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 nightmares may be emotional practice
Waking up in a cold sweat after being chased by a monster is actually a feature, not a bug. These dark visions are a safe, simulated training ground where…
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Why some people literally vote with their feet
If you hate the local mayor, just pack your boxes. The Tiebout model posits that people sort themselves into different municipalities based strictly on their…
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People are more likely to plant orchards when property rights protect future harvests
Nobody plants an orchard if they think the neighbor can just wander over and take the apples. Institutional stability and extremely rigid deed protections…
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When doctors marry doctors, local neighborhoods can become more socially homogeneous
When doctors exclusively marry other doctors, they need somewhere to park their two luxury SUVs. Highly polarized pairing drastically alters municipal…
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Persona 5 made the pause menu award-worthy
Typically, navigating items and setting options is the most boring part of any software. The fifth installment of this stylish Japanese franchise made its…
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The part of the Moon lander left behind
The bottom half of the moon lander was strictly a one-way trip. Once it served its purpose of slowly lowering the astronauts to the surface, it doubled as a…
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Why voters rarely know the whole story
It is terrifying how much classified reality is kept from the very people filling out the ballots. Asymmetric information completely heavily distorts local…
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One Direction began with five rejected solo acts
The biggest boy band of a generation was literally built from the scrap heap. Five completely rejected solo auditioners were duct-taped together by producers…
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Queen Christina of Sweden gave up her crown, converted to Catholicism, and moved to Rome
Being the monarch of a freezing northern kingdom apparently wasn't her vibe. She shocked all of Europe by randomly converting to Catholicism, dropping her…
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Boron acts as a crucial flux in basic glassmaking
Regular glass is incredibly brittle and cracks under rapid temperature changes. Throw in some boron, however, and everything stabilizes. Boron effortlessly…
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Gated communities perfectly restrict neighborhood access
Building a wall around your subdivision is just a way to privatize a public good. Club goods allow private groups to entirely exclude non-members from…
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The metal that loses its magnetism at room temperature
Gadolinium is fiercely magnetic when placed in a frigid room, but it gives up immediately when things get slightly comfortable. It has an incredibly low Curie…
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Shared apartments inevitably lead to filthy bathrooms
Nobody wants to be the absolute sucker who cleans the shower for everyone else. When chores are completely decentralized among completely equal roommates,…
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Silver tarnishes by bonding with airborne sulfur
Buying expensive silverware is just inviting a lifetime of tedious polishing. Silver actively reacts with trace amounts of sulfur floating around in the…
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Governments heavily subsidize citizen university attendance
Because a population of entirely uneducated citizens tends to make terrible national choices. Pigovian subsidies heavily support higher learning strictly…
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Testosterone rapidly thickens vocal cords during puberty
The horrifying voice cracks of teenage boys are just the sound of vocal flesh rapidly expanding. Massive surges of testosterone force the vocal folds to…
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Zynga named its company after a pet bulldog
Instead of paying millions to a boutique marketing agency for a sleek corporate identity, the founder just looked at his drooling dog. The massive empire…
Discover moreEd Sheeran has a ketchup logo tattoo
When you reach the absolute pinnacle of singer-songwriter wealth, you start making bizarre body art choices. The acoustic star loves a specific brand of…
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Local zoning boards systematically block most new housing
There is no fury quite like a local homeowner encountering a proposed apartment complex. Incumbent residents rationally weaponize local board meetings to…
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Why badminton shuttlecocks use 16 goose feathers
Nothing screams peak athletic performance like plucking birds. Professional badminton requires shuttlecocks made from precisely sixteen overlapping goose…
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How your dog’s barking becomes your neighbors’ problem
Your adorable pet is severely disrupting local tranquility paradigms. Unchecked animal noise acts as a textbook negative externality, meaning the owner…
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Fleshy hand bumps explain romance
Blame your tragic dating life on the padding under your thumb. The Mount of Venus in palmistry claims that the plumpness of this specific hand region dictates…
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Cyberpunk lets Keanu Reeves sell bikes
Not content with just heavily featuring the famous actor as a digital hallucination in your head, the sci-fi dystopia also features his real-life custom…
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Ruthenium acts as an exceptional metallic hardener
Pure platinum and palladium are quite lovely, but annoyingly soft. Ruthenium steps in as the brutal chemical disciplinarian, vastly hardening these softer…
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