Blood type personality
Everyone in Japan knows that people with Type AB blood are creative, intelligent, and untrustworthy. Wait, what?
Recent Posts
Horses vs. ships
In the long history of war, there are almost no conflicts between cavalry and navy. But in 1795, there was. And the cavalry won.
The great book theft
In the early 1970s, Frede Møller-Kristensen stole US$50 million worth of rare books from Denmark’s Royal Library – it was one of the most expensive book thefts in history. He was eventually caught, but only because he died.
Giant fungus trees
Trees first evolved some time in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods. Before trees, the largest organisms on land were Prototaxites. A metre wide, eight metres high … and a fungus.
Legislative brawling
The Taiwanese legislature has a bit of reputation for violence. I’m not talking about bad words here, but actual fists flying, hair pulling, biting, and headbutts.
Grunge speak
In 1992, an earnest New York Times reporter asked Megan Jasper, a former receptionist for Sub-Pop Records, for slang used by the nascent grunge scene. There was no such slang… so she made it up. And they printed it.
Antarctic blood falls
I write about blood a lot. Sorry. But there’s a waterfall in Antarctica that is the colour of blood. And it has some interesting implications for astrobiology and extinction event survival.
Ghost capital
The capital city of Montserrat, a British territory in the Caribbean, has exactly zero occupants. The city of Plymouth has been deserted since 1997.
Peruvian octaves
The Peruvian singer Yma Sumac had a vocal range of four or five octaves – far beyond most singers, and one of the widest ranges on record.
Judas goat
Sheep are followers. But what if they were following… a traitor?
Dictator numerology money
General Ne Win, the dictatorial leader of Burma, was a fan of numerology. This meant that he had a penchant for creating new currency in interesting denominations – and making the old banknotes worthless.
Mystery volcano
In late 1808, a colossal volcanic eruption disrupted weather around the world. It was one of the three biggest eruptions of the 19th century – but we don’t know where it happened.
Pizza Island
Some of the most inspired cartoonists of the 21st century all started off in a single studio space in Brooklyn: Pizza Island.
Impossible colours
Through some tricks of the human eye, we can see colours outside of the normal visual range: Stygian, self-luminous, and hyperbolic colours, and perhaps even combinations like redgreen. These are the impossible colours.
Ounce of feathers, ounce of gold
What weighs more, an ounce of feathers or an ounce of gold? Haha, trick question. It’s the ounce of gold.
One hundred
It’s my 100th post! Read on for a grab-bag of 100-related topics, including the death of the last apostle, the 100th asteroid, 100-handed gods, and the Germanic “long” hundred.
The Generalist Academy 