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A good-looking face can get credit for unrelated virtues.
A good-looking face can get credit for unrelated virtues. The attractiveness halo is a bias in which one favorable impression influences judgments of other…
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Leo Fender built guitars without being a guitarist.
Leo Fender built guitars without being a guitarist. His expertise came from electronics and repair, while musicians supplied practical feedback on the…
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A passport can hide a second landscape in its pages.
A passport can hide a second landscape in its pages. UV-reactive inks make artwork appear under a different light, adding features that are harder to…
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Individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed, completely ruining the validity of many behavioral studies.
Individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed, completely ruining the validity of many behavioral studies.…
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Your tonsils can form tiny stones from trapped debris.
Your tonsils can form tiny stones from trapped debris. The tonsils contain crevices where material such as dead cells, food particles, and microbes can…
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Early British submarines carried mice as air-warning sentries.
Early British submarines carried mice as air-warning sentries. Gasoline-powered boats faced dangerous fumes, and crews watched the animals for signs of…
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William Lyon Mackenzie King served as the Prime Minister of Canada for over twenty-one years, guiding the nation through the Great Depression and the Second World War with a calm, ruthlessly pragmatic public demeanor.
William Lyon Mackenzie King served as the Prime Minister of Canada for over twenty-one years, guiding the nation through the Great Depression and the Second…
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Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, contains a massive subsurface ocean holding more than twice the amount of water found on Earth.
Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, contains a massive subsurface ocean holding more than twice the amount of water found on Earth. Jupiter’s changing…
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A diamond slogan sold the idea of never selling the diamond.
A diamond slogan sold the idea of never selling the diamond. De Beers adopted A Diamond Is Forever in 1947, tying a durable stone to a lasting relationship.…
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Darth Vader's body and voice came from different performers.
Darth Vader's body and voice came from different performers. David Prowse supplied the imposing physical presence, while James Earl Jones gave Vader his…
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A joke about Lara Croft's design became gaming folklore.
A joke about Lara Croft's design became gaming folklore. Toby Gard's remark about accidentally enlarging her chest was repeatedly retold as a literal…
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An elevator's close-door button may have to wait its turn.
An elevator's close-door button may have to wait its turn. Door timing can be programmed to allow passengers time to enter, so pressing the button does not…
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Commercial airplanes are struck by lightning approximately once a year, yet they have not crashed from a strike since 1967 due to some remarkably clever engineering.
Commercial airplanes are struck by lightning approximately once a year, yet they have not crashed from a strike since 1967 due to some remarkably clever…
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Symbolics.com became the first ever commercially registered internet domain name when a Massachusetts computer company claimed it on March 15, 1985.
Symbolics.com became the first ever commercially registered internet domain name when a Massachusetts computer company claimed it on March 15, 1985. Nearly…
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Iconic green digital rain code that cascades down the screen in the 1999 sci-fi classic The Matrix is actually composed of scanned Japanese sushi recipes.
Iconic green digital rain code that cascades down the screen in the 1999 sci-fi classic The Matrix is actually composed of scanned Japanese sushi recipes.…
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The Fast and the Furious began with a magazine story about street racing.
The Fast and the Furious began with a magazine story about street racing. Ken Li’s 1998 Vibe article “Racer X” explored New York’s underground scene and…
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Pop superstar Michael Jackson tried to purchase Marvel Comics in the late 1990s specifically because he desperately wanted to star in a movie as Spider-Man.
Pop superstar Michael Jackson tried to purchase Marvel Comics in the late 1990s specifically because he desperately wanted to star in a movie as Spider-Man.…
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Superfluid helium can escape over a container's wall.
Superfluid helium can escape over a container's wall. Cool helium-4 below about 2.17 kelvins and part of the liquid flows without ordinary viscosity, the…
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A writers' strike helped sell a show with no script.
A writers' strike helped sell a show with no script. Cops had been pitched before the 1988 strike. What had sounded risky—a police series without actors, a…
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Cats received a visual-effects update after it reached theaters.
Cats received a visual-effects update after it reached theaters. On its opening day in December 2019, Universal told cinemas an updated version was coming…
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Flying in a window seat exposes you to significantly higher levels of ultraviolet radiation because the thin acrylic windows do absolutely nothing to block UVA rays at thirty thousand feet.
Flying in a window seat exposes you to significantly higher levels of ultraviolet radiation because the thin acrylic windows do absolutely nothing to block…
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Soviet engineers in the 1970s strapped two massive turbojet engines from a Yak-40 passenger plane to the roof of a standard commuter train just to see how fast it could go.
Soviet engineers in the 1970s strapped two massive turbojet engines from a Yak-40 passenger plane to the roof of a standard commuter train just to see how…
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Will Smith famously turned down the lead role of Neo in "The Matrix" because he completely misunderstood the Wachowskis' pitch and instead opted to star in the absolute critical catastrophe that was "Wild Wild West".
Will Smith famously turned down the lead role of Neo in "The Matrix" because he completely misunderstood the Wachowskis' pitch and instead opted to star in…
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Thomas Fitzpatrick landed a stolen plane on a Manhattan street in 1956—and repeated the stunt two years later.
Thomas Fitzpatrick landed a stolen plane on a Manhattan street in 1956—and repeated the stunt two years later. The first landing brought him near a bar where…
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