Mental Floss

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It's a squid.

The sophisticated cephalopods have highly evolved vision and can use jet propulsion to escape predators, but there are a few key differences between squid and cuttlefish.

‘Double Love,’ the first book in the Sweet Valley High series.

Long before Harry Potter turned young adult literature into a publishing phenomenon, there was ‘Sweet Valley High.’

Does this image of overlapping multicolored rings remind you of anything, hm?

Condoms in the Olympic Village have been a tradition—and a public health service—since 1988.

Cows have only one stomach.

Let’s debunk a few dozen popular myths about familiar animals, including squeamish elephants, laugh-loving hyenas, and sweaty pigs.

A few yards of clear air means the difference between a tornado and a funnel cloud.

People often confuse funnel clouds with tornadoes, but they're not the same. Learn how to tell the two apart.

Day of the Dumpster | Happy Power Rangers Day! | MMPR | S01 | E01 | Power Rangers Official

For three years in the mid-1990s, kids across the country tuned in six days a week to watch five teenagers from Angel Grove transform into superheroes.

See if you can decipher this twisted tune.

We ran the lyrics of this hit song through three different languages, then translated them back into English. Can you figure out the name of the song or who wro

Great Britain's Kieran Bird at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

It's to get the blood flowing—or is it?

David just called someone a “turd.”

Italian is the language of love—and delightfully creative insults.

An Olympic swimmer sports circular bruises from cupping therapy.

In events where success or failure can be measured in tiny increments, it’s not surprising athletes will turn to any potential advantage. But does cupping actually work?

The location is idyllic, but Vermont's housing prices sure aren't.

Trying to find an affordable house in Vermont or New Jersey is tough right now, but those aren’t the only states in the U.S. where home prices are on the rise.

If you want to beat the heat this summer, grab an ice cube tray.

Finally—a summer activity that doesn't require you to go outside.

Aren't you curious where this ranks?

Do the Tomatometer's opinions on the best Marvel movies match yours?

Ian McKellen as Gandalf with Elijah Wood as Frodo in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.’

Sure, ‘Frodo’ isn’t a type of coffee table—or is it?

Got change for a pony?

The idiom for demanding payment doesn’t quite have the equine origins one would think.

Idina Menzel as Elphaba at the 2004 Tony Awards.

Find out how 'Wicked' the book and 'Wicked' the musical came to be.

A Japanese-style convenience store experience will no longer require a passport.

People in the U.S. won't have to admire Japan's incredible 7-Elevens from afar anymore.

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

Olympic fans take selfies in front of the iconic rings in Paris.

Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, intended the rings to represent nations “united by Olympism.”

In-N-Out employees are fed up with the secret menu.

Don’t believe social media accounts insisting you can order Doggy Style fries.

Whitewater rafters carry the Olympic torch on its way to Paris.

This year, the Olympic torch made a symbolic journey from Greece to Paris for the Summer Games.

The Eiffel Tower along the River Seine.

On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower—which was built as an entrance arch for the World's Fair—opened to the public.

No dipping here.

America is the only country that refuses to do so.

An ouroboros on a grave marker in West Highgate Cemetery, London.

The serpentine symbol has represented the eternal cycle of life for thousands of years.