Mental Floss

ALL STORIES

Some kids are already hitting the books while other are still relaxing at home.

If you've ever wondered how varied back-to-school start dates are across the country, you've come to the right place.

This won't end well.

The aggressive gulls are brazen in swooping in for a bite of grilled cheese.

Which ice cream flavor do you think comes out on top?

Find out each country's go-to ice cream flavor.

Amsterdam is a very walking-friendly destination.

Want to make sure you get your steps in? It helps to live in a fairly flat place.

Grab your magnifying glass.

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?

No wild geese were harmed in the making of this idiom.

No wild geese were harmed in the making of this idiom.

Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in 'Shaun of the Dead' (2004).

Edgar Wright's horror-comedy 'Shaun of the Dead' has become a cult classic over the years, and in honor of its 20th anniversary, it’s even coming back to theaters.

Tollund Man on display at the Silkeborg Museum, Denmark.

The bodies of Iron Age Europeans are so well preserved in peat bogs that they’re sometimes mistaken for modern murder victims.

Most travelers prefer the window seat.

The most desirable seat combines more space and a quick exit.

1/72 Testors F19 Secret Stealth Fighter unboxing and review LIVE!

The F-19 became the bestselling model plane of all time. Some feared it leaked some highly classified military secrets.

Caffeinated instant ramen is destined to fuel many all-nighters.

You can now get your caffeine fix in noodle form.

Fat stacks of cold, hard cash.

The meaning behind the money.

Ryan Gosling in ‘Drive’ (2011).

Nicolas Winding Refn, who directed, doesn’t even have his driver’s license—and nine other things you need to know about this Ryan Gosling film.

Imagine waving around a wooden version of this.

Those giant foam fingers you wave in the air at sporting events might seem to tower over the crowd, but they actually have a pretty humble origin story.

A scanning electron micrograph of ‘Mycobacterium tuberculosis’ particles (colorized red), the bacterium that causes TB.

Ailments as diverse as tooth decay and malaria have caused suffering for thousands, even millions, of years—and they’re not done with us yet.

Take the hassle out of pulling fresh clothes out of your washing machine.

Yes, you should clean your washing machine monthly. Here's how.

Say hello to the world's cutest research assistant.

Sea lion camera crews are helping scientists map uncharted waters.

This puppy is lucky to live in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Want to live in a really pet-friendly city? Head to Tucson, Arizona.

Edgar Allan Poe.

See if you can live up to your Poe-tential and separate the musings of Poe from the gloomcore music scene.

The word is ‘soup.’

There's a fancy term for forgetting a word—'lethologica.'

Everything from ‘Jolene’ to ‘Waterloo’ is hitting the big 5-0 in 2024. Give ’em a spin.

Not the kind of nightly visitor you look forward to.

If it’s in a word or in a look, there’s no escaping the impact that this elevated horror film by Jennifer Kent had when it hit theaters in 2014.

Ken Jennings.

All five answers to the questions below have something in common. Can you figure it out?

Olympic sports like volleyball have their own delicious slang.

Here are 20 fun bits of Olympics slang, from diving’s ‘bingo’ to gymnastics’ ‘twisties.’