%20%20--%3E%0A%3Csvg%20version%3D%221.1%22%20id%3D%22Layer_1%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20xmlns%3Axlink%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F1999%2Fxlink%22%20x%3D%220px%22%20y%3D%220px%22%0A%09%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20684.6%2068.1%22%20style%3D%22enable-background%3Anew%200%200%20684.6%2068.1%3B%22%20xml%3Aspace%3D%22preserve%22%3E%0A%3Cg%3E%0A%09%3Cpath%20d%3D%22M444.1%2C29.3h-17.4v14.5h17.4V29.3z%20M36.4%2C68.1l29.3-50.8V0H50.4L32.9%2C36.8L15.5%2C0H0v68.1h16.7V45.8l12.4%2C22.3H36.4z%0A%09%09%20M49.1%2C68.1h16.6V23.4L49.1%2C52.1V68.1z%20M76.6%2C68.1h45V53.8H93.3V41.6h21V27.1h-21V14.8h28.3V0.1h-45V68.1z%20M175.6%2C68.1h17.3v-68%0A%09%09h-16.5v40.3L150%2C0.1h-17.6v68h16.7V27.7L175.6%2C68.1z%20M235.8%2C14.8h15.4V0.1h-47.4v14.7H219v53.2h16.8V14.8z%20M290.3%2C45.9h-17.1%0A%09%09l7.5-15.6h2L290.3%2C45.9z%20M298.7%2C68.1h18l-32.2-68h-5.7l-32%2C68h18l3.3-7.1h27.1L298.7%2C68.1z%20M325.2%2C68.1h46.2V53.8h-29.6V0.1h-16.7%0A%09%09V68.1z%20M423.7%2C14.8h27.2V0.1H407v68h16.7V14.8z%20M462%2C68.1h46.2V53.8h-29.6V0.1H462V68.1z%20M564.8%2C34.1c0%2C10.7-7.2%2C19.2-18.5%2C19.2%0A%09%09c-11.4%2C0-18.5-8.5-18.5-19.2s7.1-19.2%2C18.5-19.2C557.6%2C14.9%2C564.8%2C23.4%2C564.8%2C34.1%20M580.6%2C34.1c0-19-14.2-34-34.3-34%0A%09%09c-20.2%2C0-34.3%2C15-34.3%2C34c0%2C19%2C14.1%2C34%2C34.3%2C34C566.4%2C68.1%2C580.6%2C53.1%2C580.6%2C34.1%20M604.8%2C20.5c0-4.1%2C3.3-6.2%2C6.7-6.2%0A%09%09c4.4%2C0%2C6.6%2C3%2C6.6%2C6.6h14.7C631.8%2C9.1%2C625.1%2C0.1%2C611%2C0.1c-12%2C0-21.7%2C9.3-21.7%2C20.6c0%2C10.9%2C5.9%2C15.9%2C16.7%2C19.8%0A%09%09c5.2%2C1.8%2C11.5%2C3.2%2C11.5%2C8c0%2C3.3-2.4%2C5.5-6.4%2C5.5c-3.6%2C0-6.6-3-6.6-6.7h-15.2c0%2C11.5%2C7.9%2C20.8%2C21.8%2C20.8c12%2C0%2C21.6-9.3%2C21.6-20.6%0A%09%09c0-10-5.3-16.4-16.7-19.8C610.6%2C26.1%2C604.8%2C25.3%2C604.8%2C20.5%20M670%2C20.9h14.7C683.8%2C9.1%2C677.1%2C0.1%2C663%2C0.1c-12%2C0-21.7%2C9.3-21.7%2C20.6%0A%09%09c0%2C10.9%2C5.9%2C15.9%2C16.7%2C19.8c5.2%2C1.8%2C11.5%2C3.2%2C11.5%2C8c0%2C3.3-2.4%2C5.5-6.4%2C5.5c-3.6%2C0-6.6-3-6.6-6.7h-15.2c0%2C11.5%2C7.9%2C20.8%2C21.8%2C20.8%0A%09%09c12%2C0%2C21.6-9.3%2C21.6-20.6c0-10-5.3-16.4-16.7-19.8c-5.4-1.6-11.3-2.4-11.3-7.2c0-4.1%2C3.3-6.2%2C6.7-6.2C667.7%2C14.4%2C670%2C17.3%2C670%2C20.9%0A%09%09%22%2F%3E%0A%3C%2Fg%3E%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E%0A)
How Color Vocabularies Evolved Around the World
The order in which color words emerge in different languages follows a pattern.
ANTHROPOLOGY
How Far You Have to Go Back to Find Everyone’s Common Ancestor
The human family is closer than you may think.
Archaeologists Need Your Help to Study 100+ Graves in Philadelphia
With enough funding, they will analyze—and then reinter—the remains of people buried between 1707 and 1859 in a Baptist cemetery—and mental_floss will be in the lab with them.
Archaeologists Need Your Help to Study 100+ Graves in Philadelphia
With enough funding, they will analyze—and then reinter—the remains of people buried between 1707 and 1859 in a Baptist cemetery—and mental_floss will be in the lab with them.
The Top 10 Science Stories of 2016
It's been a big year.
15 Hirsute Alternatives to Bigfoot
Get your yowies, agogwes, yetis, and mogollons right here.
10 Gooey Facts About Milky Way Bars
The candy bar was not named after the galaxy.
What's the Oldest Object Ever Found?
Hint: It wasn't made by humans.
Neanderthals Used a Chemistry Trick to Start Fires 50,000 Years Ago
Neanderthals may have been craftier than we give them credit for.
War for Scarce Resources Didn't Kill Off Easter Islanders, Study Says
Analysis of the “spear points” scattered across the island shows they may actually have been household tools.
6 'Penis Panics' Around the World
How could hundreds of healthy men suddenly become convinced that their penises are disappearing?
6 Rules for Touching Humans, Based on Science
Rule #3: Touch is a language too.
6 Signs Humans Are Still Evolving
Despite modern technology and industrialization, humans are still changing as a species, even today. Here are a some indications that our evolution isn’t over.
Early Humans Probably Didn’t Get Much Sleep
Industrialization may not have changed our sleeping habits that much, a new study argues.
Homo Naledi's Bones Were Made For Walking … and Climbing
The small-brained creature's feet and hands show an intriguing mix of modern and primitive.
Archaeologists Discovered Fully Dressed 350-Year-Old Body
Noblewoman Louise de Quengo was still fully clothed in a wool dress, cape, bonnet, and shoes.
Mary, Queen of Scots Not a Murderer, Inquiry Finds
Just 450 years after the fact.
Get Entangled With History's Longest Beard
If a beard signifies wisdom, Hans Langseth must've been the most enlightened man in history.
This Kenyan Village Is Home To Only Women
The Kenyan village of Umoja has become a refuge and new start for women who have been raped or otherwise mistreated by men.
The First People Entered the Americas 23,000 Years Ago, Study Finds
Genetic analysis of the ancestors of modern Native Americans supports the idea that there was one wave of migration from Siberia.
Making Out Isn’t as Popular as You Think It Is
Less than half of the world’s cultures kiss their romantic partners.
Neanderthals Didn't Eat Rabbits. Was That a Big Mistake?
It was never wabbit season (or duck season) for the Neanderthals.
This is What A Woman From Tehran 7000 Years Ago Looked Like
Science is constantly getting better at reconstructing what life was like in earlier eras. And now, new 3D imaging technology shows us what our fellow human may have looked like many millennia ago.
Kennewick Man's DNA Solves Scientific Controversy
Scientists have cracked the genome of a man who died in the Pacific Northwest 8500 years ago—and his descendants still live nearby.