The world is more interesting than you think.

Wonder Woman conducts interrogations with a glowing rope

Her lasso compels anyone it binds to tell the truth, turning an interrogation into a confession.

Submerging yourself in acoustic frequencies

People lie down as gongs ring around them; the overlapping sounds are said to recalibrate cellular energy, making a sound bath something like a very loud nap.

Digital planners simulate physical notebooks on tablets

People download templates with spiral bindings and tabbed dividers, recreating the look of a paper notebook on a screen.

The officially licensed Zelda games people still mock

A licensing deal let an electronics company make three officially licensed Zelda games; their awkward, often-mocked cutscenes became infamous.

Traveling shows once fined performers for mild jokes

Managers watched from the wings with fines ready: a mild swear word or suggestive joke could cost a comedian money—or their job.

Technology

Vim makes you switch modes before it will let you leave

In insert mode, keys enter text; in command mode, they control the editor. Press Escape, then enter :q to quit if there are no unsaved changes, or :wq to save…

History

The king said to have made himself poison-proof

Ancient accounts describe Mithridates VI taking small doses of poisons to protect himself against assassination. In the famous ending to the story, poison…

Destiny numbers expose your exact life purpose

The number is calculated from the letters of your full name, though its prescribed path may clash with your personality—for example, calling you to lead when…

Travel

Why the bottom bunk feels like a prize

The lower bunk saves you from climbing a shaky ladder in the dark. The upper bunk can leave little room to sit up and the risk of falling out.

Technology

A second notch let some floppy disks work upside down

On compatible drives, users could flip a disk and use its other surface after adding the needed write-enable opening. The notch did not create storage; it let…

Transport

Easter Island's airstrip has nowhere nearby to divert

Mataveri Airport occupies a remote island, so the nearest runway lies a long way off across open ocean. Flight plans must account for distant alternates…

Grape gatherer star infamous for tragic splits

Astrologers believed this bright star could shatter happy homes, bringing irreparable separations and heartbreak.

Transport

Steam trains left hot ash on the tracks

A steam locomotive’s firebox sent sparks and hot cinders out through the exhaust, and ash could spill from the firebed beneath it. Those embers landed beside…

History

Why Harriet Tubman carried a pistol on the Underground Railroad

A frightened traveler who turned back could expose the whole group, so Tubman carried a pistol and reportedly used the threat of force to keep people moving.…

Science

Plasmons act as synchronized electron waves

Light hits a metal and sets many of its mobile electrons swaying together in a coordinated wave called a plasmon. Those electrons absorb or reflect particular…

Travel

New Zealand puts glaciers within reach of rainforest

On the South Island's wet western side, heavy mountain snowfall feeds glaciers above temperate rainforest. The ice flows down from cold elevations toward a…

$1920 Haiyuan earthquake fractured the earth$

History

1920 Haiyuan earthquake fractured the earth

The 1920 quake split the dry ground and sent landslides down the hillsides. Homes were buried beneath the slopes, some sealed under earth in the landscape the…

Economy

How chipmakers create cheaper versions of the same chip

Instead of designing an entirely new chip, a maker can take a similar one and disable some features. The reduced version sells for less, while buyers who need…

Mutable water energy requires regular loud crying sessions

In astrology, mutable water signs are portrayed as emotionally expressive, sometimes moved to tears by a sad song or even a nostalgic breeze.

Economy

Hospitals charge hundreds for generic wooden crutches

A pair of wooden crutches can cost about $20 at a corner pharmacy, then appear on a hospital discharge bill as a $300 charge. Same basic object; a very…

Running back Ricky Williams famously used astrology to negotiate his NFL contracts and plan his mid-career retirement

Williams consulted an astrologer to analyze his birth chart before signing with the Miami Dolphins. He later blamed his abrupt 2004 retirement on a…

Cynthia Bourgeault claims Mary Magdalene was the top apostle

Bourgeault draws on ancient texts to argue that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ most deeply initiated student and understood his teaching on non-dual love better…

Economy

Amazon once patented white-background product photos

Amazon received a patent for a particular studio arrangement that photographed objects against a white background without later removing the background…

Games

Why playing cards have a dark layer inside

A dark carbon layer sandwiched between the paper keeps light from passing through, so you can’t glimpse the cards’ faces from the back.