The Receipts
999 Things Idiots Should Know: every source, numbered to match the book.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine entries. Nine hundred and ninety-nine sources, numbered to match.
Thing 437 is source 437. If somebody tells you that you are wrong, find the number, photograph the line, and send it to them without comment. That is the most satisfying way to use this book and it is why the numbers are there.
Where an entry carries a dagger, you will usually find more than one source, because more than one group of serious people disagree and you are entitled to see both.
Jump to a part: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · The Closing Nine
1. THE GROUND UNDER YOUR FEET
1. THE TALLEST WATERFALL ON EARTH IS UNDER THE SEA. NOAA National Ocean Service, "Where is Earth's largest waterfall?", oceanservice.noaa.gov
2. THE NORTH SEA WAS ONCE LAND PEOPLE LIVED ON, AND FISHING NETS HAVE BEEN DRAGGING UP THEIR TOOLS. Upper Palaeolithic antler harpoon, Leman and Ower Banks, Doggerland, NHER 11171, Norfolk Heritage Explorer, Norfolk County Council, heritage.norfolk.gov.uk ; Searching for Doggerland, National Geographic Magazine (December 2012), nationalgeographic.com
3. A PENNSYLVANIA COAL SEAM HAS BEEN ON FIRE SINCE 1962, AND IT REPORTEDLY STARTED WITH RUBBISH †. Centralia Mine Fire Resources, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, pa.gov
4. THE 1960 CHILE EARTHQUAKE KILLED PEOPLE ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE PACIFIC. On This Day: 1960 Chilean Earthquake and Tsunami, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, ncei.noaa.gov ; Recent and Significant Tsunami Events, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, ncei.noaa.gov
5. MEXICO CITY IS SINKING SO FAST ONE OF ITS MONUMENTS HAS NEEDED 14 NEW STEPS. US-Indian Space Mission Maps Extreme Subsidence in Mexico City, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2026), jpl.nasa.gov
6. THE BLACK SEA FLOOD LINKED TO NOAH MAY HAVE RAISED THE WATER ONLY 5 OR 10 METRES †. Danube Delta Holds Answers to Noah's Flood Debate, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, whoi.edu ; Danube Delta Holds Answers To 'Noah's Flood' Debate, ScienceDaily (27 January 2009), from materials provided by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, sciencedaily.com
7. THE ROCK UNDER OREGON'S COAST MAY HAVE BEEN MADE BY YELLOWSTONE'S HOT SPOT, OUT AT SEA †. Geologic history of Siletzia, a large igneous province in the Oregon and Washington Coast Range, Geosphere (2014), U.S. Geological Survey publication page, usgs.gov ; Camp and Wells, The Case for a Long-Lived and Robust Yellowstone Hotspot, GSA Today 31 (January 2021), Geological Society of America, geosociety.org
8. TREE RINGS TRACED A SHIP FOUND AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER BACK TO PHILADELPHIA. Archaeology in the Seaport, South Street Seaport Museum, southstreetseaportmuseum.org ; Martineau, World Trade Center Ship Traced to Colonial-Era Philadelphia, Columbia Climate School, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (2014), news.climate.columbia.edu
9. THE NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKES PROBABLY NEVER RANG THE BELLS IN BOSTON †. 200 years after the New Madrid earthquakes, the legends live on, St. Louis Public Radio, stlpr.org ; Myths of the New Madrid Earthquakes, Dr. Nathan K. Moran, Missouri Earthquake Summit, Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, sema.dps.mo.gov
10. THE WORLD'S LONGEST CAVE KEEPS GETTING LONGER. Additional Miles Added to Mammoth Cave, news release, Mammoth Cave National Park, U.S. National Park Service (11 September 2021), nps.gov ; Mammoth Cave National Park, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov ; Mammoth Cave National Park, natural resource condition assessment, U.S. National Park Service (updated 19 July 2024), nps.gov
11. THE AMAZON ALONE CARRIES ABOUT A SIXTH OF THE WORLD'S RIVER WATER TO THE SEA. The Amazon, measuring a mighty river, U.S. Geological Survey (1967), usgs.gov ; Liang et al., Amplified seasonal cycle in hydroclimate over the Amazon river basin and its plume region, Nature Communications 11 (2020), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
12. IN AD 536 THE SUN WENT DIM FOR MORE THAN A YEAR. Procopius, History of the Wars, Book IV (The Vandalic War II), chapter 14, Loeb Classical Library translation (1916), LacusCurtius, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu ; Helama et al., Volcanic dust veils from sixth century tree-ring isotopes linked to reduced irradiance, primary production and human health, Scientific Reports 8 (2018), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
13. BRITAIN HAS HUNDREDS OF EARTHQUAKES A YEAR, AND PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT ONE IN TEN. Earthquakes and seismology research, British Geological Survey, bgs.ac.uk ; Where do earthquakes occur?, British Geological Survey, bgs.ac.uk
14. ACID RAIN HAS EASED IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA, AND THE SOIL IS STILL CATCHING UP. Lawrence and Bailey, Recovery Processes of Acidic Soils Experiencing Decreased Acidic Deposition, Soil Systems 5 (2021), U.S. Forest Service copy, fs.usda.gov ; Acid Rain Effects on Forest Soils begin to Reverse, U.S. Geological Survey (2015), usgs.gov ; Driscoll et al., Acid Rain Revisited, Hubbard Brook Research Foundation (2001), hubbardbrook.org
15. A WAVE IN ALASKA RAN 524 METRES UP A HILLSIDE. Lituya Bay's Apocalyptic Wave, NASA Earth Observatory (23 November 2020), science.nasa.gov ; Lemonick, Benchmarks: July 9, 1958: Megatsunami drowns Lituya Bay, Alaska, EARTH magazine, American Geosciences Institute (6 July 2016), earthmagazine.org
16. AN ISLAND ROSE OUT OF THE SEA IN 1963, AND YOU MAY NOT LAND ON IT. Surtsey, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org ; Surtsey (leaflet), Environment Agency of Iceland, ust.is ; Icelandic Environment and Energy Agency and Nature Conservation Agency of Iceland established, Environment Agency of Iceland (2 January 2025), ust.is
17. THE SEED VAULT ON SVALBARD IS CARVED INTO A MOUNTAIN, AND IT WAS NEVER A COAL MINE. The Facility, Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food), seedvault.no ; The History, Svalbard Global Seed Vault, seedvault.no ; Svalbard Global Seed Vault Crosses Major Milestone, Svalbard Global Seed Vault (2026), seedvault.no ; Ukraine safeguards seeds at Svalbard Global Seed Vault for the first time since the outbreak of the war, NordGen (14 October 2026), nordgen.org
18. PUMPING OUT GROUNDWATER HAS NUDGED THE POLE THE EARTH SPINS ON. We've pumped so much groundwater that we've nudged the Earth's spin, American Geophysical Union press release on Seo et al., Geophysical Research Letters (2023), news.agu.org
19. POMPEII'S FAMOUS BODIES ARE PLASTER POURED INTO HOLES. Pilli et al., Ancient DNA challenges prevailing interpretations of the Pompeii plaster casts, Current Biology 34 (2024), PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
20. EARTH'S MAGNETIC POLES HAVE SWAPPED PLACES 183 TIMES IN 83 MILLION YEARS. Flip Flop: Why Variations in Earth's Magnetic Field Aren't Causing Today's Climate Change, NASA Science (2021), science.nasa.gov
21. THE SAHARA FEEDS THE AMAZON, BY AIR. NASA Satellite Reveals How Much Saharan Dust Feeds Amazon's Plants, NASA (22 February 2015), on Yu et al., Geophysical Research Letters, nasa.gov ; University of Miami study on African smoke as a phosphorus source for the Amazon, Phys.org (29 July 2019), phys.org
22. THE NEXT SUPERCONTINENT IS ALREADY ON ITS WAY, AND IT MAY BE CALLED AMASIA †. Pacific Ocean set to make way for world's next supercontinent, Curtin University (2022), curtin.edu.au
23. THE APPALACHIANS ARE OLD. SOUTH AFRICA'S BARBERTON ROCK IS OLDER STILL. Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov ; Convergent Plate Boundaries: Collisional Mountain Ranges, Geology, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov ; Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org
24. MELT ALL THE ICE ON EARTH AND THE SEA COMES UP ABOUT 65 METRES. Ice Sheet Quick Facts, National Snow and Ice Data Center, nsidc.org ; Sea Level and Climate, Fact Sheet 002-00, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov ; Farinotti et al., global glacier ice volume, Nature Geoscience (2019), nature.com
25. MOST OF THE EARTH'S GOLD SANK INTO THE CORE, AND THE GOLD WE MINE MAY HAVE FALLEN FROM THE SKY †. Where does all the gold come from?, University of Bristol press release on Willbold, Elliott and Moorbath, Nature (2011), bristol.ac.uk ; Willbold, Elliott and Moorbath, The tungsten isotopic composition of the Earth's mantle before the terminal bombardment, Nature 477 (2011), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
26. METEOR CRATER WAS BLASTED OUT BY A LUMP OF IRON 30 TO 50 METRES ACROSS. Barringer Meteor Crater and Its Environmental Effects, David A. Kring, Lunar and Planetary Institute, lpi.usra.edu ; Karlstrom et al., Grand Canyon landslide-dam and paleolake triggered by the Meteor Crater impact at 56 ka, Geology 53 (2025), University of Technology Sydney OPUS, opus.lib.uts.edu.au
27. AMERICAN FARMLAND LOSES TONS OF SOIL AN ACRE A YEAR, AND IT USED TO BE FAR WORSE. Soil Erosion on Cropland in the United States: Status and Trends for 1982-2003, Carla A. Kertis (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) and Thomas A. Iivari (US EPA), Proceedings of the Eighth Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference, 2006, hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov
28. MANY OLD EAST COAST CITIES SIT ON ONE LINE IN THE ROCK. The Fall Line, Information Circular, New Jersey Geological and Water Survey, dep.nj.gov ; Fall Line, Encyclopedia of Alabama (Mike Neilson, University of Alabama at Birmingham), encyclopediaofalabama.org ; Fall Line, New Georgia Encyclopedia, georgiaencyclopedia.org
29. MAGNETIC NORTH IS WANDERING OFF TOWARDS SIBERIA, AND ITS SPEED KEEPS CHANGING. Flip Flop: Why Variations in Earth's Magnetic Field Aren't Causing Today's Climate Change, NASA Science (2021), science.nasa.gov ; 2025 WMM Annual Report is Released, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026), ncei.noaa.gov
30. THE RING OF SINKHOLES OVER THE DINOSAUR CRATER WAS NOT DUG BY THE ASTEROID †. Perry, Velazquez and Marin, "Ring of Cenotes (sinkholes), northwest Yucatan, Mexico: Its hydrogeologic characteristics and possible association with the Chicxulub impact crater", Geology (1995), abstract at University of South Florida Digital Commons, digitalcommons.usf.edu ; Pope, Ocampo and Duller, Surficial Geology of the Chicxulub Impact Crater, Yucatan, Mexico, Earth, Moon, and Planets 63 (1993), NASA Technical Reports Server, ntrs.nasa.gov
31. IBERIA SWUNG OPEN LIKE A BARN DOOR, THEN SLAMMED SHUT AND MADE THE PYRENEES. The individualization and drift of the Iberian Plate. The Cretaceous, Geological Atlas of Catalonia, Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya, icgc.cat
32. THE STOREGGA TSUNAMI DID NOT FINISH OFF DOGGERLAND †. Walker, Gaffney, Fitch, Muru, Fraser, Bates and Bates, A great wave: the Storegga tsunami and the end of Doggerland?, Antiquity 94 (2020), Cambridge University Press, cambridge.org
33. A RAINDROP IS NOT SHAPED LIKE A TEAR, AND A LOT OF RAIN STARTS AS SNOW. Are Raindrops Shaped Like Teardrops?, USGS Water Science School, usgs.gov ; Precipitation, NOAA JetStream, noaa.gov
34. THE EARTH LEAKS ABOUT 260 TONNES OF GAS INTO SPACE A DAY, AND NOBODY AGREES HOW MUCH DUST FALLS BACK IN †. Catling and Zahnle, The Planetary Air Leak, Scientific American (2009), authors' copy, University of Chicago, sseh.uchicago.edu ; Plane, Cosmic dust in the earth's atmosphere, Chemical Society Reviews 41 (2012), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; Combined estimate of cosmic dust input, Geophysical Research Letters (2016), doi 10.1002/2016GL071697, agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
35. THE ATLANTIC WIDENS ABOUT 2.5 CENTIMETRES A YEAR, AND THE EARTH DOES NOT GROW. Understanding plate motions, This Dynamic Earth, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov ; Developing the theory, This Dynamic Earth, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov
36. TWO GEOLOGISTS AT THE HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY HAVE FALLEN INTO LAVA, AND BOTH RECOVERED. How close can I get to lava and will it hurt or kill me?, Volcano World, Oregon State University, volcano.oregonstate.edu
37. LONG ISLAND, NANTUCKET AND CAPE COD ARE LARGELY WHAT THE ICE SHEET LEFT BEHIND. Oldale, Geologic History of Cape Cod, Massachusetts: Glacial Cape Cod, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov ; Ground Water Atlas of the United States, HA 730-M, Surficial aquifer systems, Long Island, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov
38. CHRISTCHURCH'S EARTHQUAKES TURNED FIRM GROUND TO LIQUID AND PUSHED UP OVER 400,000 TONNES OF SILT. Liquefaction, Science Learning Hub Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao, University of Waikato, sciencelearn.org.nz
39. HOT AIR DOES NOT RISE BY ITSELF: COLD AIR SHOVES IT UP. Parcel Theory, NOAA JetStream, noaa.gov
40. TROY IS NOT ONE CITY. IT IS A STACK OF THEM ON ONE MOUND. Dennis Drabelle, The (Continuing) Tale of Troy, The Pennsylvania Gazette (University of Pennsylvania), 1 May 2010, thepenngazette.com ; Archaeological Site of Troy, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org
41. THE MEDITERRANEAN WAS ALL BUT CUT OFF AND FILLED WITH SALT, AND HOW EMPTY IT GOT IS STILL ARGUED OVER †. Micallef et al., "Land-to-sea indicators of the Zanclean megaflood", Communications Earth & Environment (2024), nature.com ; Messinian salt and Atlantic inflow, ScienceDirect Topics, Elsevier, sciencedirect.com ; Gvirtzman, Heida, Garcia-Castellanos, Bar, Zucker and Enzel, Limited Mediterranean sea-level drop during the Messinian salinity crisis inferred from the buried Nile canyon, EGU General Assembly 2023 abstract, Copernicus, meetingorganizer.copernicus.org
42. YELLOWSTONE IS NOT OVERDUE FOR AN ERUPTION. Is Yellowstone overdue for an eruption? When will Yellowstone erupt?, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
43. EARTH'S INNER CORE TURNS AT ITS OWN SPEED, AND SINCE ABOUT 2010 IT HAS BEEN FALLING BEHIND †. USC study confirms the rotation of Earth's inner core has slowed, University of Southern California (2024), today.usc.edu
44. THE DEEPEST WATER IN THE ATLANTIC IS JUST NORTH OF PUERTO RICO. Andrews et al., Bathymetric Terrain Model of the Puerto Rico Trench and the Northeastern Caribbean Region, Open-File Report 2013-1125, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov ; ten Brink, Puerto Rico Trench 2003: Cruise Summary and Results, NOAA Ocean Explorer (archive), archive.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov ; ten Brink, The Puerto Rico Trench: Implications for Plate Tectonics and Earthquake and Tsunami Hazards, NOAA Ocean Exploration (archive), archive.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov ; ten Brink et al., New Seafloor Map of the Puerto Rico Trench Helps Assess Earthquake and Tsunami Hazards, Eos 85 (2004), American Geophysical Union, earthjay.com
45. THE ORANGE RING ROUND GRAND PRISMATIC SPRING IS MADE BY MICROBES. Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov ; Where the pigment ends: The photosynthetic fringe and the upper temperature limit of photosynthesis, Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles, U.S. Geological Survey Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, usgs.gov
46. THE DEAD SEA IS DROPPING BY MORE THAN A METRE A YEAR. Rates of Decline, U.S. Geological Survey EROS Center, Earthshots, eros.usgs.gov
47. THE OLDEST ROCK YOU CAN STAND ON IS 4.03 BILLION YEARS OLD, AND MAYBE OLDER †. Age of the Earth, Geologic Time, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov ; Earth's oldest rocks may be at least 4.16 billion years old, Science News, sciencenews.org
48. ANTARCTICA IS LOSING ICE, AND IT HAS BEEN WEIGHED FROM SPACE. Ice Sheets, Earth Indicator, NASA Science, climate.nasa.gov ; Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), NASA Sea Level Change Portal, sealevel.nasa.gov
49. GUATEMALA CITY'S TWO GIANT HOLES MAY NOT BE SINKHOLES AT ALL †. Guatemala Sinkhole Created by Humans, Not Nature, National Geographic (2010), nationalgeographic.com ; Hermosilla, "The Guatemala City sinkhole collapses", Carbonates and Evaporites (2012), link.springer.com ; Guatemala City sinkhole so big, so round it doesn't seem real, Christian Science Monitor via MinnPost (June 2010), minnpost.com
50. POWELL GUESSED THE GREEN RIVER CAME FIRST. IT DID NOT. The Curious Case of the Green River in the Uinta Mountains, Utah Geological Survey, geology.utah.gov ; Geologic Formations, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov ; Geologists may have solved the mystery of the Green River's uphill route, University of Glasgow (2 February 2026), gla.ac.uk
51. THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS AND THE APPALACHIANS ARE REMAINS OF THE SAME ANCIENT COLLISION ZONE. How Scotland's geological foundations came together, NatureScot, nature.scot ; Convergent Plate Boundaries: Collisional Mountain Ranges, Geology, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov
52. IN DEATH VALLEY, ICE HAS BEEN CAUGHT SHOVING ROCKS ACROSS A DRY LAKE. Mystery Solved: Mysterious "sailing stones" of Death Valley seen in action for the first time, Death Valley National Park, U.S. National Park Service (27 August 2014), nps.gov ; Norris, Norris, Lorenz, Ray and Jackson, Sliding Rocks on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: First Observation of Rocks in Motion, PLOS ONE 9 (2014), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
53. THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH IS NOT AN ISLAND, AND YOU CANNOT STAND ON IT. What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?, Ocean Facts, National Ocean Service, NOAA, oceanservice.noaa.gov
54. THE DEEPEST EARTHQUAKE EVER RECORDED MAY NEVER HAVE HAPPENED †. Claims for the World's Deepest Earthquake Challenged by New Analysis, Seismological Society of America (on Zhang et al., The Seismic Record), seismosoc.org
55. THERE ARE HOLES IN CHINA WITH FORESTS GROWING AT THE BOTTOM. China's "heavenly pits", a dive into the unknown, The UNESCO Courier, UNESCO, courier.unesco.org
56. BRITAIN HAS BEEN A SEABED, A SWAMP, A DESERT AND UNDER GLACIERS. Geological timechart, British Geological Survey, bgs.ac.uk
57. AT THE END OF THE ICE AGE THE SEA ONCE ROSE MORE THAN 40 MILLIMETRES A YEAR †. Deschamps et al., Ice-sheet collapse and sea-level rise at the Bølling warming 14,600 years ago, Nature 483 (2012), nature.com
58. THE US ARMY SET OFF DENVER'S EARTHQUAKES BY POURING WASTE DOWN A WELL. Case Study: Denver, August 9, 1967, Colorado Geological Survey, coloradogeologicalsurvey.org ; Reservoir analysis of the Denver earthquakes: A case of induced seismicity, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
59. THERE IS A LAKE HOLDING MORE WATER THAN LAKE ONTARIO UNDER ABOUT 4,000 METRES OF ANTARCTIC ICE †. Life in the Extreme: Surviving Beneath a Glacier, Part II, NASA Astrobiology, astrobiology.nasa.gov ; Cold and Deep: Antarctica's Lake Vostok has two big neighbors, Science News, sciencenews.org ; Physical Features of the Great Lakes, US Environmental Protection Agency (archived 19 January 2021), 19january2021snapshot.epa.gov ; Bulat, Microbiology of the subglacial Lake Vostok: first results of borehole-frozen lake water analysis and prospects for searching for lake inhabitants, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 374 (2016), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; Lake Vostok microbial DNA study, Arctic and Antarctic Research, aaresearch.science
60. OLD FAITHFUL HAS NEVER GONE OFF EVERY HOUR LIKE CLOCKWORK. In Depth: Predicting Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov ; Predict Old Faithful, Teachers, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov
61. A RUSSIAN CITY IS SINKING INTO THE MINE BENEATH IT. Estimation of Deformation Intensity above a Flooded Potash Mine Near Berezniki (Perm Krai, Russia) with SAR Interferometry, Samsonov and Baryakh, Remote Sensing 12 (2020), MDPI, mdpi.com ; the same abstract as held by Crossref, api.crossref.org
62. ICELAND'S OLD ASSEMBLY FIELD IS BEING PULLED APART, IN FITS AND STARTS. Tectonic Movements, Thingvellir National Park, thingvellir.is
63. EVEREST MAY BE GETTING TALLER PARTLY BECAUSE A RIVER IS EATING ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD †. Recent uplift of Chomolungma enhanced by river drainage piracy, Han et al., Nature Geoscience, nature.com ; Leonard and Whipple, reply questioning the river piracy scenario, Nature Geoscience (2026), nature.com
64. THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER ARE MADE OF DEAD ALGAE. Giant algal bloom sheds light on formation of White Cliffs of Dover, American Geophysical Union, news.agu.org
65. FLORIDA'S CLAY HOLDS THE GROUND UP, THEN CAN DROP IT IN HOURS. Tihansky, Sinkholes, West-Central Florida, in Land Subsidence in the United States, Circular 1182, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov ; Sinkholes, Water Science School, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
66. KRAKATAU WAS HEARD MORE THAN 4,600 KILOMETRES AWAY. On This Day: Historic Krakatau Eruption of 1883, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, ncei.noaa.gov ; The Krakatoa Volcano, Acoustics Today (Spring 2010), Acoustical Society of America, acousticstoday.org
67. GLACIER NATIONAL PARK HAD ABOUT 80 GLACIERS. BY 2015 ONLY 26 NAMED ONES WERE STILL BIG ENOUGH TO COUNT. Glacier's Glaciers, Glacier National Park, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov
68. FRACKING AT ONE LANCASHIRE SITE SET OFF ALMOST 200 EARTHQUAKES. Induced seismicity update at Preston New Road, Lancashire, British Geological Survey, bgs.ac.uk ; Induced Seismicity at the Preston New Road Shale Gas Site in Lancashire, UK, Delvoye and Edwards, University of Liverpool, EGU General Assembly 2020 abstract, meetingorganizer.copernicus.org ; Geomechanical Interpretation of Induced Seismicity at the Preston New Road PNR-2 Well, report commissioned by the Oil and Gas Authority (2020), nstauthority.co.uk
69. AMOEBA VIRUSES HAVE BEEN REVIVED AFTER MORE THAN 48,500 YEARS IN THE PERMAFROST. Thirty-thousand-year-old distant relative of giant icosahedral DNA viruses with a pandoravirus morphology, Legendre et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2014), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; An Update on Eukaryotic Viruses Revived from Ancient Permafrost, Alempic et al., Viruses 15 (2023), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
70. TROPICAL CYCLONES ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO FORM NEAR THE EQUATOR, AND AT LEAST TWO HAVE. Hurricane FAQ, NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, aoml.noaa.gov ; FAQ: Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Tropical Cyclones, NOAA Hurricane Research Division, aoml.noaa.gov ; A Rare Cyclone on the Equator, NASA Earth Observatory (2003), science.nasa.gov ; Kesarkar, Banerjee and Ratnam, Genesis of tropical cyclone Agni: Physical Mechanisms, 7th WRF Users' Workshop (2006) abstract, National Center for Atmospheric Research, www2.mmm.ucar.edu
71. THE SEAFLOOR IS STRIPED LIKE A ZEBRA, AND THE STRIPES MATCH ON BOTH SIDES. Developing the theory, This Dynamic Earth, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov
72. THE "WORLD'S LARGEST VOLCANO" LOST ITS TITLE, THANKS TO THE MAN WHO GAVE IT †. This is now the world's largest volcano, geologists say, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com ; Oceanic plateau formation by seafloor spreading implied by Tamu Massif magnetic anomalies, Sager et al., Nature Geoscience, nature.com ; Pūhāhonu: Largest and hottest shield volcano on Earth, ScienceDaily (14 May 2020), on a University of Hawaii at Manoa study, sciencedaily.com
73. BOUDICA'S FIRE IS STILL IN THE GROUND UNDER LONDON. Boudica: Rebel queen of the Iceni, London Museum, londonmuseum.org.uk ; Romey, Bad, Bad Boudicca, Archaeology 54 (2001), Archaeological Institute of America, archive.archaeology.org
74. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS EARTHQUAKE WEATHER. Is there earthquake weather?, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
75. THE OCEAN IS NOT 95 PER CENT UNEXPLORED. IT DEPENDS WHAT YOU MEAN BY EXPLORED. How much of the ocean has been explored?, NOAA Ocean Exploration, oceanexplorer.noaa.gov
76. THE GRAND CANYON MAY BE OLD IN THE MIDDLE AND YOUNG AT BOTH ENDS †. Formation of the Grand Canyon 5 to 6 million years ago through integration of older palaeocanyons, Karlstrom et al., Nature Geoscience, nature.com ; Grand Canyon as old as the dinosaurs, ScienceDaily (29 November 2012), on Flowers and Farley, Science (2012), sciencedaily.com
77. THE WORLD'S COLDEST OFFICIAL TEMPERATURE, MINUS 89.2°C, IS WRITTEN IN A LOGBOOK. Global; Southern Hemisphere; Eastern Hemisphere; Antarctica: Lowest Temperature, WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes, World Meteorological Organization, wmo.int ; New study explains Antarctica's coldest temperatures, National Snow and Ice Data Center (25 June 2018), nsidc.org
78. CARLSBAD CAVERNS WAS EATEN OUT FROM BELOW, BY ACID FROM AN OILFIELD. Geology of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
79. DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO IS BUILT ON TOP OF GOLD RUSH SHIPS. Buried Ships of San Francisco, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, National Park Service, nps.gov ; Niantic: Buried Gold Rush Ship, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, National Park Service, nps.gov
80. AS THE ICE AGE ENDED THE NORTH FELL BACK INTO NEAR-GLACIAL COLD, AND SOME BLAME A COMET †. The Younger Dryas, Paleo Perspectives, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, ncei.noaa.gov ; Holliday et al., Comprehensive refutation of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH), Earth-Science Reviews 247 (2023), Royal Holloway Research Portal, pure.royalholloway.ac.uk ; Moore et al., Holliday et al. (2023): Systematic Misrepresentations of Younger Dryas Impact Evidence undermine the reliability of their Conclusions, Airbursts and Cratering Impacts (2026), University of Edinburgh Research Explorer, research.ed.ac.uk
81. A CAVE ROOF GAVE WAY UNDER THE NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM AND ATE EIGHT CORVETTES. Polk et al., "Cars and Karst: Investigating the National Corvette Museum Sinkhole" (2015), Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR, digitalcommons.wku.edu ; KGS staff visit Corvette Museum sinkhole, Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky, uky.edu
82. CANADA AND SWEDEN ARE STILL RISING OUT OF THE ICE AGE. What is glacial isostatic adjustment?, NOAA National Ocean Service, oceanservice.noaa.gov ; Sella, Stein, Dixon, Craymer, James, Mazzotti and Dokka, Observation of glacial isostatic adjustment in "stable" North America with GPS, Geophysical Research Letters 34 (2007), hosted by NOAA National Geodetic Survey, ngs.noaa.gov ; Hieronymus and Kalén, Sea-level rise projections for Sweden based on the new IPCC special report, Ambio (2020), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
83. ABOUT 18 PER CENT OF THE UNITED STATES SITS ON ROCK THAT DISSOLVES. Karst in the United States: A Digital Map Compilation and Database, Weary and Doctor, USGS Open-File Report 2014-1156, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov ; Sinkholes, Water Science School, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
84. CHICAGO MADE ITS RIVER RUN BACKWARDS. Steele, Chicago River's reversal in 1900 was an "engineering triumph" that transformed our city, Chicago Sun-Times, republished by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (the agency that did it), mwrd.org
85. THE GREAT BLUE HOLE IS A CAVE THE SEA MOVED INTO. 5,700-year storm archive shows rise in tropical storms and hurricanes in the Caribbean, Goethe University Frankfurt news release on Schmitt et al., Science Advances (2025), EurekAlert!, eurekalert.org ; Caribbean cyclone activity: an annually-resolved Common Era record, Schmitt et al., Scientific Reports (2020), nature.com
86. A RISING SEA DROVE PEOPLE OUT OF SUNDALAND AND INTO SOUTH ASIA. Kim, Li, Kalsi et al., Prehistoric human migration between Sundaland and South Asia was driven by sea-level rise, Communications Biology (2023), nature.com
87. THERE ARE LAKES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, AND A ROBOT CAN FLOAT ON ONE. Brine Pool Dive: An Overview, Nautilus Live, Ocean Exploration Trust (2014), nautiluslive.org ; Brine Pool, NOAA Ocean Exploration, oceanexplorer.noaa.gov ; Below the Surface of Brine Pool, ROV Hercules Splashes In, Nautilus Live, Ocean Exploration Trust, nautiluslive.org ; ROV Hercules, Nautilus Live, Ocean Exploration Trust, nautiluslive.org
88. THE FAULT CREEPING THROUGH HOLLISTER IS NOT THE SAN ANDREAS, AND IT IS BREAKING THE KERBS. Field Trip to the Calaveras and San Andreas Faults: Hollister and San Juan Bautista Region, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1127, chapter 2, pubs.usgs.gov ; Creep rate on the Calaveras-Paicines fault, U.S. Geological Survey publication 70024692, pubs.usgs.gov
89. A HABOOB IS A WALL OF DUST SHOVED OUT OF THE FRONT OF A THUNDERSTORM. Haboobs: Phenomena with the unusual name is no joke, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2012), noaa.gov ; Dust Storms and Haboobs, National Weather Service, weather.gov
90. THE SAHARA GOES GREEN ABOUT EVERY 20,000 YEARS, AND THE LAST TIME SOMEBODY PAINTED IT. deMenocal and Tierney, "Green Sahara: African Humid Periods Paced by Earth's Orbital Changes", Nature Education Knowledge (2012), nature.com ; Cave of Swimmers, Egypt, African Rock Art, British Museum, africanrockart.britishmuseum.org
91. AFRICA IS TEARING APART, AND IN 2005 IT OPENED UP TO 8 METRES IN WEEKS. ESA's Envisat satellite witnesses Earth's largest crack, European Space Agency (2006), esa.int ; Wright et al., Magma-maintained rift segmentation at continental rupture in the 2005 Afar dyking episode, Nature 442 (2006), abstract at NASA ADS, ui.adsabs.harvard.edu
