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Morning erections can be the visible end of something that happened repeatedly during sleep.
Morning erections can be the visible end of something that happened repeatedly during sleep. Changes in nerve activity, especially during REM sleep, can…
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Ajay Bhatt led the team at Intel that invented the Universal Serial Bus in the 1990s, fundamentally solving the nightmare of plugging massive, pin-heavy cables into the back of…
Ajay Bhatt led the team at Intel that invented the Universal Serial Bus in the 1990s, fundamentally solving the nightmare of plugging massive, pin-heavy…
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Your skin keeps replacing itself—and some of it becomes dust.
Your skin keeps replacing itself—and some of it becomes dust. Cells from the skin's outer layer loosen and shed as new ones take their place. Some flakes…
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German physician Athanasius Kircher designed a horrific musical instrument in the 17th century that was entirely powered by the screams of tortured cats.
German physician Athanasius Kircher designed a horrific musical instrument in the 17th century that was entirely powered by the screams of tortured cats. A…
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Creed Bratton from the beloved workplace sitcom The Office is actually portraying a highly fictionalized, unhinged version of his real self, keeping his actual birth name and his…
Creed Bratton from the beloved workplace sitcom The Office is actually portraying a highly fictionalized, unhinged version of his real self, keeping his…
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Customers pay Starbucks for some coffees long before anyone makes them.
Customers pay Starbucks for some coffees long before anyone makes them. Reloaded cards put cash in the company’s hands while the promised drinks remain…
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Ben Burtt created the iconic, terrifying screech of the Star Wars TIE fighters by combining the vocalizations of a highly agitated elephant with the sound of cars driving on a wet pavement.
Ben Burtt created the iconic, terrifying screech of the Star Wars TIE fighters by combining the vocalizations of a highly agitated elephant with the sound of…
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Phil Belanger, a founding member of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, admitted that the term Wi-Fi doesn't actually stand for "Wireless Fidelity" or anything else at…
Phil Belanger, a founding member of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, admitted that the term Wi-Fi doesn't actually stand for "Wireless Fidelity"…
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New Englanders in the 19th century were so terrified of tuberculosis that they began digging up their dead relatives and burning their hearts to stop vampires.
New Englanders in the 19th century were so terrified of tuberculosis that they began digging up their dead relatives and burning their hearts to stop…
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Fred Rogers essentially saved the VCR industry in nineteen eighty four by giving heartfelt testimony to the Supreme Court arguing that recording television programs was an educational necessity for working families.
Fred Rogers essentially saved the VCR industry in nineteen eighty four by giving heartfelt testimony to the Supreme Court arguing that recording television…
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A New York price survey found a premium on women's personal-care products.
A New York price survey found a premium on women's personal-care products. The city's 2015 study compared similar male- and female-marketed goods and found…
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A 2,500-year-old sword emerged with its shine intact.
A 2,500-year-old sword emerged with its shine intact. The Sword of Goujian was found in a Chinese tomb in 1965, still inside a lacquered wooden scabbard. Its…
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Airline baggage handlers operate under extreme time constraints and are often instructed to load hundreds of heavy suitcases into the belly of an aircraft in less than thirty…
Airline baggage handlers operate under extreme time constraints and are often instructed to load hundreds of heavy suitcases into the belly of an aircraft in…
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Something adorable can make people say 'I could crush it'.
Something adorable can make people say 'I could crush it'. Researchers call this mismatch cute aggression: an intense response to cuteness expressed in…
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People will pay to avoid having to resist temptation.
People will pay to avoid having to resist temptation. In experiments on self-control costs, researchers measured how much people would give up to avoid an…
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory co-founder Jack Parsons was simultaneously a brilliant rocket scientist and an enthusiastic follower of Aleister Crowley's occult religion of Thelema.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory co-founder Jack Parsons was simultaneously a brilliant rocket scientist and an enthusiastic follower of Aleister Crowley's occult…
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Clairvoyant Edgar Cayce earned the nickname the Sleeping Prophet because he claimed to access the Akashic Records, a mystical universal database of all human knowledge, simply by taking a nap.
Clairvoyant Edgar Cayce earned the nickname the Sleeping Prophet because he claimed to access the Akashic Records, a mystical universal database of all human…
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Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Hungarian architecture professor Ernő Rubik as a teaching tool to help his students understand 3D geometry, but once he scrambled it for the…
Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Hungarian architecture professor Ernő Rubik as a teaching tool to help his students understand 3D geometry, but once he…
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Japan got a smaller Xbox controller at launch.
Japan got a smaller Xbox controller at launch. Microsoft's bulky original controller became known as the Duke. The more compact Controller S launched with the…
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Broken heart syndrome is a physical heart problem.
Broken heart syndrome is a physical heart problem. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy can follow intense emotional or physical stress, temporarily weakening part of the…
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Daylight helps tell your brain when the day has started.
Daylight helps tell your brain when the day has started. Light-sensitive cells in the retina send timing information to the brain's body-clock system. That…
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Physician Franz Anton Mesmer developed a mystical healing technique in the eighteenth century based on the belief that an invisible magnetic fluid connected all living beings and planets in the universe.
Physician Franz Anton Mesmer developed a mystical healing technique in the eighteenth century based on the belief that an invisible magnetic fluid connected…
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Three anonymous manifestos appeared in seventeenth-century Germany announcing the existence of the Rosicrucian Order, a secret brotherhood of mystical alchemists possessing…
Three anonymous manifestos appeared in seventeenth-century Germany announcing the existence of the Rosicrucian Order, a secret brotherhood of mystical…
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Purchasing a shiny new possession often spirals into an endless chain reaction of buying even more things to match the upgraded aesthetic of the original item.
Purchasing a shiny new possession often spirals into an endless chain reaction of buying even more things to match the upgraded aesthetic of the original…
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