12 Websites for People Who Are Curious About Absolutely Everything

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I’m one of those people who wants to know a little bit about absolutely everything. One minute I’m reading about ancient civilisations, the next I’m watching a documentary about deep-sea creatures, looking up how old photographs were coloured, or wondering how people managed to build the pyramids without modern machinery. I have too many interests and, unfortunately, only 24 hours in a day.

The only subject I’ve consciously decided to avoid is mathematics. We have our differences, and I don’t see either of us making the first move.

But I digress.

I love finding websites that let you explore something new without having to enrol in a course, buy a book, or commit to becoming an expert. Sometimes you just want to know what the world looks like from space, listen to a radio station in another country, or discover something so oddly fascinating that you immediately send it to someone.

And if you’re looking for more ways to spend your internet time doing something other than scrolling through the same five apps, I also put together a list of 10 websites better than another hour of doomscrolling. Because apparently, the internet still has a few good things going for it.

Anyway, if you’re also the kind of person who opens seventeen tabs because one question leads to another, here are 12 websites worth bookmarking.

Visit WindowSwap (opens in a new tab)

Ever wondered what the world looks like from someone else’s living room? WindowSwap lets you look through windows belonging to people from different parts of the world.

You might find yourself looking at a rainy afternoon in London, a beautiful mountain view, a quiet street in Japan, or someone’s garden on a perfectly ordinary Tuesday.

It’s a surprisingly lovely concept. You’re not watching a travel documentary or looking at professionally edited holiday photographs. You’re simply seeing a little piece of somebody else’s everyday life.

Things to try:

• Explore random window views from around the world.
• Watch the changing weather and scenery.
• Discover ordinary neighbourhoods in unfamiliar places.
• Save a view you particularly enjoy.

It’s also a nice reminder that somewhere in the world, someone is probably looking out of their window and wondering what everyone else is doing.

Visit Earth Nullschool (opens in a new tab)

If you’ve ever looked at a weather map and thought it could be a little more interesting, this website is for you.

Earth Nullschool transforms global weather and environmental data into an interactive visual map. Instead of the usual sunshine and cloud symbols, you get beautiful moving patterns showing wind, ocean currents, temperatures, and atmospheric conditions.

Things to explore:

• Watch global wind patterns move across the planet.
• Explore ocean currents and wave conditions.
• Check temperature patterns around the world.
• Switch between different atmospheric and environmental data layers.

It’s one of those websites that manages to make something scientific look like a digital art installation. You might arrive to check the weather and end up staring at the planet for half an hour.

Visit Flightradar24 (opens in a new tab)

Here’s something you probably don’t think about very often: there are thousands of aircraft flying around the world at any given moment.

Flightradar24 lets you watch many of them in real time through an interactive map. You can click on individual aircraft to find information about their routes, destinations, flight numbers, and more.

Things to try:

• Explore aircraft flying over your city.
• Follow a flight and see where it’s headed.
• Discover busy international flight routes.
• Check out airports with particularly heavy air traffic.

It’s especially entertaining when you start wondering about all the people sitting inside those planes. Someone’s going on holiday, someone is visiting family, and someone is probably regretting not booking an aisle seat.

Visit Google Arts & Culture (opens in a new tab)

You don’t necessarily need to visit the Louvre, the Uffizi, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art to spend an afternoon appreciating extraordinary art.

Google Arts & Culture brings collections from museums, galleries, and cultural institutions around the world directly to your screen.

And there’s much more here than simply looking at paintings.

Things to explore:

• Examine famous paintings in incredible detail.
• Take virtual tours of museums and historical landmarks.
• Discover different art movements and influential artists.
• Explore cultural traditions from around the world.
• Try interactive art experiments and games.

It’s particularly good for anyone who enjoys art but doesn’t necessarily want to read an entire textbook about it. You can simply wander around and see what catches your attention.

Visit Smithsonian Open Access (opens in a new tab)

Imagine having access to millions of historical objects, photographs, illustrations, scientific specimens, and cultural artefacts without having to travel anywhere.

That’s essentially what Smithsonian Open Access offers.

The Smithsonian has made millions of digital items available for people to explore, including photographs, historical collections, artworks, and even 3D models.

Things to explore:

• Browse historical photographs and artworks.
• Discover scientific specimens and cultural artefacts.
• View interactive 3D objects.
• Download and reuse eligible open-access images.
• Explore collections covering natural history, science, and culture.

It’s a particularly useful resource if you’re researching something, looking for visual inspiration, or simply enjoy discovering objects with interesting stories behind them.

Visit The Public Domain Review (opens in a new tab)

History is interesting enough on its own, but sometimes the most fascinating discoveries are the things that never make it into ordinary history books.

The Public Domain Review is an online journal exploring unusual works from the history of art, literature, science, philosophy, and culture.

You’ll find forgotten illustrations, strange historical collections, old photographs, peculiar publications, and essays about subjects you probably wouldn’t encounter in a typical classroom.

Things to explore:

• Browse extraordinary historical illustrations.
• Discover forgotten books and literary curiosities.
• Explore unusual collections of photographs and artwork.
• Read fascinating essays about overlooked moments in history.

