The world is more interesting than you think.
Unexpected facts, big ideas, and little discoveries. Find something that sparks your curiosity today.
A little more wonder
Tarneeb heavily penalizes failing to reach your bid
If a team bids seven tricks and falls short, it loses seven points rather than simply earning none.
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Travel stories had moving pictures long before the internet
Burton Holmes's travel lectures used hand-colored slides in the 1890s and began including motion pictures in 1897–1898. Audiences could sit in a theater while…
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Why the prostate keeps growing with age
The prostate surrounds the tube that carries urine out of the bladder. As it enlarges with age, it can press on that tube and make urine flow less freely,…
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The one-arm swim that leaves you exhausted
With one arm doing the pulling, your torso has to twist and brace against every stroke instead of sharing the work across both sides. The free arm stops…
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Fiji printed its rugby victory on a banknote
After Fiji won its first Olympic gold in rugby sevens in 2016, the country issued a commemorative $7 banknote. The team’s victory went straight into people’s…
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That random check-in may mean more than you think
A random check-in interrupts the assumption that you have to be the one keeping a relationship alive. Someone noticed the gap and made the first move to close…
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Why jasmine is harvested before sunrise
Jasmine’s valuable oils can fade once sunlight hits the blossoms, so laborers pick them at night or before dawn. That time-sensitive harvest adds cost to…
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How a $50 bet produced Green Eggs and Ham
Publisher Bennett Cerf bet Dr. Seuss $50 that he couldn’t write a children’s book using exactly 50 unique words. Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham for the…
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Adding Lizard and Spock cuts the random tie rate to one in five
Sam Kass and Karen Bryla designed the expanded game with five options; each beats two and loses to two. If both players choose uniformly at random, ties drop…
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The ultimatum game makes unfair money easy to refuse
One player proposes how to divide a sum; the other can accept it or reject it, leaving both with nothing. Experiments find that people often reject very…
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Aldar Headquarters is a massive upright circular coin
The glass Aldar Headquarters in Abu Dhabi was the region’s first perfectly circular building. Set upright, its shape looks like a giant coin driven into the…
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Psychic hearing tunes into a creepy supernatural radio
The supposed gift is less like tuning in to a station than losing silence: the messages are described as disembodied complaints and cryptic chatter.
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Some pine cones keep seeds locked away for years
Jack pine cones can remain sealed with resin long after their seeds mature. Heat opens that seal, releasing seeds onto ground a fire has cleared of competing…
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Why pistachio shells split open
A pistachio’s shell splits because the growing nut swells against it. If the shell stays closed, the nut may not have matured enough to pop it open.
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Why rhubarb leaves can be poisonous
Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid, which can be harmful if eaten; the stalks are the part commonly used in food. How much someone eats matters, but a large…
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Writing down good things can change what you notice next
Gratitude exercises ask people to deliberately retrieve moments they might otherwise overlook. Trials have found improvements in reported well-being in some…
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Steinbeck's puppy really did chew up his manuscript
Toby damaged a substantial portion of the work that became Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck described the incident in a 1936 letter and had to reconstruct the lost…
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How eating deceased relatives spread kuru
Eating infected tissue could pass prions into the body. Unlike bacteria or viruses, prions are misfolded proteins; they can make the body’s own versions fold…
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Anthrax can sleep in soil for decades
When conditions are harsh, anthrax bacteria can form durable spores that stay dormant in soil for decades. If a grazing animal swallows one, it can reactivate…
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Marco Polo turns other players' voices into moving clues
The seeker closes their eyes and calls 'Marco'; the others answer 'Polo.' Each reply gives away a position, but the swimmers can move before the seeker…
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Balloon keep-up got a World Cup
Spain hosted the inaugural tournament in 2021, with competitors keeping a balloon airborne around furniture obstacles.
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Hellboy's fictional paperwork made a demon officially human
Within the comics' backstory, the United Nations grants Hellboy honorary human status. It is a bureaucratic joke built into a supernatural world: the…
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Ice wine grapes must freeze solidly while on the vine
Ice wine’s expensive secret is what the press barely gets: frozen grapes yield only a small amount of concentrated sugar syrup. The fruit must first freeze on…
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Bumper stickers were invented in 1946 by a printer
Pressure-sensitive adhesive let a printed message stick straight onto a car without nails or a sign frame. Suddenly the bumper became a moving billboard, and…
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