There is a reasonable assumption most people make about the Hollywood sign: that it was put up to mark Hollywood, by somebody who wanted to celebrate the film industry, as…
Fingerprints feel like a distinctly primate thing, and mostly they are. Humans have them, as do chimpanzees, orangutans and other primates, which makes sense given how recently we shared an…
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch may be the most misunderstood environmental subject there is, and the misunderstanding is remarkably specific. People do not merely have a vague sense of it;…
A spice blend is a solved problem: someone worked out the proportions long ago and the recipe stuck. Here are twelve from around the world, what goes into them, and…
Long flights are endured rather than enjoyed, and the difference between arriving functional and arriving wrecked usually comes down to a handful of small decisions. Here are twelve.
1. Choose…
Military research has a habit of producing things nobody anticipated, which then outlive the purpose they were built for. These twelve are all in ordinary use now, and all began…