92. THE SEA HAS STOOD 120 METRES OR MORE BELOW TODAY'S LEVEL, AND PERHAPS 25 METRES ABOVE IT. Williams and Ferrigno, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World, Fact Sheet 0009-94, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov ; De Groeve et al., Global raster dataset on historical coastline positions and shelf sea extents since the Last Glacial Maximum, Global Ecology and Biogeography (2022), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group I, Chapter 2, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2021), ipcc.ch
93. MOST OF WHAT SAN FRANCISCO LOST IN 1906 WENT TO THE FIRE AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE †. Casualties and damage after the 1906 Earthquake, U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, earthquake.usgs.gov
94. THE HOTTEST TEMPERATURE ON RECORD IS OFFICIAL, AND QUESTIONED †. WMO is monitoring potential new temperature records, World Meteorological Organization (17 July 2023), wmo.int ; World: Highest Temperature, WMO Weather and Climate Extremes Archive, wmo.int ; Spencer, Christy and Reid, Death Valley's 134°F world record, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 107 (2025), journals.ametsoc.org ; Stachelski, A Century of Weather in Death Valley, CA: 1911-2011, NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS WR-289, National Weather Service (January 2013), weather.gov
95. THE DEEPEST HOLE EVER DRILLED ONLY GOT A THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH THE CRUST BENEATH IT. Kola Superdeep, EarthDate, University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology (now Switch Energy Alliance), earthdate.org
96. THE FASTEST WIND EVER MEASURED OUTSIDE A TORNADO WENT UNNOTICED FOR MORE THAN A DECADE. Global; Southern Hemisphere; Eastern Hemisphere: Maximum Surface Wind Gust (3-Second), WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes, World Meteorological Organization, wmo.int ; Mt. Washington's World Record Wind Toppled, AMS Headlines, American Meteorological Society (26 January 2010), headlines.ametsoc.org
97. WHETHER A SPOONFUL OF SOIL OUTNUMBERS YOU DEPENDS ON WHO IS COUNTING †. Population, United Nations, un.org ; Role of Soil Bacteria, CFAES Knowledge Hub, The Ohio State University, cfaes.osu.edu ; Absolute quantitation of microbiota abundance in environmental samples, Tkacz, Hortala and Poole, Microbiome (2018), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
98. THE 1964 ALASKA EARTHQUAKE MADE THE WHOLE PLANET RING LIKE A BELL. 1964 Alaska Earthquake, U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, earthquake.usgs.gov ; The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami, U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center, usgs.gov ; Drop, Cover, and Hold On, Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills, shakeout.org
99. AN OIL CREW DRILLED INTO A SALT MINE AND A LAKE WENT DOWN THE PLUGHOLE. Lake Peigneur Drilling Accident, 64 Parishes, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 64parishes.org ; Settlement reached in Jeff Island accident, UPI (7 July 1983), upi.com
2. DEEP TIME, AND EVERYTHING THAT DIED IN IT
100. A RAINFOREST ONCE GREW NEAR THE SOUTH POLE, IN THE DARK. Traces of ancient rainforest in Antarctica point to a warmer prehistoric world, Imperial College London (2020), imperial.ac.uk ; Temperate rainforests near the South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth, Klages et al., Nature 580 (2020), nature.com
101. THE IRISH ELK WAS NOT ONLY IRISH, AND IT WAS NOT AN ELK. The Irish elk: when and why did this giant deer go extinct and what did it look like?, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk
102. ITS CHOLESTEROL SAYS A 558-MILLION-YEAR-OLD FOSSIL WAS AN ANIMAL. Fat from 558 million years ago reveals earliest known animal, Australian National University, science.anu.edu.au ; Ancient steroids establish the Ediacaran fossil Dickinsonia as one of the earliest animals, Bobrovskiy et al., Science 361 (2018), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; "Ancient steroids establish the Ediacaran fossil Dickinsonia as one of the earliest animals", eLetter by Gregory Retallack, Science, science.org
103. ONE OF THE BIGGEST DINOSAURS WEIGHED 69 TONNES, GIVE OR TAKE 17 †. A new giant titanosaur sheds light on body mass evolution among sauropod dinosaurs, Carballido et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B 284 (2017), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; New Dinosaur Species Was Largest Animal Ever to Walk the Earth, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com ; "We thought we knew the biggest dinosaur ever, but something else might have stolen its thunder", SYFY Wire (2020), syfy.com
104. NOBODY SAWED THE PETRIFIED FOREST INTO LOGS. Petrified Wood, Petrified Forest National Park, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov
105. THE FIRST DINOSAUR BONE FOUND IN ANTARCTICA WAS MISTAKEN FOR A SEA REPTILE. First ever dinosaur fossil discovered on Antarctica identified as a titanosaur, Natural History Museum, London (29 June 2026), nhm.ac.uk
106. WHETHER THE MOON'S TIDES HELPED START LIFE IS STILL ARGUED †. Implications of tides for life on exoplanets, Lingam and Loeb, Astrobiology (2018), arxiv.org ; Varga, Rybicki and Denis, comment on Lathe's tidal model, Icarus (2006), copy at radicalanthropologygroup.org ; Early tides: response to Varga et al., Lathe, Icarus 180 (2006) 277, ui.adsabs.harvard.edu
107. SOMEBODY FOUND STRETCHY SOFT TISSUE INSIDE A T. REX †. Soft-tissue vessels and cellular preservation in Tyrannosaurus rex, Schweitzer, Wittmeyer, Horner and Toporski, Science 307 (2005), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; Dinosaur Shocker, Smithsonian Magazine (2006), smithsonianmag.com ; Dinosaurian soft tissues interpreted as bacterial biofilms, Kaye, Gaugler and Sawlowicz, PLoS ONE 3 (2008), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; "Testing the Hypothesis of Biofilm as a Source for Soft Tissue and Cell-Like Structures Preserved in Dinosaur Bone", Schweitzer, Moyer and Zheng, PLoS ONE (2016), journals.plos.org
108. A GIANT SLOTH COULD STAND 3.5 METRES TALL ON ITS BACK LEGS. What was Megatherium?, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; "New evidence on the extinction of giant mammals in America", CONICET (2019), conicet.gov.ar
109. A BIRD WITH TEETH AND A BONY TAIL TURNED UP TWO YEARS AFTER DARWIN'S BOOK. Archaeopteryx, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Science 232, issue 4750, page 622 (2 May 1986), science.org
110. THE FOSSIL WHALE NAMED LEVIATHAN HAD TO GIVE ITS NAME BACK. The giant bite of a new raptorial sperm whale from the Miocene epoch of Peru, Lambert et al., Nature 466 (2010), nature.com ; Erratum: The giant bite of a new raptorial sperm whale from the Miocene epoch of Peru, Nature (2010), nature.com ; Flanders Marine Institute IMIS reference 293760 (the Livyatan redating), vliz.be
111. TRILOBITES LASTED LONGER THAN THE DINOSAURS DID. What were trilobites?, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, oumnh.ox.ac.uk ; How trilobites conquered prehistoric oceans, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; When did dinosaurs live?, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Where did dinosaurs come from?, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
112. OXYGEN REACHED PARTS OF THE SEAFLOOR LONG BEFORE IT REACHED THE AIR †. Transient marine bottom water oxygenation on continental shelves by 2.65 billion years ago, Chen et al., Nature Geoscience 18 (2025), nature.com ; Before altering the air, microbes oxygenated large swaths of the sea, Science News, reporting the same study, sciencenews.org ; "Analysis of rock record rules out atmospheric oxygen before Great Oxygenation Event", SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (2022), www6.slac.stanford.edu
113. A DIGGER DRIVER FOUND A 166-MILLION-YEAR-OLD DINOSAUR ROAD IN OXFORDSHIRE. Footprints from a vast dinosaur highway discovered in the UK, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
114. THE FIRST TREES MAY HAVE CHOKED THE SEAS †. Evolution of tree roots may have driven mass extinctions, Indiana University News, reporting Smart, Filippelli et al. in the Geological Society of America Bulletin, news.iu.edu ; "A volcanic scenario for the Frasnian-Famennian major biotic crisis and other Late Devonian global changes", Racki, Global and Planetary Change 189 (2020), ui.adsabs.harvard.edu
115. SPINOSAURUS HAD A TAIL LIKE A PADDLE, BUT ONE TEAM SAYS IT SWAM BADLY †. Bizarre Spinosaurus makes history as first known swimming dinosaur, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com ; Spinosaurus is not an aquatic dinosaur, Sereno et al., eLife 11 (2022), PubMed Central copy, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
116. HELICOPRION'S BUZZSAW OF TEETH SAT IN ITS BOTTOM JAW. These Prehistoric Sharks Had Jaws Shaped Like Circular Saws, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; Jaws for a spiral-tooth whorl: CT images reveal novel adaptation and phylogeny in fossil Helicoprion, Tapanila et al., Biology Letters 9 (2013), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
117. THE BURGESS SHALE KEPT THE SOFT BITS THAT ALMOST NEVER SURVIVE †. The Burgess Shale: Overview, and How Old is the Burgess Shale, and Transforming the Dead Organisms into Fossils, Royal Ontario Museum, burgess-shale.rom.on.ca ; burgess-shale.rom.on.ca ; burgess-shale.rom.on.ca ; Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org
118. ISLANDS ARE 6.7 PER CENT OF THE LAND AND 75 PER CENT OF THE KNOWN RECENT EXTINCTIONS. Scientists' warning: the outstanding biodiversity of islands is in peril, Fernandez-Palacios et al., Global Ecology and Conservation 31 (2021), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Alien species as a driver of recent extinctions, Bellard, Cassey and Blackburn, Biology Letters 12 (2016), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
119. IGUANODON'S NOSE HORN TURNED OUT TO BE ITS THUMBS. Iguanodon: the teeth that led to a dinosaur discovery, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk
120. A TYRANNOSAUR SWALLOWED BONE, AND WE HAVE ITS DROPPINGS TO PROVE IT. A king-sized theropod coprolite, Chin et al., Nature 393 (1998), abstract at U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov ; Tyrannosaurus Scat, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com
121. STEGOSAURUS HAD A BRAIN THE SIZE OF A PLUM. Stegosaurus, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk ; Weight of the world's most complete Stegosaurus revealed, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk ; A Stegosaurus brought to life, Katie Pavid, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk ; Stylish Stegosaurus, EarthDate episode 363 (Switch Energy Alliance, 9 April 2024), earthdate.org
122. STELLER'S SEA COW WAS GONE 27 YEARS AFTER SCIENCE MET IT. Genomic basis for skin phenotype and cold adaptation in the extinct Steller's sea cow, Le Duc et al., Science Advances 8 (2022), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Steller's sea cow genome suggests this species began going extinct before the arrival of Paleolithic humans, Sharko et al., Nature Communications 12 (2021), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
123. THE DINOSAURS DIED WITH TWO SUSPECTS AT THE SCENE †. Asteroid impact, not volcanism, caused the end-Cretaceous dinosaur extinction, Chiarenza et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 (2020), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Dino double whammy", Science News Explores (2015), snexplores.org
124. THE 26-MILLION-YEAR EXTINCTION TIMETABLE HAS NOT HELD UP WELL †. Periodicity of extinctions in the geologic past, Raup and Sepkoski, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 81 (1984), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; The evidence for and against astronomical impacts on climate change and mass extinctions: a review, Bailer-Jones, International Journal of Astrobiology (2009), arxiv.org ; "Do Periodicities in Extinction, with Possible Astronomical Connections, Survive a Revision of the Geological Timescale?", Melott and Bambach, The Astrophysical Journal 773 (2013), arxiv.org
125. THE COELACANTH VANISHED FROM THE FOSSILS 66 MILLION YEARS AGO AND TURNED UP IN A NET IN 1938. Coelacanths: The fish that 'outdid' the Loch Ness Monster, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
126. T. REX LIVED CLOSER IN TIME TO YOU THAN TO STEGOSAURUS. Tyrannosaurus, Dino Directory, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Stegosaurus, Dino Directory, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
127. SOME OF THE FIRST BIG LIVING THINGS HAD NO MOUTH AND NO GUT †. Enigmatic Ediacarans, Royal Ontario Museum, burgess-shale.rom.on.ca ; Constructional and functional anatomy of Ediacaran rangeomorphs, N. J. Butterfield, Geological Magazine 159 (2022), doi.org
128. MOST OF THE WORLD'S IRON ORE WAS PROBABLY PULLED OUT OF THE SEA BY BACTERIA †. Banded iron formations: oceans, algae and iron oxide, CSIRO (2024), csiro.au ; Microbial processes during deposition and diagenesis of Banded Iron Formations, PalZ (2022), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
129. COAL IS PLANTS, NOT DINOSAURS, AND PLENTY OF IT IS YOUNGER THAN THEM. Delayed fungal evolution did not cause the Paleozoic peak in coal production, Nelsen et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (2016), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; The Carboniferous Period, University of California Museum of Paleontology, ucmp.berkeley.edu ; Coal's formation is a window on an ancient world, John Long, Flinders University, The Conversation (2016), theconversation.com ; When did dinosaurs live?, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
130. AN ICHTHYOSAUR HAD EYES MORE THAN 22 CENTIMETRES ACROSS. What is an ichthyosaur? The real sea dragons that once swam beneath the waves, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
131. DINOSAUR BONES ARE FAR TOO OLD TO STILL HOLD READABLE DNA. Allentoft et al., "The half-life of DNA in bone: measuring decay kinetics in 158 dated fossils", Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2012, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "When did dinosaurs live?", Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk
132. THE OLDEST KNOWN PIECE OF EARTH IS A MICROSCOPIC CRYSTAL. Oldest bit of crust firms up idea of a cool early Earth, University of Wisconsin–Madison News, news.wisc.edu
133. THE COAL AGE MAY HAVE BEEN WET WEATHER, NOT WOOD THAT NOTHING COULD ROT †. Delayed fungal evolution did not cause the Paleozoic peak in coal production, Nelsen et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (2016), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Climate, decay, and the death of the coal forests", Hibbett, Blanchette, Kenrick and Mills, Current Biology 26 (2016), White Rose copy, eprints.whiterose.ac.uk
134. BIRDS MAY HAVE CUT THE GIANT INSECTS DOWN TO SIZE †. Environmental and biotic controls on the evolutionary history of insect body size, Clapham and Karr, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109 (2012), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "On flying insect size and Phanerozoic atmospheric oxygen", Dorrington, PNAS (2012), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Reply to Dorrington: Oxygen concentration and predator escape abilities are important controls on insect size", Clapham and Karr, PNAS (2012), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
135. A FEATHERED DINOSAUR TAIL WAS PROBABLY GOING TO BE JEWELLERY. Feathered dinosaur tail found trapped in amber, CBC News, reporting McKellar and Xing in Current Biology, cbc.ca
136. THE OLDEST ANIMAL MAY BE A SPONGE, OR SOME SQUIGGLES †. Possible poriferan body fossils in early Neoproterozoic microbial reefs, Turner, Nature 596 (2021), nature.com ; 890-million-year-old sponge fossil may be the earliest animal yet found, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com
137. GREENLAND'S RECORD-BREAKING FOSSILS MAY BE SQUASHED ROCK †. Oldest Fossils by Far, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, nhm.org ; Rapid emergence of life shown by discovery of 3,700-million-year-old microbial structures, Nutman et al., Nature 537 (2016), nature.com ; Reassessing evidence of life in 3,700-million-year-old rocks of Greenland, Allwood et al., Nature 563 (2018), nature.com ; "'World's oldest fossils' may just be pretty rocks", Maya Wei-Haas, National Geographic (2018), nationalgeographic.com
138. THE LARGEST KNOWN SNAKE TURNED UP IN A SHIPMENT MARKED "CROCODILE". Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures, Head et al., Nature 457 (2009), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; How Titanoboa, the 40-Foot-Long Snake, Was Found, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; "Can the giant snake predict palaeoclimate?", Denny, Lockwood and Somero, Nature 460 (2009), ideas.repec.org
139. GREENLAND ONCE HAD A FOREST AND MASTODONS, AND THE MUD KEPT THE DNA. A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA, Kjær et al., Nature 612 (2022), nature.com ; 2-million-year-old DNA reveals a lost Arctic world, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com
140. THE BIGGEST DINOSAUR WE KNOW FOR CERTAIN HAD FEATHERS WAS A TYRANNOSAUR. Yutyrannus, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk ; "Tyrannosauroid integument reveals conflicting patterns of gigantism and feather evolution", Bell et al., Biology Letters 13 (2017), researchers.une.edu.au ; Largest feathered dinosaur yet discovered in China, John Whitfield, Nature news blog (4 April 2012), blogs.nature.com
141. THE ASTEROID RAISED A RING OF HILLS IN A FEW MINUTES. Dino-killing asteroid made rocks behave like liquid and could have provided habitat for new life, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, jsg.utexas.edu ; The first day of the Cenozoic, Gulick et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116 (2019), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
142. THE MAGNETIC POLES FLIP, AND THERE IS NO EVIDENCE IT CAUSES MASS EXTINCTIONS. Do any mass extinctions correlate with magnetic reversals?, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov ; "Reversals of the Earth's magnetic field", British Geological Survey, geomag.bgs.ac.uk
143. THE GRAND CANYON'S ROCKS SPAN MORE THAN ONE AND A HALF BILLION YEARS. Numeric Ages of Grand Canyon Rocks, Grand Canyon National Park, U.S. National Park Service, nps.gov
144. THE FIRST AMERICAN INSECT KNOWN TO BE WIPED OUT BY URBAN DEVELOPMENT WAS A BUTTERFLY. DNA from 93-year-old butterfly confirms the first US case of human-led insect extinction, Field Museum, fieldmuseum.org
145. A TURTLE 4.6 METRES LONG ONCE SWAM OVER THE MIDDLE OF NORTH AMERICA. Archelon: The biggest turtle to ever live, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk
146. A CROCODILE RELATIVE ATE DINOSAURS, BUT HOW HARD IT BIT IS ARGUED †. This ancient croc was bigger than most dinosaurs, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com ; Insights into the ecology and evolutionary success of crocodilians revealed through bite-force and tooth-pressure experimentation, Erickson et al., PLOS ONE 7 (2012), journals.plos.org ; The Biomechanics Behind Extreme Osteophagy in Tyrannosaurus rex, Gignac and Erickson, Scientific Reports 7 (2017), nature.com
147. THE WHOLE EARTH MAY HAVE FROZEN OVER, TWICE †. Snowball Earth climate dynamics and Cryogenian geology-geobiology, Hoffman et al., Science Advances 3 (2017), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; A New Explanation for 'Snowball Earth', Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (2026), seas.harvard.edu
148. A FLY AND TWO MITES IN AMBER BEAT THE RECORD BY 100 MILLION YEARS. Scientists find oldest occurrence of arthropods preserved in amber, American Museum of Natural History release on EurekAlert, reporting Schmidt et al., PNAS, eurekalert.org ; Arthropods in amber from the Triassic Period, Schmidt et al., PNAS 109 (2012), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
149. A DAY IN THE TIME OF THE DINOSAURS WAS HALF AN HOUR SHORTER. Ancient shell shows days were half-hour shorter 70 million years ago, AGU Newsroom, reporting de Winter et al., Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, news.agu.org
150. A SEASIDE ROCK GAVE A SCOTSMAN PROOF THE EARTH WAS FAR OLDER THAN PEOPLE THOUGHT. The Blasphemous Geologist Who Rocked Our Understanding of Earth's Age, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com
151. SINOSAUROPTERYX HAD A STRIPED TAIL, PROBABLY REDDISH-BROWN †. What colours were dinosaur feathers?, Ed Yong, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com ; Fossilized melanosomes and the colour of Cretaceous dinosaurs and birds, Zhang et al., Nature 463 (2010), nature.com
152. THE LARGEST KNOWN FLYING ANIMAL PROBABLY JUMPED TO TAKE OFF †. The largest-ever flying animal behaved like a giant heron, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; "Four, Three, Two, One... Pterosaurs Have Lift Off", ScienceDaily (2009), sciencedaily.com
153. THE ASTEROID THAT ENDED THE DINOSAURS SEEMS TO HAVE HIT IN SPRING. The Mesozoic terminated in boreal spring, During et al., Nature 603 (2022), nature.com
154. SOUTH AMERICA'S OLDEST INSECTS IN AMBER WERE DESCRIBED IN 2025. Ancient insects trapped in amber discovered in South America for the first time, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
155. THE BIGGEST APE EVER IS KNOWN FROM FOUR JAWS AND A PILE OF TEETH. The demise of the giant ape Gigantopithecus blacki, Zhang et al., Nature 625 (2024), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
156. A DINOSAUR EMBRYO WAS FOUND CURLED IN ITS EGG LIKE A CHICK. Exquisitely preserved embryo found inside fossilised dinosaur egg, University of Birmingham, birmingham.ac.uk
157. THE FIRST OF THE BIG FIVE EXTINCTIONS CAME WITH ICE. Rapid marine oxygen variability: Driver of the Late Ordovician mass extinction, Kozik et al., Science Advances 8 (2022), PubMed Central, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
158. MAMMOTHS WERE STILL ALIVE CENTURIES AFTER THE GREAT PYRAMID WAS BEGUN. Mitogenome evolution in the last surviving woolly mammoth population reveals neutral and functional consequences of small population size, Evolution Letters (2017), PubMed Central, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Last surviving woolly mammoths were inbred but not doomed to extinction, Cell Press release on Dehasque et al., Cell (2024), EurekAlert!, eurekalert.org ; Sustainability problems of the Giza pyramids, npj Heritage Science (2020), nature.com ; "The Great Pyramid", Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, egymonuments.gov.eg
159. THE FAMOUS FOSSIL SHARK FROM OHIO MAY NOT BE A SHARK †. Cladoselache, a puzzling ancient shark-like fish, Loren E. Babcock, Professor, School of Earth Sciences and Orton Geological Museum, The Ohio State University, Open Access Government (January 2026), openaccessgovernment.org ; Shark evolution: a 450 million year timeline, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
160. ONE ESTIMATE OF T. REX'S BITE IS NEARLY NINE TIMES ANOTHER †. The Biomechanics Behind Extreme Osteophagy in Tyrannosaurus rex, Gignac and Erickson, Scientific Reports 7 (2017), nature.com ; T. Rex Could Pulverize Bones with a Force of Nearly 8,000 Pounds, Live Science, livescience.com
161. MOST OF THE MAMMALS IN THE LA BREA TAR PITS ARE MEAT-EATERS. The La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, University of California Museum of Paleontology, ucmp.berkeley.edu
162. MARY ANNING'S PLESIOSAUR WAS SO STRANGE THAT CUVIER THOUGHT IT WAS A FAKE. Mary Anning: The unsung hero of fossil discovery, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk
163. THE FIRST FEATHERED DINOSAUR THAT WAS NOT A BIRD TURNED UP IN 1996. Sinosauropteryx, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Dinosaurs - Sinosauropteryx prima, Australian Museum, australian.museum ; An exceptionally well-preserved theropod dinosaur from the Yixian Formation of China, Chen, Dong and Zhen, Nature 391 (1998), nature.com ; The remarkable fossils from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of China, Benton et al., Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 119 (2008), University of Bristol copy, bpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com
164. FOR CLOSE TO HALF OF EARTH'S HISTORY, THE AIR HELD ALMOST NO OXYGEN. The Great Oxidation Event: How Cyanobacteria Changed Life, Kartik Aiyer, Ph.D., American Society for Microbiology (2022), asm.org
165. CARBON DATING CANNOT DATE A DINOSAUR: IT RUNS OUT AFTER ABOUT 50,000 YEARS. UChicago site of radiocarbon dating discovery named historic landmark, University of Chicago News (2016), news.uchicago.edu ; How Do Scientists Determine the Ages of Human Ancestors, Fossilized Dinosaurs and Other Organisms?, Scientific American, quoting José Capriles of Pennsylvania State University, scientificamerican.com ; When did dinosaurs live?, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
166. BIG ANIMALS VANISHED HARDEST WHERE MODERN HUMANS CAME FIRST †. Global late Quaternary megafauna extinctions linked to humans, not climate change, Sandom et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B 281 (2014), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
167. THE FIRST DINOSAUR WAS NAMED BEFORE THE WORD "DINOSAUR" EXISTED. Megalosaurus, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk ; "Footprints from a vast dinosaur highway discovered in the UK", Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
168. WE HAVE 21 SECONDS OF FILM OF THE LAST KNOWN THYLACINE. Footage of last-known surviving Tasmanian tiger remastered and released in 4K colour, ABC News (2021), abc.net.au ; Newly discovered footage of last-known Tasmanian tiger released, ABC News (2020), abc.net.au
169. FOR MOST OF ITS HISTORY, LIFE WAS TOO SMALL TO SEE. The Microbial World, The Burgess Shale, Royal Ontario Museum, burgess-shale.rom.on.ca ; "Evidence for early life in Earth's oldest hydrothermal vent precipitates", Dodd et al., Nature 543 (2017), nature.com
170. VELOCIRAPTOR WAS THE SIZE OF A TURKEY, AND FEATHERED. Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk
171. THE CRATER THAT FINISHED THE DINOSAURS WAS FIRST SPOTTED BY OIL PROSPECTORS. A 'Smoking Gun' for Dinosaur Extinction, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2003), jpl.nasa.gov ; A Tale of Two Rocks, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; Deep Impact and the Mass Extinction of Species 65 Million Years Ago, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
172. AMMONITES WERE STILL TURNING OUT NEW SPECIES WHEN THE ASTEROID HIT †. Ammonite extinction at the end of the dinosaur era was not inevitable, Natural History Museum, London (2024), nhm.ac.uk ; Ammonites, British Geological Survey, bgs.ac.uk ; Paleozoic ammonoid ecomorphometrics test ecospace availability as a driver of morphological diversification, Whalen et al., Science Advances 6 (2020), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
173. DIMETRODON IS NOT A DINOSAUR. IT IS ON YOUR SIDE OF THE FAMILY. Dimetrodon is not a dinosaur: using tree thinking to understand the ancient relatives of mammals and their evolution, Kenneth D. Angielczyk (Field Museum), Evolution: Education and Outreach 2 (2009), link.springer.com
174. THE BIGGEST BIRD EGGS EVER MAY HAVE BEEN SMALL FOR THEIR MOTHERS. What is the biggest bird in the world?, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
175. A FISH HAD A NECK AND A WRIST 375 MILLION YEARS AGO. A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan, Daeschler, Shubin and Jenkins, Nature 440 (2006), nature.com ; New fossil shows four-legged fishapod that returned to the water, University of Chicago, biologicalsciences.uchicago.edu ; "Thinopus and a Critical Review of Devonian Tetrapod Footprints", Lucas, Ichnos 22 (2015), ui.adsabs.harvard.edu ; "Non-marine palaeoenvironment associated to the earliest tetrapod tracks", Qvarnstrom, Szrek, Ahlberg and Niedzwiedzki, Scientific Reports (2018), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
176. STELLER'S SEA COW MAY HAVE STARVED EVEN IF NOBODY HAD KILLED ONE †. Sea otters, kelp forests, and the extinction of Steller's sea cow, Estes et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (2015), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Steller's sea cow genome suggests this species began going extinct before the arrival of Paleolithic humans, Sharko et al., Nature Communications 12 (2021), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
177. THE DINOSAURS DID NOT ALL DIE, AND YOU HAVE SEEN ONE THIS WEEK. Why are birds the only surviving dinosaurs?, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk ; How dinosaurs evolved into birds, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk
178. THE FIRST DNA EVER READ FROM AN EXTINCT ANIMAL CAME OFF A MUSEUM SKIN. DNA sequences from the quagga, an extinct member of the horse family, Higuchi et al., Nature 312 (1984), nature.com ; A rapid loss of stripes: the evolutionary history of the extinct quagga, Leonard et al., Biology Letters (2005), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
179. SOME OF THE ROCK FROM THE DINOSAUR CRATER IS PROBABLY ON THE MOON †. Chicxulubites: a New Class of Meteorites?, Poveda and Cordero, Geofisica Internacional 47 (2008), Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, redalyc.org
180. EVEN MEGALODON NEEDED A NURSERY. Ancient Nursery Area for the Extinct Giant Shark Megalodon from the Miocene of Panama, Pimiento et al., PLOS ONE 5 (2010), journals.plos.org
181. FLOWERING PLANTS ARE AT LEAST 130 MILLION YEARS OLD, MAYBE FAR MORE †. Integrated analysis of fossils and molecular divergence time estimates a latest Jurassic origin of angiosperms, Wu et al., Nature Plants 12 (2026), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
182. THE LAST MAMMOTHS WERE INBRED, BUT THEIR GENES DID NOT KILL THEM. Temporal dynamics of woolly mammoth genome erosion prior to extinction, Dehasque et al., Cell 187 (2024), abstract on the Lund University Research Portal, portal.research.lu.se ; Last surviving woolly mammoths were inbred but not doomed to extinction, Cell Press release, EurekAlert!, eurekalert.org
