Cool Finds

Cool Finds

The Tooth Fairy Is a Very Recent, Very American Creation

The tooth fairy first appeared around the turn of the 20th century

February 13, 2014

Cool Finds

King Richard III Will Be the First Famous Historical Person Whose Genome Is Sequenced

And it’ll be public, so anyone can check it out

February 13, 2014

Chocolate Milk Was Invented in Jamaica

As with many things, the European who gets credit for inventing chocolate milk probably did not actually invent it

February 12, 2014

Cool Finds

This Chip Will Self Destruct (If DARPA Can Get It To)

Should a United States computer fall into the wrong hands, the army wants to be able to disintegrate that chip and its information on command

February 12, 2014

Cool Finds

Which Sci-Fi Armor Is the Military’s Fancy New Battle Suit Actually Like?

They’re calling it the “Iron Man” suit, but we think there’s a closer analogy

February 12, 2014

Cool Finds

Send Your Valentine a Secret Message in the Language of Flowers, Updated for Modern Lovers

Certain flowers had well-understood meanings back in Victorian times, and now a London startup is trying to revive floriography for current times

February 11, 2014

Cool Finds

You Could Soon Make Coca-Cola in the Comfort of Your Own Home

How a Keurig Coke pack will work is still under wraps, but Coca-Cola is taking aim at the home-made soda market

February 11, 2014

Cool Finds

Take a Lovely Two-Minute Tour of Antarctica From the Air

A brief helicopter trip around Italy’s Mario Zucchelli Research Station

February 11, 2014

Cool Finds

Mathematician Calculates 177,147 Ways to Tie a Tie

“I have tried 10 or 20 of them, and most of them to be quite honest look kind of awkward,” he says

February 11, 2014

Cool Finds

The Oldest Human Footprints Ever Discovered Outside of Africa Have Already Been Washed Away

Casts and computer images are all that’s of footprints made 900,000 years ago on the British coast

February 10, 2014

Cool Finds

Americans Are More Into BDSM Than The Rest of the World

Not only is BDSM far more common than you might think, it’s also far less of a red-flag when it comes to health and psychology

February 10, 2014

Cool Finds

For 25 Years, U.S. Special Forces Carried Miniature Nukes on Their Backs

The B-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition was a nuclear bomb the size of a backpack

February 10, 2014

Cool Finds

This Satellite Just Returned From Circling the Sun, But NASA’s Lost the Ability to Talk to It

The style of transmitters that would let NASA talk to the spacecraft were taken out of commission

February 10, 2014

Cool Finds

Forget the Paleo Diet, Make Yourself Some Mesoamerican Hot Chocolate

Skip the contents of that deer stomach, or whatever other weird diet you’re on, and get yourself some cocoa beans

February 7, 2014

Cool Finds

See What It’s Like to be a Paleontologist in the Gobi Desert

Aki Watanabe took Google Glass to the Gobi Desert to show people first hand what fossil hunting is like

February 7, 2014

Cool Finds

These 10 Year Olds Are Studying the Impact of Texting on Mario Kart Performance

Everybody knows that driving while texting is a really, really bad idea. But what about driving a Mario Kart and texting?

February 7, 2014

Cool Finds

Mars Got Hit By a Meteorite, And Now There’s a Picture

Follow up with NASA’s high-resolution HiRISE camera captured this dramatic impact crater

February 7, 2014

Cool Finds

Capybaras Are Basically Nature’s Chairs

The world’s largest rodent can’t get any respect

February 7, 2014

Cool Finds

Hollywood Overvalues Older Male Actors And Undervalues Older Women

A female movie star’s salary peaks at age 34, and then drops off the cliff. Men hit their peak earnings at 51, and keep on making money

February 7, 2014

Cool Finds

People Have Been Saying “Ax” Instead of “Ask” for 1,200 Years

“Ax” for “ask” isn’t wrong, it’s just different

February 6, 2014