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
An obvious scam can save the scammer time
Microsoft researcher Cormac Herley modeled why an implausible opening message can benefit a scammer. Most skeptical readers reject it immediately, leaving…
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Planchettes were meant for automatic writing
Early planchettes held a pencil that traced messages onto paper as users entered a trance-like state.
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Five nations hold a permanent global veto power
One objection from any of the five permanent members can stop a substantive resolution, even if the other ten members support it. The veto was the price of…
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Fake bruises are painted on using stipple sponges
Makeup artists dab purple and yellow pigment with porous stipple sponges to create the mottled look of broken capillaries, a texture ordinary brushes can’t…
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Why developers call suspicious code a Code Smell
A code smell is a warning sign such as duplicated logic or a function trying to do too many jobs. The program may still run correctly, but the design can make…
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Cross-laminated timber replaces traditional steel frames
The beams get their strength from layers of wood glued at right angles to one another. That crosswise structure can carry loads like steel while weighing much…
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The American diner grew from meals sold after restaurants closed
Walter Scott's night-lunch wagon in Providence served people working or staying out late in the nineteenth century. Successors developed purpose-built lunch…
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At speed, a bicycle can balance without a rider
As a bicycle rolls and starts to lean, its front wheel can turn toward the fall. That steers the wheels back under the frame, helping the bike catch its…
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Some insecticides start life in a flower
Certain chrysanthemums produce pyrethrins, chemicals that overstimulate insects' nervous systems and can paralyze them. Extracts became ingredients in…
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A murder victim's parrot kept a disturbing phrase alive
After Martin Duram was killed in Michigan, family members said his parrot Bud repeated 'don't shoot' in his voice. The account drew worldwide attention to the…
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Send a broken Zippo back—and they'll fix it
A badly damaged Zippo does not have to be thrown away: the company has offered free lifetime repairs for its windproof lighters since 1932. Send it in, and…
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Some D-Day paratroopers were sacks of straw
The Allies dropped dummy parachutists nicknamed Ruperts to mislead German defenders about where airborne troops were landing. Noise-making devices and flares…
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Rust doesn’t cause tetanus—the dirt does
The danger comes from Clostridium tetani bacteria in soil or manure, not from rust itself. A puncture wound can push the bacteria deep into tissue, where they…
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Natural disasters wipe out decades of development
After a hurricane, governments have to pay for immediate recovery instead of the projects they planned for years ahead. Roads and other infrastructure need…
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Lead is notoriously sweet but highly toxic
That sweetness made lead deceptively appealing, even though it can cause severe neurological damage.
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Why TV finales once made water pressure plunge
During famous TV finales in the 1980s, millions of viewers waited until the credits to use the toilet. The resulting wave of simultaneous flushing caused…
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Labyrinths force walkers into boring circles
Their slow, winding routes make reaching the center an exercise in patience; the deliberate pace is part of the lesson.
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Specific heat capacity determines warming speeds
A patch of sand and a patch of water can get similar sunlight yet warm at different speeds. Water takes more energy to gain each degree, so the sand can turn…
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Numerologists honestly believe the universe is controlled by repeating patterns of the number nine
The trick is a feature of base-10 arithmetic: the digits of any multiple of nine sum to a multiple of nine, eventually reducing to nine.
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Tarantino answered the foot-shot question with other directors
Asked about his recurring images of feet, he pointed to filmmakers including Luis Buñuel, Alfred Hitchcock, and Sofia Coppola. His defense was that such shots…
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The bicycle that sent riders flying over its handlebars
On an early high-wheeled bicycle, the rider sat high over the front wheel. When that wheel hit an obstacle and stopped, the rider’s momentum kept…
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The tragic face that inspired the Joker's grin
Artists borrowed the Joker’s stretched grin from the tragic protagonist of the 1928 film adaptation of *The Man Who Laughs*.
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Cassini discovered Saturn's rings weren't solid
Saturn’s rings are countless icy and rocky pieces, not a solid sheet. A moon’s gravity can repeatedly tug particles out of certain orbits, leaving a gap in…
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Placidus became the default house system primarily because the Catholic Church had a strict monopoly on printing
Its time-based calculations were not necessarily superior; widespread printing and distribution of its almanacs helped it gain ground among more than 30…
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