Mental Floss

BIG QUESTIONS

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These days, pants are our garment of choice. But for years, our ancestors draped themselves in tunics, robes, and gowns, until someone decided they were tired of having the wind up their skirt. So, what prompted the change? When, exactly, did two-legged t

Jessica Hullinger
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The "anti-gravity treadmill" was originally invented by Robert Whalen, a biomechanics researcher at NASA Ames Research Center, in the 1990s. Hint: It *doesn't* defy the laws of physics.

Sarah Fecht


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Owning a casino isn't much of a gamble. In almost every game, the casino has a statistical advantage—so for every one gambler raking it in, there’s more than enough people leaving with empty pockets to net an enormous profit. But between the rolling dice

William Herkewitz






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It is an immutable fact that nothing will get a person's mouth watering like the smell of bacon cooking.

Erin McCarthy

Terrible and terrific are both formed off the same root: terror. Both started out a few hundred years ago with the meaning of terror-inducing. But terrific took a strange turn at the beginning of the 20th century and ended up meaning really great, not ter

Arika Okrent
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Climate models are predicting that this fall, there's a 75 percent chance that an El Niño will occur. But just what is this weather phenomenon, and how does it affect us?

Hannah Keyser




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There's a good reason seals and sea lions look so similar—they're both members of the pinniped taxonomic group, a name which refers in Latin to their "fin feet." Walruses are also a part of the clade but while their prominent tusks set them apart, seals a

Hannah Keyser




Dolphin Research Center, Grassy Key

Having to come to the surface regularly for oxygen makes dolphins great for reliable viewing. But doesn't it sound a little exhausting? As humans understand it, sleep tends to involve a level of unconsciousness that would seem dangerous to aquatic mammals

Hannah Keyser




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If you're even a casual baseball fan, that second question—why don't more pitchers throw submarine style?—might seem preposterous. Submarine pitchers, whose release point is so low their knuckles practically scrape the ground, are a rare breed in Major Le

Hannah Keyser




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It started with the partnership Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie. Their partnership would lead to the iconic M & M candy that is so beloved to this day.

Matt Soniak