Cool Finds
It’s Possible to See Exoplanets Without Schmancy Equipment
A cheap DSLR and some light computer processing can unveil far off exoplanets
Found in "Penny Papers" from the 1800s, A Lost Walt Whitman Poem
A professor at the University of Nebraska stumbled upon an ode to Whitman’s contemporary William Cullen Bryant
Let Wildlife Recordings From the 1930s Take You Back to Nature
Hear African wildlife from the 1930s with the British Library's nature sound archives
Tour the Great Wide World of Mushroom Cloud Imagery
Nuclear testing yielded far more, and more diverse, images of mushroom clouds than those that are commonly shown
The Largest Manmade Block Ever Was Just Discovered in Lebanon
The block was never used, likely because it was too big to transport
MIT Is Giving Its Students Bitcoin
Researchers interested in studying how people use Bitcoin are handing out $100 worth of the currency to whoever wants it
Hollywood Asked for Freeway Noise Barriers First
It only makes sense that the problem of road noise cropped up in Los Angeles
The White House Is Going Digital With Its Holiday Decorations
Robot dogs, an interactive holiday card and crowd-sourced light shows are a few of the new additions
Russia Has Its Own Classic Version of an Animated Winnie-the-Pooh
Three short films produced from 1969 through 1972 follow the adventures of A.A. Milne's characters
New Amsterdam's First Laws: Drink Less, Fight Less
New Amsterdam was controlled by the Dutch from 1624 to 1664
Computers Write Novels Faster Than You Do
Silicon chips don't suffer writer's block
There's an Airbnb for Fields in England
In the U.K., you can rent a field for weddings, concerts, sports matches or simply your own enjoyment
Experts Have No Idea Who This Roman God Is
A recently unearthed carving combines Roman and Mesopotamian elements but may represent a god from an even earlier time
This Computer From 1949 Runs on Water
Computers at the time didn’t have displays; one economics student created a visualization using water-filled tanks and tubes
A Nurse Describes the Smell of the Civil War
The overpowering stink of blood and decaying flesh can surprise even trained soldiers
Lemmings Do Not Explode Or Throw Themselves Off Cliffs
A popular myth about these arctic rodents has its roots in faked documentary footage from Disney
How NASA Censored Dirty-Mouthed Astronauts
NASA really didn't want astronauts swearing on air
Heroin Use Is on the Rise Again, Thanks to Suburban White Users
OxyContin is heroin's new gateway drug, experts say
A Dutch Actress Is Journeying to the South Pole on a Tractor
She pays tribute to great polar expeditions of the past and carries the dreams of thousands with her
One Hummingbird's Unusual Flight: From Minnesota to Texas, on a Plane
Rufous hummingbirds have no business being in St. Paul amid freezing temperatures
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