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Bones beneath Franklin’s London house came from anatomy teaching.
Bones beneath Franklin’s London house came from anatomy teaching. Restoration work uncovered more than 1,200 bone fragments in a small pit. The house had also…
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Ticks wait where the next meal has to brush past.
Ticks wait where the next meal has to brush past. A questing tick climbs onto vegetation and holds out its front legs, ready to grab a passing host. It…
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Paul Rudd warned Steve Carell not to try The Office.
Paul Rudd warned Steve Carell not to try The Office. Carell recalled Rudd advising him against auditioning for the American remake of a beloved British show.…
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Left 4 Dead uses an invisible director to decide when you get a breather.
Left 4 Dead uses an invisible director to decide when you get a breather. Its AI Director estimates how intense the action has been for the survivors and…
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The dinosaurs outside your window never went extinct.
The dinosaurs outside your window never went extinct. Birds belong inside the dinosaur family tree, rather than merely resembling distant prehistoric…
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Chris Pratt improvised a diagnosis of a computer problem.
Chris Pratt improvised a diagnosis of a computer problem. In Parks and Recreation's Flu Season, Andy mistakes a computer's connection error for an explanation…
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Yuji Naka programmed Sonic the Hedgehog to instantly sink and drown in water because he incorrectly assumed that real-world hedgehogs were physically incapable of swimming; in…
Yuji Naka programmed Sonic the Hedgehog to instantly sink and drown in water because he incorrectly assumed that real-world hedgehogs were physically…
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Geomancy is an ancient form of divination that literally translates to earth divination, originally performed by tossing handfuls of dirt onto the ground and reading the patterns.
Geomancy is an ancient form of divination that literally translates to earth divination, originally performed by tossing handfuls of dirt onto the ground and…
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The Simpsons' couch gag can rescue an episode that runs short.
The Simpsons' couch gag can rescue an episode that runs short. A longer opening gag fills extra seconds without forcing another scene into the story. That…
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A driver won the right not to advertise 'Live Free or Die'.
A driver won the right not to advertise 'Live Free or Die'. New Hampshire required the slogan on its license plates, but George Maynard objected and covered…
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John Krasinski proved Jim's wig worked by wearing it to ask permission.
John Krasinski proved Jim's wig worked by wearing it to ask permission. He needed a short haircut for Leatherheads while filming The Office. Hairstylist Kim…
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Individuals inherently put in significantly less effort when working in a group compared to when they are working entirely alone.
Individuals inherently put in significantly less effort when working in a group compared to when they are working entirely alone. Working alone puts the whole…
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Maple trees have aggressively bioengineered their seeds into aerodynamic marvels known as samaras that perfectly mimic the complex physical mechanics of modern helicopter blades,…
Maple trees have aggressively bioengineered their seeds into aerodynamic marvels known as samaras that perfectly mimic the complex physical mechanics of…
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Water can make sodium burn instead of putting it out.
Water can make sodium burn instead of putting it out. Sodium reacts with water to produce heat and hydrogen gas. The heat can ignite the hydrogen, and the…
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A game's purchase price can be only the first sale.
A game's purchase price can be only the first sale. Expansions, cosmetic items, subscriptions, and battle passes let a game keep earning after the initial…
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Unpaid internships initially emerged as a way to provide clinical training for doctors in the early twentieth century, but eventually mutated into a massive corporate loophole…
Unpaid internships initially emerged as a way to provide clinical training for doctors in the early twentieth century, but eventually mutated into a massive…
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A New York subway map made the city fit the trains.
A New York subway map made the city fit the trains. Massimo Vignelli's 1972 design straightened routes and regularized their angles, prioritizing connections…
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Casablanca's refugee story was performed by people who had fled Europe.
Casablanca's refugee story was performed by people who had fled Europe. Several cast members had escaped Nazi persecution or occupation, including Helmut…
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BMI counts a pound of muscle like a pound of fat.
BMI counts a pound of muscle like a pound of fat. The calculation uses only weight and height, so it cannot tell what makes up that weight or where fat is…
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A river ended Barbarossa's crusade before Jerusalem.
A river ended Barbarossa's crusade before Jerusalem. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa drowned in the Saleph River in 1190 while leading an army toward the Holy…
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Global economic research consistently indicates that women drive the vast majority of consumer purchasing decisions worldwide, effectively controlling or heavily influencing an…
Global economic research consistently indicates that women drive the vast majority of consumer purchasing decisions worldwide, effectively controlling or…
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Harry Potter's flying car had to exist in several forms.
Harry Potter's flying car had to exist in several forms. The Ford Anglia was a road car, a flying machine, and a victim of the Whomping Willow within the same…
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Tasseography, the art of reading tea leaves, became massively popular in 17th-century Europe simply because the Dutch and British East India Companies started importing massive quantities of cheap tea from Asia.
Tasseography, the art of reading tea leaves, became massively popular in 17th-century Europe simply because the Dutch and British East India Companies started…
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Pulp Fiction's pawnshop clocks helped create a movie myth.
Pulp Fiction's pawnshop clocks helped create a movie myth. Several clocks in that scene show 4:20, an easily spotted detail that grew into the claim that…
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