Cool Finds

None

Working In a Creative Field? Despite What You May Think, Coffee Is Not Your Best Friend

By focusing your mind, caffeine may actually stand in the way of your creativity

None

Where Did the Phrase “Hubba Hubba” Come From?

Where did this odd little set of sounds come from, and how did it become associated with pretty ladies?

None

That “Old Book Smell” Is a Mix of Grass and Vanilla

Smell is chemistry, and the chemistry of old books gives your cherished tomes their scent

Unless You Like Toxic Chemicals, Skip This Chinese Delicacy

Thirty Chinese preserved egg companies are being shut down for using toxic chemicals to expedite the egg-festering process

None

No, Legalizing Rhino Horn Probably Won’t Save Animals from Poaching

Legalizing trade didn't deter poachers from killing more tigers and elephants, and it won't help the rhinos, either

None

Where Would You Put a 51st Star on the U.S. Flag?

If you wanted to make a 51-star American flag, or a 76-star American flag, how would you arrange the stars?

Can We Blame Men for Menopause?

It's hard to see how a genetic predisposition to sterility would be helpful

A tar sands mine in Alberta

2.5 Million Gallons of Toxic Waste Just Spilled in Alberta

Both Alberta and the company responsible, Apache Corp, held off for more than a week on publicly disclosing the information about the spill

The RoboRoach

Cyborg Cockroaches May Become New Teaching Tools in Neuroscience Classes

Roach neurons aren't that different than human neurons, making the RoboRoach a learning tool for all sorts of basic principles of neuroscience

New At-Home Test Could Tell Women If Their Pregnancy Has Terminated

Women who both do and do not want to be pregnant could benefit from the new test

When the Union Ran Out of Ironclads, They Built Timberclads

A curious photograph caught one library specialist at the Library of Congress by surprise: a wooden ironclad

None

On Venus It Snows Metal

To add to the list of crazy things about space, is this fact: on Venus, it snows metal

None

This New Photo App Can Help Doctors Brainstorm What, Exactly, That Weird Thing Growing on Your Leg Is

It's like Instagram but with rotting toes and tumors instead of filters

The Beck’s Edison Bottle

Beer Bottle Meets 19th-Century Phonograph, Makes Beautiful Music

Engineers and music experts in New Zealand tinkered with the concepts behind Thomas Edison's original phonograph to make a beer bottle sing

Bacteria Makes Squid Sparkly and Sleepy

Bacteria sets up shop in squid to make it sparkle, and also might tell it when to go to sleep

Coffee plant leaves infected with coffee rust.

Half of Central America’s Coffee Harvest This Year Is in Danger

Thanks to climate change, coffee rust's ideal habitat seems to be spreading as higher elevations and more northern areas become warmer

None

San Francisco From the Air, 1938 and Today

This amazing composite photo gives a scrollable, zoomable high-resolution view of 1938 San Francisco

Lego Faces Are Getting Angrier

As LEGOs have gotten more and more varied, they've given the little yellow dude more expressions, many of them angry

Even Astronauts Have Accidents

Peeing in space is way harder than you might think

Jurassic Park’s Stars Would Be Very Different Animals If the Film Were Made Today

In the past 20 years our knowledge about dinosaurs has grown, meaning that some dinosaur-related points depicted in the film are either outdated or wrong

Page 218 of 264