The world is more interesting than you think.
Unexpected facts, big ideas, and little discoveries. Find something that sparks your curiosity today.
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Vanna White's thousands of dresses are mostly borrowed
Wheel of Fortune's wardrobe operation supplied a constantly changing on-screen look, but the dresses did not all become her personal collection. Designers…
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The video game that needed stickers on your TV
The Magnavox Odyssey displayed only white squares, so players added static-cling overlays to their TVs to make games look like tennis or roulette.
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Two hours a day adds up to a month every year
Spend that long scrolling each day and the annual total reaches 730 hours—just over 30 complete days. No single session needs to feel enormous for the…
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Why so much of America still has dirt roads
In rural areas, some roads carry too little traffic to justify the cost of paving and maintaining asphalt. Grading dirt is cheaper, so the road stays bare—and…
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A medieval harvest could owe a share to the church
Tithes were obligations to provide a portion of produce or income, traditionally a tenth. Payment in crops made collection, storage, and transport part of…
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Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg claimed the Last Judgment already occurred in the year 1757
After a mystical awakening in his fifties, he said the judgment took place in the spiritual realm, where he watched it unfold.
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Infamous occultist Aleister Crowley meticulously rated his magical rituals on a numbered scale
He recorded his ritual ratings in detailed diaries, turning occult practice into something like a performance log.
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A submarine hatch has to close against a very unforgiving outside
Where a hatch passes through the pressure hull, its opening, seal, and surrounding structure must withstand external water pressure. Compact dimensions help…
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From first flight to Moon landing in 66 years
The Wright brothers made a controlled powered flight in 1903; Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in 1969. Each advance built on the last—better aircraft, rockets,…
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Even a fart can produce thrust in space
Gas leaving your body carries momentum in one direction, giving you an opposing push. A rocket uses the same principle, but expels vastly more mass at much…
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What a year in space does to your genes
NASA's Twins Study compared Scott Kelly's year in space with his identical twin Mark on Earth. Some changes involved gene expression—which instructions cells…
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Why snow looks white even though ice is clear
Each ice crystal in snow can be clear, but a snowbank packs countless crystal surfaces together. Light bounces and scatters among them, mixing its visible…
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Emoji has nothing to do with emotion
In Japanese, “e” means “picture” and “moji” means “character”; the resemblance to the English word “emotion” is a coincidence.
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The dollar bill hides 1776 in plain sight
At the base of the pyramid, MDCCLXXVI spells the Declaration of Independence's year in Roman numerals. The unfinished pyramid and the date place the country's…
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Eel skin turns its cooking liquid into jelly
The trick is collagen: heat extracts it from the eel’s skin and connective tissue, and cooling lets it firm the cooking liquid into jelly. So the dish doesn’t…
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Older StarCraft players found ways around slower reactions
A study of thousands of players detected slowing in one response measure from about age 24. Older players also used simpler strategies and interface features…
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Katamari's sequel turned sequel demands into the joke
Keita Takahashi resisted simply repeating Katamari Damacy. We Love Katamari instead made its own popularity part of the premise: fans ask the King of All…
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The Sims 3 lets parents outsource the school years
Generations introduced boarding schools for children and teens, including military, arts, and sports options. Students leave the active household while…
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Fantasy maps take up pages to pad the book length
A fantasy map can add pages without advancing the plot; the book may then spend dozens more explaining a kingdom's politics.
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Why paparazzi read depression into sweatpants
Some paparazzi coverage treats a celebrity’s casual clothes as a sign of depression, rather than considering the simpler possibility that they’re just…
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Knowing a fallacy's name doesn't make your own arguments immune
Learning a fallacy’s name doesn’t switch off the urge to make a persuasive argument. When you want a conclusion to be true, your mind can search for reasons…
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Theodore Roosevelt brought a badger home from a train trip
Josiah was given to Roosevelt during his 1903 western tour and became part of the family's unusual animal collection. Photographs show son Archie holding him.…
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Kondratiev waves propose economic cycles lasting 40 to 60 years
Kondratiev’s theory links 40-to-60-year economic cycles to new technologies: innovation drives a boom, then the wave gives way to stagnation.
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Abigail Adams expected visitors to love her dog too
Writing about Juno, Abigail told her granddaughter that loving her meant loving her dog. She described an aging companion who still wagged her tail and…
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