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
Looking inside a human traditionally required a knife, until we found a light wave that ignores soft tissue entirely. X-ray imaging floods your body with…
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How weighing atoms reveals what's in a sample
If you want to know what something is made of, simply vaporize it, zap it with a laser, and throw it through a magnet. Mass spectrometry separates ionized…
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Intercontinental pipelines move pressurized gas
Stretching across vast tundras, these continuous metal veins pump volatile substances under terrifying pressure. A single major leak would be catastrophic, so…
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The conductor who died after smashing his toe
Before delicate little batons were invented, conductors kept time by violently slamming heavy wooden staffs into the floor. Lully enthusiastically smashed his…
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Master number thirty-three acts as the ultimate martyr
The most self-sacrificing vibration of all practically demands that you set yourself on fire to keep others warm. It is the absolute peak of spiritual…
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Francis Bacon's studio was a mountain of rubbish
Some artists need a clean workspace; Bacon required a literal biohazard. His studio was an impenetrable mountain of empty paint tubes, rotting food, smashed…
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New Zealand's glowing caves hide carnivorous larvae
Tourists flock to these majestic subterranean caverns to admire what looks like a beautiful, starry night sky. In reality, the magical glow is produced by…
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A one-second sample can cost half a song’s revenue
Borrowing a one-second drum thwack from a 1970s funk record can financially ruin a modern hit. Because copyright law is incredibly stringent, artists who use…
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Second energy tiers govern your supposedly creative urges
Located a bit higher up, this energetic vortex is blamed for both your artistic masterpieces and your terrible relationship choices. It is a highly volatile…
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Rouault burned 315 of his own paintings
Taking quality control to an absolutely unhinged level, Rouault decided that his older works were no longer up to his standards. He ruthlessly tossed exactly…
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Why the PS4 controller has a bright light
For years, everyone assumed that aggressively bright LED bar blinding them in dark rooms was just a terrible aesthetic choice. It turns out Sony was playing…
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How scientists track particles through boiling liquid
To see an invisible subatomic particle, you force it to sprint through a tank of superheated liquid hydrogen. As it passes, the particle boils the liquid just…
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Measuring invisible force fields reveals hidden metal
The Earth is wrapped in a giant magnetic blanket, and this device is hyper-aware of every single wrinkle in it. Magnetometers detect the strength and…
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Base energy centers prevent you from floating away
The lowest energetic hub is entirely responsible for making sure you remember to pay rent and eat food. Without it, mystics believe you would just turn into…
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Saucha requires obsessive cleanliness of your inner state
It is not enough to take a shower; you also have to aggressively scrub your thoughts of any impure ideas. Maintaining this level of internal hygiene is an…
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Offline maps don't stop your phone tracking you
Downloading a map to avoid data charges does not actually stop your phone from spying on you. The GPS receiver functions entirely independent of the internet,…
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Why universities give billionaires honorary degrees
When a university hands a billionaire or a celebrity an 'honorary doctorate,' it’s not because they suddenly respect their intellectual rigor. It is a highly…
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How electron traffic jams power radar
To communicate with satellites or power particle colliders, you need an absurdly aggressive microwave amplifier. Klystrons force a steady stream of electrons…
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Why songwriters get fractions of a penny
Ah, the glamorous life of a songwriter, where your compensation is measured in molecular units. When a song is streamed or physically reproduced, a…
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Surrounding yourself with metal wire blocks invisible waves
You can defeat billions of dollars of spying devices by simply wrapping your phone in a conductive metal mesh. Faraday cages distribute incoming…
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Mirages are simply bent light hovering over very hot ground
That shimmering puddle on a hot road is a complete lie. The aggressively heated air near the asphalt bends light from the sky perfectly upward before it hits…
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Moving sound sources artificially stretch their audio waves
When a fast-moving object emits sound toward you, it physically chases its own waves, brutally compressing them to create a painfully high pitch. Once it…
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The Wii sensor bar is basically two infrared lights
That sleek gray bar resting on top of your television contains absolutely zero complex tracking technology. It is literally just two clusters of infrared…
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Charles Dickens kept his dead raven in his study
Dickens had a flair for the dramatic, both in his writing and his horrifying interior decor. He had a beloved pet raven named Grip who learned to mimic human…
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