Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Cool Finds

Alpine cows near Berne, Switzerland.

Cool Finds

Swiss Troops Stormed France in the Name of Cheese (and Cows)

Thirsty cows + torrid heat = trouble between nations

Cool Finds

Blueberries: A Biography

The world’s commercial blueberries all have their roots in New Jersey

The Sydney Opera House at night

Cool Finds

He Designed the Sydney Opera House…But Wasn’t Even Invited to its Opening

Somehow, an inexperienced architect and a mismanaged project still produced one of the world’s most iconic buildings

Aldrin was became the second human to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Cool Finds

Astronauts Fill Out Customs Forms, Too

Read Buzz Aldrin’s expense report and customs form from his Apollo 11 mission to the moon

Satellite images of the Moon moving around the Earth

Cool Finds

Breathtaking Space GIF Gives Earth a New Perspective of the Moon

NASA’s EPIC camera took the image a million miles from Earth

Black chicken served with bamboo shoots and caterpillar fungus

Cool Finds

Why This Chicken is Black From Comb to Feathers to Muscles

The Ayam Cemani is the Goth of the chicken world

Cool Finds

Astronauts Have Some Weird Pre-Launch Traditions

Rituals are important when you’re about to rocket into space

Cool Finds

How Emojis Could Help People With Food Allergies

Bread emoji. Disappointed face emoji.

Cool Finds

A 13th-Century Sword Is Giving Historians a Headache

The sword’s inscription is an 800-year-old mystery

Cool Finds

Scientists Have Been Talking About Greenhouse Gases for 191 Years

The first explorations of the greenhouse effect began in 1824

Sri Lakan Slender Loris

Cool Finds

Why Primatologists Love Collecting Poop

There’s intel inside monkey feces — in the form of DNA

A mosaic of Mars from Mariner 6 and Mariner 7

Cool Finds

How NASA Dealt With Images of an Alien Planet in the 1960s

The alien planet was Mars and the process was just a bit simpler than it is today

Cool Finds

The Science Behind Dogs’ Goofy Greetings

Why do dogs go nuts when their owners get home? The answers lie in their DNA and brains

Cool Finds

Maine Brewers Are Selling Lobster-Infused Beer

Because of course they are

The 7 Line is currently undergoing a system upgrade from one that was installed in the 1930s to one run by computers.

Cool Finds

NYC Subway Technology Goes Way Back…to the 1930s

America’s busiest subway system relies on vintage machines

Half of Devil's Kettle Falls plunges underground — then simply disappears

Cool Finds

The Mystery of Minnesota’s Disappearing River

Half a river is missing in the Judge C.R. Magney State Park

Players from the University of Sydney and McGill University grapple over the quaffle during the 2014 Quidditch World Cup in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Cool Finds

Muggles, Rejoice: Quidditch is Becoming a Serious Sport

The Harry Potter-inspired game is now played by more than 300 teams around the world

Dario, an eight-year-old Colombian boy who lost his arm due to a congenital malformation, tests out Torres' prosthetic arm design.

Cool Finds

Kids Can Build Their Own Lego Prosthetics

Prototype system brings a bit of fun to prosthetics

Astrophysicist Dr. Brian May is recognized during a July 17, 2015 New Horizons science briefing at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. May spent a long birthday weekend with the science team, attending two morning science plenaries, a meeting with the Student Dust Counter group, and working on stereo images of Pluto with the Geology, Geophysics and Imaging (GGI) team.

Cool Finds

Queen Guitarist Brian May is Now a New Horizons Science Collaborator

As new images were transmitted from Pluto, the rock-star-turned-astrophysicist rubbed shoulders with his heroes

Page 149 of 281