Ex-men
In Marvel comics, the X-Men struggle to have their humanity recognised. But in real life, the United States Court of International Trade ruled that the X-Men are not human.
Month: May 2020
Money origami
Looking for a new hobby? Try folding banknotes into origami.
Remote control animals
Something creepy for your Friday: attaching electrodes to animals’ brains so their movements can be controlled remotely.
Shortest war
The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 lasted around forty-five minutes, making it the shortest war in history.
Black diamond mystery
Where do black diamonds come from? We don’t actually know.
Compost birds
Some Australian birds make compost heaps.
The war of souls
In Psychomachia, one of the most popular poems of Medieval Europe, the personifications of Christian virtues fight the vices in a bloodthirsty battle royale. Decapitation, strangulation, squished eyeballs, vomiting bloody teeth…
Road of iron, road of hell
The Vatican City has the shortest national railway line in the world, but it almost had none at all.
The origins of elements
Where do the elements come from? Nuclear astrophysics proposes several origins, depending on the element: the Big Bang, dying and exploding stars, and cosmic rays.
Take four
Take Five is perhaps the most famous piece of music in 5/4 time. Tito Puente’s cover of the song is not in 5/4 time.
Pirates hate metric
Who keeps the metric system down? In the United States, pirates do.
Animal diseases
Animals have some of the best old-timey disease names, including heartwater, foulbrood, bluetongue, glanders, scrapie, camelpox, and bumblefoot.
The old philosopher
In 1956 Eddie Lawrence had a one-hit wonder, a song called The Old Philosopher that is perhaps the most pessimistic song to ever reach the American Billboard Top 40.
Blackbirding
In 1862, between a third and half of the entire population of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) were kidnapped by Peruvian slavers.
The darkness between rainbows
When a double rainbow happens there’s a dark shadow between the bows. This is Alexander’s band.
Pickled tea
In Myanmar you can drink tea or you can eat it.
The Generalist Academy 