One fire, one anvil, and everything metal for a mile. Here are twelve.
1. The Fire Was Not Hot Because It Was Big
A forge fire is small and concentrated,…
The Metaphor Is the Wrong Way Round
Almost everybody carries the same mental picture of what a kidney does. Blood arrives dirty, passes through something like a coffee filter, and…
The Reflex That Will Not Take Instructions
A sneeze is one of a very small number of things the body does that a person can feel approaching, can do absolutely…
It Is the Remains of a Pipe, Not a Wound
The usual assumption is that a belly button is where a cord was cut and the resulting cut healed over.…
Nobody numbered a house until somebody official wanted something. Here are eleven.
1. Numbering Was Imposed, Not Adopted
Systematic house numbering spread through Europe in the eighteenth century, introduced by…
Busier at two in the morning than at two in the afternoon. Here are fifteen.
1. Foxes Are Not Hunting Your Bins by Accident
Urban foxes hold territories they know…