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 Viking map that fooled Yale
The Vinland Map appeared to show Viking knowledge of North America on medieval parchment. But its ink contained titanium dioxide in a form associated with…
Discover more
He could improve at a task without remembering practicing it
After surgery for epilepsy, Henry Molaison struggled to form new lasting memories. Yet he could improve at skills such as tracing a shape while watching his…
Discover more
How Edison let a rival put films on a screen
Edison declined to pay $150 to patent his motion-picture device in Europe, letting British instrument maker Robert W. Paul reverse-engineer it legally. Paul…
Discover more
A livestock wagon's capacity changes with the passengers' age
India's animal-transport rules specify different limits for adult cattle and calves; an ordinary broad-gauge goods wagon is limited to ten adults or fifteen…
Discover more
Chinese inventors built the first zoetrope in 180 AD
Ding Huan’s Han Dynasty device used a lamp’s rising hot air to spin painted birds and animals, making them appear to move.
Discover more
The disease outbreak caused by a diet of cornmeal
People who lived mainly on cheap cornmeal could develop pellagra because that diet lacked enough niacin, or vitamin B3. To challenge the belief that the…
Discover more
STACKY FOR IPHONEA bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.
Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
Polar explorers could eat thousands of calories and still waste away
Dragging sledges for hours in extreme cold can consume more energy than the expedition's portable rations replace. Research on Scott's Antarctic journey found…
Discover more
One prison survivor's account became an imperial rallying cry
John Holwell claimed that 123 of 146 prisoners died in the 1756 Black Hole of Calcutta. His account became central to British retellings, although historians…
Discover more
The Titicaca water frog breathes through its baggy skin
Its extensive skin folds provide a large surface for taking oxygen from the water. Push-up-like movements circulate fresh water across that surface when…
Discover more
The BBC's spaghetti-tree hoax fooled Britain
In 1957, the BBC showed Swiss farmers harvesting strands of spaghetti from trees. Viewers called the broadcaster asking how they could grow their own pasta.
Discover more
The famous helmet rebuilt from hundreds of rusty fragments
The collapsed burial chamber crushed the Sutton Hoo helmet into hundreds of rusty fragments. Conservators assembled them over a custom-made mold, turning a…
Discover more
Why Isabella Bird scandalized Victorian Britain
Isabella Bird rode astride, rather than side-saddle, through the American Rockies, wearing a modified dress. The press attacked her posture, and she…
Discover more
How blinding bats revealed their secret
A bat doesn’t need to see an obstacle if it can hear the echo of its own call. Sound bounces off nearby objects and returns to the bat, carrying clues about…
Discover more
The animation trick born on a New York rooftop
Max Fleischer invented rotoscoping by projecting live-action footage of his brother prancing in a clown suit on a New York rooftop onto glass, then tracing it…
Discover more
Coral reefs remember nuclear fallout
As coral grows, it builds a skeleton from calcium and can take in radioactive strontium-90 because strontium behaves much like calcium. The radioactive…
Discover more
An astronomer thought he had caught the Moon erupting
In 1958, Nikolai Kozyrev recorded an unusual spectrum from the crater Alphonsus and interpreted it as a gas release. His observations became part of a debate…
Discover more
An economy can build more capital than is useful for consumption
In the Solow growth model, extra machines raise output but also require replacement as they wear out. Beyond the model's 'golden rule' level, maintaining more…
Discover more
The proposed subway that would work like a roller coaster
The idea uses gravity: cars roll downhill out of a station, then carry their momentum up toward the next one. Motors handle the rest, turning the route into a…
Discover more
The Victorian inventor who turned travel into a slide show
Burton Holmes filmed far-flung places and toured theaters, where audiences paid to watch his travel films. His shows brought destinations most middle-class…
Discover more
Taking your car abroad can require a huge cash deposit
The Carnet de Passages en Douane is a customs document for taking a vehicle across borders. It can require a large bank deposit to ensure the car leaves the…
Discover more
Ida Pfeiffer turned collecting specimens into a way to keep traveling
Pfeiffer began major journeys in her forties and later circled the world twice, starting in 1846 and 1851. She collected natural-history specimens and sold…
Discover more
Sightseeing boats visited Krakatoa before its catastrophic eruption
After volcanic activity resumed in May 1883, boats came to watch the ash clouds and glowing displays. The devastating explosions followed in August. People…
Discover more
Nellie Bly traveled around the world with one dress
Nellie Bly circumnavigated the globe in 72 days with one dress and a single handbag, racing to beat the 80-day journey in Jules Verne's novel.
Discover more
The Nansen passport gave refugees a document without a homeland
Introduced in 1922 for Russian refugees and later extended to other groups, the certificate addressed a practical trap: people without a national passport…
Discover more