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Cool Finds

Kelly Slater tests his new wave machine in Lemoore, California

Cool Finds

Surf Legend Builds Artificial Wave That Could Bring Surfing to the Masses

The World Surf League just bought Kelly Slater’s artificial wave technology, a move that could bring surfing to places like Nebraska

A close-up of Abraham Lincoln's signature on the Emancipation Proclamation.

Cool Finds

Dozens of Rare Documents From American History Just Sold at Auction

Original copies of the 13th Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation just sold for millions

"Red and Green II" Georgia O'Keeffe, 1916 Watercolor on paper, laid down on paper.

Cool Finds

A Painting Georgia O’Keeffe Wanted Destroyed Is on Display for the First Time in Nearly 60 Years

O’Keeffe’s watercolor returns to the town where she painted it

Cool Finds

These Are America’s Most Well-Read Cities

Did your bookish burg make Amazon.com’s list?

A beer funnel, one of the pieces of equipment used to make beer in China 5,000 years ago

Cool Finds

Gan Bei! Chinese Brewed Beer 5,000 Years Ago

Researchers analyzed deposits on ancient pots and jugs to find out Chinese brewers made sophisticated barley beers 1,000 years earlier than thought

Sarah Josepha Hale was the 19th century's answer to Oprah.

Cool Finds

Five Fascinating Details About the Media Mogul Who May Have Written ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’

Everywhere that Sarah Josepha Hale went, success was sure to go

Cool Finds

Houston Opens Up Its Huge “Underground Cathedral” to Visitors

A haunting 1920’s city reservoir full of 25-foot columns and shafts of light is now open to the public

Cool Finds

When It Rains in Boston, the Sidewalks Reveal Poetry

Water-resistant spray paint creates hidden poems on Beantown’s streets

Cool Finds

How Forensic Scientists Once Tried to “See” a Dead Person’s Last Sight

Scientists once believed that the dead’s last sight could be resolved from their extracted eyeballs

Duke Riley's pigeons taking off for a performance of "Fly BY Night."

Cool Finds

A Giant Flock of Pigeons Is Lighting up New York’s Night Sky

The show is meant to illustrate that pigeons aren’t rats with wings

Cool Finds

Five of the Most Iconic State Sandwiches

Choosing a state sandwich is hard work

A family photo taken near Noatak, Alaska

Cool Finds

An Archive of Native Americans Portraits Taken a Century Ago Spurs Further Exploration

Edward S. Curtis’ photography is famous, but contemporary Native American artists go beyond stereotypes

A life-sized bronze statue of Alexander Hamilton by sculptor Kim Crowley will be on display during the "Summer of Hamilton."

Cool Finds

Get Ready for the “Summer of Hamilton”

A new exhibition at the New-York Historical Society focuses on the “$10 Founding Father”

The three brightest stars in the image make up the Summer Triangle.

Cool Finds

The Red Planet and Summer Triangle Will Soon Shine Bright

Mars is swooping closer to the Earth this week while the Summer Triangle rises in the sky

Robert Frost in 1941

Cool Finds

Listen to Robert Frost Read His Poems

Recordings offer a chance to really listen to the meaning behind classics like “The Road Not Taken”

A glass of real bubbly.

Cool Finds

Can Wine Made Without Grapes Match the Real Thing?

A San Francisco start-up is trying to create synthetic wine—just by mixing together the right ingredients

A lamprey in a tank at the Aquarium Restaurant Atalaya in Spain.

Cool Finds

It’s Lamprey Breeding Time in Britain

The bloodsucking fish are returning rivers that were once too polluted for them to live in

A set of the volumes published by 2010 of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae

Cool Finds

This Latin Thesaurus Has Been in Progress Since 1894

Scholars are still working on the letter “N”

The body of a young female beaked whale washed ashore in South Australia

Cool Finds

Rare Beaked Whale Washes Ashore in Australia

Sporting unusual teeth, the young female offers researchers a chance to study an elusive cetacean

A "Walking Library" in London, circa 1930s

Cool Finds

A Brief History of Taking Books Along for the Ride

Have books, will travel

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