183. WHAT SURVIVED THE ASTEROID WAS SMALL, AND IT HAD SOMEWHERE TO HIDE †. How an asteroid ended the age of the dinosaurs, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Survival in the first hours of the Cenozoic, Robertson et al., GSA Bulletin 116 (2004), research.amnh.org
184. A DINOSAUR MUMMY MAY HAVE KEPT ITS SKIN BECAUSE IT WAS LEFT OUT AND CHEWED †. How did these dinosaurs become 'mummies'? 2 new fossils help solve the mystery, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com
185. IT TOOK A METEORITE TO WORK OUT THE AGE OF THE EARTH. Age of the Earth, Geologic Time, U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov
186. THE WORLD'S OLDEST FOREST MOVED FROM NEW YORK TO NEXT DOOR TO BUTLIN'S. Modern trees emerged earlier than previously believed, Binghamton University, binghamton.edu ; Earth's earliest forest revealed in Somerset fossils, University of Cambridge, cam.ac.uk
187. THE PASSENGER PIGEON WENT FROM BILLIONS TO NONE, MAYBE NOT BY HUNTING ALONE †. Drastic population fluctuations explain the rapid extinction of the passenger pigeon, Hung et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111 (2014), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Passenger pigeon genome shows effects of natural selection in a huge population", University of California, Santa Cruz, on Phys.org (2017), phys.org
188. SUE THE T. REX'S BONES SAY IT PUT ON UP TO 45 POUNDS A WEEK AS A TEENAGER. T. rex had huge growth spurts, but other dinos grew "slow and steady", Field Museum, fieldmuseum.org ; "T. rex took 40 years to reach full size, study finds", ScienceDaily (2026), sciencedaily.com
189. THE "DIRE WOLVES" OF 2025 WERE GREY WOLVES WITH A HANDFUL OF GENES EDITED †. Conservation perspectives on gene editing in wild canids, IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group, 18 April 2025, canids.org ; "Conservation perspectives on gene editing in wild canids", IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group (2025), copy at the International Wolf Center, wolf.org
190. THE DINOSAURS HAD A RUN MORE THAN 500 TIMES AS LONG AS YOURS. When did dinosaurs live?, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Where did dinosaurs come from?, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Homo sapiens, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Human Origins Program, humanorigins.si.edu
191. SHARKS ARE OLDER THAN TREES. Shark evolution: a 450 million year timeline, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Earth's earliest forest revealed in Somerset fossils, University of Cambridge (2024), cam.ac.uk
192. THE DAWN HORSE WAS THE SIZE OF A SMALL DOG, OR A CAT †. Hyracotherium, Fossil Horses, Florida Museum of Natural History, floridamuseum.ufl.edu ; Horses Before the Cart, Natural History Museum, Cal Poly Humboldt, natmus.humboldt.edu ; Running With Arenahippus, Riley Black, National Geographic (2010), nationalgeographic.com
193. A 70-KILOGRAM BIRD PROBABLY COULD NOT TAKE OFF STANDING †. The aerodynamics of Argentavis, the world's largest flying bird from the Miocene of Argentina, Chatterjee, Templin and Campbell, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (2007), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Flight performance of the largest volant bird", Ksepka, PNAS 111 (2014), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
194. A MUSEUM FILED A DINOSAUR EGG UNDER ROCKS FOR OVER A CENTURY. The first known dinosaur egg? A new discovery from the collections we care for, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
195. DIPROTODON, THE LARGEST MARSUPIAL THAT EVER LIVED, WAS LIGHTER THAN A HIPPO. Diprotodon optatum, Australian Museum, australian.museum ; "New Ages for the Last Australian Megafauna: Continent-Wide Extinction About 46,000 Years Ago", Roberts et al., Science 292 (2001), ANU repository, openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au
196. THE GREAT DYING KILLED ABOUT 81 PER CENT OF SEA SPECIES, OR OVER 96 †. Siberian Traps likely culprit for end-Permian extinction, MIT News, news.mit.edu ; New study revises estimate of the greatest mass extinction, University of Hawaii News, reporting Stanley, PNAS (2016), hawaii.edu ; "Estimates of the magnitudes of major marine mass extinctions in earth history", Stanley, PNAS 113 (2016), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
197. THE SMALLEST MESOZOIC DINOSAUR EVER FOUND TURNED OUT TO BE A LIZARD. Hummingbird-sized dinosaur from the Cretaceous period of Myanmar (retracted), Xing et al., Nature 579 (2020), nature.com ; Retraction Note: Hummingbird-sized dinosaur from the Cretaceous period of Myanmar, Nature 584 (2020), nature.com ; Unusual morphology in the mid-Cretaceous lizard Oculudentavis, Bolet et al., Current Biology (2021), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
198. THERE ARE WHALES WITH LEGS IN THE EGYPTIAN DESERT. Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley), UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org ; Information module on Basilosaurus isis, William Sanders, University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, lsa.umich.edu
3. YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY HUMAN WHO EVER LIVED
199. THE NEANDERTHAL "FLOWER BURIAL" MAY HAVE BEEN BEES †. Shanidar et ses fleurs? Reflections on the palynology of the Neanderthal 'Flower Burial' hypothesis, Journal of Archaeological Science (open access copy, LJMU Research Online), researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk
200. SOMEBODY CUT OFF A LEG AT LEAST 31,000 YEARS AGO, PROBABLY A CHILD'S, SAY ITS FINDERS, AND THE CHILD LIVED. Maloney et al., "Surgical amputation of a limb 31,000 years ago in Borneo", Nature, 2022, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
201. NEANDERTHALS WERE DECORATING SHELLS 115,000 YEARS AGO. Symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by Iberian Neandertals 115,000 years ago, Science Advances (full text on PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; As early as 64,000 years ago Iberian Neanderthals created cave paintings, Max Planck Society, mpg.de
202. ONE WALKER AT LAETOLI STOOD ABOUT 165 CENTIMETRES TALL, 3.66 MILLION YEARS AGO. New footprints from Laetoli (Tanzania) provide evidence for marked body size variation in early hominins, eLife, elifesciences.org
203. ONE FINGER BONE HELD THE GENOME OF THE DENISOVANS. Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia, Nature, nature.com ; Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia, Nature (full text via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
204. FOOTPRINTS PUT PEOPLE IN NEW MEXICO AT THE HEIGHT OF THE ICE AGE †. Study confirms age of oldest fossil human footprints in North America, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, llnl.gov ; Paleolake geochronology supports Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) age for human tracks at White Sands, New Mexico, Science Advances (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Comment on Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum, Science (record via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk
205. THE OLDEST KNOWN DRAWING IS A FEW CROSSED LINES IN RED CRAYON. An abstract drawing from the 73,000-year-old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa, Nature, nature.com
206. LICE DNA SAYS CLOTHES ARE FAR OLDER THAN THE NEEDLE. Lice study dates first clothing at 170,000 years, Florida Museum of Natural History, floridamuseum.ufl.edu ; Origin of clothing lice indicates early clothing use by anatomically modern humans in Africa, Molecular Biology and Evolution (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk
207. AFRICA'S OLDEST KNOWN MODERN HUMAN BURIAL IS A SMALL CHILD. Earliest known human burial in Africa, Nature, nature.com ; Africa's oldest modern human burial found in Kenyan cave, Nature Africa, nature.com
208. A BADLY INJURED NEANDERTHAL LIVED TO 35 OR MORE, PROBABLY WITH HELP. Shanidar 1, Smithsonian Institution Human Origins Program, humanorigins.si.edu ; External auditory exostoses and hearing loss in the Shanidar 1 Neandertal, PLOS ONE, journals.plos.org
209. TWO LOGS NOTCHED TOGETHER 476,000 YEARS AGO ARE OLDER THAN OUR SPECIES. Evidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago, Nature, nature.com ; Archaeologists discover world's oldest wooden structure, University of Liverpool, news.liverpool.ac.uk
210. THE NEANDERTHALS NEVER ENTIRELY WENT AWAY. A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome, Science (author manuscript via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
211. THE TOBA SUPER-ERUPTION PROBABLY DID NOT NEARLY WIPE US OUT †. Sub-annual resolution evidence for limited impact of the 74-ka Toba eruption on eastern African climate, Science Advances (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Humans thrived in South Africa through the Toba eruption about 74,000 years ago, Nature, nature.com ; Global climate disruption and regional climate shelters after the Toba supereruption, PNAS (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Late Pleistocene human population bottlenecks, volcanic winter, and differentiation of modern humans, Journal of Human Evolution (record via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk
212. A JAWBONE PUT DENISOVANS ON THE TIBETAN PLATEAU AT LEAST 160,000 YEARS AGO. A late Middle Pleistocene Denisovan mandible from the Tibetan Plateau, Nature, nature.com
213. NEBRASKA MAN WAS ONE TOOTH, AND IT MOST LIKELY CAME FROM AN EXTINCT PECCARY. A Supposed Ancestral Man in North America, Nature, nature.com ; Hesperopithecus apparently not an ape nor a man, Science (record via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk ; The history of Hesperopithecus: the human-ape link that turned out to be a pig, Rivista di Biologia (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk ; Hesperopithecus apparently not an ape nor a man, W. K. Gregory, Science 66 (16 December 1927), scanned issue at the Internet Archive, archive.org ; The role of "Nebraska Man" in the creation-evolution debate, J. Wolf and J. S. Mellett, Creation/Evolution 5(2), 1985 (National Center for Science Education), ncse.ngo
214. THE WORLD'S OLDEST COMPLETE WOODEN SPEARS KEEP GETTING YOUNGER †. Revised age for Schöningen hunting spears indicates intensification of Neanderthal cooperative behavior around 200,000 years ago, Science Advances (via PMC), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Age of Schoningen spears revised, University of York, york.ac.uk
215. A BOY BURIED IN MONTANA 12,600 YEARS AGO ALL BUT ENDED AN ARGUMENT. The genome of a Late Pleistocene human from a Clovis burial site in western Montana, Nature, nature.com ; Native Americans descend from ancient Montana boy, Science, science.org
216. ÖTZI CARRIED A FUNGUS ON A STRING, AND IT MAY HAVE BEEN MEDICINE †. The equipment, South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, iceman.it ; Fomitopsis betulina (formerly Piptoporus betulinus): the Iceman's polypore fungus with modern biotechnological potential, World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
217. HOMO ERECTUS ENGRAVED A SHELL SOME 540,000 TO 430,000 YEARS AGO. Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving, Nature, nature.com ; Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving (abstract via Europe PMC), Nature, ebi.ac.uk ; Oldest engraving yet found, ScienceDaily (Leiden University release), sciencedaily.com
218. NEANDERTHALS MADE GLUE, AND THEIR BRAINS WERE AS BIG AS OURS. Homo neanderthalensis, Smithsonian Institution Human Origins Program, humanorigins.si.edu ; Middle Paleolithic complex technology and a Neandertal tar-backed tool from the Dutch North Sea, PNAS (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Reply to Schmidt et al.: Interpretation of Paleolithic adhesive production, PNAS (TU Delft record), research.tudelft.nl
219. PIECES OF A LOST KIND OF HUMAN WERE READ OUT OF LIVING PEOPLE'S DNA. Excavating Neandertal and Denisovan DNA from the genomes of Melanesian individuals, Science (PMC author manuscript), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Philippine Ayta possess the highest level of Denisovan ancestry in the world, Current Biology (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk
220. THE OLDEST PAINTED SCENE READ AS A STORY IS ABOUT A PIG †. Oldest cave art found in Sulawesi, Science Advances (PMC full text), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Narrative cave art in Indonesia by 51,200 years ago, Nature, nature.com ; Cave art 51,000 years ago is oldest evidence of picture stories, Newsweek, newsweek.com
221. HUMANS GENERALLY GOT SHORTER WHEN THEY TOOK UP FARMING. Stature and robusticity during the agricultural transition: evidence from the bioarchaeological record, Economics and Human Biology (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk ; A century of trends in adult human height, eLife, elifesciences.org
222. ICE AGE HUNTERS WERE WEAVING, AND THE CLAY KEPT THE PROOF. Upper Palaeolithic fibre technology: interlaced woven finds from Pavlov I, Czech Republic, c. 26,000 years ago, Antiquity (Cambridge Core), cambridge.org ; The Basket Age, Discover Magazine (reporting Adovasio and Soffer), discovermagazine.com
223. PEOPLE IN SOMERSET MADE CUPS FROM HUMAN SKULLS 14,700 YEARS AGO. Earliest Directly-Dated Human Skull-Cups, PLOS ONE, journals.plos.org
224. THE FLORES "HOBBIT" BONES ARE FAR OLDER THAN FIRST THOUGHT. Homo floresiensis, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, humanorigins.si.edu ; Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia, Nature, nature.com
225. THE EARLY HUMAN FOSSIL RECORD IS MORE THAN 6,000 INDIVIDUALS, SOME OF THEM ONE TOOTH. Human Fossils, Smithsonian Institution Human Origins Program, humanorigins.si.edu
226. YOU AND THE PERSON YOU LIKE LEAST MAY SHARE AN ANCESTOR FROM A FEW THOUSAND YEARS AGO. Modelling the recent common ancestry of all living humans, Nature, nature.com
227. A MAN WITH A LION'S HEAD WAS CARVED FROM MAMMOTH IVORY ABOUT 40,000 YEARS AGO. Archaeology, Museum Ulm, museumulm.de ; The Lion Man, Museum Ulm (loewenmensch.de), loewenmensch.de ; Narrative cave art in Indonesia by 51,200 years ago, Nature, nature.com
228. A SOUTH AFRICAN SEA CAVE WAS SERVING SHELLFISH 164,000 YEARS AGO. Early human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene, Nature, nature.com
229. EASTER ISLAND MAY NEVER HAVE WIPED ITSELF OUT †. Moreno-Mayar et al., Ancient Rapanui genomes reveal resilience and pre-European contact with the Americas, Nature 633 (2024), nature.com ; DiNapoli et al., Approximate Bayesian Computation of radiocarbon and paleoenvironmental record shows population resilience on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Nature Communications 12 (2021), PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Ecology of the collapse of Rapa Nui society, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (record via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk ; DiNapoli et al., Approximate Bayesian Computation of radiocarbon and paleoenvironmental record (Binghamton University copy), orb.binghamton.edu
230. BOWS AND ARROWS WERE IN USE IN A SRI LANKAN RAINFOREST 48,000 YEARS AGO. Bows and arrows and complex symbolic displays 48,000 years ago in the South Asian tropics, Science Advances (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Bow-and-arrow, technology of the first modern humans in Europe 54,000 years ago at Mandrin, France, Science Advances (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk
231. A GENE LINKED TO SPEECH: THE SAME TWO CHANGES, AND, IN SOME, A DIFFERENT SWITCH. The derived FOXP2 variant of modern humans was shared with Neandertals, Current Biology (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk ; A recent evolutionary change affects a regulatory element in the human FOXP2 gene, Molecular Biology and Evolution (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
232. A FLORIDA POND KEPT HUMAN BRAINS FOR 8,000 YEARS. America's Bog People, NOVA, PBS, pbs.org ; Anatomical, cellular and molecular analysis of 8,000-yr-old human brain tissue from the Windover archaeological site, Nature, nature.com
233. MANY CAVE HAND STENCILS MAY HAVE BEEN MADE BY WOMEN †. Sexual Dimorphism in European Upper Paleolithic Cave Art, American Antiquity (Cambridge Core), cambridge.org ; Exploring the utility of Geometric Morphometrics to analyse prehistoric hand stencils, Scientific Reports (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Exploring the utility of Geometric Morphometrics to analyse prehistoric hand stencils, Scientific Reports (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk
234. IN A BELGIAN CAVE, NEANDERTHALS WERE BUTCHERED AND THEIR BONES USED AS TOOLS. Neandertal cannibalism and Neandertal bones used as tools in Northern Europe, Scientific Reports, nature.com
235. MOST PEOPLE DIGEST MILK LESS WELL AFTER INFANCY, AND THAT IS NORMAL. Lactose intolerance, MedlinePlus Genetics, US National Library of Medicine, medlineplus.gov
236. LUCY MAY HAVE DIED FALLING OUT OF A TREE †. Perimortem fractures in Lucy suggest mortality from fall out of tall tree, Nature, nature.com ; Scientists Divided Over How Lucy Died, NPR, npr.org ; Perimortem fractures in Lucy suggest mortality from fall out of tall tree (first author's name, record via Europe PMC), Nature, ebi.ac.uk
237. NOBODY KNOWS WHO MADE THE TOOTH PENDANTS IN DENISOVA CAVE †. Age estimates for hominin fossils and the onset of the Upper Palaeolithic at Denisova Cave, Nature, nature.com ; Visitor Log Chronicled for the Denisovan Family Home, SAPIENS, sapiens.org
238. RED HAIR IS TIED TO ONE KEY GENE, AND NEANDERTHALS BROKE IT THEIR OWN WAY. MC1R gene, MedlinePlus Genetics, US National Library of Medicine, medlineplus.gov ; A melanocortin 1 receptor allele suggests varying pigmentation among Neanderthals, Science (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
239. THE OLDEST KNOWN HOMO SAPIENS FOSSILS ARE ABOUT 300,000 YEARS OLD †. New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens, Nature, nature.com ; The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age, Nature, nature.com ; Modern humans, Homo sapiens: When, where and how did we evolve?, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco (abstract via Europe PMC), Nature, ebi.ac.uk ; 315,000-Year-Old Fossils From Morocco Could Be Earliest Recorded Homo Sapiens, NPR (Michigan Public), michiganpublic.org
240. BRITAIN'S OLDEST HUMAN BONES ARE A SHIN AND TWO TEETH. Earliest human fossils in the UK reveal how ancient European hominins were connected, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Hominin footprints from Early Pleistocene deposits at Happisburgh, UK, PLOS ONE, journals.plos.org
241. A SICK NEANDERTHAL MAY HAVE BEEN DOSING HIMSELF WITH POPLAR AND MOULD. Neanderthal behaviour, diet, and disease inferred from ancient DNA in dental calculus, Nature, nature.com ; Dental plaque DNA shows Neandertals used 'aspirin', EurekAlert! (University of Adelaide release), eurekalert.org
242. SOMETHING CROSSED THE SEA TO FLORES A MILLION YEARS AGO. Hominins on Flores, Indonesia, by one million years ago, Nature, nature.com ; Fission-track ages of stone tools and fossils on the east Indonesian island of Flores, Nature, nature.com
243. THE CLOVIS PEOPLE WERE NOT THE FIRST AMERICANS †. Redefining the age of Clovis, Science (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Monte Verde: seaweed, food, medicine, and the peopling of South America, Science (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands, Science (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Comment on Redefining the Age of Clovis: Implications for the Peopling of the Americas, Science (ResearchGate record), researchgate.net
244. THE MAJOR GENETIC RISK FACTOR FOR SEVERE COVID-19 CAME FROM NEANDERTHALS. The major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neanderthals, Nature, nature.com ; Neandertal genes in people today may raise risk of severe COVID-19, Science News, sciencenews.org
245. HOMO NALEDI MAY HAVE BURIED ITS DEAD, AND THE REVIEWERS ARE SPLIT †. Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi, eLife (reviewed preprint, with eLife assessment), elifesciences.org ; No scientific evidence for cognitively advanced behaviors by Homo naledi, Phys.org, phys.org
246. MORE THAN 10,000 EARTHWORKS MAY STILL BE HIDDEN UNDER THE AMAZON. More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia, Science (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Impact of pre-Columbian "geoglyph" builders on Amazonian forests, PNAS (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Hundreds of ancient earthworks built in the Amazon (University of Exeter release), ScienceDaily, sciencedaily.com
247. THE PHILIPPINES HAD A HUMAN SPECIES OF ITS OWN, WITH TINY TEETH AND CURVED FINGERS. Modern humans, Homo sapiens: When, where and how did we evolve?, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; The origin of our species, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Homo luzonensis: A small, ancient human species from the Philippines, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
248. NEANDERTHAL MENUS CHANGED FROM CAVE TO CAVE. Neanderthal behaviour, diet, and disease inferred from ancient DNA in dental calculus, Nature, nature.com ; Paleobiology and comparative morphology of a late Neandertal sample from El Sidrón, Asturias, Spain, PNAS (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Neanderthals did not likely consume Physcomitrium patens, a model moss species, bioRxiv, biorxiv.org ; Paleobiology and comparative morphology of a late Neandertal sample from El Sidron (abstract via Europe PMC), PNAS, ebi.ac.uk
249. A DROWNED VILLAGE OFF ISRAEL STILL HAS ITS WELL. A submerged 7000-year-old village and seawall demonstrate earliest known coastal defence against sea-level rise, PLOS ONE (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
250. A MAN IN ROMANIA HAD A NEANDERTHAL ANCESTOR FOUR TO SIX GENERATIONS BACK. An early modern human from Romania with a recent Neanderthal ancestor, Nature, nature.com ; An early modern human from Romania with a recent Neanderthal ancestor (abstract via Europe PMC), Nature, ebi.ac.uk
251. A GIRL IN A FLOODED CAVE PIT LINKS THE FIRST AMERICANS TO LIVING ONES. Late Pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link Paleoamericans and modern Native Americans, Science (abstract via Europe PMC), science.org ; ebi.ac.uk ; Human Skeleton is One of Oldest Found in North America, Northwestern University, news.northwestern.edu
252. STONE TOOLS ARE OLDER THAN THE HUMAN GENUS †. 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya, Nature, nature.com ; The First Million Years of Technology: The Lomekwian and the Early Oldowan, Annual Review of Anthropology (2025, via NSF Public Access Repository), par.nsf.gov ; Archer et al. 2020, cited for alternative views on Lomekwi 3, eLife review (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
253. AT LEAST 28 PEOPLE LIE AT THE BOTTOM OF A SPANISH SHAFT, WITH ONE FAMOUS HAND AXE †. Lethal interpersonal violence in the Middle Pleistocene, PLOS ONE, journals.plos.org ; Biface "Excalibur", Museum of Human Evolution, Burgos (Google Arts and Culture), artsandculture.google.com
254. A NEANDERTHAL NEEDED A MOUNTAIN OF FOOD EVERY DAY. Neandertal Cold Adaptation: Technological, Anatomical, and Physiological Responses to Cold Stress, American Journal of Human Biology (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Neandertal energetics and foraging efficiency, Journal of Human Evolution (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
255. THE OLDEST KNOWN ARTIFICIAL MUMMIES WERE MADE IN CHILE. Settlement and Artificial Mummification of the Chinchorro Culture in the Arica and Parinacota Region, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org ; Evidence for prehistoric origins of Egyptian mummification in late Neolithic burials, PLOS ONE (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk
256. NEANDERTHALS WERE MOSTLY RIGHT-HANDED, LIKE MOST PEOPLE TODAY. Right handed Neandertals: Vindija and beyond, Journal of Anthropological Sciences (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk ; the 2012 Laterality paper on the Sima de los Huesos teeth (abstract via Europe PMC), europepmc.org
257. YOUR ANCESTORS MAY ONCE HAVE BEEN DOWN TO ABOUT 1,280 BREEDING ADULTS †. Early ancestral bottleneck could've spelled the end for modern humans, EurekAlert! (release on the Science paper), eurekalert.org ; A previously reported bottleneck in human ancestry 900 kya is likely a statistical artifact, Genetics (full text on PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Severe bottleneck of ancient Homo populations: insights from computational modeling and relevant fossil evidence, Molecular Biology and Evolution (full text on PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Human ancestors may have almost died out in ancient population crash, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
258. THE FIRST KING ON THE SUMERIAN KING LIST RULED FOR 28,800 YEARS. Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism, AN1923.444), Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, ashmolean.org ; The Sumerian king list: translation, Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, University of Oxford, etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk
259. TIBET'S THIN-AIR GENE CAME FROM DENISOVANS. The history and evolution of the Denisovan-EPAS1 haplotype in Tibetans, PNAS (full text on PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
260. PEOPLE IN ANCIENT UKRAINE BUILT WITH MAMMOTH BONES †. A revised radiocarbon chronology for the mammoth bone structures and associated features at Mezhyrich, Ukraine, Open Research Europe (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
261. TWO SAHARAN MUMMIES CARRY A HUMAN LINEAGE UNKNOWN UNTIL 2025. Ancient DNA from the Green Sahara reveals ancestral North African lineage, Nature (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
262. MITOCHONDRIAL EVE WAS REAL, AND SHE WAS NOT ALONE. Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution, Nature, nature.com ; Mitochondrial Eve, Mark Stoneking, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center, dnalc.cshl.edu
263. PEOPLE MAY HAVE REACHED AUSTRALIA 65,000 YEARS AGO. MAY †. Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago, Nature, nature.com ; When did Homo sapiens first reach Southeast Asia and Sahul?, PNAS (PMC full text), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
264. MANY OF THE HANDS STENCILLED AT GARGAS ARE MISSING FINGERS †. Gravettian hand stencils as sign language formatives, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Further information on the prehistoric representations of human hands in the cave of Gargas, Medical History (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
265. NEANDERTHAL BONES READ LIKE A WOLF'S. Isotopic evidence for the diets of European Neanderthals and early modern humans, PNAS (PMC full text), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
266. ABOUT 90 PER CENT OF BRITAIN'S GENE POOL WAS REPLACED IN A FEW HUNDRED YEARS. The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe, Nature, nature.com
267. A GIRL WITH A NEANDERTHAL MOTHER AND A DENISOVAN FATHER. The genome of the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father, Nature, nature.com ; The girl with Neanderthal and Denisovan parents, Nature Reviews Genetics, nature.com ; This ancient teenager is the first known person with parents of two different species, PBS NewsHour (reporting Slon et al., Nature), pbs.org
268. ÖTZI WAS MURDERED, AND THE ARROWHEAD IS STILL IN HIM †. The body, South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, iceman.it ; The discovery, South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, iceman.it ; New insights on Ötzi's injuries from a clinical perspective, Scientific Reports (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
269. JEBEL SAHABA WAS NOT ONE BATTLE BUT REPEATED VIOLENCE. New insights on interpersonal violence in the Late Pleistocene based on the Nile valley cemetery of Jebel Sahaba, Scientific Reports, nature.com ; New insights on interpersonal violence in the Late Pleistocene based on the Nile valley cemetery of Jebel Sahaba, Scientific Reports (full text via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
270. A 9,000-YEAR-OLD BIG-GAME HUNTER IN THE ANDES WAS A YOUNG WOMAN †. Female hunters of the early Americas, Science Advances (PMC full text), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
271. ICE AGE CHILDREN LEFT THEIR FOOTPRINTS IN AUSTRALIA. Pleistocene human footprints from the Willandra Lakes, southeastern Australia, Journal of Human Evolution (abstract via Bond University and Europe PMC), sciencedirect.com ; research.bond.edu.au ; ebi.ac.uk ; Further research of the Willandra Lakes fossil footprint site, southeastern Australia, Journal of Human Evolution, 2007 (copy), pierrickauger.wordpress.com
272. HAMMURABI'S LAWS WERE NOT THE FIRST †. Samuel Noah Kramer, "A Fulbright in Turkey: Law and Love, A Hymn, A Prayer, and a Word to the Wise", Penn Museum Bulletin XVII (2), 1952, penn.museum ; The Ur-Nammu Law Code: Who Was Its Author?, S. N. Kramer, Orientalia 52 (1983) (catalogue record, University of Tubingen), keibi.uni-tuebingen.de ; Code of Ur-Nammu, World History Encyclopedia, worldhistory.org
273. THE DATE THAT MADE NEANDERTHALS CAVE PAINTERS IN SPAIN IS DISPUTED †. As early as 64,000 years ago Iberian Neanderthals created cave paintings, Max Planck Society, mpg.de ; Dating questions challenge whether Neandertals drew Spanish cave art, Science News, sciencenews.org
274. ONE STUDY SAYS THE FIRST AMERICANS PROBABLY DID NOT COME DOWN THE ICE CORRIDOR. Postglacial viability and colonization in North America's ice-free corridor, Nature, nature.com ; Monte Verde: seaweed, food, medicine, and the peopling of South America, Science (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
275. IN BRITAIN, MOST OF THE "CAVEMEN" DID NOT LIVE IN CAVES. Ask the Expert: Did Cavemen Actually Live in Caves?, English Heritage, english-heritage.org.uk
276. KENNEWICK MAN'S DNA SETTLED WHAT HIS SKULL COULD NOT. The ancestry and affiliations of Kennewick Man, Nature, nature.com
277. A 45,000-YEAR-OLD MAN SHOWS WHEN WE MET THE NEANDERTHALS. Genome sequence of a 45,000-year-old modern human from western Siberia, Nature, nature.com ; Neanderthal ancestry through time: Insights from genomes of ancient and present-day humans, Science (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk
