Cool Finds

Avi Avital is the featured performer in "InstaConcerto for Mandolin and Orchestra," a 75-second concerto written for Instagram.

This Classical Mandolinist Makes Music With...Instagram?

“InstaConcerto for Mandolin and Orchestra” plays with a genre known more for its selfies than its chamber music

A 3D view of the console of the Apollo 11 "Columbia" command module.

Explore the Apollo 11 Command Module in 3D

For the first time, you can peek inside the craft that enabled “one giant leap for mankind”

These Anti-Suffrage Postcards Warned Against Giving Women the Vote

There are always those who resist societal change

The World’s Largest Picnic Basket Faces an Uncertain Future

The fast decline of a kitschy landmark

Image captured from the 1948 Republican National Convention.

Watch Historic Footage of Seven Consequential (and Cringeworthy) Convention Moments

These tidbits of political theater past must be seen to be believed

A Delta Aquarid meteor streaks across the sky.

Keep Your Eyes to the Sky for the Delta Aquarid Meteors This Month

The late-July meteor shower heralds the popular Perseids

This musical score, in Jane Austen's handwriting, is one of nearly 600 Austen family musical treasures available in an online archive.

Jane Austen’s Music Collection Is Now Online

Play piano like a Darcy with nearly 600 Austen-approved tunes

Anyone Can Contribute to This Giant Poem...if You Can Find This Typewriter

A roving typewriter tries to capture New York's subconscious

The Mertz Library hosts one of the world's largest collections of material about plants.

Go Inside New York’s Nearly Secret Botanical Library

It’s a gardener’s fragrant fantasy

An up close view of coral

Watch Corals in Action With New Underwater Microscope

The Benthic Underwater Microscope opens up a whole new age of ocean exploration

The Girl Scouts' newest badges celebrate art in the outdoors.

The Girl Scouts' Newest Badges Bring Art Outside

Scouts designed and voted on the new badges

Larry, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office

10 Downing Street’s “Chief Mouser” Is Keeping His Job Despite Brexit

Larry the Cat will outlast David Cameron at the Prime Minister’s residence

W.E.B. Du Bois at the 1900 Paris Exposition.

The Revolutionary Infographics of W.E.B. Du Bois And Booker T. Washington

Data visualizations shed light on the living conditions of black people decades after the end of slavery

Awaroa Beach

New Zealanders Just Crowdfunded a New Addition to this National Park

Over 40,000 people donated to buy Awaroa Beach and gift the site to Abel Tasman National Park

Ten-year veteran of the Smithsonian's protective services office, Sargeant Nadia Tyler is master of the wildly popular Pokémon Go.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All on the National Mall

Sergeant Nadia Tyler, a security guard at Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, is collecting Pokémon creatures daily

Baa.

Impatient Islanders Create Google "Sheep View"

Ewe won’t forget this unique look at the Faroe Islands

A courtyard in front of a mosque adjacent to the al-Qarawiyyin Library, pre-restoration.

The World’s Oldest Working Library Will Soon Open Its Doors to the Public

After renovations wrap up in September, the library at Morocco’s al-Qarawiyyin University will debut an exhibition section for non-scholars

Before Pokémon Go, These Scavenger Hunts Were All The Rage

"X" marks the spot

"These chimpanzees get more recognition, respect & freedom in American than our people do," wrote Malcolm X to a friend in 1964.

Here's What Malcolm X Thought About Race in 1964

A revealing postcard to Redd Foxx is up for auction

It took over 10,000 linear feet of recycled rebar to create Reclaimed.

A Seattle Dump Just Got Some Clever Public Art

Recycled rebar will make the Seattle North Transfer Station more beautiful

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