Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Cool Finds

Definitely sinning right now.

Cool Finds

How Medieval People Decided Whether Sex Was Acceptable or Not

Spoiler alert: your sex is definitely Medievally sinful

No Instagram filter needed.

Cool Finds

See the First Photographs Ever Taken of Jerusalem

Since 1844, millions of photographs have probably been taken of Jerusalem. But these blurry snaps are the very first.

Snacks are a key element of a successful Super Bowl experience.

Cool Finds

Prepare for the Super Bowl by Watching This Primer on American Football

For those of you who aren’t football fans, never fear, we’ve got you covered

Looks like some scientists could use a quick Gender Theory 101 course.

Cool Finds

Some Scientific Journals Are Still Confusing Sex and Gender

Sex and gender are not synonyms, yet some scientific journals continue to use them interchangeably

Threaten with emoji, go to jail.

Cool Finds

An Emoji Death Threat Is Still a Death Threat

Death threats are illegal. Even if they come in the form of emoji.

Cool Finds

Some People Are Terrified of Chewing Sounds

When you chew loudly, cough or clip your nails, you might be causing another person to bubble with rage

Hello? Are you asleep or dead?

Cool Finds

Could a Computer Ever Learn to Identify Death?

Identify signs of life in a human might still be beyond a computer’s grasp

Cool Finds

This One Site in Texas Will Get Most of America’s Low-Level Nuclear Waste

As America’s nuclear plants run out their lives, decommissioning waste will be headed to Texas

Cool Finds

Virgin Galactic Started Selling Tickets to Space Before Getting Permission to Take People There

The private spaceflight company is missing a crucial FAA permit

None

Cool Finds

One Italian Director Animated These Old Masterpieces With New Technology

We can’t decide if these moving paintings are cool or totally creepy

Cool Finds

How Much Do You Actually Know About What You’re Putting in Your Mouth?

A little background in food science can turn you into a next-level foodie

Sculpting the eyes that will stare into your soul.

Cool Finds

This Is How Giant Animal Statues Get Made

Who do you go to when you need a giant crocodile statue? This guy

Cool Finds

The Short History of the Invention of Writing

Writing was invented, but by whom?

Cool Finds

Conservationist Are Resorting to Branding Endangered Tortoises

If the tortoises’ shells are marred with numbers and letters, they’ll be less appealing to poachers

Cool Finds

Fresh From 1849: The First Animated Gif of the Moon

A series of exposures shows the oldest surviving photo of the Moon

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Egypt Just Unearthed a Previously Unknown Pharaoh’s Tomb

Ancient Egypt’s King Senebkay just arose after a 3,650 year slumber

The Franklin Papers includes 4,522 documents, including angry letters the founding father never sent.

Cool Finds

It’s Ben Franklin’s Birthday—Want to Rummage Through His Papers?

4,522 documents, letters and notes that Franklin wrote or received

From an illuminated manuscript circa 1350s

Cool Finds

Not All the Knights of the Round Table Were White

The storytellers assumed we’d be sharp enough to pick up on their hints that Sir Morien was black. Turns out, we’re not

Icelanders still hold strong to their belief in fairies

Cool Finds

Icelanders Protest a Road That Would Disturb Fairies

Nepal has the Yeti. The South has Bigfoot. Iceland has fairies

Cool Finds

How Scientists Recorded the Music Inside One Woman’s Head

A patient was hallucinating musical scores, and researchers have managed to record it

Page 208 of 281