278. A SICK PUPPY WAS NURSED FOR WEEKS, 14,000 YEARS AGO. A Sickly Paleolithic Pupper Only Survived Because of Human Help, Smithsonian Magazine (reporting Janssens et al., Journal of Archaeological Science), smithsonianmag.com
279. WE SHARED EUROPE WITH THE NEANDERTHALS FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, NOT WEEKS. The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance, Nature, nature.com ; Optimal linear estimation models predict 1400–2900 years of overlap between Homo sapiens and Neandertals prior to their disappearance from France and northern Spain, Scientific Reports, nature.com
280. PEOPLE AT QESEM CAVE SEEM TO HAVE SAVED DEER MARROW FOR LATER, SOME 400,000 YEARS AGO. Bone marrow storage and delayed consumption at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel (420 to 200 ka), Science Advances (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
281. SOMEONE WAS CARRYING FIRE INTO A SOUTH AFRICAN CAVE OVER A MILLION YEARS AGO. New evidence for Early Pleistocene use of fire at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa), PLOS ONE, journals.plos.org ; Ancient fire record rewritten: Researchers push earliest evidence of human fire use back to over a million years, EurekAlert! (Hebrew University release), eurekalert.org
282. EVERY POPULATION OUTSIDE AFRICA GETS MOST OF ITS ANCESTRY FROM ONE MIGRATION †. A genomic history of Aboriginal Australia (with the editorial summary of all three papers), Nature, nature.com ; Genomic analyses inform on migration events during the peopling of Eurasia, Nature, nature.com ; The Simons Genome Diversity Project, Nature, nature.com ; Inference of human population history from individual whole-genome sequences, Nature, nature.com
283. OLD RECORDS SAY TWO SLEEPS A NIGHT. A FIELD STUDY FOUND ONE †. Sleep, Interrupted, ECHO, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Virginia Tech, 2017, liberalarts.vt.edu ; Yetish et al., "Natural Sleep and Its Seasonal Variations in Three Pre-Industrial Societies", Current Biology 25 (21), 2015, Chapman University Digital Commons, digitalcommons.chapman.edu ; Reflections on Have We Lost Sleep?, A. Roger Ekirch, Medical History (Cambridge Core), cambridge.org
284. PEOPLE WERE CATCHING TUNA 42,000 YEARS AGO. Pelagic fishing at 42,000 years before the present and the maritime skills of modern humans, Science (abstract via Europe PMC), science.org ; ebi.ac.uk ; Reeling In Evidence of Early Fishing, Archaeology Magazine, archaeology.org ; Inshore or offshore? Boating and fishing in the Pleistocene, Atholl Anderson, Antiquity (Cambridge Core), cambridge.org
285. BLUE EYES MAY ALL TRACE BACK TO ONE MUTATION. Blue eye color in humans may be caused by a perfectly associated founder mutation in a regulatory element located within the HERC2 gene inhibiting OCA2 expression, Human Genetics (abstract via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk
286. THE "DRAGON MAN" SKULL, NAMED A NEW SPECIES IN 2021, IS NOW LINKED TO THE DENISOVANS †. 'Dragon Man' DNA revelation puts a face to a mysterious group of ancient humans, CNN, cnn.com ; Key Evidence Links Harbin Individual's Nearly Complete Skull to a Denisovan, Chinese Academy of Sciences, english.cas.cn ; Skull found in a well defied classification (CNN report, syndicated), Yahoo News, yahoo.com
287. ANCIENT DNA HAS FOUND DOWN SYNDROME IN BURIALS THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD. Cases of trisomy 21 and trisomy 18 among historic and prehistoric individuals discovered from ancient DNA, Nature Communications, nature.com
288. ARDI CLIMBED TREES, BUT HOW SHE WALKED IS STILL ARGUED †. Ardipithecus ramidus, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Human Origins Program, humanorigins.si.edu ; Ardipithecus ramidus and the paleobiology of early hominids, Science (abstract via Europe PMC), science.org ; ebi.ac.uk ; Behavioral and phylogenetic implications of a narrow allometric study of Ardipithecus ramidus, Homo (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Behavioral and phylogenetic implications of a narrow allometric study of Ardipithecus ramidus (authors, record via Europe PMC), Homo, ebi.ac.uk
289. NEANDERTHALS MADE STRING. Direct evidence of Neanderthal fibre technology and its cognitive and behavioral implications, Scientific Reports, nature.com
290. CHEDDAR MAN MOST LIKELY HAD DARK SKIN, AND HIS DNA SAYS BLUE EYES. Cheddar Man: Mesolithic Britain's blue-eyed boy, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Cheddar Man FAQ, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
291. THE Y-CHROMOSOME CRASH MAY NOT BE A COUNT OF DEAD MEN †. Cultural hitchhiking and competition between patrilineal kin groups explain the post-Neolithic Y-chromosome bottleneck, Nature Communications (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Patrilineal segmentary systems provide a peaceful explanation for the post-Neolithic Y-chromosome bottleneck, Nature Communications (abstract via PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; the same 2024 paper, full text (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
292. ONE SKULL, FOUR RADIOCARBON DATES, FOUR DIFFERENT ANSWERS. A genome sequence from a modern human skull over 45,000 years old from Zlatý kůň in Czechia, Nature Ecology & Evolution, nature.com
293. A GERMAN RIVER VALLEY IS OFTEN CALLED EUROPE'S OLDEST KNOWN BATTLEFIELD. Southern army fought at 'Europe's oldest battle', Antiquity (journal news, reporting Inselmann et al. in Antiquity), antiquity.ac.uk
294. ÖTZI THE ICEMAN HAS 61 TATTOOS, AND HOW THEY WERE MADE IS DISPUTED †. Ötzi, the body, South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, iceman.it ; Ötzi the Iceman's 61 tattoos weren't made in the way archaeologists first thought, CNN, edition.cnn.com ; Chalcolithic Tattooing: Historical and Experimental Evaluation of the Tyrolean Iceman's Body Markings, European Journal of Archaeology, cambridge.org
295. TWENTY-SEVEN PEOPLE MAY HAVE BEEN LEFT UNBURIED AT NATARUK AROUND 10,000 YEARS AGO †. Evidence of a prehistoric massacre extends the history of warfare, University of Cambridge, cam.ac.uk ; Contesting the massacre at Nataruk, Nature, nature.com ; Contesting the massacre at Nataruk, Nature (record via Europe PMC), ebi.ac.uk ; New insights on interpersonal violence in the Late Pleistocene based on the Nile valley cemetery of Jebel Sahaba, Scientific Reports (via PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
296. ABOUT HALF THE NEANDERTHALS STUDIED HAD SURFER'S EAR. External auditory exostoses among western Eurasian late Middle and Late Pleistocene humans, PLOS ONE, journals.plos.org
297. THE PYRAMID CREWS NAMED THEMSELVES, AND ONE LOT WERE THE DRUNKARDS. Excavating the Lost City, interview with Mark Lehner, NOVA, PBS, 1 January 2010, pbs.org
4. ANIMALS ARE NOT DOING WHAT YOU THINK
298. IDAHO ONCE PARACHUTED BEAVERS INTO THE WILDERNESS. Parachuting beavers into Idaho's wilderness? Yes, it really happened, Boise State Public Radio, quoting Idaho Fish and Game and Heter's report in the Journal of Wildlife Management, boisestatepublicradio.org ; Beavers Once Parachuted into Idaho's Backcountry, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com
299. A WILD ORANGUTAN DRESSED HIS OWN WOUND WITH A MEDICINAL PLANT. Active self-treatment of a facial wound with a biologically active plant by a male Sumatran orangutan, Scientific Reports (Laumer and others, 2024), nature.com
300. CUT THIS FLATWORM INTO 20 PIECES AND YOU GET 20 FLATWORMS. Flatworms yield insights into the mystery of regeneration, Whitehead Institute, wi.mit.edu ; How one worm can rebuild its whole body, Whitehead Institute, wi.mit.edu
301. A STAR-NOSED MOLE CAN FIND AND EAT ITS DINNER IN 120 MILLISECONDS. Asymptotic prey profitability drives star-nosed moles to the foraging speed limit, Nature 433 (2005), Catania and Remple, nature.com
302. AN ELEPHANT DROPS ABOUT 160 KILOGRAMS OF DUNG A DAY, AND BY ONE ESTIMATE IT FEEDS TWO MILLION BEETLES. Krell, One elephant may sustain 2 million dung beetles in East African savannas on any given day, The Science of Nature 2024, link.springer.com ; On the importance of elephant poop, Science News, reporting Sekar and others in Ecology, sciencenews.org
303. SEA OTTERS HOLD HANDS, AND ALSO TIE THEMSELVES TO THE SEAWEED. Northern Sea Otter Coloring Page, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, fws.gov ; Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, fws.gov ; Sea Otters 101, NOAA Ocean Today, oceantoday.noaa.gov ; Paws up for science, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, sanctuaries.noaa.gov
304. FLAMINGOS ARE BORN GREY AND TURN PINK FROM WHAT THEY EAT. Why Are Flamingos Pink? And Other Flamingo Facts, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, nationalzoo.si.edu
305. A LAMP CAN TURN A FLYING MOTH UPSIDE DOWN †. Why flying insects gather at artificial light, Nature Communications, nature.com ; Shedding light with harmonic radar: Unveiling the hidden impacts of streetlights on moth flight behavior, PNAS, via PMC (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Why flying insects gather at artificial light" (preprint, Fabian and others), bioRxiv, biorxiv.org
306. A DUCK'S QUACK ECHOES. THE ECHO IS JUST HARD TO HEAR. Karl S. Kruszelnicki, Quacks Don't Echo, ABC Science, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 6 May 2004, abc.net.au
307. A WOOD FROG SPENDS THE WINTER FROZEN AND THAWS OUT ALIVE. Mitochondria and the Frozen Frog, PMC (NIH), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
308. ANIMALS FEEL AN EARTHQUAKE SECONDS AHEAD. DAYS AHEAD IS UNPROVEN †. Animals & Earthquake Prediction, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
309. SEALED HONEY 2,500 YEARS OLD HAD TURNED TO A WAXY PASTE. A Symbol of Immortality: Evidence of Honey in Bronze Jars Found in a Paestum Shrine Dating to 530-510 BCE, da Costa Carvalho et al., Journal of the American Chemical Society 147 (2025), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; The Science Behind Honey's Eternal Shelf Life, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 August 2013 (the source of the story only), smithsonianmag.com
310. OCTOPUSES REWRITE THEIR NERVE PROTEINS WITHOUT TOUCHING THEIR DNA. Octopuses and squid are masters of RNA editing while leaving DNA intact, Science News, 19 May 2023, sciencenews.org ; Temperature-induced RNA recoding in octopus, Nature Genetics research highlight of Birk and others, Cell 186 (2023), nature.com
311. THERE IS A SQUIRREL UP TO 3 FEET LONG, AND IT IS NEARLY PURPLE. Yes, Giant Technicolor Squirrels Actually Roam the Forests of Southern India, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; Ratufa indica, Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan, animaldiversity.org ; Giant purple squirrels do exist, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com
312. ONE GREENLAND SHARK WAS PROBABLY AT LEAST 272 YEARS OLD. Eye lens radiocarbon reveals centuries of longevity in the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), Science 353 (2016), abstract on the University of Copenhagen Research Portal, researchprofiles.ku.dk ; Old and cold: extreme longevity in Greenland sharks, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, vims.edu
313. THE COLOSSAL SQUID HAS THE BIGGEST EYES EVER STUDIED †. The eyes of the colossal squid, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, tepapa.govt.nz ; "A Unique Advantage for Giant Eyes in Giant Squid", Nilsson and others, Current Biology 22 (2012), Lund University research portal, lup.lub.lu.se
314. THE PECKING ORDER BEGAN WITH A 10-YEAR-OLD WATCHING HENS. The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 2022, via PubMed Central, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Pecking order: UC biologist explains 100 years of dominance hierarchies, University of Cincinnati, uc.edu
315. A MALE PLATYPUS IS VENOMOUS, AND THE PAIN IS SAVAGE. Platypus envenomation: a painful learning experience, Fenner, Williamson and Myers, Medical Journal of Australia 157 (1992), doi.org ; abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
316. AN ARCHERFISH SHOOTS INSECTS OFF LEAVES WITH A JET OF WATER. One shot, one kill: the forces delivered by archer fish shots to distant targets, Zoology, via PubMed (NIH), pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
317. SPIDERS CAN TAKE OFF ON THE EARTH'S ELECTRIC FIELD. Electric Fields Elicit Ballooning in Spiders, Current Biology (Morley and Robert, 2018), PubMed Central, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
318. AN OCTOPUS'S MAIN HEART STOPS WHEN IT SWIMS BY JET. Blood flow and pressure changes in exercising octopuses (Octopus vulgaris), Wells et al., Journal of Experimental Biology 131 (1987), doi.org ; abstract via Crossref, api.crossref.org
319. SNAKES HAVE NO EARDRUMS, AND PYTHONS SEEM TO HEAR THROUGH THEIR JAWS †. Hearing with an atympanic ear: good vibration and poor sound-pressure detection in the royal python, Python regius, Christensen et al., Journal of Experimental Biology 215 (2012), doi.org ; abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; "Sound garden: How snakes respond to airborne and groundborne sounds", Zdenek and others, PLOS ONE (2023), journals.plos.org
320. WILD TURKEYS CAN FLY. IT IS THE ONE ON YOUR PLATE THAT CANNOT. Turkey, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, nationalzoo.si.edu ; Raising Turkeys as a 4-H or FFA Project, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, livestock.extension.wisc.edu ; Podcast: Wild Turkeys, NC State News, news.ncsu.edu
321. YOUR DOG DOES NOT SEE IN BLACK AND WHITE. What Colors Do Dogs See?, Scientific American, scientificamerican.com ; Neitz, Geist and Jacobs, Color vision in the dog, Visual Neuroscience 1989, abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
322. A SEA LION'S SMALL BRAIN IS ITS BIG BODY'S FAULT †. New Study Has Scientists Re-Evaluating Relative Brain Size and Mammalian Intelligence, Stony Brook University, news.stonybrook.edu
323. A BALEEN WHALE'S EARWAX IS A LIFELONG DIARY OF ITS STRESS. Baleen whale cortisol levels reveal a physiological response to 20th century whaling, Nature Communications, nature.com
324. NOBODY HAS EVER SEEN AN EEL SPAWN IN THE SARGASSO SEA †. First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea, Wright et al., Scientific Reports 12 (2022), nature.com ; "No new evidence for an Atlantic eels spawning area outside the Sargasso Sea", Hanel, Marohn and Westerberg, Scientific Reports (2022), full text via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; "First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea", Wright and others, Scientific Reports 12 (2022), full text via PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
325. KOALAS HAVE FINGERPRINTS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO YOURS. Koalas have fingerprints almost identical to ours, NOVA, PBS, pbs.org
326. THE ONLY VENOMOUS PRIMATES SEEM TO SAVE IT FOR EACH OTHER †. Evaluating the Use of Chemical Weapons for Capturing Prey by a Venomous Mammal, the Greater Slow Loris, Animals (2024), PubMed Central, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
327. A PIKA'S WINTER LARDER IS FULL OF PLANTS THAT ARE TOXIC TO IT. Sampling a pika's pantry: Temporal shifts in nutritional quality and winter preservation of American pika food caches, Ecosphere, via NSF Public Access Repository, par.nsf.gov
328. A 35,000-YEAR-OLD WOLF PUSHED BACK THE BIRTH OF THE DOG †. Ancient wolf genome reveals an early divergence of domestic dog ancestors and admixture into high-latitude breeds, Current Biology, via PubMed (NIH), pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Ancient wolf genome pushes back dawn of the dog, Nature, nature.com ; How Cold Was the Ice Age? Researchers Now Know, University of Arizona News, 26 August 2020 (for the last ice age and the Last Glacial Maximum being the same period), news.arizona.edu ; "Ancient DNA pushes back timing of origin of dogs", Science News (2015), sciencenews.org
329. AN OIL COMPANY FOUND GAS LEAKS BY WATCHING VULTURES. Kenneth E. Stager, The role of olfaction in food location by the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), Contributions in Science No. 81, Los Angeles County Museum, 1964, scanned by the Biodiversity Heritage Library, archive.org
330. DISNEY'S LEAPING LEMMINGS WERE THROWN OFF A CLIFF. Lemming Suicide Myth, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, adfg.alaska.gov
331. DOLPHINS SLEEP WITH HALF THE BRAIN AT A TIME †. Dolphins Can Maintain Vigilant Behavior through Echolocation for 15 Days without Interruption or Cognitive Impairment, PLOS One (Branstetter and others, 2012), journals.plos.org
332. AN ELEPHANT CANNOT JUMP, OR GET ALL FOUR FEET OFF THE GROUND. Why Can't Elephants Jump?, Live Science, livescience.com ; The evolutionary biomechanics of locomotor function in giant land animals, John R. Hutchinson, Journal of Experimental Biology 224 (2021), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
333. A HUMMINGBIRD CAN TURN ITSELF DOWN BY 95 PER CENT OVERNIGHT. The mitochondrial physiology of torpor in ruby-throated hummingbirds, Archilochus colubris, Journal of Experimental Biology, via PubMed (NIH), pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
334. A PENGUIN'S PEBBLES ARE BUILDING MATERIAL. Delay in Adélie penguin nest occupation restricts parental investment in nest construction and reduces reproductive output, McLatchie et al., Australian Antarctic Division, Ecology and Evolution (2024), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
335. HAGFISH SLIME IS 99.996 PER CENT WATER. Hagfish slime and mucin flow properties and their implications for defense, Scientific Reports, nature.com
336. A WOODPECKER'S SKULL WORKS AS A STIFF HAMMER. Woodpeckers minimize cranial absorption of shocks, Current Biology, via PubMed (NIH), pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
337. ZEBRA-STRIPED SKIN PUTS BITING FLIES OFF, MOST LIKELY ONLY AT THE LAST MOMENT. Zebras of all stripes repel biting flies at close range, Scientific Reports, nature.com
338. ELEPHANTS CAN TELL FROM A VOICE WHICH PEOPLE TO WORRY ABOUT. Elephants can determine ethnicity, gender, and age from acoustic cues in human voices, PNAS, via PMC (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
339. CUTTLEFISH ARE COLOUR-BLIND AND STILL MATCH COLOURS. Hyperspectral imaging of cuttlefish camouflage indicates good color match in the eyes of fish predators, PNAS (Chiao, Wickiser, Allen, Genter and Hanlon, 2011), PubMed Central, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
340. WATER BEARS HAVE BEEN INTO SPACE AND COME BACK ALIVE. Tiny animals survive exposure to space, European Space Agency, esa.int ; 'Water Bears' Able To Survive Exposure To Vacuum Of Space, Cell Press via ScienceDaily, 9 September 2008, sciencedaily.com
341. A BOWERBIRD LAYS OUT HIS COURT AS AN OPTICAL ILLUSION. Male great bowerbirds create forced perspective illusions with consistently different individual quality, PNAS, via PMC (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Comment on 'Illusions Promote Mating Success in Great Bowerbirds'", Borgia, Coyle and Keagy, Science 337 (2012), copy on the Borgia laboratory site, University of Maryland, science.umd.edu
342. A CAT PROBABLY CANNOT TASTE SUGAR, BECAUSE ITS SWEET GENE IS BROKEN †. Pseudogenization of a Sweet-Receptor Gene Accounts for Cats' Indifference toward Sugar, PLOS Genetics, journals.plos.org
343. INSIDE A COCOON, A CATERPILLAR DIGESTS ITSELF. How Does a Caterpillar Turn into a Butterfly?, Scientific American, scientificamerican.com
344. A BLUEFIN TUNA IS A WARM FISH WITH A COLD HEART. Skeletal muscle and cardiac transcriptomics of a regionally endothermic fish, the Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis, PMC (NIH), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
345. NAKED MOLE-RATS RARELY GET CANCER, AND IT MAY NOT BE THEIR CELLS †. Secrets of naked mole-rat cancer resistance unearthed, University of Cambridge, cam.ac.uk ; "Biologists Identify Chemical Behind Cancer Resistance in Naked Mole Rats", University of Rochester Medical Center (2013), urmc.rochester.edu
346. THERE IS ROOM TO SPARE IN A KOALA'S SKULL †. Koala brain and Cerebral cortex of the koala, Comparative Brain Anatomy, Professor Emeritus Ken Ashwell, University of New South Wales, comparativebrainanatomy.org ; comparativebrainanatomy.org ; Description of the koala brain based on magnetic resonance images, Frontiers in Neurology 2026, frontiersin.org
347. THE "ALPHA WOLF" CAME FROM A ZOO, AND THE MAN WHO HELPED MAKE IT FAMOUS TOOK IT BACK. Wolf packs don't actually have alpha males and alpha females, the idea is based on a misunderstanding, Science Norway, sciencenorway.no ; Mech, Alpha status, dominance, leadership, and division of labor in wolf packs, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
348. CATS PROBABLY MOVED IN WITH US ON THEIR OWN TERMS †. From wild animals to domestic pets, an evolutionary view of domestication, PNAS, via PMC (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world, Nature Ecology & Evolution, nature.com ; "Oldest Known Evidence Of Cat Taming Found In Cyprus", ScienceDaily, from AAAS (2004), sciencedaily.com
349. A COCKROACH CAN LIVE FOR WEEKS WITHOUT ITS HEAD. Fact or Fiction?: A Cockroach Can Live without Its Head, Charles Choi, Scientific American, scientificamerican.com
350. A KOMODO DRAGON CAN HAVE SONS WITHOUT A FATHER. Parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons, Nature 444 (Watts and others, 2006), nature.com ; Virgin birth by Komodo dragons, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com
351. HONEYBEES CAN LEARN A HUMAN FACE. Honeybee (Apis mellifera) vision can discriminate between and recognise images of human faces, Dyer, Neumeyer and Chittka, Journal of Experimental Biology 208 (2005), journals.biologists.com ; abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
352. ARCTIC TERNS FROM GREENLAND AND ICELAND AVERAGED AT LEAST 70,900 KILOMETRES A YEAR. Tracking of Arctic terns Sterna paradisaea reveals longest animal migration, Egevang et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107 (2010), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
353. A MOTH CAN REMEMBER WHAT IT LEARNED AS A CATERPILLAR, IF IT LEARNED IT LATE †. Blackiston, Silva Casey and Weiss, Retention of Memory through Metamorphosis: Can a Moth Remember What It Learned As a Caterpillar?, PLOS ONE 2008, journals.plos.org
354. A DWARF CHAMELEON'S COLOUR SHOW SEEMS TO BE FOR OTHER CHAMELEONS, NOT FOR HIDING †. Selection for Social Signalling Drives the Evolution of Chameleon Colour Change, Stuart-Fox and Moussalli, PLOS Biology 6 (2008), journals.plos.org
355. WHEN THE FEMALE CLOWNFISH DIES, HER MATE BECOMES THE FEMALE †. Sex Change in Clownfish: Molecular Insights from Transcriptome Analysis, Scientific Reports (Casas and others, 2016), nature.com ; Gender-bending fish, Understanding Evolution, University of California Museum of Paleontology, UC Berkeley, evolution.berkeley.edu
356. DUNG BEETLES STEER BY THE MILKY WAY. Dung Beetles Use the Milky Way for Orientation, Current Biology 23 (2013), Dacke, Baird, Byrne, Scholtz and Warrant, Lund University research portal, portal.research.lu.se
357. MENOPAUSE IS KNOWN IN VERY FEW MAMMALS, AND FIVE OF THEM ARE WHALES. Menopause explains why some female whales live so long, University of Exeter, news.exeter.ac.uk ; Going through the menopause helps whales become long-lived grandparents, Natural History Museum, nhm.ac.uk ; Demographic and hormonal evidence for menopause in wild chimpanzees, Wood et al., Science 382 (2023), abstract via PubMed, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Uncovered in Uganda: Evidence for menopause in wild chimpanzees", EurekAlert!, AAAS (2023), eurekalert.org
358. WOLVES MAY HAVE COME FOR OUR SCRAPS, OR WE MAY HAVE FED THEM †. From wild animals to domestic pets, an evolutionary view of domestication, PNAS, via PMC (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters, Scientific Reports, nature.com
359. ELECTRIC EELS LEAP OUT OF THE WATER TO SHOCK YOU PROPERLY. Electric eels make leaping attacks, Vanderbilt University, news.vanderbilt.edu ; In This Issue, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (2016), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
360. THE IMMORTAL JELLYFISH TURNS BACK INTO A BABY. Immortal jellyfish: The secret to cheating death, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
361. SEA OTTERS LEAVE RUBBISH HEAPS AN ARCHAEOLOGIST CAN READ. Sea otters' tool use leaves behind distinctive archaeological evidence, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, shh.mpg.de ; "Wild sea otter mussel pounding leaves archaeological traces", Haslam and others, Scientific Reports (2019), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
362. A HIPPO MAKES ITS OWN RED SUNSCREEN. The red sweat of the hippopotamus, Nature 429 (2004), Saikawa and others, nature.com
363. A FLY SEES YOUR HAND COMING IN SLOW MOTION. Temporal vision: measures, mechanisms and meaning, Journal of Experimental Biology 2021, via PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Time is in the eye of the beholder, Trinity College Dublin, tcd.ie
364. A GIRAFFE'S NECK BORROWS A BONE FROM ITS CHEST. Giraffe neck is longer than thought, The University of Tokyo, u-tokyo.ac.jp
365. A SNAPPING SHRIMP'S CLAW MAKES A BUBBLE THAT BANGS AND FLASHES. How snapping shrimp snap: through cavitating bubbles, Science 289 (2000), Versluis, Schmitz, von der Heydt and Lohse, abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; Snapping shrimp make flashing bubbles, Nature (2001), Lohse, Schmitz and Versluis, abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; Oh Snap! What Tiny Shrimp Can Tell Us About Habitat Health, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, sanctuaries.noaa.gov
366. TICKLED RATS CHIRP, AND THE CHIRPIEST ARE OPTIMISTS †. Laughing Rats Are Optimistic, PLOS One (Rygula, Pluta and Popik, 2012), journals.plos.org ; Rat 50 kHz calls reflect graded tickling-induced positive emotion, Current Biology (Hinchcliffe and others, 2020), PubMed Central, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
367. TWO SHARKS GLOW GREEN WITH CHEMISTRY NOBODY HAD SEEN. Bright Green Biofluorescence in Sharks Derives from Bromo-Kynurenine Metabolism, iScience, via PMC (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
368. OSTRICHES DO NOT BURY THEIR HEADS IN SAND, OR IN A BUSH. Ostrich, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, animals.sandiegozoo.org ; Ostriches Do Not Really Stick Their Heads in the Sand, McGill University Office for Science and Society, mcgill.ca ; Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, Book X, Chapter 1, trans. Bostock and Riley (1855), Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, perseus.tufts.edu ; Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Book 2, trans. C. H. Oldfather (1933), ToposText, topostext.org
369. BRAZIL'S CAPUCHINS HAVE BEEN USING STONE TOOLS FOR 3,000 YEARS †. Three thousand years of wild capuchin stone tool use, Nature Ecology & Evolution, nature.com ; Capuchin monkeys' stone-tool use has evolved over 3,000 years, Science News, sciencenews.org
370. MORE THAN 16,000 NEW SPECIES ARE DESCRIBED A YEAR, ON AVERAGE. New species are now being discovered faster than ever before, study suggests, University of Arizona News, news.arizona.edu
371. SOME DOLPHINS CATCH FISH IN A NET MADE OF MUD †. Mann and Patterson, Tool use by aquatic animals, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 2013, via PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
372. VAMPIRE BATS FEED THEIR FRIENDS, NOT JUST THEIR FAMILY. Food sharing in vampire bats: reciprocal help predicts donations more than relatedness or harassment, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Carter and Wilkinson, 2013), PubMed Central, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Reciprocal food sharing in the vampire bat, Nature 308 (Wilkinson, 1984), nature.com
373. CITIES TURNED A MOTH BLACK AND MADE CLOVER LESS POISONOUS. 'Jumping gene' took peppered moths to the dark side, University of Liverpool, news.liverpool.ac.uk ; Urbanization is driving the evolution of plants around the world, U of T study finds, University of Toronto, utoronto.ca
374. GOLDFISH HAVE BEEN TAUGHT TO DRIVE. From fish out of water to new insights on navigation mechanisms in animals, Givon et al., Behavioural Brain Research 419 (2022), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; Goldfish May Have a Longer Memory Span Than Just Three Seconds, Discover Magazine, discovermagazine.com
375. MEERKATS TEACH THEIR PUPS WITH SCORPIONS THAT CANNOT STING. Wild meerkats school their young, University of Cambridge, cam.ac.uk
376. AN OWL CANNOT MOVE ITS EYES, SO IT TURNS ITS HEAD 270 DEGREES. Owl mystery unravelled: Scientists explain how bird can rotate its head without cutting off blood, Johns Hopkins Medicine via EurekAlert!, eurekalert.org ; How Owls Twist Their Heads Almost 360 Degrees, National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com
377. ANAESTHETIC STOPS PLANTS MOVING TOO. Yokawa and others, Anaesthetics stop diverse plant organ movements, affect endocytic vesicle recycling and ROS homeostasis, and block action potentials in Venus flytraps, Annals of Botany, via PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
378. A KOALA JOEY'S FIRST FOOD AFTER MILK COMES OUT OF ITS MOTHER †. Shiffman and others, Gene and genome-centric analyses of koala and wombat fecal microbiomes point to metabolic specialization for Eucalyptus digestion, PeerJ 2017, via PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Koala moms make their kids eat poo. It's for their own good., National Geographic, nationalgeographic.com
379. A SPOTTED HYENA CLAN IS RUN BY ITS FEMALES. Sex Differences in Spotted Hyenas, Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology 14 (2022), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
380. A WOMBAT'S DROPPINGS COME OUT AS CUBES. Wombat research that's not to be sniffed at, Royal Society of Chemistry (publisher of the journal Soft Matter), rsc.org ; "Intestines of non-uniform stiffness mold the corners of wombat feces", Yang and others, Soft Matter 17 (2021), record via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; "Mystery of square wombat poo explained", Newcastle Herald, newcastleherald.com.au
