Mental Floss

BIG QUESTIONS

An aerial view of a sinkhole in Wales that appeared in December 2024.

Sinkholes have gulped down suburban homes, Corvettes, the White House lawn, a sizable chunk of Louisiana, and even people. How does the ground just open up like that?

Roma Panganiban


Just a proud pup and his stash of bones.

Dogs can tear up a lawn with an overwhelming desire to dig and bury things. Where does that impulse come from, and what do they think they’re accomplishing?

Jake Rossen






Not a dire wolf.

“It’s like if you took a chimpanzee and edited its genome to be a little taller and hairless, and then said you brought back Neanderthals,” one scientist said.

Jennifer Billock








Tomatoes can be either fruit or vegetable, depending on who you talk to.

One vendor’s dispute against a 19th-century import tariff led the U.S. Supreme Court to classify the tomato as a vegetable. But botanists disagree.

Jake Rossen








The future?

If humans ever become a multi-planet species, some would have to spend years in space. And researchers have definitely speculated whether space travel would allow for reproduction.

Nick Keppler