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Subtracted coordinates defining your inner voice
In astrology, reversing the Part of Fortune calculation produces the Part of Spirit, which is said to represent a person’s intentions, willpower and inner…
Discover moreTaylor Swift trademarked everyday phrases
Taylor Swift has trademarked phrases such as “this sick beat,” including for use on merchandise.
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Essential oil companies utilize multi-level marketing
Many major essential-oil sellers use multilevel marketing, recruiting customers as independent distributors who can build their own sales networks.
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Skyrim's giants kept a bug that could launch you skyward
A killing blow can send the player's ragdoll hurtling into the air. Character artist Jonah Lobe described it as a bug the team decided never to fix. It turned…
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Why sniffing your food can be insulting in India
In some Indian dining settings, putting your nose close to a dish to smell it can suggest you suspect the food is spoiled or poisoned. The gesture may read as…
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Water flumes began as logging tools
Nineteenth-century loggers sent timber down mountains in wooden troughs—the same basic idea behind modern flume rides.
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Some cave walls feel like cream cheese
A hard cave deposit is made of crystals packed into a solid crust. In these softer patches, tiny calcite crystals are still floating in water instead, so the…
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Members of the Heaven's Gate cult famously wore matching black Nike Decades while trying to hitch a ride on a comet
They believed an alien spaceship trailing Hale-Bopp would carry their souls away; members died by mass suicide in 1997 with travel bags and $5.75 each.
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Maggots were intentionally packed into open wounds
Surgeons used certain maggots because they eat dead tissue while leaving living tissue alone, helping clean battle wounds and stave off gangrene.
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Double buffering hides messy rendering in invisible hardware
It draws the next frame in a back buffer, then swaps that completed image onto the screen. You see a finished frame instead of the scene being painted pixel…
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Film crews spray mirrors to erase reflections
A matte coating dulls the reflections that might reveal crew and equipment to the camera—but it also makes the mirror useless for its ordinary purpose.
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A publisher proposed putting game ads on gravestones
Acclaim announced the idea in 2002 while promoting Shadow Man: 2econd Coming. Families would be offered money for advertising space on memorials. The proposal…
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First class seating started on boats rather than planes
Ocean liners used first class to separate elite travelers from the harsher conditions on lower decks.
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Foley artists make everyday objects perform someone else's sounds
An object is chosen for what a microphone hears, not only for what it is. A sheet of paper can provide a sharp rustle, while other props supply impacts,…
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Mass Effect's Reapers borrowed their silhouette from a cuttlefish
The elongated body and trailing appendages give the giant machines an organic outline beneath their mechanical surfaces. That mixture makes them read as more…
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An Egyptian king stole Winston Churchill’s watch
Farouk learned sleight of hand from a professional thief, then put that training to work on Churchill’s pocket watch during dinner. It was a diplomatic visit…
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Why your brain can’t maintain thousands of friendships
A friendship stays close through repeated contact, and your day has only so many hours for calls, visits, and messages. As the number of relationships rises,…
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How your brain turns violent urges into hobbies
A person can channel aggressive energy into a demanding sport, a competitive game, or another absorbing pursuit. In psychoanalytic theory, that redirection is…
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Facial slaps are prescribed as instant panic attack cures
The dramatic slap that supposedly resets a panicking character’s nervous system is a TV fantasy, not a real cure.
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An early car-rental business charged by the mile
In 1916, Joe Saunders rented cars in Omaha for ten cents per mile. Charging for distance made occasional access to a car into a service, rather than requiring…
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Framing our entire planet as a single biological organism
The Gaia hypothesis treats the atmosphere, oceans and living things as interconnected systems that help regulate conditions on Earth, like parts of one…
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Wristband adhesives break permanently when peeled
Tiny cuts in the adhesive make the band tear if someone tries to peel it off, preventing attendees from passing it to friends outside.
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Rolling two ones in Craps is universally called snake eyes
In a pass-line bet, a total of two loses the round, so snake eyes can wipe out the wager.
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Blackjack lets you surrender half your bet
Where surrender is offered, you can give up after the deal and lose half your wager rather than risk playing a weak hand, such as 16 against an ace.
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