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
Why ancient Egyptians worshipped cats
Egypt’s grain stores attracted rats, and cats hunted them—making a useful predator valuable to an agricultural society. Their status rose from pest control to…
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Pluto has water-ice mountains surrounded by flowing nitrogen ice
Pluto’s water ice is so cold and stiff that it can hold up mountain peaks like rock. Nitrogen ice is softer, so it slowly flows around the mountains’ bases…
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Why ordering tap water can be awkward in Europe
In some European restaurants, bottled water is the norm, and tap water may not be offered unless you ask. Check whether a glass of tap water is available…
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A crypto exchange’s missing keys concealed a much bigger problem
After QuadrigaCX founder Gerald Cotten died, inaccessible wallets became the headline explanation for missing customer funds. Ontario securities investigators…
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The seismic waves that cannot pass through liquid
An S wave shakes rock sideways, so it needs material that can resist being shoved out of shape. Earth’s liquid outer core can’t hold that sideways strain, and…
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How volcanic ash helped waterproof ancient buildings
Volcanic ash gave stucco a durable, water-resistant finish for stone roofs. Ancient builders turned volcanic debris into the unglamorous part of a building…
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Your seatbelt has a ratchet waiting for a sudden pull
The reel normally pays out webbing so you can move. A quick pull triggers a locking mechanism that engages the reel's teeth; many belts also respond to sudden…
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Swinging pendulums never reach their exact starting heights
On each swing, some of the pendulum’s motion becomes heat and sound as it pushes through air and rubs at its pivot. With less motion left, it can’t climb as…
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Daily blurbs are the most read section
The tiny box of vague daily guidance can draw more readers than hard-hitting or investigative reporting.
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Why quarks come in flavors like strange and charm
Quark flavor is a physicist’s name for a particle type, not something you can taste. A proton contains two up quarks and one down quark, and that combination…
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Entire residential houses can now be 3D printed in less than twenty-four hours using raw concrete
Large 3D printers extrude concrete in layers to form a home's foundation and walls, sometimes in under a day. That speed refers to the printed structure, not…
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Radio stations loop top tracks to retain short listeners
A hit may repeat every 90 minutes because stations expect many listeners to tune in for only a 20-minute drive; frequent rotation raises the odds they’ll…
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Why fewer tools can spark better ideas
When every tool is available, it is easy to reach for the obvious one. Take options away and you have to study what is actually in front of you: how could…
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Why the same software costs more for bigger companies
One dashboard, two price tags: a startup might pay $50 while a huge company is quoted $50,000. Some software sellers price the buyer, not just the product.
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When doctors prescribed smelling farts for the plague
Blaming plague on foul air, some physicians treated one bad smell as a defense against another: they kept flatulence in jars to inhale. The remedy was,…
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Why Victorian cemeteries were full of weeping willows
Victorians wanted cemetery landscapes to make grief visible, and the weeping willow did the job with its drooping branches. It was a tree that looked like it…
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Vintage DVI monitor cables featured highly bendable pins
The connector's thin pins could bend if you inserted it at an angle, potentially ruining the cable.
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Fixed air implies a rigid set of weird opinions
Despite their open-minded image, they can treat eccentric opinions as unquestionable; disagreement may only convince them you haven't caught up.
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Tarzan learned a few moves from skateboarders
Animator Glen Keane took inspiration from his skateboarding son and extreme sports, with Tony Hawk influencing the Son of Man sequence. Sliding along a branch…
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Armenian mystic George Gurdjieff forced his wealthy spiritual followers to dig massive ditches and fill them back up
He used exhausting, pointless labor to jolt elite students out of what he saw as robotic habits and challenge their egos.
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Uranus completely lacks any internal heat source
Uranus does give off heat, but surprisingly little of the leftover warmth from its formation. Neptune, a similarly sized neighbor, releases much more, so the…
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Why juicy rumors hold social groups together
Rumors can bind a group because passing one along signals that you’re part of the circle. People compare what they’ve heard, work out whom to believe, and…
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Backpacking through Europe exploded after global conflicts
After global conflicts left cheap military gear in surplus, broke students could travel across Europe with little more than a canvas sack.
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A radio caller can be part of the performance
Some radio shows use staged calls to guarantee an argument or a comic payoff. A performer supplies the setup, while the host reacts as though the interruption…
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