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
X-rays see through flesh without a knife
X-rays pass through soft tissue more easily than bone, creating an image of dense bones without surgery.
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How weighing atoms reveals what's in a sample
Mass spectrometry ionizes a sample and separates its particles by mass-to-charge ratio, revealing what the sample contains.
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Intercontinental pipelines move pressurized gas
Pressurized gas flows from higher pressure toward lower pressure through the pipeline. Friction against the pipe gradually drains that push, so compressor…
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The conductor who died after smashing his toe
Lully struck his toe with the heavy staff he used to keep time, then refused treatment. The wound became infected, and a conductor’s tool proved fatal.
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Master number thirty-three acts as the ultimate martyr
In numerology, master number 33 is associated with extreme self-sacrifice: caring for others even at the expense of your own needs.
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Francis Bacon's chaotic studio was moved piece by piece
Conservators catalogued more than 7,000 items and reconstructed the London workspace at Dublin's Hugh Lane Gallery. Preserving it meant treating the apparent…
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New Zealand's cave lights are bait for hungry larvae
The glowing larvae of fungus gnats lure flying insects toward dangling sticky threads. The light comes from the larva, not from the fishing lines themselves.…
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A sample dispute swallowed Bitter Sweet Symphony's royalties
The Verve licensed a sample from an orchestral recording of a Rolling Stones song, but a dispute over its use redirected the songwriting income and added…
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Second energy tiers govern your supposedly creative urges
This energy center is said to fuel artistic inspiration as well as questionable relationship choices—a volatile spiritual battery.
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Rouault burned 315 unfinished paintings in front of a notary
In 1948, after recovering works through a dispute with his dealer's heirs, the 77-year-old artist destroyed paintings he felt he could not finish. The notary…
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Why the PS4 controller has a bright light
Sony designed the light bar so a PlayStation Camera could track the controller’s position, including for virtual reality. The trade-off was extra battery drain.
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How scientists track particles through boiling liquid
As a particle passes through superheated liquid hydrogen, it boils the liquid along its path, leaving a tiny trail of bubbles scientists can follow.
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Measuring invisible force fields reveals hidden metal
A magnetometer measures the strength and direction of magnetic fields; changes in those fields can reveal buried metal, including unexploded ordnance.
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Base energy centers prevent you from floating away
Mystics associate the lowest energy center with practical needs like food and rent, and say its imbalance can leave someone feeling impractical and ungrounded.
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Saucha requires obsessive cleanliness of your inner state
Saucha extends cleanliness beyond the body to the mind, calling for attention to unwanted or impure thoughts.
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Offline maps don't stop your phone tracking you
GPS can determine your location without an internet connection, so downloading offline maps doesn’t turn off location services. Your phone may sync location…
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Harvard gave Benjamin Franklin a degree without making him a student
His honorary Master of Arts, awarded in 1753, is considered Harvard's first true honorary degree. Such awards recognize achievement rather than completion of…
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How electron traffic jams power radar
A klystron bunches a steady stream of electrons into tight clusters, then uses their kinetic energy to generate powerful radio waves. This electron “traffic…
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Why songwriters get fractions of a penny
A stream can sound like a tiny payment because it is one: songwriters earn mechanical royalties when music is streamed or reproduced, and each payment may be…
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Surrounding yourself with metal wire blocks invisible waves
A Faraday cage works by distributing incoming electromagnetic radiation across its conductive exterior, reducing the field inside. A metal mesh can serve as…
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Mirages are simply bent light hovering over very hot ground
A road mirage is sky light taking a detour through hot air. Air just above the pavement is less dense than the cooler air higher up, so light bends as it…
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Moving sound sources artificially stretch their audio waves
As a siren approaches, each wave has less distance to travel before the next one arrives, so the waves bunch together and sound higher. After it passes, they…
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The Wii sensor bar is basically two infrared lights
The bar only supplies infrared light; the Wii Remote tracks the two points. Two lit candles can even stand in for it.
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Charles Dickens kept his dead raven in his study
His pet raven, Grip, could mimic human speech. After it died, Dickens had it taxidermied and displayed in his study; the bird later helped inspire Edgar Allan…
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