The world is more interesting than you think.
Unexpected facts, big ideas, and little discoveries. Find something that sparks your curiosity today.
A little more wonder
In Don't Starve, pigs will eat your rotten food
Feed them spoiled food, and the pigs will eat it and leave piles of manure as a reward.
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Chi is a vital energy flowing through everything
In traditional Chinese thought, qi is an unseen force believed to circulate through the cosmos and living things—and, in some accounts, even inanimate objects.
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Ice resurfacing machines were invented inside a local rink
At his local rink, Frank Zamboni cobbled together tractor parts and a wooden box to turn more than an hour of scraping into a job done in minutes. The machine…
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The Sims 2 can turn dirty dishes into a deadly problem
Leaving enough filth around can trigger death by flies in The Sims 2. An everyday household task becomes a game hazard rather than merely an untidy backdrop.…
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Audio normalization crushes loud sounds to match quiet ones
When a loud drum hit crosses a set threshold, a limiter turns the level down, compressing the difference between peaks and quieter passages.
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Why metal feels colder than wood
Metal pulls heat from your skin faster than wood does, even when both are at the same temperature. Your nerves notice that quick loss of warmth and report…
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Why sitcom spin-offs rewrite their own history
Writers may erase established family members or change a character’s history and personality to make the spin-off fit its new premise.
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Why freezing paintballs doesn't make them deadlier
Freezing can make paintballs’ fragile shells break before firing, sending them off course rather than making them hit harder.
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The hidden part of your nail that controls its shape
The nail matrix, tucked under the cuticle, is the living growth zone that makes new nail. Because it builds the nail from its base, damage there can leave a…
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Why sleep talk is usually meaningless
Sleep talking can leave you with a vivid sentence and no sensible story behind it. During sleep, speech may emerge from fragments of thought without the…
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Fruit Ninja playfully drops live explosives among the produce
Swipe at a bomb and the fruit-slicing run ends, so players have to hold back their fingers even as fruit flies across the screen.
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Benben was the primordial mound arising from chaos
In the myth, a pyramid-shaped hill rose from the primordial waters, marking the moment existence began.
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Awen is the flowing energy of poetic inspiration
In Druidic belief, awen was a divine force that could arrive as a sudden surge of poetic inspiration and insight.
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Ifrit are massive winged creatures of infernal fire
In Arabic mythology, ifrit are described as powerful and arrogant, and ordinary weapons are said to be useless against them.
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Untitled Goose Game lets you ruin a village afternoon
Instead of saving the world, players are tasked with disrupting a village afternoon—honking at children, stealing gardening tools, and hiding shiny objects in…
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Why actors spit out food between dinner takes
Scenes can require dozens of takes, so actors chew the food for camera and spit it into a discreet bucket rather than swallowing bite after bite.
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Why some people feel safer in total darkness
For some people, darkness turns down the feeling of exposure. If you’re worried about being watched, judged, or expected to perform, fewer visible faces can…
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Garuda is a gigantic bird man hunting serpentine beings
In the legend, he swoops from the heavens to snatch giant snakes from the ocean.
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Urine consists almost entirely of water and useless urea
As the kidneys filter blood, they direct urea and other waste into urine, which is mostly water. The water is the delivery vehicle; the urea is cargo the body…
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Shutter roll effects bend fast objects during downward scans
Because the sensor reads the image line by line from top to bottom, a fast-moving propeller can shift position during the scan and appear bent or detached.
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Why good deeds can make your chest feel warm
You help someone carry a heavy box, and the good feeling can show up in your body as well as your thoughts. Helping connects you to another person and can…
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Live singing may be polished before you hear it
Production crews can run microphone feeds through pitch-correction software before a live broadcast reaches viewers, smoothing vocals in real time.
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Tetherball matches naturally accelerate as the rope tightens
As the cord winds around the pole, the ball’s path gets smaller and it can speed up, making a face-level hit more likely.
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Cyberpunk 2077 puts Keanu Reeves in your head as an unwanted roommate
Johnny Silverhand is a digitized personality sharing V's brain, not a companion who waits outside during private moments. His interruptions turn…
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