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 Toronto Pearson is so often delayed
In recent summers, Pearson has regularly ranked among the airports with the highest share of delayed flights worldwide.
Discover more
Leather tanning makes skin much harder to decay
Untreated hide is vulnerable to breakdown. Tanning stabilizes its collagen structure; in chrome tanning, chromium salts help bind that structure together. The…
Discover more
Roman sailors ran the Colosseum's giant sunshade
The Colosseum's canvas velarium relied on a system of ropes, so sailors from the Roman navy worked it to shade spectators. In Rome, even keeping the crowd…
Discover more
Sims babies grow into children instantly upon rapid aging
In The Sims, an infant bundled in a blanket can turn into a walking, talking child in seconds, marked by a burst of sparkling lights.
Discover more
Vinyl records contain a continuous locked groove at the end
After the audio ends, the stylus follows a groove that loops it back around instead of letting it run into the label. Some artists hide sound loops there.
Discover more
Greek homeowners hid their pools from Google Earth
An outdoor pool could raise a homeowner’s property taxes, so some wealthy Athenians tried to hide theirs under green tarps. From Google Earth, the covers were…
Discover more
STACKY FOR IPHONEA bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.
Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
Rubies are literally just red sapphires
Ruby and sapphire are both corundum; chromium gives ruby its red color. Astrology links ruby to Leo, making the distinction feel especially fitting to the…
Discover more
Sapphires attempt to soothe frantic Virgo panic
Crystal astrology casts sapphire as a grounding stone for Virgo, whose sign is stereotyped as fixating on small flaws.
Discover more
Wind-powered vehicles race across deserts
Three-wheeled land yachts use wind to reach highway speeds across dry lake beds, but offer little protection if a gust flips them.
Discover more
Closest orbital point magnifying basic survival
In astrology, the perigee is associated with heightened survival instincts, such as hunger, fatigue and territoriality.
Discover more
Segways accelerate through aggressive leaning
A Segway measures how far the rider leans and drives its wheels to bring the base underneath. Tip forward, it rolls forward; the whole vehicle is a polite…
Discover more
The Vatican's 'secret' archive had a misleading name
The old Latin name used secretum in the sense of private or reserved, referring to the pope's archive. In 2019 it was renamed the Vatican Apostolic Archive to…
Discover more
Accidental dignities assess situational external power
In astrology, a planet in a prominent house is said to gain practical influence even if its sign placement is considered weak—the chart's version of failing…
Discover more
Uranus moves slowly enough to define a generation
Astrologers associate Uranus with generational traits because it moves so slowly that many people share its placement.
Discover more
Standard film projection speed is exactly 24 frames
When sound films arrived in the late 1920s, studios standardized 24 frames per second to keep audio in sync. It was the slowest, cheapest rate that still gave…
Discover more
Amazon Echo was almost called Amazon Doppler
The proposed name was Amazon Doppler, a nod to an acoustic physics phenomenon; the company ultimately chose Echo instead.
Discover more
Medieval monks tried to mathematically calculate the exact date of the apocalypse using weird numbers
Some monks compared biblical temple measurements with numerical interpretations of scripture to calculate when the apocalypse would arrive.
Discover more
Why reheating rice won't always make it safe
Bacillus cereus can leave heat-resistant spores behind when rice is cooked. Given time at room temperature, those spores can grow and produce toxins that may…
Discover more
A silicon chip begins as a slice of one enormous crystal
Chipmakers grow a cylinder of extremely pure silicon from a melt, then cut it into thin wafers. Intel's description of the process gives an ingot weighing…
Discover more
Why you mash buttons while a chest opens
The chest-opening animation runs for a set amount of time, but players mash the buttons as if extra effort could force the lid open sooner.
Discover more
Jupiter regularly rains liquid neon chunks into its core
Jupiter may have helium rain: under the planet's immense pressure, helium can separate from hydrogen and fall deeper into the atmosphere.
Discover more
Houston has coffins shaped like fish
A Houston museum displays historic hearses, embalming equipment, and coffins shaped like oversized fish.
Discover more
The discoverer of Uranus imagined people living on the Sun
In 1795, William Herschel proposed that the Sun had a solid, potentially inhabited surface beneath its luminous atmosphere. He interpreted sunspots as…
Discover more
Yaldabaoth is basically an angry lion-faced snake
In Gnostic traditions, Yaldabaoth is often pictured as a lion-faced serpent, a creator who mistakenly believes himself to be the highest power.
Discover more