381. A DIVING BLUE WHALE'S HEART CAN SLOW TO TWO BEATS A MINUTE. Extreme bradycardia and tachycardia in the world's largest animal, PNAS (Goldbogen and others, 2019), PubMed Central, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
382. HUMAN FLEAS AND LICE MAY HAVE SPREAD PLAGUE BETTER THAN RATS †. Dean et al., Human ectoparasites and the spread of plague in Europe during the Second Pandemic, PNAS 115(6), 2018, abstract via NCBI PubMed, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; full text via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; Park et al., reply in PNAS (2018), record via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
383. A MANTIS SHRIMP PUNCHES SO FAST THE WATER BOILS. The Mantis Shrimp Has the World's Fastest Punch, Ed Yong, National Geographic, reporting Patek, Korff and Caldwell, Nature 428 (2004), nationalgeographic.com ; Extreme impact and cavitation forces of a biological hammer, Patek and Caldwell, Journal of Experimental Biology 208 (2005), abstract via Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
384. A DOLPHIN HAS A NAME, AND ANSWERS TO IT. Bottlenose dolphins can use learned vocal labels to address each other, King and Janik, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110 (2013), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; African elephants address one another with individually specific name-like calls, Pardo et al., Nature Ecology & Evolution 8 (2024), abstract via PubMed, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
385. AN AXOLOTL CAN REPAIR ITS OWN BRAIN. Research Organism Superheroes: Axolotls, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH), Biomedical Beat, 6 March 2024, nigms.nih.gov
386. THE FROZEN MAMMOTHS NEED NO FLASH FREEZE TO EXPLAIN THEM. W. R. Farrand, "Frozen Mammoths and Modern Geology", Science 133 (1961), record in Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk ; Fisher et al., "Anatomy, death, and preservation of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) calf, Yamal Peninsula, northwest Siberia", Quaternary International 255 (2012), University of Groningen repository, pure.rug.nl
387. A NARWHAL'S TUSK IS A TOOTH THAT CAN FEEL THE SEA †. Secrets of the narwhal tusk, Harvard Gazette, Harvard University, 18 March 2014, news.harvard.edu ; "Narwhal's Trademark Tusk Acts Like a Sensor, Scientist Says", National Geographic (2014), nationalgeographic.com
388. ELEPHANTS TALK BELOW YOUR HEARING, AND FEEL IT THROUGH THE GROUND †. Infrasonic calls of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), Payne, Langbauer and Thomas, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 18 (1986), link.springer.com ; Elephants turn to seismic communication, Physics World, physicsworld.com ; Seismic localization of elephant rumbles as a monitoring approach, Journal of the Royal Society Interface (2021), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Elephant rumbles travel more than 6 km through the ground", Physics World (2018), physicsworld.com ; "About the Elephant Listening Project", Cornell Lab of Ornithology, birds.cornell.edu
389. THE DODO WAS PROBABLY A FAST BIRD, AND AS BRIGHT AS A PIGEON †. Rethinking the Dodo, University of Southampton, southampton.ac.uk ; Study Reveals Dodo Birds Not Stupid as Previously Thought, Stony Brook University, news.stonybrook.edu
390. BATS SEE WELL IN THE DARK, AND ONE KIND, AT LEAST, SEES ULTRAVIOLET. Are bats blind?, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov ; Ultraviolet vision in a bat, Nature (Winter, López and von Helversen, 2003), nature.com ; "As Blind as a Bat? Opsin Phylogenetics Illuminates the Evolution of Color Vision in Bats", Simões and others, Molecular Biology and Evolution 36 (2019), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
391. A BULL CANNOT SEE THAT THE CAPE IS RED. Jacobs, Deegan and Neitz, Photopigment basis for dichromatic color vision in cows, goats, and sheep, Visual Neuroscience 1998, abstract via NCBI PubMed, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Why Do Bulls Charge When They See Red?, Brooke Borel, Live Science (2012), livescience.com
392. WHALE DUNG FERTILISES THE SOUTHERN OCEAN. Lavery and others, Iron defecation by sperm whales stimulates carbon export in the Southern Ocean, Proceedings of the Royal Society B 2010, abstract via Flinders University, researchnow.flinders.edu.au
393. A PARASITE CAN DESTROY A FISH'S TONGUE AND THEN BECOME IT. Ouch! An isopod grabbed my tongue, Australian Museum, australian.museum ; Fish Tongue Biters: more than just one of a kind, Australian Museum, australian.museum
394. THE MAGNETIC COMPASS IN A PIGEON'S BEAK WAS NEVER A COMPASS †. Clusters of iron-rich cells in the upper beak of pigeons are macrophages not magnetosensitive neurons, Nature, nature.com ; "The magnetite-based receptors in the beak of birds and their role in avian navigation", Wiltschko and Wiltschko, Journal of Comparative Physiology A 199 (2013), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
395. A MUSHROOM IS MORE CLOSELY RELATED TO YOU THAN TO ANY PLANT. Baldauf and Palmer, Animals and Fungi are Each Other's Closest Relatives: Congruent Evidence from Multiple Proteins, PNAS 1993, abstract via White Rose Research Online, eprints.whiterose.ac.uk ; Introduction to the Fungi, University of California Museum of Paleontology, ucmp.berkeley.edu
396. CROWS KEPT SCOLDING ONE MASK FOR MORE THAN SEVEN YEARS, AND SEEM TO HAVE SPREAD THE WORD. "Crows hold grudges against individual humans for up to 17 years", Urban@UW, University of Washington (republishing Earth.com), urban.uw.edu
5. YOUR BODY IS A MUSEUM
397. PEOPLE GAVE UP THEIR SEATS MORE OFTEN WHEN BATMAN WAS ON THE TRAIN. Pagnini et al., Unexpected events and prosocial behavior: the Batman effect, npj Mental Health Research 2025, nature.com
398. THE SMITHSONIAN WAS NOT HIDING GIANTS. IT WAS ANSWERING LETTERS ABOUT THEM. Measure Your Giant Carefully And His Size Will Shrink, Science News Letter, 24 February 1934 (Vol. 25, No. 672), Science News archive, sciencenews.org
399. A WEEK OF ONLY NATURAL LIGHT MOVED PEOPLE'S BODY CLOCKS ABOUT TWO HOURS EARLIER. Wright et al., Entrainment of the human circadian clock to the natural light-dark cycle, Current Biology 2013 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
400. O NEGATIVE CAN GO INTO ALMOST ANYONE, BUT O NEGATIVE PEOPLE CAN TAKE ONLY O NEGATIVE. O negative blood type, NHS Blood and Transplant, blood.co.uk ; What makes O negative universal?, NHS Blood and Transplant, blood.co.uk ; Dean, Blood Groups and Red Cell Antigens, chapter 6, The Hh blood group, National Center for Biotechnology Information 2005 (NCBI Bookshelf), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
401. BLOODLETTING LASTED AT LEAST 3,000 YEARS, AND IT STILL HAS A USE. Greenstone, The history of bloodletting, British Columbia Medical Journal 2010, bcmj.org ; Morabia, Pierre-Charles-Alexandre Louis and the evaluation of bloodletting, James Lind Library, jameslindlibrary.org ; Treatment of Hemochromatosis, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, niddk.nih.gov
402. THE BAD FEELINGS FROM A MEMORY FADE FASTER THAN THE GOOD ONES. Ritchie et al., A pancultural perspective on the fading affect bias in autobiographical memory, Memory 2015, PMID 24524255 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
403. YOU HAVE FAR FEWER GENES THAN SCIENTISTS EXPECTED. International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium Describes Finished Human Genome Sequence, National Human Genome Research Institute (NIH), genome.gov
404. IN A SECOND LANGUAGE, GRAMMAR TRACKS GOOD READING EVERY BIT AS CLOSELY AS VOCABULARY. Jeon and Yamashita, L2 reading comprehension and its correlates: a meta-analysis, Language Learning 2014, ERIC record, U.S. Department of Education, eric.ed.gov
405. SOME MOTHERS MAY CARRY THEIR SONS' DNA IN THEIR BRAINS FOR LIFE. "Hutchinson Center study finds male DNA in women's brains", Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 2012, fredhutch.org
406. THE MSG SCARE STARTED WITH ONE DOCTOR'S LETTER, AND IT WAS A QUESTION. Sam Kean, The Rotten Science Behind the MSG Scare, Distillations, Science History Institute, 2 March 2023, sciencehistory.org
407. THE OLD WARNING ABOUT SWIMMING AFTER LUNCH WAS PUT TO A SMALL TEST IN 2022 †. Do You Have to Wait 30 Minutes After Eating Before Swimming?, UAMS Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, uamshealth.com ; Harmankaya et al., To swim or not to swim after eating: a randomised controlled crossover feasibility trial, F1000Research 2023, f1000research.com
408. ROBERT WADLOW GREW TO 8 FT 11.1 IN, AND DIED AT 22. de Herder and Raymond, Neuropathic foot ulcers in the tallest patients with acromegalic gigantism: a common and significant problem. Historical overview, Pituitary 2023 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
409. EACH EYE HAS A BLIND SPOT, AND YOUR BRAIN PAINTS OVER IT. Saito et al., Invisible light inside the natural blind spot alters brightness at a remote location, Scientific Reports 2018 (PubMed Central), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
410. ADULTS HAVE WORKING BROWN FAT, AND CANCER SCANS GAVE IT AWAY. Cypess et al., Identification and importance of brown adipose tissue in adult humans, New England Journal of Medicine 2009, PMID 19357406 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Nedergaard, Bengtsson and Cannon, Unexpected evidence for active brown adipose tissue in adult humans, American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism 2007, PMID 17473055 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
411. POOR READERS WHO KNEW BASEBALL REMEMBERED A BASEBALL STORY AS WELL AS GOOD READERS WHO DID. Recht and Leslie, Effect of prior knowledge on good and poor readers' memory of text, Journal of Educational Psychology 1988, ERIC record, U.S. Department of Education, eric.ed.gov ; Smith, Snow, Serry and Hammond, The role of background knowledge in reading comprehension: a critical review, Reading Psychology 2021, ERIC record, U.S. Department of Education, eric.ed.gov ; Shanahan, Prior Knowledge: Or He Isn't Going to Pick on the Baseball Study, Shanahan on Literacy, 14 March 2020, shanahanonliteracy.com
412. HICCUPS MAY BE LEFT OVER FROM THE WAY TADPOLES PUMP WATER OVER THEIR GILLS †. Straus et al., A phylogenetic hypothesis for the origin of hiccough, BioEssays 2003, PMID 12539245 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Howes, Hiccups: a new explanation for the mysterious reflex, BioEssays 2012 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
413. PEOPLE HAVE LIVED FOR DECADES WITH HALF THEIR BRAIN REMOVED. Davies, Maxwell and French, Hemispherectomy for intractable seizures: long-term results in 17 patients followed for up to 38 years, Journal of Neurosurgery 1993, PMID 8468604 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Kliemann et al., Intrinsic Functional Connectivity of the Brain in Adults with a Single Cerebral Hemisphere, Cell Reports 2019 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
414. WAKING DURING AN OPERATION IS REAL, AND HOW RARE DEPENDS ON HOW YOU COUNT †. Pandit et al., 5th National Audit Project (NAP5) on accidental awareness during general anaesthesia: summary of main findings and risk factors, British Journal of Anaesthesia 2014, PMID 25204697 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Sebel et al., The incidence of awareness during anesthesia: a multicenter United States study, Anesthesia and Analgesia 2004, PMID 15333419 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; NAP5: Accidental Awareness during General Anaesthesia in the UK and Ireland, Royal College of Anaesthetists, rcoa.ac.uk
415. YOUR RECORDED VOICE IS MISSING THE PART YOU HEAR THROUGH YOUR OWN BONES. Orepic et al., Bone conduction facilitates self-other voice discrimination, Royal Society Open Science 2023 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Reinfeldt et al., Hearing one's own voice during phoneme vocalization: transmission by air and bone conduction, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2010, PMID 20707445 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Hughes and Harrison, I like my voice better: self-enhancement bias in perceptions of voice attractiveness, Perception 2013, PMID 24386714 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
416. PEOPLE WHO REMEMBER THEIR DREAMS MAY SIMPLY WAKE UP MORE IN THE NIGHT †. Eichenlaub et al., Resting brain activity varies with dream recall frequency between subjects, Neuropsychopharmacology 2014, PMID 24549103 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; van Wyk, Solms and Lipinska, Increased Awakenings From Non-rapid Eye Movement Sleep Explain Differences in Dream Recall Frequency in Healthy Individuals, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2019, PMID 31680920 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
417. MEN AND WOMEN NORMALLY HAVE THE SAME NUMBER OF RIBS. Andreas Vesalius, the most famous Belgian you've never heard of, British Library Science blog, blogs.bl.uk ; Spadliński et al., The Epidemiological, Morphological, and Clinical Aspects of the Cervical Ribs in Humans, BioMed Research International 2016 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
418. BREAST MILK IS FULL OF SUGARS THE BABY CANNOT DIGEST, AND THEY FEED ITS GUT BACTERIA. Bode, Human milk oligosaccharides: every baby needs a sugar mama, Glycobiology 2012 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Lordan et al., Linking human milk oligosaccharide metabolism and early life gut microbiota: bifidobacteria and beyond, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews 2024, PMID 38206006 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
419. A DOCTOR CRACKED THE KNUCKLES OF ONE HAND FOR DECADES AND FOUND NO DIFFERENCE IN ARTHRITIS. Shmerling, Knuckle cracking: annoying and harmful, or just annoying?, Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School, health.harvard.edu ; Castellanos and Axelrod, Effect of habitual knuckle cracking on hand function, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 1990, PMID 2344210 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; deWeber, Olszewski and Ortolano, Knuckle cracking and hand osteoarthritis, Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 2011, jabfm.org
420. ABOUT HALF OF YOUR SMELL-RECEPTOR GENES ARE BROKEN †. Niimura, Evolutionary dynamics of olfactory receptor genes in chordates, Human Genomics 2009 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Malnic, Godfrey and Buck, The human olfactory receptor gene family, PNAS 2004, PMID 14983052 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; McGann, Poor human olfaction is a 19th-century myth, Science 2017, PMID 28495701 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
421. THE NERVE TO YOUR VOICE BOX GOES DOWN INTO YOUR CHEST AND BACK UP AGAIN. Wedel, A monument of inefficiency: the presumed course of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in sauropod dinosaurs, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 57(2), BioOne, bioone.org
422. GIVEN A LIST OF RELATED WORDS, YOU WILL OFTEN REMEMBER ONE THAT WAS NEVER ON IT. Roediger and McDermott, Creating false memories: remembering words not presented in lists, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 1995, research profile, Washington University in St. Louis, profiles.wustl.edu
423. A SMALL LEG MUSCLE IS MISSING IN SOME ADULTS, YET TURNED UP IN ALL 80 FOETUSES OF ONE STUDY †. Olewnik et al., The plantaris muscle is not vestigial: developmental, comparative, and functional evidence for its sensorimotor role, Biology (Basel) 2025 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Morphological variability of the plantaris tendon in the human fetus, Medical University of Lodz, 2021 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
424. A VIKING'S FOSSILISED STOOL TURNED UP UNDER A BANK IN YORK. Coprolites, York Archaeological Trust (archived copy of the Trust's own pages, Internet Archive), web.archive.org ; Coprolites 2, York Archaeological Trust (archived copy, Internet Archive), web.archive.org ; Poos from the past information pack, Young Archaeologists' Club, Council for British Archaeology, yac-uk.org ; Hall, Kenward, Williams and Greig, Environment and Living Conditions at Two Anglo-Scandinavian Sites, The Archaeology of York 14/4, 1983, York Archaeological Trust collections, collections.yorkarchaeologicaltrust.co.uk
425. A SNORKEL CANNOT BE MADE LONG, BECAUSE YOUR CHEST LOSES TO THE WATER. Edmonds, McKenzie and Thomas, Diving Medicine for Scuba Divers, 3rd edition 2010 (hosted by the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, University of Southern California), dornsife.usc.edu
426. READING IN DIM LIGHT STRAINS YOUR EYES, BUT THE STRAIN DOES NOT LAST †. Vreeman and Carroll, Medical myths, BMJ 2007 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Morgan et al., IMI Risk Factors for Myopia, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 2021, PMID 33909035 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
427. ONE IN FOUR PEOPLE WAS TALKED INTO REMEMBERING GETTING LOST IN A SHOPPING MALL †. Murphy et al., Lost in the mall again: a preregistered replication and extension of Loftus & Pickrell (1995), Memory 2023, PMID 37017540 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Crook and Dean, "Lost in a shopping mall", a breach of professional ethics, Ethics and Behavior 1999, PMID 11657487 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Wade et al., Still Lost in the Mall: False Memories Happen and That's What Matters, Applied Cognitive Psychology 2025 (WRAP, University of Warwick), wrap.warwick.ac.uk
428. THE TASTE YOU LOVE IN OLD CHEESE COMES FROM PROTEIN BEING TAKEN APART. Kurihara, Umami the Fifth Basic Taste: History of Studies on Receptor Mechanisms and Role as a Food Flavor, BioMed Research International 2015 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
429. ALMOST EVERYONE WHO LOSES A LIMB GOES ON FEELING IT †. Ramachandran and Hirstein, The perception of phantom limbs, Brain 1998 (full text hosted by the Redwood Center, UC Berkeley), rctn.org ; Guémann et al., Effect of mirror therapy in the treatment of phantom limb pain in amputees: a systematic review of randomized placebo-controlled trials does not find any evidence of efficacy, European Journal of Pain 2023, PMID 36094758 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
430. A CHLOROFORM RAG DOES NOT KNOCK ANYONE OUT IN SECONDS. Chloroform: Fear, Crime and (Pain) Relief, Iris Millis, The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, 5 February 2019, oldoperatingtheatre.com ; John Snow, The alleged employment of chloroform by thieves, London Medical Gazette (26 February 1850), John Snow Archive, Michigan State University, johnsnow.matrix.msu.edu
431. STOCKHOLM SYNDROME COMES FROM ONE BANK ROBBERY, AND IT IS NOT AN OFFICIAL DIAGNOSIS †. Understanding Stockholm Syndrome, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 2007, abstract, National Criminal Justice Reference Service, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, ojp.gov ; Namnyak et al., 'Stockholm syndrome': psychiatric diagnosis or urban myth?, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 2008, PMID 18028254 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
432. SEEING, HEARING OR EVEN READING ABOUT A YAWN CAN MAKE YOU YAWN †. Cooper et al., Bridging a yawning chasm: EEG investigations into the debate concerning the role of the human mirror neuron system in contagious yawning, Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience 2012 (online December 2011), link.springer.com ; Bartholomew and Cirulli, Individual variation in contagious yawning susceptibility is highly stable and largely unexplained by empathy or other known factors, PLoS One 2014, PMID 24632594 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
433. YOUR GUT HAS ITS OWN NERVOUS SYSTEM, AND IT CAN WORK ON ITS OWN. Your gut's "second brain", Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, neuroscience.stanford.edu ; The enteric nervous system and its emerging role as a therapeutic target, Gastroenterology Research and Practice 2020 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
434. THE MANDELA EFFECT IS NAMED AFTER A DEATH IN PRISON THAT NEVER HAPPENED. Prasad and Bainbridge, The Visual Mandela Effect as evidence for shared and specific false memories across people, accepted manuscript, Psychological Science 2022, University of Chicago (PsyArXiv), osf.io ; Nelson Mandela, Biographical, The Nobel Prize, Nobel Foundation, nobelprize.org
435. NOBODY AGREES WHETHER THERE IS A LIMIT ON HUMAN LIFESPAN †. Dong, Milholland and Vijg, Evidence for a limit to human lifespan, Nature 2016 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Dong, Milholland and Vijg, abstract via NCBI PubMed, PMID 27706136, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Barbi et al., The plateau of human mortality: demography of longevity pioneers, Science 2018, PMID 29954979 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
436. A BABY HAS MORE BONES THAN YOU DO. Health Lesson: Learning About Bones, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIH), niams.nih.gov ; Cowan, Launico and Kahai, Anatomy, Bones, StatPearls (NCBI Bookshelf), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Sattar and Guthrie, Anatomy, Back, Sacral Vertebrae, StatPearls (NCBI Bookshelf), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
437. IN ONE PROPER TEST, FINGERPRINT EXAMINERS' FALSE MATCHES COULD RUN AS HIGH AS 1 IN 18. Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods, President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Executive Office of the President, September 2016, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov
438. YOUR SPLEEN SQUEEZES OUT A RESERVE OF RED BLOOD CELLS WHEN YOU DIVE. Espersen et al., The human spleen as an erythrocyte reservoir in diving-related interventions, Journal of Applied Physiology 2002, PMID 11960959 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
439. BALDNESS DOES NOT COME ONLY FROM YOUR MOTHER'S FATHER †. Hillmer et al., Genetic variation in the human androgen receptor gene is the major determinant of common early-onset androgenetic alopecia, American Journal of Human Genetics 2005 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Hagenaars et al., Genetic prediction of male pattern baldness, PLoS Genetics 2017 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
440. FEAR OF NEW FOOD RUNS HIGHEST BETWEEN THE AGES OF TWO AND FIVE. De Cosmi et al., Early Taste Experiences and Later Food Choices, Nutrients 2017 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
441. MORE THAN 90 PER CENT OF YOUR SEROTONIN IS MADE IN YOUR GUT, AND IT CANNOT REACH YOUR BRAIN. Yang et al., Sodium channel NaV1.3 is important for enterochromaffin cell excitability and serotonin release, Scientific Reports 2017, nature.com ; Grondin and Khan, Emerging roles of gut serotonin in regulation of immune response, microbiota composition and intestinal inflammation, Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology 2023 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
442. A MISLEADING HEADLINE CHANGES WHAT YOU REMEMBER OF THE ARTICLE BENEATH IT. Ecker, Lewandowsky, Chang and Pillai, The effects of subtle misinformation in news headlines, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 2014, PMID 25347407 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; The effects of subtle misinformation in news headlines, University of Bristol Research Portal, research-information.bris.ac.uk
443. HALF THE NEW CELLS IN A RAT'S TASTE BUDS ARE GONE WITHIN THREE DAYS †. Hamamichi, Asano-Miyoshi and Emori, Taste bud contains both short-lived and long-lived cell populations, Neuroscience 2006, PMID 16843606 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Perea-Martinez, Nagai and Chaudhari, Functional Cell Types in Taste Buds Have Distinct Longevities, PLoS ONE 2013, journals.plos.org
444. REREADING FEELS LIKE LEARNING. BEING TESTED WORKS BETTER. Roediger and Karpicke, Test-enhanced learning: taking memory tests improves long-term retention, Psychological Science 2006, PMID 16507066 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Dunlosky et al., Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques, Psychological Science in the Public Interest 2013, PMID 26173288 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
445. GENERAL ANAESTHETICS HAVE WORKED SINCE 1846, AND HOW THEY DO IT IS STILL NOT SETTLED †. Kopp Lugli, Yost and Kindler, Anaesthetic mechanisms: update on the challenge of unravelling the mystery of anaesthesia, European Journal of Anaesthesiology 2009 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Pavel et al., Studies on the mechanism of general anesthesia, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2020, PMID 32467161 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
446. YOUR "RED" CONES ARE MOST SENSITIVE TO LIGHT THAT IS NOT RED. Kalloniatis and Luu, Color Perception, Webvision, University of Pittsburgh, webvision.pitt.edu ; Toolson, Human Cone Action Spectra, University of New Mexico, unm.edu ; Visible Light, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
447. YOU HAD A TAIL, AND YOUR OWN CELLS CLEARED IT AWAY. Fallon and Simandl, Evidence of a role for cell death in the disappearance of the embryonic human tail, American Journal of Anatomy 1978, PMID 677043 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Xia et al., On the genetic basis of tail-loss evolution in humans and apes, Nature 2024 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
448. PEOPLE REMEMBER A HOLIDAY AS BETTER THAN IT FELT AT THE TIME. Mitchell et al., Temporal Adjustments in the Evaluation of Events: The "Rosy View", Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 1997, PMID 9247371 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Wirtz et al., What to do on spring break? The role of predicted, on-line, and remembered experience in future choice, Psychological Science 2003, PMID 12930487 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
449. THE TONGUE MAP YOU WERE SHOWN AT SCHOOL IS BLAMED ON A REDRAWN GRAPH. Spence, The tongue map and the spatial modulation of taste perception, Current Research in Food Science 2022, University of Oxford (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
450. ARISTOTLE'S FIVE SENSES LEAVE OUT BALANCE AND THE SENSE OF WHERE YOUR LIMBS ARE †. Brandt, Dieterich and Huppert, Human senses and sensors from Aristotle to the present, Frontiers in Neurology 2024 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
451. YOUR BODY IS NOT REPLACED EVERY SEVEN YEARS. Spalding et al., Retrospective birth dating of cells in humans, Cell 2005, PMID 16009139 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Bergmann et al., Evidence for cardiomyocyte renewal in humans, Science 2009, PMID 19342590 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Bergmann et al., Dynamics of Cell Generation and Turnover in the Human Heart, Cell 2015, PMID 26073943 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
452. YOU HAVE A BONE THAT IS NOT JOINED TO ANY OTHER BONE. Is there sufficient evidence that the hyoid bone can be used for sexual dimorphism? A systematic review and meta-analysis, International Journal of Legal Medicine 2026 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Automated 3D segmentation of the hyoid bone in CBCT using nnU-Net v2, BMC Medical Imaging 2025 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; D'Anastasio et al., Micro-biomechanics of the Kebara 2 hyoid and its implications for speech in Neanderthals, PLoS One 2013, PMID 24367509 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
453. THE CELLS ON THE SURFACE OF YOUR STOMACH LINING LAST THREE TO FIVE DAYS. Hattori and Arizono, Cell kinetics and secretion of mucus in the gastrointestinal mucosa, and their diurnal rhythm, Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology 1988, PMID 3183334 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Wallace, Prostaglandins, NSAIDs, and gastric mucosal protection: why doesn't the stomach digest itself?, Physiological Reviews 2008, PMID 18923189 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
454. A COLD COMES FROM A VIRUS, THOUGH THE CHILL MAY GIVE IT A HAND †. Common Cold, MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine, medlineplus.gov ; Foxman et al., Temperature-dependent innate defense against the common cold virus limits viral replication at warm temperature in mouse airway cells, PNAS 2015, PMID 25561542 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Huang et al., Cold exposure impairs extracellular vesicle swarm-mediated nasal antiviral immunity, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2023, PMID 36494212 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
455. NOSTALGIA WAS FIRST DESCRIBED AS A DISEASE OF HOMESICK SWISS SOLDIERS. Oba et al., Memory and reward systems coproduce 'nostalgic' experiences in the brain, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 2016 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Fuentenebro de Diego and Valiente Ots, Nostalgia: a conceptual history, History of Psychiatry 2014, PMID 25395438 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
456. A SEIZURE CAN BE A BLANK STARE, A SMELL THAT IS NOT THERE, OR A SUDDEN FEAR. Epilepsy and Seizures, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, ninds.nih.gov
457. DRINKING SEAWATER LEAVES YOU THIRSTIER, BECAUSE YOUR KIDNEYS CANNOT KEEP UP. Can humans drink seawater?, National Ocean Service, NOAA, oceanservice.noaa.gov
458. MOSQUITOES REALLY DO PREFER SOME PEOPLE, FOR YEARS AT A TIME. De Obaldia et al., Differential mosquito attraction to humans is associated with skin-derived carboxylic acid levels, Cell 2022 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
