Mental Floss

ALL STORIES

Permafrost in Eastern Siberia.

About 11 percent of the Earth’s surface is perpetually frozen, though that will surely change as global warming continues.

Tim Brinkhof






Windsocks can tell you which way the bise blows.

Geographers and climatologists have a goody bag full of wonderful words that get super specific about wind.

Arika Okrent


Novelists have used everything from real killers to newsworthy hostage situations to literal white whales to craft their fiction.

Erin McCarthy








Scare crows may deter crows and blackbirds, but you'll have to make some modifications for them to really work.

Mark Mancini