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The Bermuda Triangle has no officially agreed borders.
The Bermuda Triangle has no officially agreed borders. Its famous outline is a loose geographical label, not a formally recognized region with a single…
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Prolonged sitting fundamentally alters your cellular metabolism and significantly increases your risk of premature death even if you religiously go to the gym for an hour every…
Prolonged sitting fundamentally alters your cellular metabolism and significantly increases your risk of premature death even if you religiously go to the gym…
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A child pharaoh sent very excited instructions about a dancer.
A child pharaoh sent very excited instructions about a dancer. Pepy II's letter to the explorer Harkhuf demanded the safe arrival of a dancer described in the…
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Tulip traders could buy a promise before the flower existed.
Tulip traders could buy a promise before the flower existed. During the Dutch tulip boom, contracts changed hands while bulbs were still in the ground. Buyers…
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London black cab drivers must memorize 320 standard routes through 25,000 streets and know the exact location of 20,000 landmarks to pass a brutal test known as The Knowledge,…
London black cab drivers must memorize 320 standard routes through 25,000 streets and know the exact location of 20,000 landmarks to pass a brutal test known…
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Camels were successfully introduced to the Australian Outback in the nineteenth century to help explore the vast, arid interior of the continent because they can travel up to 40…
Camels were successfully introduced to the Australian Outback in the nineteenth century to help explore the vast, arid interior of the continent because they…
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New York's subway has two different ways to keep trains apart.
New York's subway has two different ways to keep trains apart. Older fixed-block signals detect whether a section of track is occupied and keep following…
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The Mongol Empire moved messages by changing horses instead of waiting for them to recover.
The Mongol Empire moved messages by changing horses instead of waiting for them to recover. Its yam relay network provided stations where couriers could…
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A highway curve is a calculation, not just a bend in a line.
A highway curve is a calculation, not just a bend in a line. Engineers coordinate curve radius, banking, speed, and sight distance so drivers can follow the…
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Scientists found a rotten-egg ingredient above Uranus's clouds.
Scientists found a rotten-egg ingredient above Uranus's clouds. Hydrogen sulfide absorbs particular wavelengths of light, leaving a pattern that instruments…
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A wider highway can attract the traffic it was meant to relieve.
A wider highway can attract the traffic it was meant to relieve. Drivers change routes, departure times, and how many trips they make when driving becomes…
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The familiar FICO score arrived in 1989.
The familiar FICO score arrived in 1989. Credit scoring existed earlier, but FICO's cross-bureau score helped give lenders a standardized measure built from…
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Sonic's shoes owe something to Michael Jackson and Santa.
Sonic's shoes owe something to Michael Jackson and Santa. Designer Naoto Ohshima cited the cover of Bad as an inspiration and described the red-and-white…
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Paying employees in company scrip was a horrifyingly exploitative practice during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries where corporations paid their workers in private, fake…
Paying employees in company scrip was a horrifyingly exploitative practice during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries where corporations paid their workers…
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A ban can make a boring choice feel irresistible.
A ban can make a boring choice feel irresistible. Psychologists call the urge to reclaim a threatened freedom reactance. A restriction can shift your…
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Your nerves help wrinkle your fingers in water.
Your nerves help wrinkle your fingers in water. Signals from the autonomic nervous system narrow blood vessels beneath the fingertips, changing the tissue's…
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Marine biologists estimate that up to fourteen thousand tons of sunscreen wash into coral reefs annually, prompting tourist destinations like Hawaii and Palau to legally ban products containing chemicals like oxybenzone.
Marine biologists estimate that up to fourteen thousand tons of sunscreen wash into coral reefs annually, prompting tourist destinations like Hawaii and Palau…
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Missing Doctor Who episodes survived because copies went abroad.
Missing Doctor Who episodes survived because copies went abroad. The BBC erased or discarded material when reuse, storage, and repeat-broadcast economics…
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Newton escaped a stock bubble—then bought back in.
Newton escaped a stock bubble—then bought back in. Research into his South Sea investments supports a painful sequence: early profits, renewed buying as the…
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A biometric passport carries a second version of your photograph.
A biometric passport carries a second version of your photograph. A contactless chip stores identity data including a digital facial image. Electronic…
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Scottish inventor Alexander Bain patented the first electric printing telegraph in 1843, making the fundamental technology behind the fax machine exactly thirty-three years older than the invention of the telephone.
Scottish inventor Alexander Bain patented the first electric printing telegraph in 1843, making the fundamental technology behind the fax machine exactly…
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A dirty hull makes a ship burn more fuel.
A dirty hull makes a ship burn more fuel. Barnacles and other growth roughen the underwater surface, increasing the drag a ship's engines must overcome.…
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Mike Myers threatened to quit the production of Wayne's World if the studio forced him to use a Guns N' Roses song instead of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody for the legendary car headbanging scene.
Mike Myers threatened to quit the production of Wayne's World if the studio forced him to use a Guns N' Roses song instead of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody for…
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GoldenEye's team considered reloading with the Rumble Pak.
GoldenEye's team considered reloading with the Rumble Pak. Developers discussed making players remove and reinsert the controller accessory as a physical…
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