Mental Floss

LISTS

Uh oh.

The super-contagious gastrointestinal virus is causing outbreaks across the U.S. Here's how to protect yourself (and everyone around you) from norovirus.

Jennifer Billock
The world of medicine is even stranger than you can imagine.

From Alice in Wonderland Syndrome to the real-life version of Benjamin Button’s disease, these rare conditions could come straight out of a storybook.

Bethel Afful




David Lynch

The iconoclastic director behind ‘Mulholland Drive,’ ‘Twin Peaks,’ and more cult classics—who passed away on January 16, 2025 at the age of 78—once drew a comic strip about a furious dog and disliked large furniture.

Scott Beggs


Your lungs expel carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water vapor every time you exhale.

Taking in oxygen to power your whole body is just one part of your lung function. Altogether, your lungs are a highly efficient machine—and they do a lot more than you might think.

Jordan Rosenfeld




A mob outside the White House during Andrew Jackson's first inaugural reception, 1828.

The inauguration of a new U.S. President is a day of pomp and ceremony, of solemn oaths and dignified celebrations. But things don’t always go as planned.

Tony Dunnell






The Inuit settlement of Kulusuq in Greenland.

Greenland lies north and south of the Arctic Circle and about 500 miles from the North Pole—a position that makes it a key part of global defense strategy. Read on for amazing facts about this icy island.

Julie Fogerson








The spectacular Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru.

The Inca stronghold of Machu Picchu has astounded and confounded visitors since it was unveiled to the wider world more than 100 years ago by an ambitious Yale professor.

Benjamin Lampkin