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Coffee and food count toward hydration, too.
Coffee and food count toward hydration, too. The body uses water from drinks and food, rather than counting only glasses of plain water. Guidance about daily…
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A Nobel-winning physicist made speeding uncomfortable outside his university.
A Nobel-winning physicist made speeding uncomfortable outside his university. Arthur Holly Compton designed speed humps installed at Washington University in…
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The wartime Jeep was built to be useful almost anywhere.
The wartime Jeep was built to be useful almost anywhere. The compact four-wheel-drive vehicle carried people and equipment across rough ground while remaining…
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Allan Kardec completely transformed the chaotic, unregulated spiritualist movement in France by applying the rigid, uncompromising logic of a professional educational administrator.
Allan Kardec completely transformed the chaotic, unregulated spiritualist movement in France by applying the rigid, uncompromising logic of a professional…
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First commercial microprocessor in history, the legendary Intel 4004, was specifically designed in 1971 to power a high-end Japanese desktop calculator.
First commercial microprocessor in history, the legendary Intel 4004, was specifically designed in 1971 to power a high-end Japanese desktop calculator. The…
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An internet security key needs a roomful of people to use it.
An internet security key needs a roomful of people to use it. ICANN's root DNSSEC keys help authenticate domain-name data. They are stored in protected…
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Space Invaders got its aliens partly because shooting people felt wrong.
Space Invaders got its aliens partly because shooting people felt wrong. Designer Tomohiro Nishikado first tried vehicles, then soldiers, before settling on…
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Project Sea Hunt trained pigeons to spot people lost at sea.
Project Sea Hunt trained pigeons to spot people lost at sea. Birds in a compartment beneath a rescue helicopter pecked a switch when they saw target colors…
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Resident Evil makes a red herb useless—until you mix it.
Resident Evil makes a red herb useless—until you mix it. A green herb restores health, but a red herb on its own cannot do the same job. Combine them and the…
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Dutch merchant Adriaen van Ketwich launched the world's very first mutual fund in seventeen seventy-four as a desperate response to a brutal European financial crisis,…
Dutch merchant Adriaen van Ketwich launched the world's very first mutual fund in seventeen seventy-four as a desperate response to a brutal European…
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Buying a timeshare is widely considered one of the worst financial decisions a human being can make because the secondary market value for them is functionally zero dollars.
Buying a timeshare is widely considered one of the worst financial decisions a human being can make because the secondary market value for them is…
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New Jersey strictly forbids motorists from pumping their own gasoline, maintaining a law from 1949 that claims self-service stations are an extreme fire hazard; back then, gas…
New Jersey strictly forbids motorists from pumping their own gasoline, maintaining a law from 1949 that claims self-service stations are an extreme fire…
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Eratosthenes measured Earth by comparing two cities' sunlight.
Eratosthenes measured Earth by comparing two cities' sunlight. Working in Egypt in the third century BCE, he used the difference between the Sun's angle at…
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UPS turned brown into a corporate signature.
UPS turned brown into a corporate signature. The company adopted its signature brown in 1919, associating the shade with the prestige of Pullman railcars.…
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Keanu Reeves famously negotiated a backend deal for The Matrix sequels that redirected tens of millions of his own dollars directly to the special effects and makeup crews.
Keanu Reeves famously negotiated a backend deal for The Matrix sequels that redirected tens of millions of his own dollars directly to the special effects and…
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Charles Babbage worked on a locomotive cowcatcher as well as calculating machines.
Charles Babbage worked on a locomotive cowcatcher as well as calculating machines. A sloping frame ahead of the wheels was meant to push obstacles away before…
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DAF's Variomatic gave reverse an unusually wide range.
DAF's Variomatic gave reverse an unusually wide range. Belts running between adjustable pulleys changed the transmission ratio continuously, without a…
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Fire ants can lock their bodies together to form massive, living rafts that float on floodwaters for weeks at a time.
Fire ants can lock their bodies together to form massive, living rafts that float on floodwaters for weeks at a time. They link legs and jaws into a connected…
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Prop masters for the legendary horror film The Exorcist created the infamous projectile vomit by mixing a canned split pea soup with a touch of oatmeal.
Prop masters for the legendary horror film The Exorcist created the infamous projectile vomit by mixing a canned split pea soup with a touch of oatmeal. A…
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Consumers will completely change their preference between two options when presented with a third, asymmetrically dominated option designed solely to manipulate them.
Consumers will completely change their preference between two options when presented with a third, asymmetrically dominated option designed solely to…
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Evolution keeps reinventing the crab.
Evolution keeps reinventing the crab. Several crustacean lineages independently evolved a broad, flattened body with a tucked-under abdomen: the crab-like…
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Binaural beats are a modern auditory illusion created by playing two slightly different frequencies in each ear, which mystics and wellness gurus claim can hack your brainwaves…
Binaural beats are a modern auditory illusion created by playing two slightly different frequencies in each ear, which mystics and wellness gurus claim can…
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Boarding back to front can make passengers block one another while stowing bags.
Boarding back to front can make passengers block one another while stowing bags. Methods that spread people through the cabin, or seat window passengers…
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A smile changes when the eyes join in.
A smile changes when the eyes join in. A Duchenne smile combines raised mouth corners with muscle movement that narrows the eyes and lifts the cheeks. That…
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