Cats can manipulate us with meows that sound like crying babies. Research has found that our finicky feline friends know just what to do in order to get us to give them food and attention. One study published in Current Biology found that when cats used a more baby-like meow called “solicitation purring,” us humans judged […]
The designer of the Eiffel Tower built an apartment into it. When Gustave Eiffel designed the tower which bears his name, he added a hidden apartment on the third level of the landmark—but he never lived there, no one did. Instead, Eiffel used the special space to entertain distinguished guests such as Thomas Edison. Although […]
An actor’s brain activity is different when they’re in character. When actors get into character, they change more than just their costumes and how they talk. During a study by Canada’s McMaster University, researchers scanned performers’ brains while the actors answered questions either as themselves or in character. The results revealed that the brain activity […]
Bananas glow blue under UV lights. Bananas may be famously yellow, but according to a study published in the Journal of the German Chemical Society, the usually sunny-toned fruit actually glows an “intense” blue color when put under black light (or UV lights). Scientists at the University of Innsbruck in Austria and Columbia University in […]
No one knows how William Shakespeare’s name was really spelled—and neither did he. For every tidbit of info we know about William Shakespeare‘s life, there are just as many that we don’t. And one thing historians aren’t too sure about is how Shakespeare’s namewas actually spelled. Frankly, he didn’t seem too sure either. The Bard […]
The entire population of Central Europe during the Stone Age could have fit on a cruise ship. Research published in the journal PLOS ONE found that for significant spans of time during the Stone Age, there were fewer than 1,500 people living in Central Europe. And as IFL Science reports, that’s about as many people […]
The longest TV ad in history is 14 hours long. Created by Old Spice for a product that supposedly “lasts forever,” the commercial features actor Terry Crews, among others, and is currently airing “for an eternity” online (you can watch the abridged version here). But since that’s not exactly possible on TV, a 14-hour version was […]
Dogs typically go to the bathroom in alignment with the north-south axis. We’ve known for a while that dogs, along with several other animals, can detect Earth’s magnetic fields. But it turns out, they also use it to direct their more personal habits. After watching 70 dogs do their business over a two-year period, researchers […]
The letter ‘x’ was first used to represent a kiss in 1763. If you sign letters—or more likely, texts and emails—to those you love with an “xo,” then you’re keeping up a sweet tradition that goes back hundreds of years. Per an article in The Washington Post, the Oxford English Dictionary says that an “x” […]
You wouldn’t be able to tolerate the quietest place on Earth for more than 45 minutes. Silence may be golden, but too much of it will drive you mad. In Minnesota’s Orfield Laboratories, there’s an anechoic chamber that is so quiet, the background noise is measured in negative decibels (-9.4 dBA, to be exact). The […]
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