Resources

September 21, 2017

220,000+ Japanese Woodblock Prints Available Online in Growing Database

With a long rich history, Japanese woodblock prints are sources of inspiration for everything from tattoos to reimagined video games characters. And while we've already shared how the Library of Congress has made their ukiyo-e available free online, a new database brings together over 220,000 examples of the art form. Ukiyo-e.org is a digital archive that collates collections from 24 museums, libraries, auction houses, and art dealers around the world.

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August 31, 2017

World’s Oldest Written Language Has Its Own Dictionary Available Online for Free

Looking to pick up a second language? If you really want to impress your friends, consider Akkadian, the now extinct language of Mesopotamia. And to help you, the University of Chicago has recently made its 21-volume Akkadian dictionary available with a free download online. All jokes aside, Akkadian is a fascinating language—the earliest Semitic one—that has remained unspoken for 2,000 years.

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July 27, 2017

View Leonardo Da Vinci’s Notebooks Online and Go Inside the Mind of a Genius

Thanks to the British Library, we can go inside the mind of a genius and peruse Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks. The first true Renaissance Man, Da Vinci not only painted the Mona Lisa, but was a master inventor who is sometimes credited with creating the parachute and helicopter. And, to top it all off, he wrote his notes backward, in mirror image from right to left.

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July 18, 2017

Illustrated Periodic Table Shows How Elements Are Part of Everyday Life

Anyone who ever sat through a high school chemistry class knows how frustrating it can be to tackle the periodic table. Created to give an order to chemical elements according to their atomic number, chemical properties, and electron configurations, the scheme has been in use since the mid-1800s. And now, the table has gotten an update to demonstrate how these elements apply to our daily lives.

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.