Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Cool Finds

A wild boar mama in Germany.

Cool Finds

Radioactive Boars Are Roaming Around Germany

The boar’s meat is too contaminated from Chernobyl’s radiation to be fit for human consumption

None

Cool Finds

The Surprisingly Complicated Reason Why Stars Look Like They Have Points

Stars are star-shaped because of imperfection in our eyes

A Lost Chapter From Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” Was Just Released

The chapter was removed after being deemed “too wild” and subversive

Sculpture inspired by traditional Norwegian fiskehjeller (fish racks) and designed by Rintala Eggertsson Architects

Cool Finds

This Beach Sculpture Is Modeled After Norwegian Fish Drying Racks

Norway’s SALT festival involves music, sauna’s and architecture

Cool Finds

Weird Physics Can Make an Invisible Cat Visible

These cat pictures are brought to you by quantum entanglement as discussed by Einstein and Schrödinger

Cool Finds

Researchers Solve the Mystery of Death Valley’s Sailing Rocks

A team recorded thin sheets of ice pushing rocks across a desert lake bed, answering a decades-old question

Cool Finds

Whale-Watching Can Actually Be Harmful To Whales

Ecotourism can give people a closer look at wildlife, but in the case of whales, it could also harm the wildlife they’re looking at

Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. stands with the U.S. flag on the lunar surface during the Apollo 12 mission.

Cool Finds

The Moon Smells Like Gunpowder

The smell of the Moon is not just the smell of space

The little 1/3 drone hoverbike in action.

Cool Finds

Hoverbikes Get One Step Closer to Reality

Chris Malloy is raising money on Kickstarter to continue development of his hoverbike

Cool Finds

What’s Replacing Coal In Europe? Imported Wood

In trying to meet renewable goals, Europe is relying on wood from forests in the Southern United States

A zoomorphic stone portal found at the re-discovered site of Lagunita

Cool Finds

Two Maya Cities Found in Mexican Jungle

One of the sites was re-discovered after being lost for decades

Shrek the sheep (seen here in 2004) held the record for wooliest sheep

Tasmanian Sheep May Be Wooliest In World

Shaun the sheep might beat out the previous champ, Shrek, as the world’s wooliest sheep

Cool Finds

Oregon Animals Now Have Some Basic Rights Formerly Reserved for Humans

Crimes against animals can’t be lumped all together—each animal victim has to be recognized individually

Cool Finds

Scientists Are Actually Talking About Building Giant Space Lasers to Control the Weather

This is what happens when you refuse to do things the easy way

Cool Finds

New Jersey Will Test Solar-Powered Commuting Pods Straight Out of the Future

The new form of transportation looks like it came here from the future

Cool Finds

Women Now Outnumber Adolescent Boys in the Gamer Community

Smartphones likely explain the sudden spike in the number of female gamers

Cool Finds

Elephant Poachers Also Targeting Vultures

Vultures are being targeted by elephant poachers in Africa

Cool Finds

How British Soldiers’ Gear Has Changed Over the Last 1,000 Years

Photographer Thom Atkinson traces the evolution of wooden spears to sniper rifles

Cool Finds

Some Zoo Grass Is Electrified

Some zoo landscaping is designed to keep the animals within their cages, not for them to interact with

Cool Finds

You Can Now Inherit Someone’s Facebook Account

When you die in Delaware, you no longer need to die online.

Page 180 of 281