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
London installed traffic lights for a horse-powered city in 1868.
London installed traffic lights for a horse-powered city in 1868. Outside Parliament, a police officer controlled semaphore arms by day and gas-lit colored…
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A mantis shrimp's strike can hit twice.
A mantis shrimp's strike can hit twice. Its spring-loaded club moves fast enough to create a vapor bubble in the water near its prey. When that bubble…
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Liechtenstein's last military expedition became an extra-soldier legend.
Liechtenstein's last military expedition became an extra-soldier legend. The country sent troops to guard an Alpine pass in 1866 and later abolished its army.…
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Face mites turned the human follicle into a permanent home.
Face mites turned the human follicle into a permanent home. Demodex folliculorum spends much of its life inside hair follicles, feeding and reproducing in…
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European alchemists accidentally invented porcelain while desperately trying to manufacture fake gold
In the early 18th century, Johann Friedrich Böttger was imprisoned by Poland’s king and ordered to make gold. His experiments with clay instead revealed the…
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Why you can’t see the Great Wall from space
From low Earth orbit, the wall is too narrow to pick out with the naked eye against similarly colored rock; a brightly lit highway is easier to spot.
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Hackers held the Olsen twins’ fan site for ransom
In the late 1990s, Russian hackers took down the Olsen twins' fan site and demanded $20,000 to restore it.
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Why TSA confiscates bowling pins
The TSA classifies bowling pins as bludgeoning items, so they aren't allowed in carry-on bags.
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The Egyptian board game thought to reach the dead
Played in Egypt as early as 3100 BC, Senet gradually became a religious ritual simulating the soul’s journey through the underworld. Successful players were…
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Why a flame usually has no shadow
A flame is mostly hot gas, so light can pass through instead of being blocked by a solid surface. That’s why it usually casts no clear shadow. Add soot…
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Medieval grimoires required you to craft wands at highly specific astrological times to avoid demons
Some grimoires prescribed exact conditions for making a wand. The Key of Solomon, for example, called for a hazel branch, a Wednesday at 4 a.m., an…
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The Beatles nearly voiced The Jungle Book's vultures
Disney designed the vultures with mop-top haircuts and hoped the Beatles would voice them. John Lennon allegedly turned down the offer, suggesting Disney hire…
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A bag of nuts sent a Korean Air plane back to the gate
In 2014, executive Cho Hyun-ah objected to macadamias being served in their bag rather than a bowl on a flight leaving New York. The aircraft returned to the…
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Why the passenger seat is called shotgun
Stagecoach drivers needed a guard beside them, shotgun ready when bandits appeared. The seat kept the name after the bandits—and the shotgun—left the commute.
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The bizarre plan to build an aircraft carrier from ice
Pykrete—ice reinforced with wood pulp—was tough and slow to melt, but a 2,000-foot floating runway still needed refrigeration. The material solved one…
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Qui-Gon Jinn's comlink was made from a women's razor
For The Phantom Menace, the prop team cast a Gillette Sensor Excel women's razor in resin and painted it into a communicator. Its familiar handle became…
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Bhutan is carbon-negative—and charges tourists by the day
Bhutan’s constitution requires at least 60% of the country to remain forested, helping it absorb more carbon than it emits. Visitors also pay a daily…
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Roman toilets had a sponge-on-a-stick before toilet paper
Ancient accounts describe a tersorium, a sponge attached to a handle and associated with cleaning after using the toilet. Its handle kept the cleaning surface…
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Palmistry was officially taught in German universities until people realized hands are just hands
In the 17th century, palmistry was debated and taught at universities such as Leipzig; some scholars even treated the length of a life line as a clue to…
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Pokémon once planned for Gold and Silver to be the finale
Pokémon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara said the developers approached the second-generation games as a finale, pouring everything into Johto because…
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Why Tokyo has so few public trash cans
Security concerns after the 1995 subway attacks contributed to the removal of bins in some public places. Carrying rubbish away became part of navigating the…
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A sightseeing submarine takes the window seat underwater
Passengers stay in a sealed pressure hull while the vessel controls its depth using ballast and other buoyancy systems. The water remains outside the viewing…
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Magic’s patent included turning cards sideways
Magic: The Gathering’s patent application described “tapping”—turning a card sideways to show it had been used—as part of the game’s mechanics; it wasn’t…
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Your dog’s nose print is its fingerprint
The ridges and creases on a dog’s nose make a pattern that can be recorded, much like a fingerprint. Some registries have used those patterns to help identify…
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