Mental Floss

SCIENCE

Baron/Getty Images

13 Facts About Physicist Niels Bohr

He helped develop atomic bombs, but wanted nuclear science to be used for peace.

iStock

The Tricks Toxic Animals Use to Avoid Poisoning Themselves

Some snakes build up immunity to their own venom.

iStock

10 Mind-Boggling Psychiatric Treatments

If you're timid about diving onto a psychiatrist's couch, remember: It could be worse. Like getting-a-hole-drilled-into-your-skull worse.

iStock

Why Your Brain Sometimes Hears Sounds That Don't Exist

Hearing is all about perception.

Fredifortakeoff, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0

These Images Can Alter Your Vision For Months

It's called the McCollough effect.

iStock

Banana Panic! Is the Fruit Really on the Brink of Extinction?

In short: yes and no.

iStock

Popcorn Might Be the Cheap, Biodegradable Robot Power Source of the Future

All you need is heat to make it work.

A spider exhibiting ballooning behavior.

Spiders Can Fly Through the Air Using the Earth's Electric Field

It could explain how spiders can take to the skies even on windless days.

iStock

How Does Blood Pressure Work?

Your doctor may tell you that your BP is “120 over 80.” You may very well not know what that means.

Illustration by Mental Floss. Images: iStock

13 Facts About Vertigo

It's very different from dizziness.

satellite

New Study Says We Could Be Alone in the Universe

Not everyone agrees.

iStock

Most People Consistently Visit 25 Different Places in Their Daily Lives

If you begin frequenting a new place, you probably stop going to another, keeping your total number of haunts constant.

iStock

This Startup's Simple Chemical Process Could Break Down the Plastics We Can't Recycle

It even works on plastics that have been contaminated by food.

ESO, A. Müller et al.

Here's the First Confirmed Image of a Planet Being Born

The baby planet is a few times bigger than Jupiter.

A 2016 reconstruction of Pӧmmelte, a henge-like structure in eastern Germany that was originally constructed about 4300 years ago.

Human Sacrifice May Have Taken Place at the 'German Stonehenge'

Researchers found the dismembered bodies of 10 women and children who appeared to have been thrown into burial shafts.

iStock

How Do Fireworks Actually Work?

Most of us just know to light the fuse and stand back.

iStock

This Waterless Toilet Made of Mushrooms Could Be Key for Refugee Needs

It turns poop into compost.

YouTube

What Color Are These Dots? Your Perception May Be Skewed by Context

If "the dress" taught us anything, it's that how we see color isn't always black and white.

iStock

Crafty Crows Can Build Tools From Memory

Yet another reason to never get on a crow's bad side.

iStock

The Weather Channel Used VR to Simulate a Shockingly Realistic Tornado

It's not quite 'Twister,' but it's close.

iStock

How Spiders Surf the Wind For Miles on Strands of Silk

Great, just what we needed—flying spiders.

iStock

15 Amazing Sleeping Habits of Animals

The many weird and wonderful ways animals manage to catch some z's.

Vivian Abagiu, University of Texas at Austin

This LEGO Box Could Be Key to Detecting Deadly Nerve Gas

Scientists at UT Austin have developed an inexpensive, portable way to detect nerve agents in the field, and it starts with toy bricks.

iStock

This Mysterious Condition Makes People Think Bugs Are Crawling Under Their Skin

Tens of thousands of Americans might have it.