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Cool Finds

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Cool Finds

There’s a Cheap And Easy Way to Turn Things Invisible

Real invisibility cloaks are a long way off, but here’s a handy—if somewhat limited—replacement

Cool Finds

New York Could Add Two City Blocks to Manhattan’s Southern End—Just to Stop Flooding

A new study shows that building a massive levee on Manhattan’s Lower East Side could actually be feasible

This image was taken while exploring a 1300m lava cave in Iceland. In some areas the roof has caved in, so snow piles up in the winter time and creates these snow peaks. The aurora at its peak gleams through the roof of the cave and despite only taking up a small portion of the photo, it remains the focal point.

Cool Finds

These Amazing Pictures Made the Shortlist For Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The competition, now in it’s sixth year highlights beautiful images of the sky from around the world

Visitors wait in line at the National Archives to view the Declaration of Independence (against the wall, center right), preserved under glass and special lighting, ahead of the Fourth of July Independence Day holiday in Washington, July 3, 2013.

Cool Finds

The National Archives Wants to Put Its Whole Collection on Wikimedia Commons

The National Archives and Records Administration plans to upload everything it can

Patients at an internet addiction boot camp in Guangzhou practice gardening.

Cool Finds

China Now Has Up to 250 Boot Camps to Cure Teens of Internet Addiction

One of these facilities recently opened in the US, too

Cool Finds

British Airways’ New Blankets Pick Up On and Display Your Anxiety

The blankets are only in the experimental phase right now, however

Cool Finds

Flatten Out the Moons and Planets, And You Can See Just How Big Earth Actually Is

Comparing their surface areas side-by-side gives a sense of scale to some of the solar system’s inhabitants

Washington, D.C.

The Colosseum Was a Housing Complex in Medieval Times

Recent archeological digs have found that people lived in the Colosseum during the medieval era

A pool here might be nice

Cool Finds

There’s a Secret Pool in the Mojave Desert

Part art project, part public pool, this artificial oasis will take some effort to get to

The Airman's Coin Ceremony during the final week of Air Force Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, April 4, 2013. After this event, individuals are no longer called a ''trainee.'' They've earned the right to be called ''Airman.'' Many Airman consider this to be one of the most significant events in their career.

Cool Finds

More Than Two Thirds of American Youth Aren’t Good Enough for the Military, Says the Military

The military won’t accept people prescribed ADHD medications—but that doesn’t mean soldiers aren’t using Adderall

Cool Finds

UNESCO Just Announced the 1000th World Heritage Site

Botswana’s lush Okavango Delta claims the slot

Hammer amulets like these have been found across Viking Europe

Cool Finds

Small Viking Charms Really Do Represent Thor’s Hammer

Inscription on a small metal charm definitively states ‘This is a hammer’

Hippos swim in an artificial lake in a farm in Puerto Triunfo, Colombia, December 21, 2006.

Cool Finds

Blame Drug Lord Pablo Escobar for Colombia’s Hippopotamus Problem

Pablo Escobar had hippos in his private zoo, since the 1990s those hippos have been roaming free

Cool Finds

Former NASA Engineer Wants To Build A Car-Juggling Robot

Former NASA Engineer Wants To Build A Car-Juggling Robot

These mana potions won't actually let you cast fireballs.

Cool Finds

How Did “Mana,” An Austronesian Religious Idea, Become a Gaming Staple?

Anthropologist Alex Golub tracks the path of mana, from ancient Taiwan to fantasy gaming culture

Cool Finds

See Exactly Where Air Quality in America Has Gotten Better

New maps from NASA show where air quality has gotten better over time

Euclid, the Game

Cool Finds

This Geometry Game Is Nerdy, Addictive Fun

Bisecting an angle has never been more fun

Lt. Col. Geoffrey Barnes, Detachment 1 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Attack Squadron commander, performs a pre-flight inspection of an MQ-1B Predator unmanned drone aircraft in September 3, 2008.

Cool Finds

There Have Been 418 Major Drone Crashes Since 2001, Many of Them in the United States

Even the military is having drone problems

Cool Finds

Libraries Are Going to Start Lending Out Internet Hotspots

Libraries in New York and Chicago are planning to start lending out Wi-Fi hotspots to people who don’t have internet access at home

Unattributed photograph of William Howard Taft from 1909

Cool Finds

Taft’s Bathtubs Weighed A Ton

Taft might not have really gotten stuck in a bathtub, but he did seem to have a fondness for them

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