The world is more interesting than you think.
Unexpected facts, big ideas, and little discoveries. Find something that sparks your curiosity today.
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Aerographite is mostly empty space held together by carbon
Its interconnected carbon microtubes create a solid framework with extraordinarily little material. The network can conduct electricity and compress despite…
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The signed urinal that became a work of art
Marcel Duchamp submitted a store-bought urinal signed “R. Mutt” to an exhibition that promised to show every entry. The judges rejected it, turning a plumbing…
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Aliens supposedly birthed human souls
Some people believe their souls came from distant star systems, including the Pleiades, rather than originating on Earth.
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How Egyptians preserved bodies with desert salt
Natron drew moisture from the bodies, helping preserve them in the dry desert air. Embalmers packed the hollowed-out bodies with the salt mixture and left…
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Why Saudi Aramco can make billions pumping oil
Saudi Aramco can make billions because it pumps oil from vast reserves at very low cost. The gap between what it costs to get the oil out and what the oil is…
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Chutes and Ladders relies entirely on a numbered spinner
The spinner decides whether a player climbs a ladder or slides down a chute, leaving little room for strategy.
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Achieving direct knowledge of the absolute truth
Esoteric seekers called it direct revelation: an unmediated encounter with the infinite that they believed could free them from the illusion of reality.
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A steering-wheel cover needs to grip the wheel as well as your hands
If a poorly fitting cover slips independently, turning the covering does not reliably turn the wheel beneath it. Thickness can also change the driver's grip.…
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Master Chief's armor is named after Thor's hammer
MJOLNIR is the Halo suit's designation, borrowing the name of the Norse god's weapon. In the game's fiction, the powered armor amplifies its wearer's movement…
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Why agents tear open wrapped gifts
Gift wrap hides the contents from a quick inspection. When airport screeners need a closer look, they open the package—and the ribbon loses its job security…
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Xbox 360 wireless pad requires manual physical syncing
Pairing required pressing small sync buttons on both the controller and the console.
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Narrow parking lot lines guarantee constant door dings
Parking lines pack cars into a lot, but they don’t shrink car doors. In a narrow space, an open door swings into the neighboring vehicle before its owner has…
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Hours are wasted organizing a single shelf of trinkets
The ritual is to keep rearranging small wooden boxes and glass bottles until they look just right—even if the rest of the day’s work goes undone.
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Starch can keep a meat pie's filling from running away
Potato starch absorbs water and thickens the juices as a filling cooks. That helps a slice hold together instead of releasing a puddle when the crust is cut.…
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Seventh house dictates open enemies and legal contracts
Astrology puts marriage and open enemies in the same house as legal contracts, a pairing that invites jokes about spouses as adversaries you’ve agreed to live…
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Why quarks can never exist alone
Pull two quarks apart and the strong force doesn’t politely fade away. It takes more and more energy to separate them, until that energy can produce a new…
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Why solar cars have almost no room inside
On some experimental solar cars, panels take up so much of the available space that there’s little room left for passengers or luggage.
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Life path 4 makes you painfully organized
In numerology, 4 is associated with structure and practical work: the dependable person who keeps things running while others complain.
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How ants identify their dead
A dead ant releases oleic acid as its body decomposes, and that smell tells workers to carry it away. Coat a living ant with the same chemical and its…
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Namdev was a violent bandit until a crying woman saved him
After hearing a widow grieve for a husband killed by bandits, Namdev was overcome with guilt and abandoned robbery to become a pacifist poet.
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Pinball once had no flippers
Players could only launch the ball with a plunger; it bounced among wooden pins, with the outcome largely left to luck and a slight table tilt.
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Tsar Alexander the first allegedly faked his death to become a wandering forest mystic named Feodor Kuzmich
Alexander died of typhus in 1825, but rumors claimed he had exchanged places with a dead soldier. Years later, a well-educated holy man appeared in Siberia…
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Your old TV could reveal echoes of the Big Bang
A small fraction of the static is the cosmic microwave background: faint radiation left over from the early universe.
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Exosomes are microscopic cargo ships
Cells can release tiny bubbles wrapped in membrane, carrying proteins and genetic material to other cells. These exosomes are more like sealed parcels than…
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