February 2017 – Page 18

February 19, 2017

As a revolutionary, Josef Stalin was arrested and exiled….

As a revolutionary, Josef Stalin was arrested and exiled to Siberia 6 times. He escaped the first 5. So for his 6th, he was sent to a hamlet just south of the Arctic Circle where he lived as a hunter gatherer alongside an arctic tribe for 2 years. 10

February 19, 2017

This Week’s Best Amazon Deals You Can Still Get

Smart Shopping Team

filed under: shopping

Image credit:

amazon / istock

As a recurring feature, we share some amazing Amazon deals we’ve turned up. These items were the ones that were the most popular with our readers this week, and they’re still available.

Mental Floss has affiliate relationships with certain retailers (including Amazon) and may receive a small percentage of any sale. But we only get commission on items you buy and don’t return, so we’re only happy if you’re happy. Good luck deal hunting!

February 19, 2017 – 11:00am

February 19, 2017

11 of the Most Disgusting Things Found in Food

If you’re about to enjoy a nice meal as you read this you may want to bookmark it for later and just get on with your meal. Admittedly, these kinds of things are rare, but they do happen. It’s the worst kind of publicity for the companies involved, and just like gawking at a bad auto accident, human nature renders many of us unable to turn away from something we may not really want to see. 1. Frozen Custard Gives Man The Finger In 2005 a North Carolina man enjoying a pint of frozen custard had his experience ruined when

The post 11 of the Most Disgusting Things Found in Food appeared first on Factual Facts.

February 19, 2017

10 Facts About Crime and Punishment

The way society punishes criminals varies greatly from country to country. While you might be sentenced to probation in the United States for stealing a loaf of bread, in some Middle Eastern countries they might chop your hand off! People convicted of murder in the U.S. may face the death penalty in states like Texas, while those convicted for the same crime in Europe might end up spending 10 or 15 years in prison before being released back into society. China, the most populous country in the world, is known for being tough on crime and handing down very harsh

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February 19, 2017

10 Interesting Facts About Space

What’s really out there? That’s something humankind has probably contemplated since we first looked up at the night sky. We’ve learned a tremendous amount about our universe through the years, but what we do know is most likely dwarfed by what we do not know. We’ll continue our efforts to learn more as long as we’re around to do it, and who knows? Perhaps one day we will find that there is life out there somewhere, and that we are not the only inhabitants of this vast universe. For now, we’ll have to be content with what we do know,

The post 10 Interesting Facts About Space appeared first on Factual Facts.

February 19, 2017

8 Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disease was once known primarily as manic depression, and it is a serious mental illness that can interfere with a person’s mood, energy level, and routine daily activities. The name bipolar comes from the fact that this disease results in drastic mood swings that cycle between feelings of extreme happiness (mania) and deep sadness (depression). This is a disease that often affects people even before they reach 25 years of age, and it can cause major disruptions in life, including strains on personal relationships and difficulty performing on the job or at school. The following symptoms may be an

The post 8 Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder appeared first on Factual Facts.

February 19, 2017

10 Weird Facts About Dreams

When it comes to odd, strange or weird, it’s hard to beat the dream world. Granted, some people tend to have weirder dreams than others, but those known for strange adventures in dreamland know how totally off-the-wall dreams can be. Considering that we spend about a third of our lives sleeping, dreaming is something we humans tend to do a lot of. Some folks are very good at remembering their dreams and are able to describe them in amazing detail, while others can barely remember whether or not they dreamed at all. Check out these crazy facts about dreaming and

The post 10 Weird Facts About Dreams appeared first on Factual Facts.

February 19, 2017

‘Spy in the Wild’ Blooper Reel Features Adorable Filming Fails

Kirstin Fawcett

filed under: Animals, fun, tv

You may be familiar with the BBC Earth-PBS miniseries Spy in the Wild, a five-part documentary featuring up-close footage of wild creatures in their natural habitats. The show uses animatronic spy cameras to capture the way animals—elephants, sloths, meerkats, crocodiles, and more—act when humans aren’t around. That being said, filming doesn’t always go smoothly, as you’ll see in the video above. Spotted by Laughing Squid, the blooper reel compiles occasions when both the lifelike robot cams and their real-life counterparts tripped, toppled from trees, or were simply adorably clumsy. Nature and technology can both be unpredictable—but occasionally, they can also be funny.

