All Olympic curling stones come from one uninhabited island 10 miles from Glasgow.

Every curling stone used at the Winter Olympics comes from Ailsa Craig, an uninhabited granite island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, about 10 miles off the coast of Glasgow. The island produces two unique types of granite: blue hone (for the running surface) and common green (…

The word for ‘the inside of the elbow’ is chelidon.

That small, sensitive patch of skin on the inner bend of your elbow opposite the olecranon (the bony tip) is called the chelidon (pronounced KEH-lih-don). The term comes from the Greek word chelidōn , meaning "swallow" (the bird). The name likely refers to the shape or t…

There is enough room in the human memory for 300 years of television.

Neuroscientists estimate the brain’s storage capacity at roughly 2.5 petabytes that’s about 2.5 million gigabytes. To put that in perspective, one petabyte can hold roughly 200,000 two-hour movies. A full day of TV (24 hours) compressed reasonably would take about 0.008 petabyte…

An altered state of consciousness can be achieved by staring into someone’s eyes for 10 minutes.

In a 2015 Italian psychology experiment, participants who stared into each other’s eyes for 10 uninterrupted minutes reported dissociative experiences feeling detached from time, space, and their own bodies. Some saw monsters, relatives, or their own faces morphing. The effect, …

People who have had their frown lines removed with Botox find it harder to read difficult sentences.

Botox paralyzes the corrugator supercilii muscles the ones responsible for frowning. A study found that people who received Botox injections to smooth frown lines took longer to read and understand complex sentences. The reason? Frowning may actually help the brain process diffi…

A Japanese Poet Witnessed a Solar Storm in 1204 - Science Just Proved It

In 1204, a Japanese poet named Fujiwara no Teika sat down and wrote something strange in his diary. Not about love. Not about war. Not about the changing seasons his usual subjects. He wrote about the sky. "Tonight, the sky was red like blood. Not a cloud in sight. The redness…

Scientists Discover Signs of Alien Life in Venus's Atmosphere: "For Years We Missed Something Important"

The sky of Venus may contain traces of alien life, according to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the search for extraterrestrial life, the second planet from our Sun has long been ignored. Why? The surface of Venus reaches temperatures exceeding 426 deg…

Which Nighttime Star is Brightest?

The brightest nighttime star is Sirius, often called the Dog Star because it’s the alpha star in Canis Major (the Great Dog). Visible in the Northern Hemisphere during winter, Sirius glows at magnitude –1.46, nearly twice as bright as the next brightest star in the sky.

When is The Next Great American Eclipse?

The continental U.S. will see a brief total solar eclipse in 2044, but it touches only three states. The next truly Great American Eclipse will happen on August 12, 2045 . It will offer up to 6 minutes and 6 seconds of totality and cross 15 states, from California to Florida.