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5 Questions: Oh, Omega

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Auntie Maim

If you're like me, an information and news junkie, you subscribe to a few different magazines, some weekly, some monthly, right? And if you're still like me, you find there's never enough time in the week/month to read them cover-to-cover, right? Well, that's where we here at mental_floss take over, filling you in on some of the more fascinating pieces of news or trivia you might have missed. Like, for instance, this amazing story on animal behavior in The Economist from... READ ON

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Ice, ice, baby

With a heat wave sweeping vast swaths of the country, including the swath that encompasses my un-air-conditioned apartment, I've found only two forms of sweet solace: (A) sticking my head in the freezer and (B) reading, over and over again, these bits of cool trivia that A.J. kindly provided for our latest issue: Ice: The next time you're sipping a vodka on the rocks while watching "Barbershop 2," give a little toast to the man behind the ice cube -- Boston entrepreneur Frederic "the Ice King" Tudor.... READ ON

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Really Real Estate

Shopping for a house as market prices start to dip? Thinking about moving cross-country? Maybe you just love aerial photographs? Or have a secret voyeuristic side? If you raised an eyebrow and nodded yes to any of those questions, you have to have to check out Richard Barton's (he founded Expedia "“ sing it with me: "dot com") new site: Zillow. For fun, just click on the Map & Search tab, pick a city, and start zooming in. Once you get into a neighborhood, click the... READ ON

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Big Brother Wants to Chat

According to The Times of India, the Chinese government is reverting to the same PR tactics used by dot com's in the 90's. They've enlisted a band of carefully-selected undercover operatives to go into chat rooms, and basically defend and glorify government policies on any boards where there's dissent. But what's the value in turning The Peoples' frown emoticons upside down? Posing as "ordinary netizens," the special forces are expected to guide public... READ ON

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Have a nice day!

What do the Great Fire of Rome, the publication of Mein Kampf, Ted Kennedy's plunge off a Chappaquiddick bridge, the McDonald's massacre, a tidal wave that killed 3,000 Papua New Guineans, and the Kobe Bryant rape charge have in common? They all happened on July 18th, i.e., today. If anyone needs me for the rest of the afternoon, I'll be huddled under the covers, waiting for the horsemen to show... READ ON

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Mr. T Puts Down the Gold

According to an article in yesterday's Mirror, Mr. T (formerly of A-Team, Rocky III and 1-800 Collect fame) is starring in a new TV Land reality show, but has abandoned wearing his trademark gold chains on the program. Amazingly, the change came about because of the devout Christian's experiences helping victims during last year's Katrina relief efforts. Coming across far more eloquent than he ever has in any script, the actor was quoted as saying, "I stopped wearing the gold as of last... READ ON

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Magic Cans

Beer drinkers have been dreaming about self-cooling cans for years now. And it looks like they're finally going to get what they've been begging for - a can that drops a beer's temperature by 30 degrees Fahrenheit in three minutes! Tempra Technology has partnered with Crown Holdings, one of the biggest beverage-can producers in the world, to make this amazing can available in the coming months.... READ ON

5 Questions: The Devil Made Me Do It

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Lettuce Pray

I thought I'd post another installment of fun facts generated by searching a random phrase. Last week, if you recall, our random phrase was "One out of every 200 people" "“ which yielded all this wonderfulness. Today's random phrase is "piece of lettuce" "“ and here's what we learn: According to this site: "A flight attendant [at Delta Airlines] noticed the piece of lettuce that was used to decorate their food was often wilted and... READ ON