Invisible art
The French artist Yves Klein sold empty space – an invisible “zone of immaterial pictorial sensibility.” Buyers paid in gold, half of which Klein would throw into the Seine River.
Author: The Generalist
I live in Auckland, New Zealand, and am curious about most things.
DNA lasso
In 2004 a new white blood cell defence mechanism was discovered: the cells extrude DNA threads like nets or lassos to trap and neutralise harmful bacteria.
Arecibo reply
In 1974 the Arecibo message was broadcast into space. In 2001 hoaxers made a reply “from aliens” in a field next to another observatory.
Featured category: Architecture
The hot dog stand at the centre of the Pentagon, a Japanese garden ziggurat, a town under Australia, and the building that housed 1% of a country.
From the archives: Film firsts
The first (accidental) 3D film, the surprising origin of the Wilhelm Scream, the first damsel in distress, and the first closed captions.
The houses have eyes
The houses in the Transylvanian city Sibiu are watching you.
Update 7
It has been 800 posts since I began this website, so it’s time for an overhaul, a redesign, and some more updates.
The universal catalogue
The Universal Decimal Classification aims to label all human knowledge, and it’s even more thorough than the Dewey Decimal system.
Religion at the poles
According to Jewish law, Shabbat begins at sundown. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. But what do you do if the sun does not set?
Death by immortality potion
Poisoned potions of immortality caused the death of up to seven Chinese emperors – the last less than three centuries ago.
Highest unclimbed mountain
It is illegal to climb Gangkhar Puensum in Bhutan, so no-one has ever reached the top. It is the highest unclimbed mountain in the world.
For President: Convict No. 9653
Eugene Debs received more than 900,000 votes in the 1920 American presidential election – while in prison for sedition.
Rachmaninoff’s All by Myself
The Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff has a songwriter credit for the power ballad “All by Myself.”
Space humility
People who see our planet from outer space experience profound awe, humility, and a recognition of the fragility of life. They return to Earth changed.
Book of lonely vowels
Christian Bök’s 2001 anthology Eunoia contains five chapters that each use just one of the five vowels.
Cheating chess computer
In 2011, the World Computer Chess Championship banned the four-time champion Rybka chess engine for cheating.
The Generalist Academy 