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
The pilot whose historic flight lost to the Titanic
Timing is absolutely everything in the history books. In April 1912, Harriet Quimby achieved the monumental feat of being the first woman to fly solo across…
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Real trauma inspired Dead Space’s monsters
Designing genuinely terrifying cosmic horrors is hard, so the developers of Dead Space decided to traumatize themselves instead. To make the necromorphs look…
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The train station inside a Chongqing apartment block
Eminent domain is for amateurs; real engineers just bore through the living room. Faced with extreme urban density, the Chinese city of Chongqing ran its Line…
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Heinrich Himmler built a Nazi witch research division
Because orchestrating a global war wasn't evil enough, the architect of the SS decided he also needed to dabble in the dark arts. Heinrich Himmler established…
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A billion seconds is more than 31 years
Human brains are famously terrible at comprehending large numbers, and the difference between a million and a billion proves it perfectly. If you wait a…
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Why birds may target red cars
If you bought a candy-apple red sports car to attract attention, congratulations, the avian population noticed. Studies from auto retailers have shown that…
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Why you should not take a pulse with your thumb
Good luck trying to take someone's pulse with your thumb. The thumb has its own internal artery called the princeps pollicis, meaning if you use it to feel…
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The charitable foundation behind IKEA
You might think IKEA is just a massive corporation exploiting our collective desire for cheap particle board, but legally, it is a non-profit miracle. Through…
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Aphids can be born already carrying the next generation
When your primary role in the food chain is 'being eaten by ladybugs,' rapid reproduction is your only defense. Female aphids engage in a terrifying…
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People built canoes before they invented the wheel
Humans figured out how to cowardly float away from their problems long before they figured out how to roll. Archaeological evidence of dug-out canoes used for…
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In Mass Effect, the ship stays still while space moves
Sci-fi immersion is completely ruined when you realize the grand spaceship Normandy isn't actually flying anywhere. Because of engine limitations, when you…
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Left 4 Dead nearly used rioters instead of zombies
The adrenaline-pumping undead horde shooter almost lacked the one thing that makes it terrifying: zombies. Early prototypes of Left 4 Dead featured the…
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Kenya's mobile libraries travel by camel
Forget high-speed internet; knowledge in the desert requires humps. In remote regions of Kenya, the National Library Service utilizes a fleet of camels to act…
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Houston Airport executives received numerous passenger complaints about agonizingly long waits at baggage claim, despite the fact that the actual waiting time was only about eight minutes.
Houston Airport executives received numerous passenger complaints about agonizingly long waits at baggage claim, despite the fact that the actual waiting time…
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Pac-Man was designed to be endless, but a severe integer overflow bug in the original arcade cabinet's code makes the 256th level physically impossible to beat.
Pac-Man was designed to be endless, but a severe integer overflow bug in the original arcade cabinet's code makes the 256th level physically impossible to…
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Seventeenth-century alchemist Hennig Brand was so convinced he could create the Philosopher's Stone to turn lead into gold that he boiled down 1,500 gallons of human urine in his basement.
Seventeenth-century alchemist Hennig Brand was so convinced he could create the Philosopher's Stone to turn lead into gold that he boiled down 1,500 gallons…
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Machine Identification Code is a digital watermark technology implemented by most major color laser printer manufacturers since the 1990s.
Machine Identification Code is a digital watermark technology implemented by most major color laser printer manufacturers since the 1990s. The hardware…
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Mystics spent decades claiming that thirteen ancient Mesoamerican crystal skulls held massive psychic energy, could cure cancer, and were possibly dropped off by hyper-advanced alien tourists.
Mystics spent decades claiming that thirteen ancient Mesoamerican crystal skulls held massive psychic energy, could cure cancer, and were possibly dropped off…
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Sixteenth-century French astrologer Nostradamus is world-famous for writing vague, mystical quatrains that conspiracy theorists constantly twist to predict modern historical disasters.
Sixteenth-century French astrologer Nostradamus is world-famous for writing vague, mystical quatrains that conspiracy theorists constantly twist to predict…
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Sean Connery was offered the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy along with a massive 15% stake in the box office profits, but he turned it down simply because he didn't understand the script.
Sean Connery was offered the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy along with a massive 15% stake in the box office profits, but he turned it down…
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Marketing executives for the 1999 indie horror film The Blair Witch Project ran such a convincing promotional campaign using fake police reports and missing persons posters that…
Marketing executives for the 1999 indie horror film The Blair Witch Project ran such a convincing promotional campaign using fake police reports and missing…
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Pisa's famous leaning tower began sinking into the ground in 1178 during construction because the brilliant medieval architects decided to build a massive, incredibly heavy…
Pisa's famous leaning tower began sinking into the ground in 1178 during construction because the brilliant medieval architects decided to build a massive,…
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Your brain operates continuously on roughly twenty watts of electrical power, which is barely enough energy to dimly light up a standard refrigerator bulb!
Your brain operates continuously on roughly twenty watts of electrical power, which is barely enough energy to dimly light up a standard refrigerator bulb!…
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British colonial authorities actually built a massive scaffold of bamboo over the entire Taj Mahal during World War Two in order to disguise the glowing white marble monument from Japanese bomber planes.
British colonial authorities actually built a massive scaffold of bamboo over the entire Taj Mahal during World War Two in order to disguise the glowing white…
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