Cool Finds

Cool Finds

The Line Between Weirdness And Normalacy Depends Entirely on Your Point of View

In 1956, an anthropologist described Americans as a people with a “pervasive aversion to the natural body”

February 6, 2014

Cool Finds

A Swarm of Tumbleweed-Like Robots Might Be the Ideal Desert Data Gatherers

The hardy robots can traverse places that would be difficult or very expensive to send human data-gatherers

February 6, 2014

Cool Finds

This Little Minnow Will Be the First Fish Ever Taken Off the Endangered Species List

Thanks to successful conservation efforts, the Oregon chub has successfully rebounded from near-extinction

February 6, 2014

Cool Finds

Watch the First Ever NYC Blizzard Caught on Film

Not only is this the first ever film of a blizzard in the Big Apple, it is probably the first ever film of any American blizzard ever

February 5, 2014

Cool Finds

Wikipedia Wants to Archive Famous People’s Voices

If you have a Wikipedia profile, the Wikipedia Voice Intro Project wants to hear you

February 5, 2014

Cool Finds

This Terrifying Parasite Bears an Uncanny Resemblance to the Queen in “Aliens”

Phronima hollow out their prey and ride around in their corpse

February 5, 2014

Cool Finds

A Tiny Scrap of Paper Offers a Glimpse Into Jane Austen’s Inspiration

The small scrap of paper transcribes part of a sermon, the theme of which Austen later explored in “Mansfield Park”

February 5, 2014

Cool Finds

At Auction: One of the Only Cameras to Ever Make it Back From the Moon

James Irwin’s custom Hasselblad was one of the only cameras to make it back from the Moon… or was it?

February 4, 2014

Cool Finds

Korea Is Using a Kinect to Monitor Its Border

The Microsoft Kinect is at the center of a lively community that includes hackers, artists and, now, South Korea’s border patrol

February 4, 2014

Cool Finds

Shopping Carts Are Way More Dangerous Than You Might Expect

There are a lot of things to fear in this world. Allow us to add another thing to that list: shopping carts

February 4, 2014

Cool Finds

Psychiatric Records for African American Patients Are Rare, And This Hospital Has a Century’s Worth

Researchers are attempting to digitize and preserve the tens of thousands of patient records from the Central State Hospital

February 4, 2014

Cool Finds

It Takes Just Five Seconds to Find Out If You’re a Good Liar

But maybe don’t read too much into this test

February 3, 2014

Cool Finds

No One Knows Why Ancient Egyptians Built This 4,600-Year-Old Pyramid

The new pyramid joins the list of other mysterious step pyramids built before the Great Pyramid at Giza

February 3, 2014

World War I: 100 Years Later

The British Employed Official War Painters in Both World Wars

Between 1939 and 1945 the War Artists Advisory Committee purchased about 6,000 pieces of art from over 400 artists

January 31, 2014

Cool Finds

The Great Debate Over Whether 1+2+3+4..+ ∞ = -1/12

Can the sum of all positive integers = -1/12? It can, sort of…

January 31, 2014

Cool Finds

Making Paint Out of Goat’s Milk Is an Ancient Idea

And, actually, it works pretty well

January 31, 2014

Cool Finds

Medical Students Are Fixing Wikipedia Entries

Wikipedia is still the leading source of information for patients and providers. Which is a problem, since Wikipedia entries have mistakes

January 30, 2014

Cool Finds

Old Illustrations Tell the Secret of How They Were Made

Old books are full of beautiful, intricate engravings. But without expertise in printmaking, how can you tell how those images were made?

January 30, 2014

Cool Finds

When Your Coffee Maker Is Also a Spectrometer

London-based designer Alex Duffner creates dual-purpose lab/kitchen gadgets

January 30, 2014

Cool Finds

A Factory in China Is Slaughtering Endangered Whale Sharks

A Chinese non-profit wildlife organization exposed what they believe to be the largest whale shark-processing factory in the world

January 30, 2014