fun facts
Gene names vs Microsoft Excel
Excel wins! “Scientists have renamed 27 human genes to stop Microsoft Excel misreading them as dates.” | learn more
Category: fun facts
fun facts
Emoji use in the new normal
“😂 Face with Tears of Joy remains the most used emoji on Twitter” and “🥺 Pleading Face is experiencing surging popularity.” Emojipedia analyzed over 68 million tweets across 2018-2020. | learn more
fun facts
How to outrun a dinosaur
“If, through some scientific malfunction, you found yourself transported 70 million years into the past, you might be safer from certain hungry reptiles than you think.” I found this link in Explore & Observe, a cool email newsletter about modern day […]
fun facts
A history of rockets, with pictures
This is a neat summary from NASA highlighting the developments in rocketry since its birth circa 400 BC. “The mighty space rockets of today are the result of more than 2,000 years of invention, experimentation, and discovery.” | learn more
fun facts
Unexpectedly eponymous
Things unexpectedly named after people. One was very unexpected: Taco Bell! | learn more
fun facts
Thousands of company origin stories
There’s a lot of history here! One fun one I pulled out: “1933: After an attempt to sell lighters imported from Austria fails, Blaisdell designs his own lighter, which he christens the “Zippo,” and begins manufacturing in Bradford, Pennsylvania.“ | learn more
fun facts
Do you like 1990s computer interfaces?
“If you are a fan of websites, web apps and portfolios which resemble desktop graphical user interfaces here is a curated list.” Try the random button on top. | learn more
fun facts
Auctioning a 155-acre college campus
The minimum bid is only $3 million for a whole bunch of land and 22 buildings that combine to 447,000 square feet of space. A live auction is happening August 18. Have any spare cash laying around? | learn more
fun facts
Moscow city contract written with disappearing ink
“A deputy in a local Moscow council said a city contract to replace an elevator in an apartment building was written with disappearing ink, potentially allowing the company to inflate the price.” | learn more
fun facts
A mind-boggling probability problem
I’ve decided when it comes to probability, I must completely ignore intuition to give myself a fighting chance. “A man comes up to you on the street and says: I have two children. At least one of them is a […]