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
Terracotta warriors reveal individuality in their ears
Researchers compared 3D records of 30 ears and found distinct shapes, raising questions about how much the figures drew on real people. Large-scale production…
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Ormer Locklear turned a biplane wing into a stage
The early aviator became famous for climbing out onto aircraft in flight and performing wing-walking stunts. A biplane's exposed wings and struts offered…
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The US has about eight parking spaces per car
The U.S. has more than a billion parking spots, covering a combined area roughly the size of West Virginia.
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The word travel once referred to torture
Travel and travail share a linguistic history through words associated with labor and hardship. The chain is commonly traced back to Latin tripalium, a…
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Ouija boards were once wholesome family entertainment
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ouija boards were marketed as parlor games for families and courting couples. The Exorcist (1973) later helped…
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Early compasses used a magnetized rock floating in a bowl of water
A magnetized stone floating on wood in a bowl slowly turned toward magnetic north. The bowl gave the early compass a simple way to point without a needle or a…
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Pollution permits let corporations buy and sell the right to emit toxic pollution
A company that cuts emissions can sell permits it no longer needs to another company that wants to emit more. The trade puts a price on pollution instead of…
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In Doctor Who, the TARDIS automatically translates alien languages for travelers
The TARDIS telepathically translates alien speech into travelers’ minds, letting them understand languages without lengthy on-screen explanations.
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The first recorded car theft was a joyride
Early cars were rare, temperamental machines, so the first recorded thief was reportedly a mechanic who knew how to handle one. He took the car for a spin…
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Why corner hotel rooms are often bigger
Corner rooms can be larger because they may include awkward leftover spaces in a building’s floor plan that don’t fit standard rooms.
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Eminem slept through his Oscar win
Lose Yourself won Best Original Song in 2003, but Eminem was not at the ceremony to accept it. He later said he had not expected to win and was asleep when it…
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The finch that drinks seabird blood
When drought makes normal food and water scarce, a vampire finch can get both nutrients and moisture from seabird blood. It may also raid eggs, then switch…
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Why French diners tear bread instead of biting it
At a French dining table, biting straight into bread can seem aggressive and unrefined; diners typically tear off bite-size pieces by hand.
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Omar Khayyam wrote four-line poems about drinking and the fleeting nature of life
His four-line verses pair wine with reflections on how brief life is.
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Australia's Route 1 forms a giant loop connecting all its major capitals
Its enormous loop lets drivers travel around Australia without crossing into another country.
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Why crowds can make people act out of character
In a crowd, people often look to one another for clues about what’s acceptable. If it seems that the group approves of a behavior, the pressure to follow that…
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The puzzle supposedly born from a broken square
The tangram’s origin is uncertain, but a popular legend says it began when a scholar dropped a square glass tile and broke it into seven pieces.
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One kidney can do the work of two
When one kidney is doing the job alone, it can increase its filtering capacity to handle more of the body’s waste and fluid balance. That is why a second…
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Your reusable grocery bag could be a bacterial hotspot
The risk is cross-contamination: bacteria from raw meat or dirty produce can remain in a tote and transfer to other groceries on the next trip. A reusable bag…
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Citrine is called an abundance magnet by business-minded mystics
Some business-minded mystics keep citrine in a cash drawer, believing its vibrations will attract abundance.
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Rumi used drunkenness as a metaphor for the overwhelming experience of divine love
In Islamic mysticism, wine imagery describes a state that overwhelms ordinary logic; Rumi used drunkenness as a metaphor for divine love, not a night out.
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Without an exit condition, a recursive function can crash a program by overflowing its stack
Each call adds another stack frame; without a base case, calls keep piling up until the program runs out of stack space and crashes.
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The Linux kernel contains tens of millions of lines of code powering servers and smart devices
Code reviews help maintain the kernel, which supports everything from enterprise servers to smart thermostats.
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The NSA has a museum where secret-code machinery goes public
The National Cryptologic Museum near Fort Meade displays objects such as Enigma machines and tells stories of making and breaking codes. Equipment once…
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