple where the remains of a body and two important hieroglyphic slabs were discovered in Xunantunich

Cool Finds

Rare Maya Burial Temple Discovered in Belize

Excavations at Xunantunich have uncovered the remains of a body and hieroglyphics that tell the story of the snake-head dynasty

Cool Finds

These Meals Are Made of Paper

Stop-motion spaghetti? Yes, please

Cool Finds

Look Up! The Perseid Meteor Shower Is Going to Be a Doozy This Year

The number of shooting stars could double this year

Winnie the Pooh has got new stitches, a fluffier butt and a renewed spot in the New York Public Library.

Cool Finds

Original Pooh Bear Gets Makeover, Returns to New York Public Library

Winnie and his friends are clean, fluffy and filled with stories

Excavations of a Dark Ages palace on the Tintagel Peninsula in Cornwall

Cool Finds

A Palace Was Unearthed Where Legend Places King Arthur’s Birthplace

Archaeologists at Tintagel uncover walls and artifacts from a Dark Ages complex likely used by local kings

In NASA's new "Mars Rover" game, players drive a rover through rough Martian terrain, challenging themselves to navigate and balance the rover.

Cool Finds

Take a Spin Around Mars in NASA’s New Rover Game

Tour the Red Planet without the risk of a multi-million dollar crash

The viewing pod slides up and down the tower, which has been acknowledged as world's most slender by Guinness World Records.

Cool Finds

New Observation Tower Is World’s Thinnest

Brighton’s West Pier comes back to life…as a crazy vertical viewing tower

A reconstruction from the 3,700-year-old remains of Ava, a woman unearthed in the Scottish Highlands

Cool Finds

Meet Ava, a Bronze Age Woman From the Scottish Highlands

A forensic artist has recreated the face of a woman alive 3,700 years ago

Page 121 of 284