Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Cool Finds

Cool Finds

Japan Honors the Creator of the California Roll

Some may see it as an affront against sushi, others see an ambassador for culture

The 'Andrea Doria' in its last hours

New Research

New Footage Shows Rapid Breakdown of Shipwreck ‘Andrea Doria’

Researchers visited the remains of the Italian luxury liner in a submersible to figure out how quickly wrecks deteriorate

Tolkien relied on maps to write his books—and cared a lot about how his fans saw Middle-earth.

Cool Finds

One Day Only: A Chance to View One Map to Rule Them All

A rare Tolkien-annotated map goes on display June 23

The supernova designated SN 2016cok can be spotted at the edge of the Messier 66 galaxy, marked by the two rectangular crosshairs.

Cool Finds

Spy Two Supernovae in June’s Night Sky

After millions of years, their light is finally bright enough to see from Earth

Cool Finds

This New York Project Wants You to Write on the Walls

Writing On It All gives voice—and a pen—to one and all

Robot librarians might one day help human librarians track down misplaced books.

Cool Finds

This Robot Librarian Locates Haphazardly Placed Books

It’s the next best thing since the Dewey Decimal System

Preah Khan of Kompong Svay as seen by Lidar

Cool Finds

Laser Scans Reveal Massive Khmer Cities Hidden in the Cambodian Jungle

Using Lidar technology, researchers are discovering the extent of the medieval Khmer empire

Cool Finds

One of the World’s Most Colorful Places Is in Taiwan

Rainbow Family Village shows there’s nothing a man with a paintbrush can’t do

New Research

Bronze Buckle Shows Ancient Trade Between Eurasia and North America

Metal objects found on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula indicate that local people received trade goods from Asia almost 1,000 years ago

Look up—there's more to the Grand Canyon than geology.

Cool Finds

Grand Canyon Turns Down Its Lights to Become a Dark Sky Park

Star gazers, rejoice—the skies above the Grand Canyon will never lose their sparkle

Some of Uber den Tellerrand's volunteers teaching a cooking class.

Cool Finds

Refugees Are Teaching Germans How to Cook Their Traditional Foods

Cooking classes are bridging the gaps between Germans and Middle Eastern refugees

Ahhh...that was satisfying.

Cool Finds

This New Satellite Project Helps People Find Patterns in City Spaces

Terrapattern turns a mad world into a satisfying, matchy-matchy nirvana

"Sting Like a Bee"
Muhammad Ali, 1979
Serigraph

Cool Finds

Artwork by Muhammad Ali Is Going up For Auction

You could own a painting by the Louisville Lip

The cover to one of A-No.1's books about his life as a hobo.

Cool Finds

After a Century, an Anthropologist Picked up the Trail of the “Hobo King”

One hundred-year-old graffiti by “A-No.1” and others were found by the L.A. River

Cool Finds

X-Rays Reveal “Hidden Library” on the Spines of Early Books

Researchers are uncovering fragments of medieval texts used in early book binding

Money tossed into a fountain at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Cool Finds

What Happens to the Coins Tossed Into Fountains?

All that money has to go somewhere

It's thought that JFK's heartfelt letter to his mistress, Mary Pinchot Meyer, was written just a month before his assassination.

Cool Finds

A Steamy Letter From JFK Is up for Auction

The president had a real way with the ladies—and with an em dash

This year's ConIFA World Football Cup will be anything but average.

Cool Finds

There’s a World Cup for Unrecognized States

This game is for soccer’s international underdogs

The longer a structure has been exposed to the water, the more weathered it appeared.

New Research

This “Lost Underwater City” Was Actually Made by Microbes

Though these formations may not be evidence of a lost city, they show off some intriguing chemistry

Page 124 of 282