Science & TechWhile about 3 percent of all live births are to multiple babies, twins commonly develop and self-terminate very early on in utero. This is very early on, in the cell multiplication stage, before features develop, at which point one of the two twins simply “wins out” and absorbs the other.
Hospital horror stories, bad doctors, botched surgeries, nightmare nurses, weird diseases, and all the things that can and will go wrong when it comes to your health. Here a few such stories from our brand-new book, Uncle John’s Germophobia.
If plants were capable of evil, giant hogweed would be the most evil. In the spring of 2010, gardeners across Canada began to notice a new weed threatening their flowers, lawns, and vegetables. But similar to dandelions or clover, this weed was actually quite pretty, with its purple-red steams, big leaves, and foot-long heads of delicate, tiny white flowers. But these weren’t harmless weeds—this was giant hogweed.
Think you’ve got a legitimate answer to this crazy question? Keep reading to see if you nailed it.
Good news: You no longer have to choose between spending all your time playing video games and trying to cure cancer.
We probably should’ve just recycled an article from one of our books…but we didn’t. Here are some fascinating facts and statistics on recycling (and trash).
The threat of someone very ill being mistaken for dead and then buried was a major problem up until the late 19th century—dozens of inventions were even concocted to allow the mistakenly dead to let those on the surface know that they had buried prematurely, particularly graveside bells attached to an in-coffin string.
When a TV screen is filmed, why does it look like it has lines bouncing up and down and all around it? It’s a common scene in home movies, or movies made in the ‘70s or ‘80s: a turned-on TV (or computer monitor) sits in the background, flickering weirdly.
Not only is airplane food notoriously not very good, as well as expensive, and poorly portioned, eating it puts you at an increase risk of contracting a food-borne illness. LSG Sky Chefs is the largest provider of airplane food, preparing 405 million meals annually for 300 separate airlines
When NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon in 1969, it was the biggest news story of the year – if not the biggest ever – and the public wanted to know as much as possible about Apollo 11, the moon, and the men who went there. A fun part of that were the nitty-gritty financials: How much did it really cost to go to the moon, and where did the money go?
In 2011, a Utah woman named Jennifer Swalberg went in for two fairly routine plastic surgery procedures at the clinic of Dr. Joseph Berg: liposuction and an abdominalplasty (also known as a “tummy tuck”). Most of the details of what allegedly happened next were reported in a lawsuit filing, so, to say the least, things didn’t go well.
We’ve got a brand new book out this week: Uncle John’s Germophobia. It’s all about hospital horrors, bad doctors, botched surgeries, nightmare nurses, weird diseases, and all the things that can and will go wrong when it comes to your health. Here’s a taste of the kind of thing you’ll find inside.
Last week, Amazon issued millions of dollars in credits to customers who bought e-books between 2010 and 2012. It’s the payout of a class action lawsuit that alleged some publishers overcharged for e-books during that time. What should you get with all that free book money? We have some suggestions.
They bite. They suck blood. They spread disease. So what’s the point of mosquitos anyway? Those things are the point.
Mosquitos spread viruses and parasites through the animal kingdom (not counting humans). That naturally helps control the population of animals, keeping ecological balances in check.
There’s an app you can use locate and rent other people’s homes for a few nights when they’re not occupied…but what if you only need a very particular part of that house, and for, oh, 10, maybe 15 minutes, at the most? Introducing Airpnp, a web-based app that allows users to find a clean bathroom in a private residence where they can confidently do their business.
As far as cuteness is concerned, cats rule the internet. But a little Australian creature could give kitties a run for their money. Have a look at a quokka. These cat-sized marsupials can primarily be found on the islands and national parks near Perth, Australia. Sure enough, they’re pretty friendly and cheerful.
Like the names of many scientific disciplines, “meteorologist” comes from Ancient Greek. The study of weather study kept the name meteorology, and now means a study of the atmosphere, weather, and climate.
Those weird side-by-side toilets in Sochi aren’t the only convergence of bathroom news and winter sports to make headlines. In Arizona, you can ski on snow made from pee.