459. THE LAST OF SEVERAL SONGS YOU HEAR IS THE ONE LIKELIEST TO GET STUCK IN YOUR HEAD. Liikkanen and Jakubowski, Involuntary musical imagery as a component of ordinary music cognition: A review of empirical evidence, Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 2020 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Beaman and Williams, Earworms (stuck song syndrome): towards a natural history of intrusive thoughts, British Journal of Psychology 2010, PMID 19948084 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
460. A TRANSPLANTED HEART MOSTLY STAYS DEAF TO THE BODY'S BRAKES, YEARS AFTER SURGERY †. Arrowood et al., Absence of parasympathetic control of heart rate after human orthotopic cardiac transplantation, Circulation 1997, PMID 9396446 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Raczak et al., Arterial baroreflex modulation of heart rate in patients early after heart transplantation, Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 1999, PMID 10363682 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Murphy et al., The Heart Reinnervates After Transplantation, Annals of Thoracic Surgery 2000, East Tennessee State University Digital Commons, dc.etsu.edu
461. THERE IS NO MOMENT WHEN YOU FALL ASLEEP, SO YOU CANNOT CATCH IT †. Ogilvie, The process of falling asleep, Sleep Medicine Reviews 2001, PMID 12530990 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Strauss et al., Predicting the loss of responsiveness when falling asleep in humans, NeuroImage 2022, PMID 35176491 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Falling asleep follows a predictable bifurcation dynamic, Nature Neuroscience 2025, Imperial College London (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
462. MOST PEOPLE WITH EPILEPSY GET NO SEIZURES FROM FLASHING LIGHTS. Fisher et al., Photic- and pattern-induced seizures: a review for the Epilepsy Foundation of America Working Group, Epilepsia 2005, PMID 16146439 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Epilepsy and Seizures, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, ninds.nih.gov
463. SOME PEOPLE GROW AN EXTRA RIB OUT OF THE NECK. Spadliński et al., The epidemiological, morphological, and clinical aspects of the cervical ribs in humans, BioMed Research International 2016 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
464. MAGENTA IS NOT IN THE SPECTRUM: IT IS BLUE AND RED MIXED. Kalloniatis and Luu, The Perception of Color, Webvision: The Organization of the Retina and Visual System, University of Utah Health Sciences Center (NCBI Bookshelf), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
465. COLD SENDS YOU BACK TO OLD MEMORIES, AND THEY HELP YOU BEAR THE COLD. Zhou et al., Heartwarming memories: Nostalgia maintains physiological comfort, Emotion 2012, PMID 22390713 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Zhang et al., The analgesic effect of nostalgia elicited by idiographic and nomothetic approaches on thermal stimulus, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2022, PMID 36135942 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
466. IDENTICAL TWINS DO NOT HAVE IDENTICAL FINGERPRINTS. Tao et al., Fingerprint Recognition with Identical Twin Fingerprints, PLoS One 2012 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Some identical twins don't have identical DNA, Science News, January 2021, sciencenews.org
467. SITTING CLOSE TO THE TELEVISION DOES NOT DAMAGE YOUR EYES. Can sitting too close to the TV damage your eyes?, American Academy of Ophthalmology, aao.org ; Tran, The Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of 1968: History, Accomplishments, and Future, Harvard Law School, Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard, dash.harvard.edu ; Television Radiation, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, fda.gov
468. SWINGING YOUR ARMS MAKES RUNNING CHEAPER, SO HOLDING THEM BACK IS NO SHORTCUT. Arellano and Kram, The metabolic cost of human running: is swinging the arms worth it?, Journal of Experimental Biology 2014, PMID 25031455 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
469. ABOUT ONE PERSON IN FIVE, ON AVERAGE, HAS NO PALMARIS LONGUS IN THE FOREARM, AND MAY NEVER KNOW IT. Yammine, Clinical prevalence of palmaris longus agenesis: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Clinical Anatomy 2013, PMID 23825029 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Al Risi et al., Anatomical Study of the Palmaris Longus Muscle and Its Clinical Importance, Diagnostics 2025 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
470. RECALLING A YOUNG MEMORY UNLOCKS IT, AND IT HAS TO BE SAVED AGAIN †. Inda, Muravieva and Alberini, Memory retrieval and the passage of time: from reconsolidation and strengthening to extinction, Journal of Neuroscience 2011 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
471. THE MUSCLES THAT MOVE YOUR EARS STILL SWITCH ON WHEN YOU LISTEN HARD. Schroeer et al., Electromyographic correlates of effortful listening in the vestigial auriculomotor system, Frontiers in Neuroscience 2025 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Schroeer et al., The vestigial pinna-orienting system in humans briefly suppresses superior auricular muscle activity during reflexive orienting toward auditory stimuli, Journal of Neurophysiology 2024, PMID 38896795 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
472. THE HORMONES THAT GROW THE BEARD MAY BE THE SAME ONES THAT THIN THE SCALP. Randall, Androgens and hair growth, Dermatologic Therapy 2008, PMID 18844710 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Inui and Itami, Androgen actions on the human hair follicle: perspectives, Experimental Dermatology 2013, PMID 23016593 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Inui and Itami, Androgen actions on the human hair follicle: perspectives, Experimental Dermatology 2013 (full text), onlinelibrary.wiley.com
473. A NOSE DULLED BY TWO WEEKS OF ONE SMELL CAN STAY DULLED FOR UP TO TWO MORE. Dalton, Psychophysical and behavioral characteristics of olfactory adaptation, Chemical Senses 2000, PMID 10944515 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Xiao et al., Differences in olfactory habituation between orthonasal and retronasal pathways, Journal of Physiological Sciences 2021, PMID 34837939 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Dalton and Wysocki, The nature and duration of adaptation following long-term odor exposure, Perception and Psychophysics 1996, PMID 8710455 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
474. THEODORE ROOSEVELT WAS SHOT IN THE CHEST AND THEN SPOKE FOR ABOUT 80 MINUTES. Why was Theodore Roosevelt shot?, Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, trlibrary.com
475. THE HOME TWO CHILDREN SHARE DOES LITTLE TO MAKE THEM ALIKE, FOR MOST TRAITS †. Plomin and Daniels, Why are children in the same family so different from one another?, Behavioral and Brain Sciences 1987, reprinted in the International Journal of Epidemiology 2011 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Buchanan, McGue, Keyes and Iacono, Are there shared environmental influences on adolescent behavior? Evidence from a study of adoptive siblings, Behavior Genetics 2009 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
476. THE FOG WHEN YOU WAKE UP HAS A NAME, AND IT CAN LAST AN HOUR †. Hilditch and McHill, Sleep inertia: current insights, Nature and Science of Sleep 2019 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
477. A FEW BABIES ARE BORN WITH A TRUE TAIL, AND FEWER THAN 40 HAVE BEEN REPORTED. Daib et al., A rare case of lumbosacrococcygeal mass in newborn: a human tail, Journal of Surgical Case Reports 2020 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
478. YOU ARE TALLER AT BREAKFAST THAN AT BEDTIME. Reilly, Tyrrell and Troup, Circadian variation in human stature, Chronobiology International 1984, PMID 6600017 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
479. SHAVING DOES NOT MAKE HAIR GROW BACK THICKER, DARKER OR FASTER. Vreeman and Carroll, Medical myths, BMJ 2007 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
480. THE LITTLE POINT ON SOME PEOPLE'S EARS WAS SPOTTED BY A SCULPTOR. Valeriani, Firmani and Valeriani, Correction of Darwin's Tubercle with Plasma Exeresis, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open 2022, PMID 36212084 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Darwin, The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex, 1871, vol. 1, Darwin Online, darwin-online.org.uk
481. YOUR RED BLOOD CELLS THROW OUT THEIR OWN NUCLEUS. Exploring unconventional attributes of red blood cells and their potential applications in biomedicine, Protein and Cell 2024 (PubMed Central), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
482. THE LITTLE FOLD IN THE CORNER OF YOUR EYE SEEMS TO COME FROM A THIRD EYELID. Arends and Schramm, The structure of the human semilunar plica at different stages of its development, a morphological and morphometric study, Annals of Anatomy 2004, PMID 15255295 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
483. PEOPLE OVER 40 REMEMBER THEIR YOUTH OUT OF ALL PROPORTION. Koppel and Rubin, Recent Advances in Understanding the Reminiscence Bump: The Importance of Cues in Guiding Recall from Autobiographical Memory, Current Directions in Psychological Science 2016 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
484. SLEEP MAY RINSE OUT YOUR BRAIN, OR IT MAY DO THE OPPOSITE †. Xie et al., Sleep drives metabolite clearance from the adult brain, Science 2013 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Miao et al., Brain clearance is reduced during sleep and anesthesia, Nature Neuroscience 2024, PMID 38741022 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
485. TWIN STUDIES PUT MORE OF PERSONALITY DOWN TO GENES THAN FAMILY AND ADOPTION STUDIES DO †. Vukasović and Bratko, Heritability of personality: A meta-analysis of behavior genetic studies, Psychological Bulletin 2015, PMID 25961374 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Krueger et al., The heritability of personality is not always 50%, Journal of Personality 2008, PMID 19012656 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; What is heritability?, MedlinePlus Genetics, US National Library of Medicine, medlineplus.gov
486. SOME PEOPLE SEE NO PICTURES IN THEIR HEAD, AND SOME SAY THEY HEAR NO VOICE THERE. Dance, Ipser and Simner, The prevalence of aphantasia (imagery weakness) in the general population, Consciousness and Cognition 2022, PMID 34872033 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Zeman et al., Phantasia: the psychological significance of lifelong visual imagery vividness extremes, Cortex 2020, PMID 32446532 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Nedergaard and Lupyan, Not Everybody Has an Inner Voice: Behavioral Consequences of Anendophasia, Psychological Science 2024, PMID 38728320 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Lind, Are There Really People With No Inner Voice? Commentary on Nedergaard and Lupyan (2024), Psychological Science 2025 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
487. YOUR BONE MARROW MAKES AROUND TWO MILLION RED BLOOD CELLS EVERY SECOND. Yan et al., Comprehensive phenotyping of erythropoiesis in human bone marrow, American Journal of Hematology 2021 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Erythropoiesis, EPO, macrophages, and bone, Bone 2018 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Red blood cells: chasing interactions, Frontiers in Physiology 2019 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
488. YOUR APPENDIX MAY BE A SAFE HOUSE FOR GOOD BACTERIA †. Appendix isn't useless at all: it's a safe house for bacteria, Duke Health, corporate.dukehealth.org ; Shaikh et al., Patients with Clostridium difficile infection and prior appendectomy may be prone to worse outcomes, World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery 2021, wjgnet.com
489. GOOSEBUMPS PULL YOUR HAIRS UPRIGHT, AND IN MICE THE SAME NERVES GROW NEW HAIR. Shwartz et al., Cell types promoting goosebumps form a niche to regulate hair follicle stem cells, Cell 2020 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
490. ENAMEL IS THE HARDEST THING YOUR BODY MAKES, AND IT CANNOT MAKE ANY MORE. Alghadeer et al., Single-cell census of human tooth development enables generation of human enamel, Developmental Cell 2023, PMID 37582367 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Pushpalatha et al., Nanohydroxyapatite in dentistry: a comprehensive review, Saudi Dental Journal 2023, PMID 37817794 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
491. EVEN A HIGHLY SUPERIOR MEMORY IS NOT A PHOTOGRAPHIC ONE. LePort et al., Behavioral and neuroanatomical investigation of Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 2012, PMID 22652113 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Patihis et al., False memories in highly superior autobiographical memory individuals, PNAS 2013, PMID 24248358 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
492. TEARS COME IN THREE KINDS OR FOUR, AND THEY ARE NOT THE SAME MIXTURE. Willcox et al., TFOS DEWS II Tear Film Report, The Ocular Surface 2017 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
493. ABOUT A QUARTER OF PEOPLE HAVE A WISDOM TOOTH THAT NEVER GROWS. Angelakopoulos et al., Third molar agenesis: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis, Archives of Oral Biology 2026, PMID 42320181 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
494. GENERAL ANAESTHESIA IS NOT SLEEP. ONE REVIEW CALLS IT A REVERSIBLE COMA. Brown, Lydic and Schiff, General anesthesia, sleep, and coma, New England Journal of Medicine 2010 (author manuscript, PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
495. YOUR BODY GLOWS, A THOUSAND TIMES TOO FAINTLY TO SEE. Kobayashi, Kikuchi and Okamura, Imaging of ultraweak spontaneous photon emission from human body displaying diurnal rhythm, PLoS ONE 2009 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
6. YOU DID NOT INVENT THAT
496. SOME WARTIME LICENCE PLATES WERE MADE OF SOYBEANS, AND ANIMALS ATE THEM. Soy License Plates, The History Museum (Cascade County Historical Society), Great Falls, Montana, greatfallshistorymuseum.org
497. CHICAGO JACKED ITSELF UP OUT OF THE MUCK. Chicago Sewers Collection, historical note, Chicago Public Library, chipublib.org ; Ellis Sylvester Chesbrough, Notable Civil Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, asce.org
498. THE OLDEST NAME IN WRITING MAY NOT BE A NAME AT ALL †. Learning from Kushim About the Origins of Writing and Farming, Jürgen Renn, in Culture and Cognition: Essays in Honor of Peter Damerow, Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge (2019), mprl-series.mpg.de
499. A CHINESE ASTRONOMER DEVISED AN EARTHQUAKE DETECTOR IN ABOUT AD 132. Model of the Zhang Heng seismoscope, Science Museum Group Collection, collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk ; Zhang Heng's earthquake recorder, Collections Online, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, collections.tepapa.govt.nz
500. INOCULATION AGAINST SMALLPOX CAME BEFORE JENNER'S VACCINE †. Najera, The History of Variolation, History of Vaccines, College of Physicians of Philadelphia, historyofvaccines.org
501. A PALACE ON CRETE HAD A FLUSHING TOILET MORE THAN 3,000 YEARS AGO. Phaistos lavatory (with the Knossos lavatory), Ancient Hydraulic Works database, ITIA, National Technical University of Athens, itia.ntua.gr ; Angelakis, Koutsoyiannis and Tchobanoglous, Urban wastewater and stormwater technologies in ancient Greece, Water Research 2005, PMID 15607179 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
502. SAMURAI HAD GUNS, AND WON BATTLES WITH THEM †. The Battle of Nagashino (Nagashino Gassen), Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, asia-archive.si.edu ; Daniele Lauro, Displaying Authority: Guns, Political Legitimacy, and Martial Pageantry in Tokugawa Japan, MA thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012, cdr.lib.unc.edu ; Invented Histories: The Nihon Senshi of the Meiji Imperial Japanese Army, Nathan H. Ledbetter, Asian Studies 6 (2), 2018, University of Ljubljana, journals.uni-lj.si
503. ONE LATIN WORD DECIDES WHETHER A ROMAN MILL RAN FAST OR SLOW †. Vitruvius, On Architecture, Book X, Gwilt translation, LacusCurtius, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu ; The Roman Watermill in the Athenian Agora: A New View of the Evidence, Robert J. Spain, Hesperia 56 (4), American School of Classical Studies at Athens, ascsa.edu.gr
504. A LUMP OF CHEWED BIRCH PITCH FROM DENMARK HELD A WHOLE HUMAN GENOME. Jensen et al., A 5700 year-old human genome and oral microbiome from chewed birch pitch, Nature Communications 2019, nature.com
505. THE WORLD'S "OLDEST LENS" WAS PROBABLY AN INLAY, PERHAPS FROM A PIECE OF FURNITURE †. Oval rock-crystal inlay, also known as the Layard Lens or Nimrud Lens, British Museum Images, The British Museum, bmimages.com ; Gerhard, On the History, Presence, and Future of Optics Manufacturing, Micromachines 2021 (PubMed Central), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
506. STONEHENGE'S ALTAR STONE MAY HAVE COME FROM THE NORTH-EAST OF SCOTLAND †. A Scottish provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge, Anthony J. I. Clarke et al., Nature 632, 570 to 575 (2024), nature.com ; Searching for the origin of the Stonehenge Altar Stone, Duncan Pirrie et al., Journal of the Geological Society 183, Lyell Collection, lyellcollection.org ; Stonehenge's Altar Stone Still Has No Home, Geologists Say, Sci.News, sci.news
507. A 1900 PATENT FOR WIRELESS POWER STILL STARTED AT A POWER STATION. N. Tesla, System of transmission of electrical energy, US Patent 645,576, Google Patents, patents.google.com
508. ROMAN SURGICAL TOOLS LOOK LIKE MODERN ONES. Daily Life: Medicine, A Day in Pompeii, Western Australian Museum, museum.wa.gov.au
509. THE POST OFFICE "MOTTO" IS ABOUT PERSIAN COURIERS, AND IT IS NOT A MOTTO. Herodotus, The Histories 8.98, translated by A. D. Godley, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, perseus.tufts.edu ; Postal Service Mission and "Motto", Historian, United States Postal Service, about.usps.com
510. ONE OF THE COMMONEST WORDS IN POMPEII'S GRAFFITI MEANS "HAPPILY". Digging Deeper into Pompeii's Past, Archaeology Magazine (Archaeological Institute of America), July/August 2019, archaeology.org ; Dialogues of Ancient Graffiti in the House of Maius Castricius in Pompeii, Rebecca R. Benefiel, American Journal of Archaeology 114.1 (2010), ajaonline.org
511. ACID RAIN WAS SPOTTED IN MANCHESTER IN 1852 †. Acid Precipitation, Matthew Wilkinson and Sarah Woodin, in Sustaining Earth (1990), Palgrave Macmillan, link.springer.com ; Acid rain and the rise of the environmental chemist in 19th century Britain (review), John Hudson, Chemistry World, Royal Society of Chemistry, chemistryworld.com
512. HUNTER-GATHERERS IN JORDAN WERE BAKING FLATBREAD 14,400 YEARS AGO. Archaeobotanical evidence reveals the origins of bread 14,400 years ago in northeastern Jordan, Amaia Arranz-Otaegui et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115 (31), 2018, via PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
513. SQUEEZE A QUARTZ CRYSTAL AND IT MAKES ELECTRICITY. A Walk Through Time: A Revolution in Timekeeping, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), nist.gov
514. HAMMURABI'S LAWS MADE A CARELESS SAILOR PAY FOR THE WRECK. The Code of Hammurabi, translated by L. W. King, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School, avalon.law.yale.edu ; Code de Hammurabi, stele SB 8, Musee du Louvre collections, collections.louvre.fr
515. INDUS TRADERS WEIGHED THEIR GOODS IN BINARY. Cubical Weights, Harappa.com (Harappa Archaeological Research Project), harappa.com ; Weights (National Museum of Pakistan description), Harappa.com, harappa.com
516. CHEMOTHERAPY REALLY DID GROW OUT OF MUSTARD GAS. The Birth of Chemotherapy at Yale: From Wartime Secrecy to Modern Cancer Care, Yale School of Medicine, medicine.yale.edu
517. BRONZE NEEDS TIN, AND SOME OF THE TIN MAY HAVE COME FROM CENTRAL ASIA †. Tin from Uluburun shipwreck shows small-scale commodity exchange fueled continental tin supply across Late Bronze Age Eurasia, Wayne Powell et al., Science Advances 8 (48), 2022, via PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Why Central Asia's Mushiston is not a source for the Late Bronze Age tin ingots from the Uluburun shipwreck, Daniel Berger, Kai Kaniuth, Gerhard Brugmann and Ernst Pernicka, Frontiers in Earth Science 11, 2023, frontiersin.org
518. JAPAN'S FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH CARTOON WAS PAID FOR BY THE NAVY. The seeds of anime: how Japanese animation arose, Jonathan Clements, Sight and Sound, British Film Institute, bfi.org.uk ; Momotarô, umi no shinpei = Momotaro, Sacred Sailors, catalogue record, Language Resource Center, University of Michigan, lrc.lsa.umich.edu
519. ROMAN LEGEND GAVE THE FIRST CALENDAR TEN MONTHS, AND NO WINTER †. Roman Calendar, Encyclopaedia Romana, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu ; December, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
520. A PASSIVE RFID TAG HAS NO BATTERY. THE READER'S SIGNAL POWERS IT. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), U.S. Food and Drug Administration, fda.gov ; Guidelines for Securing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems, NIST Special Publication 800-98, National Institute of Standards and Technology, nvlpubs.nist.gov
521. THE FIRST RECORDED STRIKE WAS BY TOMB BUILDERS, NOT PYRAMID BUILDERS. Highlights: Turin Strike Papyrus, Museo Egizio papyrus collection, collezionepapiri.museoegizio.it ; Strike Papyrus (Cat. 1880), Museo Egizio collection online, collezioni.museoegizio.it
522. RÖNTGEN'S WIFE SAW HER SKELETON AND IS SAID TO HAVE SEEN HER DEATH †. Discovery of the X-ray: A New Kind of Invisible Light, National Museum of Health and Medicine (U.S. Defense Health Agency), medicalmuseum.health.mil ; The radiologic diagnosis of skeletal dysplasias: past, present and future, Amaka C. Offiah, Pediatric Radiology 50 (12), 2020, via PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
523. THE WHITE PALACES OF THE 1893 WORLD'S FAIR WERE PLASTER, AND MEANT TO COME DOWN. Guide to the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 Collection 1892-1930, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library, lib.uchicago.edu ; Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Landmarks, City of Chicago, webapps1.chicago.gov ; World's Columbian Exposition, Encyclopedia.com, encyclopedia.com
524. THE COMPLAINT GUINNESS CALLS THE WORLD'S OLDEST CAME FROM AN INVESTOR. The Man Behind the Meme, Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology), penn.museum ; The oldest complaint in the world: a trip to the British Museum, Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, liverpool.ac.uk
525. PHOENIX'S CANALS RUN WHERE THE HOHOKAM DUG THEM. Hohokam Canal System, Arizona Heritage Waters, Northern Arizona University and the Museum of Northern Arizona, azheritagewaters.nau.edu ; Preface: On the terms Huhugam and Hohokam, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, srpmic-nsn.gov ; Notice of Inventory Completion, Hudson Museum, University of Maine, Federal Register, 13 September 2011, U.S. Government Publishing Office, govinfo.gov
526. MESOAMERICA HAD THE WHEEL, ON LITTLE CLAY ANIMALS †. Tula, and wheeled animal effigies in Mesoamerica, Richard A. Diehl and Margaret D. Mandeville, Antiquity 61 (232), 1987, hosted by FAMSI, famsi.org
527. FRANKLIN'S PLAN TO SAVE PARIS CANDLES WAS SATIRE. Did Ben Franklin Invent Daylight Saving Time?, The Franklin Institute, fi.edu
528. THE RULES OF THE ROYAL GAME OF UR WERE ONCE CATALOGUED AS BIRD OMENS. Irving L. Finkel, On the Rules for the Royal Game of Ur, in Ancient Board Games in Perspective, British Museum Press, 2007 (PDF of the chapter), genjam.org
529. MESOAMERICANS MADE RUBBER MORE THAN 3,000 YEARS BEFORE GOODYEAR. A good many years before Goodyear, MIT News (reporting Hosler and Tarkanian, Latin American Antiquity), news.mit.edu ; The manufacturing technique of the El Manati rubber balls, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2024), Springer, link.springer.com
530. YOUR BANANA IS A SEEDLESS CLONE. Worse Comes to Worst: Bananas and Panama Disease, When Plant and Pathogen Clones Meet, Ordonez et al., PLoS Pathogens 2015, via PubMed Central (NIH), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
531. SMEATON'S MODEL WHEELS SHOWED FALLING WATER BEATS SHOVING WATER. An Experimental Enquiry concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills, J. Smeaton, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 51 (1759), scan at the Internet Archive, archive.org ; Engineering and technology of industrial water power at Castleford Mills, Andrew N. Rollinson, Notes and Records of the Royal Society 70 (1), via PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
532. SHOE SHOPS X-RAYED CHILDREN'S FEET FOR THREE DECADES. Shoe-Fitting Fluoroscope (ca. 1930-1940), Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, orau.org
533. A CHINESE CHARIOT KEPT POINTING ONE WAY, HOWEVER IT TURNED †. South Pointing Chariot: An Invitation to Differential Geometry, Stephen Sawin, Fairfield University (arXiv), arxiv.org ; Chinese 'South-pointing' chariot, Science Museum Group Collection, collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk
534. THE TERRACOTTA ARMY'S CROSSBOW TRIGGERS WERE MADE BATCH BY BATCH †. Crossbows and imperial craft organisation: the bronze triggers of China's Terracotta Army, Li, Bevan, Martinon-Torres et al., Antiquity 88 (2014), UCL Discovery, discovery.ucl.ac.uk
535. ZERO AS A NUMBER WAS WORKED OUT IN INDIA. Carbon dating finds Bakhshali manuscript contains oldest recorded origins of the symbol 'zero', Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford (Gardens, Libraries and Museums), glam.ox.ac.uk
536. THE OLDEST WORKING FALSE BODY PART IS PROBABLY A TOE. "Egyptian toes likely to be the world's oldest prosthetics", University of Manchester, manchester.ac.uk
537. CANNING AND CURING WORKED FOR YEARS BEFORE ANYONE KNEW WHY. Historical Origins of Food Preservation, B.A. Nummer, National Center for Home Food Preservation, University of Georgia, nchfp.uga.edu ; What is saltpeter used for, Joe Schwarcz, Office for Science and Society, McGill University, mcgill.ca
538. CANADA'S BANK NOTES ARE MOSTLY PLASTIC, WITH WINDOWS AND BUMPS. Paying with Polymer: Developing Canada's New Bank Notes, Charles Spencer, Bank of Canada Review (Spring 2011), bankofcanada.ca ; $10 polymer note security features, Bank of Canada, bankofcanada.ca ; Bank notes: Resources for the blind and partially sighted, Bank of Canada, bankofcanada.ca ; It pays to check, Bank of Canada Museum, bankofcanadamuseum.ca
539. THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, SOMEBODY IN PAKISTAN DRILLED TEETH WITH FLINT. Coppa et al., Early Neolithic tradition of dentistry, Nature 2006, nature.com ; New radiocarbon dating revolutionises current understanding of the rise of agriculture in the Indus Valley, Sapienza University of Rome, uniroma1.it
540. THE "BAGHDAD BATTERY" MAY NOT HAVE BEEN A BATTERY AT ALL †. Metcalfe, Was the 'Baghdad battery' really two cells?, Chemistry World, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026, reporting Bazes, Sino-Platonic Papers 377, 2026, chemistryworld.com ; The Baghdad Battery: Experimental Verification of a 2,000-Year-Old Device, Alexander Bazes, Sino-Platonic Papers 377, University of Pennsylvania, 2026, sino-platonic.org
541. HAMBURG HAS A MEMORIAL TO THE EARLY RADIATION WORKERS KILLED BY THEIR WORK. 1930s radiology, History of radiology, British Institute of Radiology, bir.org.uk ; Early victims of X-rays: a tribute and current perception, K. Sansare et al., Dentomaxillofacial Radiology 40 (2), 2011, via PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; American martyrs to science through the Roentgen rays, by Percy Brown, and portrait record of Percy Brown, 1875-1950, NLM Catalog, U.S. National Library of Medicine, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
542. A KENTUCKY MAN'S WIRELESS PHONE SENT A VOICE THROUGH THE GROUND †. Stubblefield Birthplace, ExploreKYHistory, Kentucky Historical Society, explorekyhistory.ky.gov ; Nathan Stubblefield, Murray State University, murraystate.edu
543. AN MIT ENGINEER READ TESLA'S SEIZED PAPERS AND WAS NOT IMPRESSED. JPat Brown, B.C.D. Lipton and Michael Morisy, Spying on Tesla, Lapham's Quarterly, excerpted from Scientists Under Surveillance: The FBI Files (MIT Press, 2019), laphamsquarterly.org ; History, Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade, tesla-museum.org
544. HERO OF ALEXANDRIA DESIGNED TEMPLE DOORS THAT OPENED WHEN THE ALTAR WAS LIT. Hero of Alexandria, The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria, translated for and edited by Bennet Woodcroft, 1851, Project Gutenberg, gutenberg.org
545. ROME'S FIRE BRIGADE WAS MEANT TO BE TEMPORARY, AND IT STAYED. Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 55, chapters 25 and 26, Loeb translation by Earnest Cary, LacusCurtius, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu
546. THE ETRUSCANS MADE DENTAL BRIDGES OUT OF GOLD, MOSTLY FOR RICH WOMEN. Forshaw, Dentistry and dental care in antiquity: part 1, prehistory, Mesopotamia, Israel, Etruria and the Far East, British Dental Journal 2025, nature.com
547. THE JACK-O'-LANTERN WAS A TURNIP BEFORE IT WAS A PUMPKIN. Ghost turnip, NMI Collections F1943.350, National Museum of Ireland, museum.ie ; Jack-o'-lantern, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
548. THE MODEM'S SCREECH WAS TWO MACHINES NEGOTIATING, AND YOU WERE MEANT TO HEAR IT. US Patent 6,944,214 B1, Scheduled audio mode for modem speaker, Timothy G. Gilbert for Gateway, United States Patent and Trademark Office, via Google Patents, patents.google.com
549. PAPER MONEY IN CHINA GREW OUT OF MERCHANTS' RECEIPTS. Song Dynasty China: Paper Money, Asia for Educators, Columbia University, afe.easia.columbia.edu ; The Rise and Fall of Paper Money in Yuan China, 1260-1368, Guan, Palma and Wu, University of Manchester Economics Discussion Paper EDP-2207, hummedia.manchester.ac.uk
550. THE OLDEST JAPANESE CARTOON YOU CAN STILL WATCH IS FROM 1917 †. FAQ about the films, Japanese Animated Film Classics, National Film Center, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, animation.filmarchives.jp ; Site Policy, Japanese Animated Film Classics, animation.filmarchives.jp ; Oldest Anime Found, Anime News Network, animenewsnetwork.com
