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
Digital zoom simply crops the image and enlarges the pixels
Digital zoom doesn't magnify light; it crops the image and enlarges the remaining pixels, reducing picture detail.
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In South Korea, men get Valentine's Day off
Women give men chocolates on February 14; men return the favor on White Day, a month later.
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Why giving a clock can be taboo in China
In Chinese, the phrase for giving someone a clock sounds like the phrase for attending a funeral, making a timepiece an ominous gift.
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Bunyip is an aquatic creature lurking in deep swamps
In Australian folklore, the bunyip is said to lurk in murky billabongs and devour people who swim there.
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In Factorio, pollution brings angry aliens
As factories burn coal, visible pollution spreads and insectoid locals attack to defend their ecosystem.
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Why the priority boarding line can be the longest
The airline sells a shortcut, then sells it to so many people that they form a line of their own. Priority passengers can end up backed up through the…
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Introverts drool significantly more at lemon juice
A lemon’s sharp taste triggers saliva, and classic research found a stronger response among introverts than extroverts. One explanation is that introverts…
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Olympic curling depends on unusually picky rocks
Ailsa Craig, a small Scottish island, supplies granite prized for curling stones. The running surface needs stone that resists water absorption and survives…
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Croquet's Olympic career lasted one Games
Paris 1900 included singles and doubles croquet events, but the sport never returned to the Olympic program. It belongs to the same Games as several other…
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Why bus doors fold inward
Inward-folding panels stay inside the bus’s footprint instead of swinging across the sidewalk or into traffic. A linkage folds the leaves as the door opens,…
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Hotel minibars exploit traveler laziness
After a long trip, even a short walk downstairs can feel like too much. Minibars turn that reluctance into a higher price for a drink delivered right in the…
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Skylab rained debris over Australia—and got fined
Skylab’s debris landed across the Australian outback, and the Shire of Esperance billed NASA $400 for littering. NASA left the fine unpaid for 30 years, until…
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Why people pay to watch free talks
The talks may be posted online for free, but the introductions happen in the room. Some attendees pay for the chance to meet people face to face.
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Photogrammetry creates 3D models from overlapping 2D photos
Software compares how features shift across overlapping photos to reconstruct an object's shape in 3D.
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Why pro wrestlers cut their own foreheads
Some wrestlers hide a tiny blade in their wrist tape and use it to make a small cut on their forehead during a match, creating a bloodied look.
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In RollerCoaster Tycoon, you can drown your guests
Players can use the game’s giant tweezers to drop complaining guests into artificial lakes—a decidedly extreme response to a bad review.
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Acids donate protons while bases eagerly accept them
An acid gives up a proton—the nucleus of a hydrogen atom—to another molecule. Water can accept it and become hydronium; a base is any molecule that can accept…
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Tikbalang is a humanoid horse playing mountain tricks
In Philippine folklore, the tikbalang is a towering, horse-headed creature that delights in making travelers lose their way in the woods.
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A rom-com can make persistence look romantic by editing out the fear
The audience knows the pursuer's feelings and expects a happy ending. The person being pursued has no such guarantee. Repeated unwanted contact reads very…
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Cartilage carries its own remarkably slippery surface
Joint cartilage combines a water-rich structure with lubrication at the contact surface. Fluid helps carry load and reduces how strongly the solid surfaces…
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Airsoft leaves tiny plastic orbs everywhere
Airsoft games can leave tiny plastic BBs scattered across woodland fields, where they form a crunchy, unnatural-looking layer on the ground.
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Motorcycles feature sequential gearboxes shifted by foot
A motorcycle’s foot lever moves through the gears in order, one click at a time, instead of picking any gear from a car-style pattern. The rider keeps both…
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Optical text recognition guesses letters using light edges
OCR software identifies characters by patterns of light and dark pixels, which is why similar shapes like 0 and O can be confused.
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An older Siri voice assembled speech from recorded pieces
Apple's hybrid speech system selected fragments from a large recording database, using machine learning to choose pieces that fit the intended sentence and…
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