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Cool Finds

An artist's rendition of what the Juno spacecraft will look like as it flies by Jupiter

Cool Finds

NASA Needs Your Help Snapping and Processing Images of Jupiter

The public will help direct JunoCam as it twirls past Jupiter next July

How many curls can you count?

Cool Finds

A Buddha in Japan Is Missing Half of Its Curls

What happened to the Buddha of Nara’s famous ‘do?

Artist Johanna Barron's recreation of a Gene Davis painting called "Black Rhythm" that belongs to the CIA's art collection.

Cool Finds

The CIA Won’t Reveal What’s in its Secret Art Collection

An art installation questions why the CIA is keeping mum about a series of abstract paintings

Cool Finds

There’s a Philly Sign Language Accent

The unique signs used by people in Philadelphia hint at the history of sign language in the U.S.

This 19th-century cartoon depicts a corpse brought back to life through the power of "galvanism."

Cool Finds

How Twitching Frog Legs Helped Inspire ‘Frankenstein’

Galvanism sought to reanimate the dead—and in doing so provided the impetus for one of literature’s most famously frightful books

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Inca Road

Visit Machu Picchu With Google Street View

Armed with a backpack and 15 high-res cameras, Google just tackled one of the world’s wonders

An electronic weapon from Taser International

Cool Finds

The Word “Taser” Comes From a Young Adult Sci-Fi Novel

Massively popular at the time, the Tom Swift books have not aged very well

Cool Finds

Here’s What Happens When You Age Whisky

Hint: The barrel really does matter

Never fear—Swett, SD's town sign has been replaced with one that doesn't have bullet holes.

Cool Finds

For Sale: A Haunted Ghost Town

Swett, South Dakota can be yours for just $250,000

Cool Finds

Minecraft Players Are Recreating Scenes From Studio Ghibli Movies

Now gamers can romp around Yubaba’s Bath House and clamber into a Catbus

Wisdom (front) and her mate

Cool Finds

The Oldest Known Seabird Is About to Lay Another Egg

Wisdom the Laysan albatross has lived at least 64 years and raised as many as 36 chicks

Cool Finds

What Was the First Thing Sold on the Internet?

The answer depends on how the question is approached

Fire tornadoes, or fire devils, often arise during wildfires.

Cool Finds

Hypnotize Yourself With a Slow-Motion Fire Tornado

So hot, it’s cool

Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan at the Geneva Summit.

Cool Finds

Reagan and Gorbachev Agreed to Pause the Cold War in Case of an Alien Invasion

The 40th President of the United States was a big science-fiction fan

Screenshot from "Aspiring Reporter Interviews Bolden about NASA's Journey to Mars"

Cool Finds

A Nine-Year-Old Aspiring Journalist’s Heartwarming Connection with NASA

A popular photography blog helped one kid interview NASA administrator Charles Bolden

Cool Finds

Why a Yam Is Not a Sweet Potato

Despite grocery store labels, these tubers aren’t at all the same

An illustration of Enrico Fermi and other scientists observing the first artificial nuclear reactor.

Cool Finds

The World’s First Nuclear Reactor Was Built in a Squash Court

It sat right next to University of Chicago’s football field

"After signing this Constitution, shall we go to Washington’s place for a pint? I hear he brews a tasty one."

Cool Finds

Try Out George Washington’s Own Craft Beer Recipe

The recipe for “small beer” includes molasses as a sweetener and instructions on what to do if the weather is very cold

Hello?

American South

A Phone Booth Was Just Put on the National Register of Historic Places

Save your change for a telephonic trip to Prairie Grove, Arkansas

Cool Finds

In Brazil, Subway Reading Means a Ticket to Ride

These books encourage reading by doubling as subway tickets

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