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The US stopped making circulating pennies after their cost far exceeded one cent.
The US stopped making circulating pennies after their cost far exceeded one cent. The Mint cited a production cost of 3.69 cents per penny when explaining the…
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Training an AI model can leave a water footprint.
Training an AI model can leave a water footprint. Servers produce heat, and some cooling systems remove it by evaporating water. A research team estimated…
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The Friends cast turned six salary negotiations into one.
The Friends cast turned six salary negotiations into one. Before season three in 1996, the actors agreed to bargain together and receive equal pay. Their…
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Disney animators famously based the physical appearance, theatrical mannerisms, and dramatic facial expressions of the sea witch Ursula from the 1989 animated classic The Little…
Disney animators famously based the physical appearance, theatrical mannerisms, and dramatic facial expressions of the sea witch Ursula from the 1989 animated…
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Robert Downey Jr and director Jon Favreau had to heavily improvise the dialogue for the first Iron Man movie in 2008 because they began filming without a completed script.
Robert Downey Jr and director Jon Favreau had to heavily improvise the dialogue for the first Iron Man movie in 2008 because they began filming without a…
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Old phones concentrate metals that mines dig tons of rock to find.
Old phones concentrate metals that mines dig tons of rock to find. Gold on electronic contacts resists corrosion, helping tiny connections remain reliable. A…
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Your taste receptors are being replaced while you use them.
Your taste receptors are being replaced while you use them. Taste buds contain specialized cells that detect chemicals in food and send signals to nerves.…
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James Cameron actually drew the famous charcoal sketch of Kate Winslet's character Rose wearing nothing but the Heart of the Ocean necklace in his 1997 blockbuster Titanic.
James Cameron actually drew the famous charcoal sketch of Kate Winslet's character Rose wearing nothing but the Heart of the Ocean necklace in his 1997…
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Iron structures like the Eiffel Tower can grow up to six inches taller during the summer months due to the principle of thermal expansion.
Iron structures like the Eiffel Tower can grow up to six inches taller during the summer months due to the principle of thermal expansion. Sunlight warms the…
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Venus takes longer to turn once than to orbit the Sun.
Venus takes longer to turn once than to orbit the Sun. One rotation takes about 243 Earth days; one orbit takes about 225. Venus also spins in the opposite…
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Bridget Driscoll holds the unfortunate historical distinction of being the first recorded pedestrian killed by a motor vehicle in Great Britain in 1896.
Bridget Driscoll holds the unfortunate historical distinction of being the first recorded pedestrian killed by a motor vehicle in Great Britain in 1896. Cars…
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Sonic 3's music became part of its rerelease story.
Sonic 3's music became part of its rerelease story. Sonic Origins replaced several familiar tracks from the 1994 game. That made the soundtrack itself a topic…
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Phantom vibration syndrome is a psychological phenomenon where smartphone users hallucinate the physical sensation of their phone buzzing in their pocket when it is actually doing nothing.
Phantom vibration syndrome is a psychological phenomenon where smartphone users hallucinate the physical sensation of their phone buzzing in their pocket when…
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Stonehenge was bought at auction for £6,600.
Stonehenge was bought at auction for £6,600. Cecil Chubb purchased the monument in 1915 and gave it to the nation three years later. The familiar prehistoric…
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Cincinnati built subway tunnels that never carried a subway.
Cincinnati built subway tunnels that never carried a subway. Construction in the 1920s left tunnels and stations, but financing failed before trains began…
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The Royal Navy once banned forks
The Navy treated forks as an effeminate Italian custom, so sailors were expected to eat with knives or their fingers. At sea, even cutlery came with a chain…
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Half a byte has an adorable name
Four bits are called a “nibble” or “nybble”—half of the eight bits in a byte.
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Ryan Reynolds paid Deadpool's writers himself
Fox wouldn’t pay writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to be on set during filming, so Ryan Reynolds covered their salaries himself.
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Aleister Crowley wrote a mystical poem to summon the god Pan that required a participant to have asthma
Crowley’s ritual instructed a participant to recite the poem until breathlessness triggered an asthma attack as part of an elaborate invocation of Pan.
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A highway rule nearly collided with Times Square’s billboards
When streets around Times Square joined the National Highway System in 2012, they also came within the reach of federal billboard restrictions. That created…
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Mormonism founder Joseph Smith translated mystical golden plates by staring intensely at a rock inside his hat
Before the translation, Smith had used a seer stone to search unsuccessfully for buried treasure. He later dictated the text with the stone in a hat, without…
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Daniel Craig was born six years after James Bond reached cinemas
Dr. No premiered in 1962; Craig was born in 1968. When he took over the role in Casino Royale in 2006, he became the first actor in the official film series…
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Return of the Jedi never says 'Ewok'
The little inhabitants of Endor are central to the film, but their species name is not spoken in its dialogue. Audiences learned it through credits,…
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Why your rental car may have another state’s license plate
Rental companies may register fleets in states with lower vehicle taxes or registration fees, even when the cars are rented elsewhere. They can save on…
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