551. SOME OLD WINDOWS ARE THICK AT THE BOTTOM, PROBABLY BECAUSE OF THE GLAZIER, NOT GRAVITY. Fact or Fiction?: Glass Is a (Supercooled) Liquid, Ciara Curtin, Scientific American, scientificamerican.com ; Shattering the myth of fast-flowing medieval glass, Lauren Borja, MRS Bulletin news, Cambridge University Press (2017), cambridge.org
552. THE OLDEST KNOWN WRITTEN PAPYRI INCLUDE A BOATMAN'S LOG FROM THE GREAT PYRAMID. The World's Oldest Papyrus and What It Can Tell Us About the Great Pyramids, Alexander Stille, Smithsonian Magazine, October 2015, smithsonianmag.com
553. THE ROMANS WORKED OUT IN A GYM BEFORE THEIR BATH. The Roman Gym, The Roman Baths, Bath, romanbaths.co.uk ; Learn how the Romans kept fit and healthy! New Roman Gym area opens at the Roman Baths, The Roman Baths, romanbaths.co.uk
554. A FLUTE CARVED FROM A VULTURE BONE IS AROUND 35,000 YEARS OLD. New flutes document the earliest musical tradition in southwestern Germany, Conard, Malina and Munzel, Nature (2009), nature.com ; Paleolithic Bone Flute Discovered, ScienceDaily (release from Universitaet Tuebingen), sciencedaily.com ; Hohle Fels, University of Tubingen, uni-tuebingen.de
555. THE OLDEST FALSE LEG WAS DESTROYED IN AN AIR RAID, AND ONLY A COPY SURVIVES. Copy of Roman artificial leg, London, England, 1905-1915, Science Museum Group Collection, collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk ; Egyptian toes likely to be the world's oldest prosthetics, University of Manchester, manchester.ac.uk
556. A WRECK OFF GREECE HELD A GEARED MACHINE THAT PREDICTED ECLIPSES †. Freeth et al., Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism, Nature 2006, PMID 17136087 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Freeth et al., A Model of the Cosmos in the ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism, Scientific Reports 2021, PMID 33712674 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; On the epoch of the Antikythera mechanism and its eclipse predictor, Christian C. Carman and James Evans, Archive for History of Exact Sciences, 2014, Springer, link.springer.com
557. FARMING BEGAN INDEPENDENTLY IN AT LEAST 11 REGIONS †. Current perspectives and the future of domestication studies, Greger Larson et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111 (17), 2014, via PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
558. VENICE'S PILES ROT WITHOUT OXYGEN TOO. THE MUD HOLDS THEM UP ANYWAY. Legno, terra e acqua: ricerca di Ca' Foscari sulle fondazioni di Venezia, CaFoscariNews, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, 30 June 2016, unive.it
559. THE COMPUTER THAT FLEW TO THE MOON HAD 4 KILOBYTES OF WORKING MEMORY. The "Rope Mother" Margaret Hamilton, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, airandspace.si.edu ; Apollo 11 Program Alarms (Peter Adler, MIT Instrumentation Lab), Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal, NASA, nasa.gov
560. GÖBEKLI TEPE WAS BUILT BY HUNTER-GATHERERS, STARTING ABOUT 11,500 YEARS AGO. Göbekli Tepe, World Heritage List, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org
561. ROMAN CONCRETE MAY MEND ITS OWN CRACKS. Riddle solved: Why was Roman concrete so durable?, MIT News (reporting Seymour, Masic et al., Science Advances), news.mit.edu
562. EDISON'S GLASSBLOWER MAY HAVE BEEN THE FIRST PERSON KILLED BY X-RAYS †. Early victims of X-rays: a tribute and current perception, K. Sansare et al., Dentomaxillofacial Radiology 40 (2), 2011, via PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Clarence Dally, The Man Who Gave Thomas Edison X-Ray Vision, Gilbert King, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; X-Ray Vision: Roentgen's Amazing Discovery, Tufts Now, Tufts University, now.tufts.edu
563. PLATO'S "ALARM CLOCK" IS ONE LINE OF HEARSAY †. Athenaeus, The Deipnosophistae, Book IV (Loeb Classical Library, 1928), LacusCurtius, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu ; The alarm clock of Plato, Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, collection.kotsanasmuseum.com ; Plato's alarm clock, Herakleidon Museum, Athens, ancientgreektechnology.gr
564. LAUGHING GAS WAS A LECTURE TRICK BEFORE IT WAS AN ANAESTHETIC. Mini-Review: A Brief History of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Use in Neuropsychiatry, Current Drug Research Reviews 2019, via PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "I did not feel so much as the prick of a pin", Strange Magic of the Enchanted Goblet, Center for the History of Medicine, Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard, collections.countway.harvard.edu
565. ALMOST NOBODY WHO SAVED UP FOR A NAZI VOLKSWAGEN GOT ONE. Der Volkswagen (VW), LeMO, Deutsches Historisches Museum, dhm.de ; 1961 to 1972: Boom and crisis in the one-product business, Volkswagen Chronicle, Volkswagen Group, volkswagen-group.com
566. VIRTUALLY ALL THE QUARTZ CRYSTAL IN ELECTRONICS IS MANUFACTURED. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025: Quartz (High-Purity and Industrial Cultured Crystal), U.S. Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov
567. THE FIRST KNOWN ACCOUNT OF CATARACT SURGERY IS INDIAN, BUT PROBABLY NOT FROM 600 BC †. Cataract Surgery: Couching to Phaco, online exhibit, Museum of the Eye, American Academy of Ophthalmology, aao.org ; On the Date of the Suśrutasaṃhitā, Dominik Wujastyk, The Compendium of Suśruta in Time and Space, University of Alberta, 17 July 2026, sushrutaproject2.github.io
568. ENGLAND HAD LAWS ON WHAT YOU WERE ALLOWED TO WEAR. The rise and fall of sumptuary laws: Rules for dressing in Shakespeare's England, Folger Shakespeare Library, folger.edu
569. MOST SCHOLARS THINK MESOPOTAMIAN WRITING BEGAN AS BOOKKEEPING †. Accounting in Proto-Cuneiform, Robert K. Englund, chapter 2 of The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture (2011), hosted by the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, cdli.earth ; The Early Development of the Cuneiform Writing System, and Its Regional Adaptation, Jacob L. Dahl, University of Oxford (Oxford University Research Archive), ora.ox.ac.uk
570. EDISON DID NOT INVENT THE LIGHT BULB ALONE. Swan electric lamp, Science Museum Group Collection, collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk ; Sir Joseph Swan: A Light that Never Goes Out, Special Collections, Newcastle University, blogs.ncl.ac.uk ; How Thomas Edison Tricked the Press Into Believing He'd Invented the Light Bulb, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com
571. POMPEII ALONE HAD AT LEAST 80 HOT-FOOD BARS. From the 12th August the Thermopolium of Regio V is opening to the public, Archaeological Park of Pompeii, pompeiisites.org
572. PAPER APPARENTLY PREDATES CAI LUN, WHO REPORTED IT IN AD 105 †. Early Papermaking, Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, Georgia Institute of Technology, paper.gatech.edu
573. AFTER THE BLACK DEATH, ASKING FOR A PAY RISE WAS AGAINST THE LAW. Ordinance of Laborers, 1349, Internet History Sourcebooks Project, Fordham University, sourcebooks.fordham.edu
574. RÖNTGEN NEVER PATENTED THE X-RAY. Röntgen's X-rays, Inventions that made history, DPMA (German Patent and Trade Mark Office), dpma.de ; Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, University Archive, University of Würzburg, uni-wuerzburg.de
575. THE COMMON IRON OF THE IRON AGE WAS WORSE THAN BRONZE. IT WON ON NUMBERS. Why Did it Take So Long Between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age?, MATSE 81, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Penn State, e-education.psu.edu ; Bronze and Iron: A Comparison, Museum of Classical Antiquities, University of Ottawa, omeka.uottawa.ca
576. A 6,500-YEAR-OLD SLOVENIAN TOOTH MAY HOLD A BEESWAX FILLING †. Bernardini et al., Beeswax as dental filling on a Neolithic human tooth, PLOS ONE 2012, PMID 23028670 (abstract via NCBI PubMed), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; the full article, PLOS ONE, journals.plos.org ; The dawn of dentistry in the late upper Paleolithic: An early case of pathological intervention at Riparo Fredian, Gregorio Oxilia et al., American Journal of Physical Anthropology 163 (3), 2017, Weizmann Institute of Science research portal, weizmann.elsevierpure.com
577. GERMANY WAS THE FIRST COUNTRY TO MOVE ITS CLOCKS, IN 1916, AND LEANED ON AUSTRIA TO FOLLOW. Daylight Saving Time Begins, 1916, David Langbart, The Text Message, U.S. National Archives, text-message.blogs.archives.gov ; Einführung der Sommerzeit, 100 Jahre erster Weltkrieg, Österreichisches Staatsarchiv (Austrian State Archives), wk1.staatsarchiv.at
578. ANIME'S STYLE OF MOVEMENT BEGAN AS A WAY TO SAVE MONEY. The seeds of anime: how Japanese animation arose, Jonathan Clements, Sight and Sound, British Film Institute, bfi.org.uk
579. MEDIEVAL BALTIC HEATERS STORED HEAT IN STONES AND KEPT A ROOM WARM FOR DAYS. Late Medieval Hypocausts with Heat Storage in Estonia, Andres Tvauri, Baltic Journal of Art History (University of Tartu), ojs.utlib.ee
580. TESLA NEVER REFUSED TO SHARE A NOBEL WITH EDISON. IN 1915 HE WAS NOT EVEN NOMINATED. Svante Lindqvist, Edison's and Tesla's Nobel Prize: Science and Nationalism, Historia Scientiarum 30 (2020), J-STAGE, jstage.jst.go.jp
581. MOVABLE TYPE WAS INVENTED IN CHINA, IN CLAY. The Invention of Woodblock Printing in the Tang (618-906) and Song (960-1279) Dynasties, Asian Art Museum, education.asianart.org ; Early Asian Movable Type, Florida State University Libraries, guides.lib.fsu.edu ; The History of Printing in Asia According to Library of Congress Asian Collections, Part 1, Library of Congress, blogs.loc.gov
582. THE FIRST AUTHOR KNOWN BY NAME WAS A PRIESTESS †. Goddesses, Mothers, Rulers: Womanhood in an Ancient Patriarchal Society, Erhan Tamur, Expedition 64 (2), Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology), penn.museum ; En-hedu-ana: The Birth of Literature through the Goddess, Annette Zgoll, Iraq 86, Cambridge University Press (citing J. A. Black, En-hedu-ana not the composer of The Temple Hymns, NABU 2002/4), cambridge.org
583. KEEP LEFT WAS A LAW FOR CARTS. KEEP RIGHT MAY BE PARTLY A WAGON DRIVER'S FAULT †. Highway Act 1835, section 78, legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), legislation.gov.uk ; Things You Didn't Know about the Conestoga Wagon, Tennessee State Museum, tnmuseum.org ; Highway Act 1835, section 78 as printed in 1835 (PDF), legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), legislation.gov.uk
584. LOANS WERE ON RECORD MORE THAN 2,000 YEARS BEFORE THE EARLIEST COINS. Emergence of lending and writing, initially used for accounting, and Birth of metal coins, 10,000 Years of Economy, Citéco (Cité de l'Économie, the economics museum of the Banque de France), citeco.fr ; citeco.fr
585. THE LOCK ON YOUR FRONT DOOR USES AN IDEA KNOWN IN ANCIENT EGYPT †. Linus Yale, Inventor Archive, Lemelson-MIT Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lemelson.mit.edu
586. FORAGERS IN AN ISRAELI CAVE MAY HAVE BREWED THE EARLIEST KNOWN BEER †. Fermented beverage and food storage in 13,000 y-old stone mortars at Raqefet Cave, Israel: Investigating Natufian ritual feasting, Liu et al., Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2018), University of Haifa research portal, cris.haifa.ac.il ; Response to comments on archaeological reconstruction of 13,000-y old Natufian beer making at Raqefet Cave, Israel, Li Liu et al., Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 28, 2019, University of Haifa research portal, cris.haifa.ac.il ; Comment on Liu et al., Fermented beverage and food storage in 13,000 y-old stone mortars at Raqefet Cave, David Eitam, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, ScienceDirect, sciencedirect.com
587. THE AZTECS' "FLOATING GARDENS" STOOD ON THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE. Aztecs: Gardens in the lake, Lynette Townsend, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 24 September 2013, blog.tepapa.govt.nz ; Chinampas Agricultural System in Mexico City, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, fao.org ; Morehart and Frederick, The chronology and collapse of pre-Aztec raised field (chinampa) agriculture in the northern Basin of Mexico, Antiquity 88 (2014), cambridge.org
588. A GEORGIA DOCTOR OPERATED UNDER ETHER FOUR YEARS BEFORE THE FAMOUS PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION †. Or Crawford W. Long?, and Long's Use of Sulphuric Ether, and The Operation on Gilbert Abbott, in Strange Magic of the Enchanted Goblet, Center for the History of Medicine, Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard, collections.countway.harvard.edu ; collections.countway.harvard.edu ; collections.countway.harvard.edu
589. DROP IN A COIN AND HERO'S TEMPLE VESSEL POURS OUT WATER. Hero of Alexandria, The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria, translated for and edited by Bennet Woodcroft, 1851, Project Gutenberg, gutenberg.org ; Automata Invented by Heron of Alexandria, Jeremy Norman's HistoryofInformation.com, historyofinformation.com
590. DAYLIGHT SAVING WAS PUSHED BY A POST OFFICE CLERK WHO CHASED INSECTS. The 19th-Century Entomologist Who Dreamed Up Daylight Savings, Bob Grant, Nautilus, 31 October 2025, nautil.us
591. A UNIVERSAL PLUG CAME OUT IN 1986. BY 2016, TWO COUNTRIES HAD ADOPTED IT. World Plugs: Brief history, International Electrotechnical Commission (archived December 2016), web.archive.org
592. VENICE WAS PROTECTING INVENTORS FROM COPYCATS IN 1474. Italian Industrial Property Code, English translation by LES Italy, preface, hosted on WIPO Lex, World Intellectual Property Organization, wipo.int
593. A STONE AGE MAN HAD HIS SKULL OPENED TWICE, AND LIVED. Neolithic Surgery, Archaeology Magazine (Archaeological Institute of America), September/October 1997, archive.archaeology.org ; Evidence for stone age cranial surgery, Alt et al., Nature 387 (1997), nature.com
594. COCA-COLA TOLD A RABBI ITS SECRET INGREDIENT. The Real Thing: How Coke Became Kosher, Roger Horowitz, Distillations, Science History Institute, sciencehistory.org
7. WHAT YOU WERE TOLD IS WRONG
595. YOUR "SOCRATES" QUOTE ABOUT RUDE CHILDREN STARTED AS A CAMBRIDGE STUDENT'S SUMMARY. Kenneth J. Freeman, Schools of Hellas, Macmillan, 1907, full text via the Internet Archive, archive.org ; Protzko and Schooler, Kids these days: Why the youth of today seem lacking, Science Advances 2019 (PMC), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Garson O'Toole, post to ADS-L (the American Dialect Society list), October 2009, LINGUIST List archive, listserv.linguistlist.org
596. THE FAMOUS GIANT SKELETON PHOTO WON THIRD PLACE IN A FAKING CONTEST. James Owen, "Skeleton of Giant" Is Internet Photo Hoax, National Geographic News, 14 December 2007, nationalgeographic.com
597. SPAIN, ITALY AND PORTUGAL, HOME OF THE INQUISITIONS, SAW FEW WITCH TRIALS. Peter T. Leeson and Jacob W. Russ, Witch Trials, The Economic Journal 128 (2018), author's copy, peterleeson.com
598. THE ROMAN EMPIRE DID NOT END IN 476. Ralph W. Mathisen, Romulus Augustulus (475-476 A.D.), De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors, Loyola University Chicago, roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu ; The Imperial Index: The Rulers of the Roman Empire, De Imperatoribus Romanis, roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu
599. YOUR HEAD DOES NOT LOSE MOST OF YOUR BODY HEAT. Pretorius, Bristow, Steinman and Giesbrecht, Thermal effects of whole head submersion in cold water on nonshivering humans, Journal of Applied Physiology 2006, abstract via NCBI PubMed, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Scientists Shed Light On Festive Medical Myths, NPR (2008), npr.org
600. NAPOLEON WAS BORN A FRENCH SUBJECT, WITH ABOUT A YEAR TO SPARE. Thierry Lentz, Bullet point #2: Was Napoleon born French?, Fondation Napoléon, January 2018, napoleon.org
601. TESLA WORKED FOR EDISON IN NEW YORK FOR A YEAR AT MOST †. W. Bernard Carlson, Places of Invention: Nikola Tesla's Life in New York, The Gotham Center for New York City History, gothamcenter.org ; Tesla: Master of Lightning, Tesla's Early Years in America, PBS, pbs.org ; Nikola Tesla, My Inventions (part IV), Electrical Experimenter, May 1919, scan at World Radio History, worldradiohistory.com
602. MRS O'LEARY'S COW WAS OFFICIALLY CLEARED IN 1997. "The O'Leary Legend", Chicago History Museum, greatchicagofire.org
603. ANNE FRANK'S OLDER SISTER MARGOT KEPT A DIARY TOO, AND IT HAS NOT SURVIVED. Margot Frank, Anne Frank House, annefrank.org
604. QUANTUM TELEPORTATION MOVES NO MATTER, AND IT WAITS FOR A TEXT. Quantum Teleportation, The Quantum Atlas, Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland, quantumatlas.umd.edu ; Peter Shor, 18.435J Quantum Computation, Lecture 12: Superdense Coding and Quantum Teleportation, MIT OpenCourseWare, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ocw.mit.edu
605. ORGANIC FARMERS USE PESTICIDES TOO, AND SOME OF THEM ARE SYNTHETIC. 7 CFR § 205.206, Crop pest, weed, and disease management practice standard, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, law.cornell.edu ; 7 CFR § 205.601, Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, law.cornell.edu
606. PURE WATER BARELY CONDUCTS ELECTRICITY. WHAT IS DISSOLVED IN IT DOES. Conductivity (Electrical Conductance) and Water, Water Science School, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
607. DARTH VADER NEVER SAYS "LUKE, I AM YOUR FATHER". False Memories, explained, University of Chicago News, 2025, news.uchicago.edu ; The Empire Strikes Back (1980), AFI Catalog, American Film Institute, catalog.afi.com
608. LOS ANGELES IS NOT GOING TO FALL INTO THE SEA. Will California eventually fall into the ocean?, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
609. EGYPT'S "COCAINE MUMMIES" HAVE NEVER BEEN CONFIRMED †. First identification of drugs in Egyptian mummies, Balabanova, Parsche and Pirsig, Die Naturwissenschaften (1992), record in Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), ebi.ac.uk ; Perrin et al., Preservation of cutaneous structures of Egyptian mummies, Annales de Dermatologie et de Vénéréologie (1994), abstract via PubMed (NCBI), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Springfield et al., Cocaine and metabolites in the hair of ancient Peruvian coca leaf chewers, Forensic Science International 63 (1993), abstract via PubMed (NCBI), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; White et al., The Origins of Coca, Systematic Biology 70 (2021), abstract via PubMed (NCBI), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Determination of nicotine in hair samples of pre-Columbian mummies, Musshoff, Rosendahl and Madea, Forensic Science International 185 (2009), abstract via PubMed (NCBI), eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Balabanova, Parsche and Pirsig, "First identification of drugs in Egyptian mummies", Naturwissenschaften 79 (1992), Semantic Scholar, semanticscholar.org
610. BUGSY SIEGEL TOOK THE FLAMINGO FROM THE MAN WHO STARTED IT. The Mob Museum announces major acquisition of two rare artifacts related to Bugsy Siegel, the Flamingo Hotel, press release, The Mob Museum (National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement), themobmuseum.org
611. SUGAR DOES NOT MAKE CHILDREN HYPERACTIVE. PARENTS EXPECT IT TO. Wolraich, Wilson and White, The effect of sugar on behavior or cognition in children: a meta-analysis, JAMA 1995, abstract via NCBI PubMed, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Hoover and Milich, Effects of sugar ingestion expectancies on mother-child interactions, J Abnorm Child Psychol 1994, abstract via NCBI PubMed, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
612. NOBODY COULD VOUCH FOR GARFIELD'S TWO-HANDED GREEK AND LATIN. "Truth or myth?", James A. Garfield National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service), official Facebook page, 29 May 2020, facebook.com ; Sarah Pruitt, Who Was the First Left-Handed President?, HISTORY (A&E), published 13 August 2018, updated 4 November 2025, history.com
613. BEN FRANKLIN NEVER ASKED FOR A TURKEY ON THE SEAL. Did Benjamin Franklin Want the National Bird To Be A Turkey?, The Franklin Institute, fi.edu ; The Great Seal, U.S. Diplomacy Center, U.S. Department of State, diplomacy.state.gov ; Why we don't have a turkey on our Great Seal, Scott Bomboy, National Constitution Center, constitutioncenter.org ; The Great Seal of the United States, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State (archived), 2009-2017.state.gov ; "Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States (1782)", Milestone Documents, U.S. National Archives, archives.gov
614. THE EARTH IS NOT "OVERDUE" FOR A MAGNETIC FLIP, BECAUSE FLIPS KEEP NO TIMETABLE. Reversals: Magnetic Flip, Geomagnetism education pages, British Geological Survey, geomag.bgs.ac.uk ; Are we about to have a magnetic reversal?, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
615. THE POPE ANNULLED MAGNA CARTA 10 WEEKS AFTER IT WAS GRANTED. Shameful and demeaning: the annulment of Magna Carta, Medieval manuscripts blog, British Library, 23 August 2015, bl.uk ; Magna Carta in the City of London, The London Archives (City of London Corporation), thelondonarchives.org ; Magna Carta (1297), legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, legislation.gov.uk
616. EL NIÑO DOES NOT SEND YOU A STORM. IT STACKS THE DECK. How Does El Niño Impact the Weather?, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, scripps.ucsd.edu
617. A VOMITORIUM WAS THE WAY OUT OF THE THEATRE, NOT A ROOM FOR BEING SICK. Purging the Myth of the Vomitorium, Stephanie Pappas, Live Science, via Scientific American (2016), scientificamerican.com ; vomitorium (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
618. A LIFE EXPECTANCY OF 40 DID NOT MEAN PEOPLE DIED AT 40. How has life expectancy changed over time?, Office for National Statistics, 9 September 2015, ons.gov.uk
619. WHILE APOLLO 11 LANDED, JODRELL BANK WAS TRACKING IT AND A SOVIET PROBE. Recording of Russia's lunar gatecrash attempt released, Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, 3 July 2009, jb.man.ac.uk
620. "PRIAM'S TREASURE" IS ABOUT A THOUSAND YEARS TOO OLD FOR PRIAM †. The Worlds of Schliemann, exhibition page, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, smb.museum ; Dennis Drabelle, The (Continuing) Tale of Troy, The Pennsylvania Gazette (University of Pennsylvania), 1 May 2010, thepenngazette.com ; Amateur Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann Discovered, and Nearly Destroyed, Troy, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; "150 years since Heinrich Schliemann uncovered the Treasure of Priamos in Troy", Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, smb.museum
621. A HERMIT RESIGNED THE PAPACY IN 1294, LONG BEFORE BENEDICT XVI. Celestine V, Pontiffs, The Holy See, vatican.va ; Gregory XII, Pontiffs, The Holy See, vatican.va ; Daniel P. Horan, Was it Celestine V or Gregory XII?, America: The Jesuit Review, 12 February 2013, americamagazine.org ; Benedict XVI, homily at Sulmona, 4 July 2010, The Holy See, vatican.va ; Pope at Mass in L'Aquila, Vatican News, 2022, vaticannews.va ; Benedict XVI, Declaratio, 11 February 2013, The Holy See, vatican.va
622. CHINA HAS PYRAMIDS, AND THEY ARE HEAPS OF EARTH. Giulio Magli (Politecnico di Milano), Royal mausoleums of the Western-Han and of the Song Chinese dynasties: a contextual approach, arXiv:1612.05985, arxiv.org ; Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org
623. THE "ATTACK OF THE DEAD MEN" HAPPENED, BUT NOT EVERY DETAIL OF THE LEGEND DID †. Cherkasov, Ryabtsev and Menjkovsky (Sochi State University and Belarusian State University), Dead Men Attack (Osovets, 1915): Archive Sources Approach, European Researcher 12 (2011), erjournal.ru
624. IN 1961 AMERICAN AND SOVIET TANKS FACED EACH OTHER OVER A TRIP TO THE OPERA. Hotspot of the Cold War, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin Wall Foundation (Stiftung Berliner Mauer), stiftung-berliner-mauer.de
625. IN THE STORY NEWTON TOLD, THE APPLE NEVER HIT HIS HEAD. Scientist of the Day: Isaac Newton, William B. Ashworth Jr., Linda Hall Library, lindahall.org
626. EINSTEIN NEVER FAILED MATHS. LANGUAGES AND HISTORY SANK HIM. Einstein's youth (1879-1896), Einstein Online, ETH Library, ETH Zurich, library.ethz.ch ; Herbert Hunziker, Albert Einstein: Maturitätsprüfung in Mathematik 1896, Elemente der Mathematik 56 (2001), EMS Press, ems.press
627. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE SALIERI POISONED MOZART. James L. Franklin, Mozart and Salieri: From Pushkin to Shaffer, Hektoen International: A Journal of Medical Humanities, 2021, hekint.org ; Peter J. Davies, Mozart's illnesses and death, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 1983 (abstract, PMC), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
628. THE HANGING GARDEN OF BABYLON HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND IN BABYLON †. New Thoughts on an Ancient World Wonder, Archaeology Magazine (Archaeological Institute of America), 7 May 2013, archaeology.org ; Karen Polinger Foster, The Hanging Gardens of Nineveh, Iraq 66 (2004), Cambridge University Press, cambridge.org ; Babylon, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org
629. THE "ROMAN SALUTE" IS NOT ROMAN. Michelle Borg, review of Martin M. Winkler, The Roman Salute: Cinema, History, Ideology (Ohio State University Press, 2009), Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.08.45, bmcr.brynmawr.edu
630. THE BIGGEST DESERT ON EARTH IS COVERED IN ICE. Deserts (Not all Deserts are Sandy), encyclopedic entry, National Geographic Education, education.nationalgeographic.org
631. SALEM HANGED 19 PEOPLE AND BURNED NONE. Benjamin Ray, Overview of the Salem Witch Trials, Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive, University of Virginia, salem.lib.virginia.edu ; Heather Snyder, Giles Corey, Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive, University of Virginia, salem.lib.virginia.edu
632. HUMANS DID NOT DESCEND FROM ANY MONKEY OR APE ALIVE TODAY. Genetics, Human Origins Program, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, humanorigins.si.edu
633. THE $50,000 EDISON NEVER PAID TESLA RESTS ON TESLA'S WORD †. Tesla: Master of Lightning, Tesla's Early Years in America, PBS, pbs.org ; Tesla at the Smithsonian: The Story Behind His Genius, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; Nikola Tesla, My Inventions (part IV), Electrical Experimenter, May 1919, scan at World Radio History, worldradiohistory.com
634. VAN GOGH SOLD MORE THAN ONE PAINTING. How Many Paintings Did Vincent Sell during His Lifetime?, Van Gogh Museum, vangoghmuseum.nl ; "The Red Vineyard at Arles (Montmajour)", collection page, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, arts-museum.ru
635. IN THE FIRST CENTURY AD, MOST GLADIATOR FIGHTS PROBABLY DID NOT END IN A DEATH †. The Roman Gladiator, Encyclopaedia Romana, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu ; Evan Andrews, "10 Things You May Not Know About Roman Gladiators", HISTORY (A&E), history.com
636. BITCOIN IS NOT ANONYMOUS. IT IS PSEUDONYMOUS, AND ITS LEDGER IS PUBLIC. Yaga, Mell, Roby and Scarfone, Blockchain Technology Overview, NISTIR 8202, National Institute of Standards and Technology (2018), nvlpubs.nist.gov
637. THE MAN WHO SHOUTED "GOLD" IN SAN FRANCISCO NEVER DUG FOR ANY. Samuel Brannan: Gold Rush Entrepreneur, American Experience, PBS (WGBH), pbs.org ; Official Report on the Gold Mines, Colonel R. B. Mason, 1848, Museum of the City of San Francisco, sfmuseum.org
638. SALT-LAKE QUICKSAND SHOULD SWALLOW YOU ONLY HALFWAY. Khaldoun, Eiser, Wegdam and Bonn, Liquefaction of quicksand under stress, Nature 437 (2005), with the journal's editorial summary, nature.com
639. IT WAS THE NEWSPAPERS THAT CALLED THE WAR OF THE WORLDS A NATIONWIDE PANIC †. A. Brad Schwartz, The Infamous "War of the Worlds" Radio Broadcast Was a Magnificent Fluke, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; Pooley and Socolow, Checking Up on The Invasion from Mars, International Journal of Communication 7 (2013), ijoc.org ; Christopher Sterling, "War of the Worlds" (October 30, 1938), National Recording Registry essay, Library of Congress, loc.gov
640. WALT DISNEY WAS CREMATED, NOT FROZEN. Common Misconceptions About Walt Disney, The Walt Disney Family Museum, waltdisney.org ; Greg Melville, Inside the Disneyland of Graveyards, Smithsonian Magazine, 2022, smithsonianmag.com ; "Here's How Far Cryonic Preservation Has Come in the 50 Years Since 'Bedford Day'", NBC News (Live Science), nbcnews.com
641. SCHLIEMANN DUG STRAIGHT THROUGH THE TROY HE WAS LOOKING FOR. The Worlds of Schliemann, exhibition page, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, smb.museum ; Amateur Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann Discovered, and Nearly Destroyed, Troy, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; Dennis Drabelle, "The (Continuing) Tale of Troy", The Pennsylvania Gazette (University of Pennsylvania), 1 May 2010, thepenngazette.com
642. THE MAN WHO BOUGHT LONDON BRIDGE KNEW IT WAS NOT TOWER BRIDGE. Tower Bridge vs London Bridge, Tower Bridge (City of London Corporation, City Bridge Foundation), towerbridge.org.uk ; Did You Know... U.S. Customs Declaration Made London Bridge the World's Largest Antique Ever Sold?, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, cbp.gov
643. POMPEII MAY HAVE BEEN BURIED IN OCTOBER, NOT AUGUST †. Press kit, "An inscription which throws the date of the eruption into question", Archaeological Park of Pompeii, pompeiisites.org ; New interpretations enliven the debate over the charcoal inscription, Archaeological Park of Pompeii, pompeiisites.org
644. NIXON SAID ENDING DOLLARS FOR GOLD WAS TEMPORARY. Address to the Nation Outlining a New Economic Policy: "The Challenge of Peace", 15 August 1971, The American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara, presidency.ucsb.edu ; Nixon and the End of the Bretton Woods System, 1971-1973, Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov ; Nixon Ends Convertibility of U.S. Dollars to Gold, Federal Reserve History, federalreservehistory.org
