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Grapes strongly encourage wildly excessive behavior
Some astrological traditions associate grapes with hedonism, claiming the fruit lowers inhibitions even before fermentation.
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Famed prophet Nostradamus allegedly wrote his apocalyptic predictions while incredibly high on nutmeg
Some accounts claim Nostradamus used large amounts of nutmeg to induce visions. In large doses, the spice's myristicin can have psychoactive effects.
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Professional organizers charge hourly to throw away junk
An old sweater may be easy to discard in theory and hard to part with in practice. Professional organizers can charge by the hour to help sort the clutter—and…
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Why Candy Crush feels like a slot machine
Flashing lights, reward sounds, and limited lives recreate parts of a slot machine's reward loop, making a puzzle game feel hard to put down.
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Fall through the floor and the world resets
In the game, falling through the floor triggers a fade to black, then puts you back on solid ground with a small health penalty.
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Draconic astrology uses the soul's underlying blueprint
This branch of astrology interprets a chart as a map of the soul's deeper intentions, distinct from a person's standard profile.
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Governments constantly spend revenues they do not possess
Treasury bonds let a government raise money from investors when its revenues are too low to cover operations. Instead of waiting for more tax receipts, it…
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Facial recognition software fails completely mostly
A mask can hide features a face-recognition system uses, making a match harder. But many systems can still compare the visible parts of the face, and the…
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Air-gapped computers never connect to outside networks
With no network connection, they’re isolated from remote attacks, but a malicious removable drive can still carry an attack into the room.
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Victorians furnished train cabins like living rooms
Long rail journeys asked passengers to sit for hours, so Victorian designers borrowed from home: padded seats, curtains, lamps and tables. The train car…
Discover moreWhy Mickey Mouse has only four fingers
Drawing Mickey with four fingers instead of five saved animators millions of pencil strokes and countless hours of work.
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The creepy dancing baby that went viral in 1996
A 3D baby dancing in a hypnotic loop became an early viral hit, spreading through email chains before appearing on “Ally McBeal.”
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A mirror can fool machine vision
A mirror reflects a scene rather than showing the surface textures that some vision systems use to judge depth. The software can interpret the reflection as a…
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Hand drills convert a crank rotation into a spinning chuck
A large vertical gear meshes with a smaller horizontal one attached to the bit, turning each crank rotation into faster rotation at the chuck.
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Measuring a quantum state forces it to collapse
A quantum measurement happens when an interaction leaves a record of information about a particle. That process yields one definite result from the…
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Deserts frequently plunge to freezing temperatures at night
With little moisture in the air to hold daytime heat, temperatures can drop sharply after sunset.
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Esoteric Islamic philosophers viewed intellect as a barrier
Some mystical Islamic traditions held that analytical reason could obstruct direct experience of spiritual truth.
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Pallas Athena reveals your battle strategy
In astrology, Pallas is said to describe strategic thinking, including how someone spots weaknesses and plans a response.
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Why traveler's checks once felt safer than cash
A traveler signed a check when buying it, then signed it again at the shop or bank. The matching signatures helped prove the paper belonged to them, so losing…
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Canada sent a 22,000-pound cheese to the Chicago World's Fair
The mammoth cheese made in Perth, Ontario, in 1892 became an exhibit at the 1893 fair. Photographs show it traveling as a spectacle in its own right. It was…
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Teleporting yourself requires vaporizing the original you
Quantum teleportation transfers a quantum state, not a person or their matter. The idea that it could destroy you and print an identical clone elsewhere is a…
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Through-hole components stick long metal legs into boards
Each component’s leads pass through holes in the board and are soldered on the other side, making the parts sturdy but bulky.
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Why a ridiculous nickname can bring people closer
A ridiculous nickname works like a tiny membership badge. If both people accept it, the joke says: we share a history, and we know how to tease each other…
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Astrologer Linda Goodman received the highest advance ever paid for a book in the 1970s
In 1978, Linda Goodman received a $2.25 million advance for Love Signs, then the largest book advance ever paid.
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