It’s the sort of website that makes you appreciate how much interesting material has been sitting around in archives, waiting for someone to rediscover it.

Visit The Internet Archive (opens in a new tab)

Imagine a library that doesn’t just contain books but also old websites, films, music, historical recordings, software, and all sorts of digital material.

That’s essentially the Internet Archive.

It’s a nonprofit digital library dedicated to preserving and providing access to digital collections. One of its best-known features is the Wayback Machine, which lets you look at archived versions of websites from years ago.

Things to explore:

• Visit old versions of websites using the Wayback Machine.
• Browse historical films and recordings.
• Discover old books and digitised publications.
• Explore vintage software and internet games.
• Browse collections of photographs and audio recordings.

If you’ve ever wondered what your favourite website looked like twenty years ago, this is where you can find out. It’s also a wonderful reminder that the internet has a history of its own.

And if you’re particularly fond of discovering the internet’s more unusual corners, you’ll probably enjoy Welcome to the Weird Side of the Internet. Consider it another rabbit hole to save for later.

Visit Chrome Music Lab (opens in a new tab)

Not everyone can play an instrument, read sheet music, or tell the difference between a musical note and something their neighbour’s cat just produced.

Fortunately, Chrome Music Lab doesn’t require any of that.

It’s an interactive collection of music experiments that lets you explore sound, rhythm, melody, and musical patterns through simple visual activities.

Things to try:

• Use Song Maker to create your own little tunes.
• Experiment with rhythm and percussion.
• Explore how sound waves work.
• Play with different musical patterns.
• Discover how changing notes affects a melody.

It’s educational, creative, and surprisingly entertaining. You might even discover a hidden musical talent. Or at least produce something that sounds vaguely intentional.

Visit The Evolution of Trust (opens in a new tab)

Here’s something a little different.

The Evolution of Trust is an interactive game that explores why people cooperate, compete, and sometimes betray one another.

Through simple scenarios and playful experiments, it introduces ideas from game theory and demonstrates how trust develops or breaks down when people interact repeatedly.

Things to try:

• Play different rounds involving cooperation and cheating.
• Explore how different strategies affect relationships.
• Experiment with how trust changes over repeated interactions.
• Discover the basics of game theory through interactive storytelling.

It’s a clever little experience that makes you think about everyday human behaviour while you’re busy trying to win a game. You might even find yourself questioning some of your own decisions.

Visit The Pudding (opens in a new tab)

Some information is much more interesting when you can actually see it.

The Pudding creates visual essays exploring fascinating questions about culture, music, language, entertainment, and human behaviour.

Instead of presenting everything as a traditional article, it combines interactive graphics, data, illustrations, and storytelling to explain interesting ideas.

Things to explore:

• Discover visual stories about music and pop culture.
• Explore interesting patterns in language.
• Read interactive essays about human behaviour.
• Play around with visualisations that explain surprisingly complex ideas.

It’s a lovely website for people who enjoy learning something new but would rather not feel like they’re sitting through another lecture.

Visit Explore.org Live Cams (opens in a new tab)

You know those nature documentaries where you spend twenty minutes watching a bear doing absolutely nothing before it finally decides to move?

Well, now you can do something similar yourself.

Explore.org features live nature cameras showing wildlife and natural environments in different parts of the world. Depending on the camera and season, you might catch bears, birds, underwater creatures, or other animals going about their everyday business.

Things to explore:

• Watch live wildlife cameras.
• Observe animals in their natural habitats.
• Discover underwater and marine life.
• Explore different ecosystems and conservation projects.

It’s a nice little reminder that the natural world doesn’t need background music, dramatic narration, or a Netflix subscription to be fascinating.

Visit Gapminder Tools (opens in a new tab)

And finally, something for people who want to understand the world a little better without having to sit through an entire economics lecture.

Gapminder uses interactive data visualisations to explain global trends involving health, wealth, population, education, and development.

You can explore statistics across different countries and years, compare changes over time, and discover how some of our assumptions about the world don’t quite match reality.

Things to try:

• Compare countries using different development indicators.
• Explore changes in global wealth and health.
• Watch historical data change through interactive charts.
• Investigate common misconceptions about the world.

It’s a particularly interesting resource because it doesn’t just throw statistics at you. It helps you understand what those numbers actually mean.

I think one of the nicest things about the internet is that there’s always something new to discover if you know where to look. Somewhere out there, someone has created a website dedicated to an incredibly specific subject, preserved an unusual historical collection, or built an interactive experiment simply because they thought it would be interesting.

And I love finding these little resources. I keep coming across websites that are either ridiculously fun, surprisingly useful, or both, and I always end up saving them for later.

I’ll be adding more of these discoveries to the Resources section of my website, so there’s always somewhere to go when you feel like learning something new, exploring a random interest, or giving your scrolling thumb a well-deserved holiday.

And if you’d rather take your curiosity offline for a while, I’ve also put together 8 books to replace doomscrolling. Sometimes the best rabbit holes come with page numbers.

In the meantime, pick a website, open a few tabs, and follow your curiosity. Just don’t blame me if you disappear down an internet rabbit hole for the next three hours.