Cool Finds

Curses! The Four-Letter Word Renaissance Speakers Wouldn’t Flinch At

Back in the ninth century, the S-word referred to excrement in a matter-of-fact, not a vulgar, way

None

Why Do We Laugh?

What is the evolutionary purpose of laughter? Are we the only species that laughs?

None

Scientists Map Britain’s Most Famous Underwater City

Researchers have created a 3D visualization of Dunwich using acoustic imaging

How Often Does the Oldest Person in the World Die?

Every so often you hear about the oldest person in the world dying, but how often does this actually happen?

None

This 3-D Printed Robot Also Can Assemble Itself

Robots get smaller, smarter, faster and easier to assemble every day. In fact, they're so easy to make that this robot can actually assemble itself

None

This is a Real Time Map of Wikipedia Changes

Who are the people who edit Wikipedia and where do they come from? Here is a real-time map to answer that question

None

This App Uses Audio to Guide Blind Photographers

While blind people can't enjoy photographs the same way sighted people do, that doesn't mean they don't want to take them

3-D Printed Gun Plans Are Going to Be on the Internet, Whatever the State Department Says

Barns Are Painted Red Because of the Physics of Dying Stars

Have you ever noticed that almost every barn you have ever seen is red? Here's why.

None

Feel Your Head Roll With This Virtual Reality Guillotine Simulator

Through a combination if sight and touch, virtual reality can actually be incredibly realistic

None

What Is it About Music That Triggers All of These Emotions?

Real feel or social construction? Where does the mood of your music come from?

None

Shell Is Drilling the World’s Deepest Offshore Oil Well in the Gulf of Mexico

The new well contains around 250 million barrels of recoverable oil total - or just over three percent of the oil used by the U.S. each year

None

Women Appear on Less Than Five Percent of Sports Illustrated Covers

A recent analysis of 11 years of SI covers shows that if you take out the swimsuit issue, women appear just 4.9 percent of the time

Over the past few decades Lake Urmia in Iran has steadily dried up.

28-Year Satellite Time-Lapse Shows Exactly What We’re Doing to Our Planet

28 years in just a few seconds, as seen from space

Dawn LeClair, member of the 1975 Wickenburg High School Math Club, sits in front of the paper clip computer.

Can You Build a Computer Out of Paper Clips?

You might never have asked yourself this question, because it's a pretty weird question, but the answer is essentially yes

None

We’re About to Pass a Disheartening New Climate Change Milestone

We're teetering on the edge of hitting carbon dioxide levels of 400 ppm, but will that be enough to change minds and policies?

None

Feel What It’s Like to Live on an Antarctic Icebreaker for Two Months

None

U.S. Gives Mongolia Its Tyrannosauras Skeleton Back

The U.S. government is returning a Tyrannosaurus skeleton to Mongolia and the Metropolitan Museum of Art is giving two statues back to Cambodia

Is It Time to Scrap the Manual on Mental Illness?

After 11 years of working on the new DSM, some are saying that it's time to retire the manual and think abut mental health entirely differently

None

There’s a Right Way and a Wrong Way to Design Contour-Hugging Armor for Women

Boob-shaped armor would have directed arrows straight to a woman's heart and broken her sternum if she fell off her horse

Page 222 of 264