Spy in the Wild airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on PBS until March 1.

[h/t Laughing Squid]

Banner image: iStock

February 19, 2017 – 6:00am

February 19, 2017

The Entire Cast of ‘South Park,’ Categorized

Rebecca OConnell

filed under: shopping, tv

Image credit:

Pop Chart Lab

After 20 seasons on air, the Comedy Central favorite South Park has accumulated an enormous collection of characters. In addition to the main characters, there have been numerous background characters to fill out the cast over the years. Now, you can get a poster that neatly lays out over 130 characters from the iconic animated comedy. Comedy Central and South Park Studios commissioned Pop Chart Labs to organize their show into a comprehensive chart for fans to enjoy.

All the characters are grouped by family, origin, or other defining features (Santa and Mr. Hankey have their own category called “Christmas Cheer”). Next to each face is information pertaining to what episode they debuted in and how often they have appeared since. There are also other appendices, like Randy Marsh’s arrest record, how much money the Loch Ness Monster tried to take from Thomas and Nelle McElroy, and all the ways Kenny has died.

South Park fans can snag this 24 by 36-inch poster for $35, or for a little more if they want it framed.

Click to enlarge

February 19, 2017 – 12:00am

February 19, 2017

Why Lady Mantises Eat Their Mates

Kate Horowitz

filed under: animal behavior, Animals, insects, science

Image credit:

Oliver Koemmerling via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

If one out of every four of your sexually active friends got eaten, you’d probably start to consider a sex-free lifestyle. Unless, of course, you’re a male praying mantis, in which case you’d go for it anyway. The male bugs’ apparent eagerness to go to their mid-coital deaths has puzzled scientists for some time. One 2016 study may have an explanation: being eaten could actually increase a male’s chance of passing on his genes. The study was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Mantis sex is … intense. About 25 percent of encounters include sexual cannibalism, in which the female mantis literally bites her mate’s head off. But a little thing like that is not going to deter the missing male, who will go on humping like nothing has happened, even as the female continues to nibble him into nothingness. This can take hours.

True romance: a female mantis eating her mate’s genitals. Image Credit: Oliver Koemmerling via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

He is, in essence, offering his body as a present. This sexual gift-giving is not uncommon in insects—the males in one cricket species even make gummy snacks for their mates—but most of these gifts are not also the gift-givers. From an evolutionary perspective, it makes a lot of sense: females can share the nutrient boost with their fertilized eggs, which gives the kids a better chance of surviving. Was that what was going on in mantises? To find out, researchers set up a little mantis love hotel.

The first step was to provide a romantic meal. The scientists treated small crickets with radioactive amino acids, then fed those crickets to a group of male mantises. Then each male was paired with a female and allowed to mate. Half of the mantis pairs were separated before the female could get her chow on. The other half were left alone to play out their grisly romance.

In eating her partner, a female also ate the contents of his stomach. So by tracking those radioactive cricket particles, the scientists were able to determine how females’ bodies were using their most recent meal.

As it turns out, even uneaten males were giving their partners a little something. On average, male mantises who survived passed on 25 percent of their radioactive amino acids via their ejaculate. But, as expected, a dead dad could do even more for his kids; gobbled-up males gave their mates a full 90 percent of their nutritious amino acids, and their mates passed the goodness on to their young.

Being devoured also improved a male’s genetic success by increasing the number of eggs laid by his partner. Females in the coitus interruptus pairings—those who didn’t get to eat—laid about 37 eggs apiece. Those who finished their dinner dates, on the other hand, produced around 88.

We’ve still got plenty to learn about these beautiful creatures and their slightly terrifying sex lives. But these findings do, at least, make sex-positive male mantises seem slightly less foolhardy.

February 18, 2017 – 12:30am

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