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Shooting Challenge: The 2014 World Cup

The World Cup is upon us, and this weekend, it comes to an end with one last match between Germany and Argentina. For this week’s Shooting Challenge, we want to see your photos of this year’s World Cup (even if it’s just a viewing party from your couch!). The Challenge Take a photo of World…

​Honda Just Announced The Best First Motorcycle Ever

Shopping for your very first motorcycle? Start here. The 2015 Honda CB300F promises to be fun to ride, affordable and incredibly cheap to run. It’s the perfect learning tool for new riders. The CB300F is a naked version of the new-for-2015 Honda CBR300R, itself an update of the amazingly capable CBR250R. Shorn of its plastic…

These scorpions are probably hiding in your bookcase

If you have old vintage books, you may have some book scorpions in your bookcase. Actually, you really should want to have them, even if they look scary and gross. Book scorpions protect your old books—they love to munch on the book lice that eat the glue which holds old books together. A book scorpion…

A Breakthrough in Our Understanding of How Intelligence Evolves

It’s hard to study intelligence in humans — our cultures are incredibly complex, and what counts as “smart” is defined as much by our societies as it is by our genes. So some researchers have turned to chimpanzees to understand what actually gives rise to intelligence in the brain. Photo by innotata.

A Home Dry Cleaner That Refreshes Your Clothes in Just Ten Minutes

The Swash is being pitched as a sort of personal dry cleaning machine that promises to refresh clothes in just ten minutes. But instead of the toxic chemicals often used at your local dry cleaner, it runs on disposable detergent pods. What that means is in addition to purchasing the $500 Whirlpool-engineered appliance, you’ll also…

This guy spent $500,000 in his Star Trek collection

$500,000. That’s how much a Star Trek fan Anthony Sforza is, a man who put three years of his life into turning his basement into a temple dedicated to Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi series—then filled it with unique memorabilia. He actually bought a piece of the set to analyze it and use the exact same materials.…

Twenty Common Sex Myths, Debunked

Dr. Aaron Carroll – author of the fantastic guide to sex-debunkery, Don’t Put That in There – stopped by Mental Floss to guest-host an episode dedicated to deflating common myths and misconceptions about sex. Lots of great stuff in this episode, including a few subjects we’ve covered in greater detail in the past, like the…

Climate change creates conditions that increase the risk of disease for both animals and humans. Health officials are especially concerned about the vulnerability of livestock—which accounts for 40% of global agricultural GDP, employs 1.3 billion people, and provides one-third of human protein intake.

This Abandoned Warehouse Is Full of Live Jellyfish

If you find yourself wandering around Liverpool in the middle of the night, you might be surprised to happen upon a warehouse with a glowing blue door. Inside, you’ll see countless live jellyfish floating peacefully in the unlikely setting. It’s not a hallucination. It’s art. Artist duo Walter Hugo and Zoniel quietly openedthe installation a…

Star Wars: Rebels‘ Agent Kallus Is The Ultimate Imperial Officer

Smart, efficient, ruthless and a badass: That pretty much sums up Agent Kallus, the new Star Wars: Rebels villain voiced by David Oyelowo. He’s called “the perfect Imperial poster boy” because he represents everything the Empire thinks of itself — which makes him an extremely dangerous foe to the Rebels. A couple other things to…

The Plan to Resurrect NASA’s Long-Lost Satellite Has Failed

Someone throw together an IndieGoGo for a 21 gun salute. The crowdfunded project take control of ISEE-3, NASA’s 30-year-old satellite, is kaput. The sad news is a blow to anyone who loves space, science, or stories of redemption by scrappy underdogs. If you’re just joining us, here’s the backstory: ISEE-3 was a satellite launched in…

Happy Birthday Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was a legendary futurist before the term futurist even existed. He made all kinds of predictions about the way that world would and should operate — some of them accurate, and some of them controversial. And guess what? It’s his birthday! Born “at the stroke of midnight” on July 9th/10th in 1856, Nikola…

FTC: Amazon Billed Parents Millions for Kids’ Unauthorized App Buys

The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against Amazon demanding refunds for parents billed for millions of dollars in app purchases. The FTC alleges that Amazon profited from charging parents for unauthorized in-app purchases their children made. If the FTC wins its lawsuit, Amazon will have to refund the money it made. It would…

The Simplest Way to Track Your Sleep Yet

A lot of us suck at sleep. But exactly how do we suck at it? Do we toss and turn a lot? Snore? Are we roused by outside noises? Well, the new Misfit Beddit Sleep System promises to answer those questions. You might remember Misfit as the makers of the Shine—one of the most attractive…

World’s first climate-controlled neighborhood to be built in Dubai

Dubai has unveiled plans for the world’s first indoor, climate-controlled neighborhood—a 450-hectare city area with a retractable glass roof and the world’s largest shopping center.This sounds to me like the hell on earth but I better get used to it: Every major city will probably be like this by the end of the century. It…

Deals: The Best Wireless Headphones, Roll Your Own Aereo, Faster Bacon

These wireless on-ears from Jabra are the Wirecutter’s favorite Bluetooth headphones, and you can own a pair for just $140 today. They usually sell for over $200, so we don’t expect this deal to last long. [Jabra REVO Bluetooth Headphones, $140] If you’re a displaced Aereo customer, or if you wanted the service but it…

Why Smooth Surfaces Make Your City Sizzle in Summer

It’s not just you, city-dwellers. Urban areas actually do get noticeably hotter than the rural areas around them, and that’s especially problematic in summertime. Why does that happen? Well, a new study says it all has to do with the aerodynamic shape of your city. In other words, the smoother your skyline, the hotter you’ll…

Could Snowpiercer Be A Hit Movie In the U.S. After All?

Never bet against a massive ice-cracking high-speed train. For months, everybody’s been talking about how the Weinstein Company dumped the masterpiece Snowpiercer in limited release after director Bong Joon-ho wouldn’t agree to cuts and a voiceover. But now… the movie’s actually on its way to being a sleeper hit. According to BusinessWeek, Snowpiercer made an…

The Transformers Trilogy Contains Only 20 Minutes Of Robots Fighting

Someone made a supercut of all the footage of the Autobots and Decepticons actually battling each other in the first three of Michael Bay’s Transformers films. It’s a nice highlight reel, but the real story is this: These movies contain less than 5% of giant robot-on-robot action. Don’t believe me? Let’s do the math. Here’s…

Aerosmith made more money on Guitar Hero than from any of their albums

According to the head of Activision, Aerosmith has made more money from licensing their songs and image for the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game than from any one of their albums. This should really come as no surprise. Even back in the recording industry’s most profitable days, bands were almost always making more money from live…