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Seinfeld's bass line had to follow the jokes.
Seinfeld's bass line had to follow the jokes. Composer Jonathan Wolff fitted the music around Jerry Seinfeld's opening monologues, whose rhythm changed from…
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Protecting koalas now includes a vaccination strategy.
Protecting koalas now includes a vaccination strategy. Chlamydial disease can damage koalas' health and reproduction, making it a conservation problem as well…
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Jeff Bezos originally intended to name his online bookstore 'Cadabra' as a reference to the magical incantation abracadabra, hoping to imply that the shopping experience was pure magic.
Jeff Bezos originally intended to name his online bookstore 'Cadabra' as a reference to the magical incantation abracadabra, hoping to imply that the shopping…
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A compass follows Earth's magnetic field, not the direction of the geographic North Pole.
A compass follows Earth's magnetic field, not the direction of the geographic North Pole. The angle between magnetic and true north varies by location and…
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Kellogg's cereal grew out of a sanitarium kitchen.
Kellogg's cereal grew out of a sanitarium kitchen. Experiments in making digestible grain foods produced flakes that could be baked and served to patients.…
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Ford imagined a car that would carry its own nuclear reactor.
Ford imagined a car that would carry its own nuclear reactor. The 1958 Nucleon reached the scale-model stage, with a reactor envisioned at the rear. The…
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A wartime weapons test closed an island for decades.
A wartime weapons test closed an island for decades. Britain tested anthrax weapons on Scotland's Gruinard Island during World War II. Contamination outlasted…
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Monaco's own citizens cannot gamble in its famous casinos.
Monaco's own citizens cannot gamble in its famous casinos. The principality's gambling rules exclude Monegasque nationals from playing, even though the casino…
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Apollo's fixed software was manufactured into woven memory.
Apollo's fixed software was manufactured into woven memory. Engineers including Margaret Hamilton developed the programs, and production workers assembled…
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Ireland kept trading through a six-month bank strike in 1970 by leaning heavily on checks and personal trust.
Ireland kept trading through a six-month bank strike in 1970 by leaning heavily on checks and personal trust. Shopkeepers and publicans knew enough about…
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Pig reproduction comes with a remarkably slow delivery.
Pig reproduction comes with a remarkably slow delivery. A University of Wisconsin teaching resource describes boars taking roughly 7–15 minutes to ejaculate.…
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Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung spent sixteen years secretly writing and illustrating a massive leather-bound manuscript called the Red Book during what he described as a profound confrontation with his own unconscious.
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung spent sixteen years secretly writing and illustrating a massive leather-bound manuscript called the Red Book during what he…
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Los Angeles once moved huge distances on electric interurban trains.
Los Angeles once moved huge distances on electric interurban trains. Pacific Electric's Red Cars linked communities across a sprawling regional network. As…
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Rats emit ultrasonic giggling sounds when they are being tickled by researchers, revealing that these notoriously hated rodents actually possess a very rudimentary sense of joy and playfulness.
Rats emit ultrasonic giggling sounds when they are being tickled by researchers, revealing that these notoriously hated rodents actually possess a very…
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Critical reception for the 2008 vampire romance film Twilight was overwhelmingly negative, with reviewers tearing apart the wooden acting, bizarre blue tint, and a script heavily reliant on awkward staring contests.
Critical reception for the 2008 vampire romance film Twilight was overwhelmingly negative, with reviewers tearing apart the wooden acting, bizarre blue tint,…
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Money diverted from Malaysia's 1MDB development fund helped finance The Wolf of Wall Street.
Money diverted from Malaysia's 1MDB development fund helped finance The Wolf of Wall Street. The scandal also involved luxury assets and gifts, while the…
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Dean Kamen hyped the invention of the Segway so aggressively in 2001 that tech billionaires genuinely predicted cities would completely redesign their infrastructure just to accommodate the two-wheeled balancing stick.
Dean Kamen hyped the invention of the Segway so aggressively in 2001 that tech billionaires genuinely predicted cities would completely redesign their…
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You can rent hens instead of committing to a flock.
You can rent hens instead of committing to a flock. Chicken-rental businesses supply hens and equipment for a limited season, letting customers try backyard…
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Trillions of tiny subatomic particles called neutrinos pass through your body every single second without you ever noticing, originating mostly from the nuclear reactions happening inside the sun.
Trillions of tiny subatomic particles called neutrinos pass through your body every single second without you ever noticing, originating mostly from the…
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The Waldorf Astoria rose above a railway siding.
The Waldorf Astoria rose above a railway siding. Track 61 already served the rail complex before the hotel was built over that area. The hotel's arrival…
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High heels were useful to riders before fashion adopted them.
High heels were useful to riders before fashion adopted them. Persian riding footwear used raised heels to help a foot stay in the stirrup. That support…
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Christopher Latham Sholes designed the ubiquitous QWERTY keyboard layout in the early 1870s specifically to separate commonly paired letters and prevent mechanical typewriters from jamming.
Christopher Latham Sholes designed the ubiquitous QWERTY keyboard layout in the early 1870s specifically to separate commonly paired letters and prevent…
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A banana contains serotonin, but the brain has a border.
A banana contains serotonin, but the brain has a border. Serotonin is present in bananas, yet that molecule cannot simply cross from the blood into the brain.…
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A student’s last school year became a railway farewell.
A student’s last school year became a railway farewell. At Kyū-Shirataki in rural Hokkaido, a schoolgirl used the nearly deserted station during her final…
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