645. CONSTANTINOPLE'S WALLS WERE FIRST BREACHED BY CRUSADERS, TWICE. David Porrinas, This deadly crusade was the downfall of Constantinople, National Geographic, 2026, nationalgeographic.com
646. ALMOST NO EDUCATED PERSON IN THE MIDDLE AGES THOUGHT THE EARTH WAS FLAT. The Myth of the Flat Earth, Jeffrey Burton Russell (Professor of History Emeritus, University of California, Santa Barbara), paper for the American Scientific Affiliation, 1997, summarising his book Inventing the Flat Earth, asa3.org ; Samuel Eliot Morison, "Christopher Columbus, Mariner", American Heritage, americanheritage.com
647. NERO DID NOT FIDDLE AS ROME BURNED. THERE WERE NO FIDDLES †. Tacitus, Annals XV.38-40, Loeb translation (1937), LacusCurtius, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu ; Suetonius, Life of Nero 38, Loeb translation (1914), LacusCurtius, penelope.uchicago.edu ; Andrea Amati, Collection of historical string instruments, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, oenb.at ; Josemi Lorenzo, "Italian musical masters took the violin from fiddle to first chair", National Geographic History, 2019, nationalgeographic.com
648. UNTIL 1982, BRITAIN'S PARLIAMENT MADE THE BIG CHANGES TO CANADA'S CONSTITUTION. The Canadian Constitution, Canada's System of Justice, Department of Justice Canada, justice.canada.ca ; "What was really signed on Parliament Hill 40 years ago, on April 17, 1982?", Library and Archives Canada blog, thediscoverblog.com
649. YOUR BACTERIA DO NOT OUTNUMBER YOU TEN TO ONE. Sender, Fuchs and Milo, Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body, PLOS Biology 2016, journals.plos.org
650. THE HEMISPHERE DOES NOT DECIDE WHICH WAY YOUR SINK DRAINS. Does water go down the drain counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere?, Everyday Mysteries, Library of Congress, loc.gov (downloadable copy of the same page: loc.gov)
651. A QUANTUM COMPUTER DOES NOT TRY EVERY ANSWER AT ONCE. What Makes Quantum Computing So Hard to Explain?, Scott Aaronson, Quanta Magazine (Simons Foundation), 8 June 2021, quantamagazine.org
652. MARIE ANTOINETTE DID NOT COIN "LET THEM EAT CAKE". The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau, complete (English translation, introduction by S. W. Orson, 1896), Project Gutenberg, gutenberg.org ; Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Les Confessions (French text), ATHENA, Université de Genève, athena.unige.ch ; Marie Antoinette, Great Characters, Château de Versailles, en.chateauversailles.fr
653. THE PYRAMID BUILDERS WERE PROBABLY CONSCRIPTS, AND THEY GOT BEEF †. Excavating the Lost City, interview with Mark Lehner, NOVA, PBS, 1 January 2010, pbs.org ; Paul Schemm (Associated Press), "Pyramid workers' tombs found", The Spokesman-Review, 11 January 2010, spokesman.com
654. CARROTS WILL NOT GIVE YOU NIGHT VISION, AND THE RADAR COVER STORY IS DISPUTED †. K. Annabelle Smith and Meilan Solly, Carrots Can't Help You See in the Dark, Smithsonian Magazine, 2013, updated 2025, smithsonianmag.com
655. SUETONIUS AND PLUTARCH GIVE CAESAR NO "ET TU, BRUTE". Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1, Folger Shakespeare Library, folger.edu ; Julius Caesar, Folger Shakespeare Library, folger.edu ; Suetonius, The Life of Julius Caesar (Loeb translation, 1913), LacusCurtius, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu ; Plutarch, Life of Caesar 66 (Loeb translation, 1919), LacusCurtius, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu
656. EVEREST IS THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN, NOT THE TALLEST. What is the highest point on Earth as measured from Earth's center?, NOAA National Ocean Service, oceanservice.noaa.gov ; "8,848.86 metres. That's the height of Mt Everest now", The Kathmandu Post, 8 December 2020, kathmandupost.com
657. RASPUTIN'S REFUSAL TO DIE COMES LARGELY FROM HIS KILLER'S MEMOIRS †. Roger W. Byard, The death of Rasputin: A forensic evaluation, Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology 2024 (open access), link.springer.com
658. THE O.K. CORRAL FIGHT GREW OUT OF A POLICE CHIEF TRYING TO DISARM THE COWBOYS †. The Law in Tombstone, Famous Trials, Professor Douglas O. Linder, famous-trials.com ; The Earp-Holliday Trial: An Account, Famous Trials, Professor Douglas O. Linder, famous-trials.com
659. MANHATTAN WAS NOT BOUGHT FOR $24. THE LETTER SAYS 60 GUILDERS. Translation of Pieter Schaghen's 1626 letter, New York State Library, nysl.nysed.gov ; Emma Bryce, Was Manhattan really sold for $24 worth of beads and trinkets?, Live Science, 2021, livescience.com
660. A BLACK HOLE IS NOT A COSMIC HOOVER. Blueshift ponders... black holes: fact or fiction?, Sara Mitchell, NASA Blueshift, Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (2010), asd.gsfc.nasa.gov ; "Black Holes", Imagine the Universe!, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (HEASARC), imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov
661. A RIDERLESS BICYCLE KEPT ITSELF UPRIGHT WITH NO GYROSCOPE OR CASTOR EFFECT. Kooijman, Meijaard, Papadopoulos, Ruina and Schwab, A bicycle can be self-stable without gyroscopic or caster effects, Science 332 (2011), author's version hosted by the TU Delft bicycle lab, bicycle.tudelft.nl
662. THE "CURSE" ON PRESIDENTS ELECTED IN YEARS ENDING IN ZERO RAN OUT WITH REAGAN. Reverse the (Zero) Curse, Pieces of History, U.S. National Archives, 2011, prologue.blogs.archives.gov
663. ROMAN TOILETS DID NOT GET RID OF ROMAN WORMS. P. D. Mitchell, "Human parasites in the Roman World: health consequences of conquering an empire", Parasitology 144 (1), 2017, abstract in Europe PMC, ebi.ac.uk
664. C-3PO HAD ONE SILVER SHIN, AND YOU REMEMBER HIM ALL GOLD. Deepasri Prasad and Wilma A. Bainbridge, The Visual Mandela Effect as evidence for shared and specific false memories across people, accepted manuscript, Psychological Science 2022, University of Chicago (OSF), osf.io ; "Visual Mandela Effect: You Don't Know Iconic Images As Well As You Think", Hackaday, 29 August 2022, hackaday.com ; "Every C-3PO Costume Explained By Anthony Daniels", WIRED, 1 April 2020, transcript at Rosetta, rosetta.to ; Johnell Gipson, on Anthony Daniels and C-3PO's silver leg, Cheat Sheet, 10 December 2020, cheatsheet.com
665. THE CHINESE LAID THE LAST RAIL. THE FAMOUS PHOTO BARELY SHOWS THEM. Geography of Chinese Workers Building the Transcontinental Railroad, Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project, Stanford University, web.stanford.edu
666. A HIGHWAY OVERPASS IS NOT A TORNADO SHELTER. Miller, Doswell, Brooks, Stumpf and Rasmussen, Highway Overpasses as Tornado Shelters: Fallout From the 3 May 1999 Oklahoma/Kansas Violent Tornado Outbreak, National Weather Service Forecast Office, Norman OK, weather.gov
667. THE CARDIFF GIANT WAS A FAKE, AND BARNUM FAKED THE FAKE. Today in History: The Cardiff Giant and CNY's Biggest Hoax, Onondaga Historical Association, cnyhistory.org ; Explore: The Cardiff Giant, Fenimore Farm and Country Village (formerly the Farmers' Museum), Cooperstown, fenimorefarm.org
668. BOTH OF HENRY VIII'S "DIVORCES" WERE ANNULMENTS. Who were Henry VIII's wives?, Royal Museums Greenwich, rmg.co.uk ; The divorce, Life and Times, Internet Shakespeare Editions, University of Victoria, internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
669. AUGUSTUS NEVER STOLE A DAY FROM FEBRUARY. The Roman Calendar, Encyclopaedia Romana, James Grout, hosted by the University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu
670. THE TOWER OF BABEL WAS PROBABLY INSPIRED BY A REAL ZIGGURAT, AND IT HAD A NAME †. Babylon, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org ; Olof Pedersén, The Tower of Babylon Stele Found in Babylon, Iraq 85 (2023), Cambridge University Press, cambridge.org
671. THE KANSAS COW TOWNS SAW A HANDFUL OF MURDERS A YEAR. Gun Control Is as Old as the Old West, Matt Jancer, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 February 2018, smithsonianmag.com
672. PIRATE EYE PATCHES COULD HAVE WORKED BELOW DECK. NO RECORD SAYS THEY DID †. Michael Kalloniatis and Charles Luu, Light and Dark Adaptation, Webvision, University of Utah, webvision.med.utah.edu ; Why Did Some Pirates Wear an Eye Patch?, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, childrensmuseum.org
673. ÇATALHÖYÜK HAD NO STREETS, AND ITS SIZE IS STILL ARGUED OVER †. Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org ; 9,000 years ago, a community with modern urban problems, The Ohio State University News (on Larsen et al., PNAS 2019), news.osu.edu ; One of the world's earliest farming villages housed surprisingly few people, Science News (on Kuijt and Marciniak, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 2024), sciencenews.org ; Study Challenges Population Estimates at Early Neolithic City, Archaeology Magazine (Archaeological Institute of America), archaeology.org
674. ENTANGLED PARTICLES CANNOT SEND EACH OTHER MESSAGES. What Is Entanglement and Why Is It Important?, Caltech Science Exchange, California Institute of Technology, scienceexchange.caltech.edu
675. DAYLIGHT SAVING WAS NOT FOR FARMERS. THEY HELPED KILL IT. Time Travel: Daylight Saving Time and the House, History, Art and Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, 1 November 2019, history.house.gov ; Spring Forward, Fall Back: It's Daylight Saving Time, In Custodia Legis, Law Library of Congress (March 2014), blogs.loc.gov
676. EDISON'S FILM COMPANY SHOT TOPSY'S DEATH. EDISON HAD NO PART IN THE DECISION. Myth Buster: Topsy the Elephant, Essaying Edison, Thomas A. Edison Papers, Rutgers University, edison.rutgers.edu
677. A RAINBOW DOES NOT HAVE SEVEN COLOURS. NEWTON PICKED SEVEN. Ad Stijnman, Ink and light: Le Blon's Coloritto and Newton's Opticks, Thinking 3D, 2018, thinking3d.ac.uk ; Isaac Newton, Universal harmony and the Scientific Revolution, Whipple Library, University of Cambridge, whipplelib.hps.cam.ac.uk ; New Exhibit: Rainbow Collection!, University of Iowa Libraries, blog.lib.uiowa.edu
678. THE HURRICANE CONE IS NOT THE SIZE OF THE STORM. Definition of the NHC Track Forecast Cone, National Hurricane Center, NOAA, nhc.noaa.gov ; Interactive Cone Graphic Legend, National Hurricane Center, NOAA, nhc.noaa.gov
679. THE QUICK-DRAW STREET DUEL ALMOST NEVER HAPPENED. On gunfights, U.S. colonialism, and studying the American West on the East Coast, Amy Athey McDonald, YaleNews, Yale University, 21 July 2015, news.yale.edu
680. THE HORNED VIKING HELMET CAUGHT ON AT THE OPERA. Viking helmets, National Museum of Denmark, en.natmus.dk ; Vegard Vike, The Viking helmet from Yarm, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, 11 September 2020, khm.uio.no ; The horned helmet, Misconceptions and Misunderstandings, World-Tree Project, University College Cork, worldtreeproject.org
681. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON PROBABLY DID NOT TALK HIMSELF TO DEATH †. Jane McHugh and Philip A. Mackowiak, Death in the White House: President William Henry Harrison's Atypical Pneumonia, Clinical Infectious Diseases 59 (7), 990-995 (2014), full text as hosted by the University of Maryland, umaryland.cloud-cme.com
682. EARTH IS AT ITS CLOSEST TO THE SUN IN THE NORTHERN WINTER. What Causes the Seasons?, NASA Space Place, spaceplace.nasa.gov ; A Private Universe online resources, Science in School (2010), scienceinschool.org ; A Private Universe, Resources for Science Literacy, AAAS Project 2061, project2061.org ; A Private Universe, SERC, Carleton College, serc.carleton.edu
683. NOBODY AGREES HOW MUCH OF HIS EAR VAN GOGH CUT OFF †. Vincent's Illness and the Healing Power of Art, Van Gogh Museum, vangoghmuseum.nl ; What actually happened to Vincent van Gogh's ear? Here are 3 things you should know, UC Berkeley Library, 2019, lib.berkeley.edu ; Martin Bailey, Did Van Gogh cut off his whole ear? Or only a part?, The Art Newspaper, 2020, theartnewspaper.com
684. NOBODY HAS BEEN SHOWN TO HAVE KILLED A TRICK-OR-TREATER WITH A STRANGER'S SWEETS. Joel Best, Halloween Sadism: The Evidence, University of Delaware (UDSpace), udspace.udel.edu
685. THE DOORWAY ADVICE CAME FROM HOUSES THAT FELL DOWN AROUND THEIR DOORS. Earthquake Facts and Earthquake Fantasy, Earthquake Hazards Program, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs.gov
686. THE PARIS CATACOMBS ARE A MOVED CEMETERY IN AN OLD STONE QUARRY. Site history, Les Catacombes de Paris, Paris Musées, catacombes.paris.fr ; Geology and the quarries, Les Catacombes de Paris, Paris Musées, catacombes.paris.fr
687. TALL CHIMNEYS SENT ACID RAIN HUNDREDS OF MILES. Grennfelt et al., Acid rain and air pollution: 50 years of progress in environmental science and policy, Ambio 49 (2020), PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Whatever Happened to Acid Rain?, Distillations, Science History Institute, sciencehistory.org ; Gene E. Likens and F. Herbert Bormann, paper on acid rain, Science 184 (1974), abstract via NASA ADS, ui.adsabs.harvard.edu
688. 1066 MAY NOT BE THE LAST FOREIGN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND. TRY 1688 †. The 'Glorious Revolution', National Army Museum, nam.ac.uk ; The Last Invasion of England: 1688 and the Dutch Armada, Arthur der Weduwen, Princeton University Press (2026), press.princeton.edu
689. THE CHASTITY BELT STARTED AS A MEDIEVAL JOKE. The Medieval Chastity Belt Is a Myth, Albrecht Classen, History News Network via TIME (2015), time.com ; Medieval Chastity Belts Are a Myth, Smithsonian Magazine (2015), smithsonianmag.com
690. YOUR PETROL IS PLANKTON, NOT DINOSAUR †. No, oil does not come from dinosaurs, ScienceNorway (University of Oslo geologist Reidar Müller), 2022, sciencenorway.no ; Busting a Myth about Dinosaurs: Does Oil Come from Dinosaurs?, State Historical Society of North Dakota, blog.statemuseum.nd.gov
691. A DANISH CURATOR SORTED HIS SHELVES INTO THE STONE, BRONZE AND IRON AGES. De tre tidsaldre (The three ages), Nationalmuseets historie, National Museum of Denmark, natmus.dk
692. THE SIMULATION ARGUMENT IS A PHILOSOPHY PAPER, NOT A PHYSICS RESULT. Are you living in a computer simulation?, Nick Bostrom, Philosophical Quarterly 53 (211), 243-255 (2003), record in the Oxford University Research Archive, ora.ox.ac.uk ; the paper itself, author's copy, simulation-argument.com ; "Oxford shuts down Elon Musk-funded Future of Humanity Institute", The Oxford Student, 20 April 2024, oxfordstudent.com
693. POMPEII'S "MOTHER AND CHILD" WERE A MAN AND A CHILD WHO WAS NOT HIS. Pilli et al., Ancient DNA challenges prevailing interpretations of the Pompeii plaster casts, Current Biology 34 (2024), PubMed Central (NIH), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
8. NUMBERS YOU HAVE BADLY WRONG
694. SIX LEGO BRICKS GO TOGETHER 915 MILLION WAYS, NOT THE 102 MILLION LEGO SAID. A LEGO Counting problem, Søren Eilers, Department of Mathematics, University of Copenhagen, web.math.ku.dk
695. IN ONE BIG FACEBOOK STUDY, THREE IN FOUR SHARES WERE MADE WITHOUT CLICKING THE LINK. Social media users probably won't read beyond this headline, researchers say, Penn State University, psu.edu ; Sundar et al., Sharing without clicking on news in social media, Nature Human Behaviour (2024), nature.com
696. SINCE 1967 A SECOND HAS BEEN 9,192,631,770 TICKS OF AN ATOM. Historical perspective on the base units: second, BIPM, bipm.org ; Resolution 1 of the 13th CGPM (1967), SI unit of time (second), BIPM, bipm.org ; Second, NIST, nist.gov
697. MORE THAN 6 METRES OF WATER SHIELDS AMERICA'S SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL. Consequence Study of a Beyond-Design-Basis Earthquake Affecting the Spent Fuel Pool for a U.S. Mark I Boiling Water Reactor, Nuclear Regulatory Commission notice, Federal Register, 2 July 2013, govinfo.gov ; 5 Fast Facts about Spent Nuclear Fuel, US Department of Energy, energy.gov ; "DOE High Burnup Research Cask Project", US Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy (April 2025), curie.pnnl.gov
698. THERE HAVE BEEN 47 PRESIDENCIES AND ONLY 45 PRESIDENTS. 60th Inaugural Ceremonies, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (US Senate), inaugural.senate.gov ; 27th Inaugural Ceremonies, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, inaugural.senate.gov ; 58th Inaugural Ceremonies, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, inaugural.senate.gov
699. 90210 IS NOT THE RICHEST ZIP CODE IN AMERICA. 90210 profile, Census Reporter (American Community Survey data, Census Bureau), censusreporter.org ; 94027 profile, Census Reporter, censusreporter.org ; About Census Reporter, censusreporter.org ; Notes on ACS Estimate and Annotation Values, US Census Bureau, census.gov
700. ONLY A SLIVER OF BITCOIN IS PROVABLY DESTROYED †. Bitcoin Burn Addresses: Unveiling the Permanent Losses and Their Underlying Causes, Mohamed El Khatib and Arnaud Legout, Inria, arXiv (2025), arxiv.org ; "Lost Bitcoin: 3.7 million Bitcoin are probably gone forever", Decrypt (3 January 2021), decrypt.co
701. THE CLOCKS BEHIND YOUR PHONE'S MAP ARE SET SLOW, BECAUSE EINSTEIN WAS RIGHT. Richard Pogge, "Real-World Relativity: The GPS Navigation System", Ohio State University, astronomy.ohio-state.edu ; Neil Ashby, "Relativity in the Global Positioning System", Living Reviews in Relativity, 2003, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
702. THE MOON IS BACKING AWAY FROM YOU AT 3.8 CENTIMETRES A YEAR. The Apollo Experiment That Keeps on Giving, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, nasa.gov
703. A SHIP'S GROSS TONNAGE MEASURES SPACE, AND THE WORD STARTED AS A WINE TAX. International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, International Maritime Organization, imo.org ; tonnage, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
704. THE FAMOUS DUNNING-KRUGER GRAPH MAY BE PARTLY RANDOM NOISE †. Random Number Simulations Reveal How Random Noise Affects the Measurements and Graphical Portrayals of Self-Assessed Competency, Nuhfer et al., Numeracy 9(1) (2016), University of South Florida Digital Commons, digitalcommons.usf.edu ; Unskilled and Unaware, But Why? A Reply to Krueger and Mueller (2002), Justin Kruger and David Dunning, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, hosted by the University of Michigan, sites.lsa.umich.edu ; A rational model of the Dunning-Kruger effect supports insensitivity to evidence in low performers, Jansen, Rafferty and Griffiths, Nature Human Behaviour (2021), nature.com ; "A rational model of the Dunning-Kruger effect supports insensitivity to evidence in low performers", abstract, PubMed, US National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
705. NEARLY ALL INDUSTRIAL DIAMOND IS MADE IN FACTORIES, AND IT CUTS ROADS. Diamond (Industrial), Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, US Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov
706. AVOGADRO'S NUMBER HAS BEEN EXACT SINCE 2019, BY VOTE. SI base unit: mole (mol), BIPM, bipm.org ; Historical perspective on the base units: mole, BIPM, bipm.org ; Resolution 3 of the 14th CGPM (1971), SI unit of amount of substance (mole), BIPM, bipm.org
707. THE BRAIN'S 86 BILLION NEURONS CAME FROM FOUR MEN, AND THE OLD 100 BILLION HAD NO CLEAR SOURCE †. Eighty-six billion and counting: do we know the number of neurons in the human brain?, Alain Goriely, Brain (2025), via PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Yes, the human brain has around 86 billion neurons", Roberto Lent, Brain 148(5) (2025), Oxford University Press, academic.oup.com ; "Eighty-six billion and counting: do we know the number of neurons in the human brain?", Alain Goriely, Brain 148(3) (2025), Oxford University Press, academic.oup.com
708. THE PACIFIC IS BIGGER THAN ALL THE LAND ON EARTH PUT TOGETHER. How big is the Pacific Ocean?, NOAA Ocean Exploration, oceanexplorer.noaa.gov
709. SEAWATER DOES NOT FREEZE AT 0°C, IT WAITS UNTIL ABOUT MINUS 2°C. Can the ocean freeze?, NOAA National Ocean Service, oceanservice.noaa.gov ; "Quick Facts about Sea Ice", National Snow and Ice Data Center, nsidc.org
710. A NEGATIVE TIMES A NEGATIVE IS A POSITIVE, AND HERE IS WHY. Maths in a minute: negative numbers, Plus magazine, University of Cambridge, plus.maths.org ; The History of Negative Numbers, Leo Rogers, NRICH, University of Cambridge, nrich.maths.org ; "Brahmagupta", MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews, mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk
711. BANANAS ARE RADIOACTIVE, AND THEY ARE USED AS A YARDSTICK. Natural Radioactivity in Food, US Environmental Protection Agency (RadTown), epa.gov ; What to know before you go bananas about radiation, University of California, universityofcalifornia.edu ; Potassium: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals, Office of Dietary Supplements, US National Institutes of Health, ods.od.nih.gov
712. IN ENGLAND'S FIRES, SMOKE KILLS ABOUT AS MANY PEOPLE AS BURNS DO. Detailed analysis of fires and response times to fires attended by fire and rescue services, England, April 2024 to March 2025, GOV.UK (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), gov.uk ; the same, year ending March 2026, gov.uk ; Fire statistics data tables, table FIRE0504, GOV.UK, gov.uk
713. NOUGHT DECIBELS IS NOT SILENCE, AND 60 PLUS 60 IS 63. Sound and Noise: Characteristics of Sound and the Decibel Scale, Environmental Protection Department, Government of the Hong Kong SAR, epd.gov.hk
714. THERE ARE MORE TREES ON EARTH THAN STARS IN THE MILKY WAY. Mapping tree density at a global scale, Crowther et al., Nature, nature.com ; Seeing the forest and the trees, all 3 trillion of them, Yale News, news.yale.edu ; How Many Stars in the Milky Way?, NASA Blueshift, NASA Goddard, asd.gsfc.nasa.gov
715. YOU OVERRATE RARE DANGERS AND UNDERRATE COMMON ONES, AND THE ERROR HAS A SHAPE. Judgments of Risk Frequencies: Tests of Possible Cognitive Mechanisms, Hertwig, Pachur and Kurzenhäuser, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 31(4), 2005, American Psychological Association, apa.org
716. ON THE DARKEST CLEAR NIGHT YOU CAN SEE ABOUT 2,000 STARS, NOT MILLIONS. How many stars can you see at night?, Cool Cosmos, IPAC (Caltech), coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu
717. A BRITISH BILLION USED TO BE A MILLION MILLION. "Billion" (Definition), House of Commons written answers, Hansard, 20 December 1974, api.parliament.uk ; millions, billions, trillions, science education course notes, Eastern Illinois University, castle.eiu.edu
718. FUEL ECONOMY USUALLY DROPS FAST ABOVE 50 MPH. Driving More Efficiently, FuelEconomy.gov, US Department of Energy and US Environmental Protection Agency, administered by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, fueleconomy.gov
719. MOST PEOPLE HAVE MORE THAN THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF LEGS. Averages, Kevin McConway, OpenLearn, The Open University (updated 1 May 2019), open.edu
720. GOLIATH SHRINKS BY 3 FEET IN SOME ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS †. Goliath and the Exodus Giants: How Tall Were They?, Clyde E. Billington, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 50/3 (2007), etsjets.org ; "The Height of Goliath: A Response to Clyde Billington", J. Daniel Hays, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 50/3 (2007), etsjets.org
721. THE EIFFEL TOWER IS TALLER IN SUMMER. The Eiffel Tower gets bigger every summer, here's why, Federico de Isidro Gordejuela (Universidad CEU San Pablo), The Conversation, theconversation.com ; Eiffel Tower, Materials Engineering, Purdue University, engineering.purdue.edu ; "Why does the Eiffel Tower change size?", official Eiffel Tower website (toureiffel.paris), toureiffel.paris
722. FAHRENHEIT'S ZERO WAS A SALT SOLUTION, AND HIS 96 WAS A HUMAN BODY. Kelvin: History, NIST, nist.gov
723. 12 MONTHS DO NOT FIT A YEAR, SO THE EGYPTIANS ADDED FIVE SPARE DAYS. Lecture 11: The Calendar, Astronomy 161, Richard Pogge, Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, astronomy.ohio-state.edu
724. pH 5 IS TEN TIMES AS ACIDIC AS pH 6. pH and Water, U.S. Geological Survey Water Science School, usgs.gov
725. IN THE MONTY HALL PUZZLE YOU SHOULD SWITCH, AND PIGEONS LEARN THAT BETTER THAN PEOPLE. Pigeons, Humans, and the Monty Hall Dilemma, Walter T. Herbranson (Whitman College), Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2012, people.whitman.edu
726. FALSE NEWS OUTRUNS TRUE NEWS, AND IT IS PEOPLE, NOT BOTS, WHO SPREAD IT FASTER. Study: On Twitter, false news travels faster than true stories, MIT News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, news.mit.edu
727. THE BLACK DEATH DID NOT KILL THE SAME SHARE OF EUROPE EVERYWHERE †. Izdebski et al., Palaeoecological data indicates land-use changes across Europe linked to spatial heterogeneity in mortality during the Black Death pandemic, Nature Ecology & Evolution 6, 297-306 (2022), nature.com ; Curtis, Reduction in grain pollen indicates population decline, but not necessarily Black Death mortality, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2022), nature.com
728. THE INCH WAS FIXED AT 25.4 MILLIMETRES IN 1959 BY SHRINKING ONE YARD AND STRETCHING ANOTHER. SI Units: Length, NIST, nist.gov ; NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B: Conversion Factors, NIST, nist.gov ; Refinement of Values for the Yard and the Pound, Federal Register notice 59-5442 (1959), National Bureau of Standards, hosted by NOAA National Geodetic Survey, ngs.noaa.gov
729. SITTING STILL AT THE EQUATOR, YOU ARE DOING OVER 1,000 MILES AN HOUR. Earth's Rotation (podcast transcript), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, jpl.nasa.gov ; Earth Fact Sheet, NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Sun: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
730. THE WORLD IN AD 1 HELD SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 170 AND 400 MILLION PEOPLE †. Historical Estimates of World Population, U.S. Census Bureau, census.gov
731. SPAIN HAS BEEN ON THE WRONG CLOCK SINCE 1940. Living at the Wrong Time: Effects of Unmatching Official Time in Portugal and Western Spain, Bonmatí-Carrión et al., Biology (2022), PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; La hora oficial en España y sus cambios, Pere Planesas, Observatorio Astronómico Nacional, Instituto Geográfico Nacional, astronomia.ign.es
732. NASA STEERS SPACECRAFT WITH PI TO 15 DECIMAL PLACES, AND THAT IS PLENTY. How Many Decimals of Pi Do We Really Need?, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Education, jpl.nasa.gov
733. AN AMERICAN'S LIFETIME ODDS OF BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING ARE ABOUT 1 IN 15,300. How Dangerous is Lightning?, National Weather Service, weather.gov ; "Lightning Fatalities", National Weather Service, weather.gov
734. A HERITABILITY OF 70 PER CENT DOES NOT MEAN 70 PER CENT OF YOU. What is heritability?, MedlinePlus Genetics, US National Library of Medicine, medlineplus.gov
735. BY A DEEP-SEA VENT, WATER DOES NOT BOIL AT 400°C. All About Water and Ice, Lunar and Planetary Institute (Universities Space Research Association), lpi.usra.edu
736. A LIGHT-YEAR IS A DISTANCE, NOT A LONG TIME. What is a light-year?, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
737. A MODERN LIVING ROOM CAN GO UP IN UNDER FIVE MINUTES. Stephen Kerber, Analysis of Changing Residential Fire Dynamics and Its Implications on Firefighter Operational Timeframes, Fire Technology 48, 865-891 (2012), as hosted by UL's Fire Safety Research Institute, fsri.org
738. CONCERT PITCH WAS ONLY AGREED IN 1939. International Standard of Concert Pitch, G. W. C. Kaye, Nature 143, 905 to 906 (27 May 1939), nature.com ; Negotiating the Pitch: For a Diplomatic History of A, Fanny Gribenski, in Music and Diplomacy (Palgrave Macmillan, Springer), link.springer.com ; ISO 16:1975 Acoustics, Standard tuning frequency (Standard musical pitch), International Organization for Standardization, iso.org
739. A BLUE WHALE'S HEART WEIGHS ABOUT AS MUCH AS A PIANO. The Big-Hearted Blue Whale, NOAA Fisheries, fisheries.noaa.gov ; Blue Whale Heart Arrives at the ROM, Royal Ontario Museum, rom.on.ca ; "Record-setting anatomy of the blue whale: a look inside the largest animal", Guinness World Records (February 2019), guinnessworldrecords.com
740. HALDANE'S 60-FOOT GIANT WOULD BREAK HIS THIGHS AT EVERY STEP. On Being the Right Size, J. B. S. Haldane, course reading hosted by the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, damtp.cam.ac.uk
741. A WHOLE CAN LOOK BIASED WHEN MOST OF ITS PARTS LEAN THE OTHER WAY. The Cautionary Tale of Simpson's Paradox, in Learning Statistics with R, Danielle Navarro (University of New South Wales), LibreTexts, stats.libretexts.org ; Berkeley's 1973 Graduate Admissions Dataset, Data Science Discovery, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, discovery.cs.illinois.edu
742. DOMESDAY BOOK COUNTED MORE THAN 5,000 MILLS IN ENGLAND IN 1086 †. Margaret T. Hodgen, Domesday Water Mills, Antiquity 13 (1939), full text of the volume at the Internet Archive, archive.org ; Domesday Book, research guide, The National Archives, nationalarchives.gov.uk ; From Quern to Computer: The history of flour milling, page 7, The Mills Archive Trust, millsarchive.org
743. THE UNIVERSE WAS ONCE MEASURED AS YOUNGER THAN THE EARTH. Age & Size of the Universe Through the Years, Cosmic Times, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Planck reveals an almost perfect Universe, ESA, esa.int ; Overview, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
744. THE RICHTER SCALE IS NOT COMMONLY USED NOW, EXCEPT FOR SMALL LOCAL EARTHQUAKES. Earthquake Magnitude, Energy Release, and Shaking Intensity, US Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, usgs.gov
745. ANYTHING GROWING BY A STEADY PERCENTAGE DOUBLES ON A TIMETABLE. Doubling Your Money With the 'Rule of 72', Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance, ndbf.nebraska.gov
746. GOING FROM 30 TO 40 SAVES MORE TIME THAN GOING FROM 70 TO 110. Exploring the time-saving bias: How drivers misestimate time saved when increasing speed, Eyal Peer, Judgment and Decision Making (2010), hosted by the University of Pennsylvania, sas.upenn.edu ; "Exploring the time-saving bias: How drivers misestimate time saved when increasing speed", Eyal Peer, Judgment and Decision Making 5(7) (2010), Cambridge University Press, cambridge.org
747. THE "AVERAGE" AMERICAN HOUSEHOLD EARNED $83,730 IN 2024, OR $121,000. Income in the United States: 2024, US Census Bureau, census.gov ; Income in the United States: 2024 (full report, P60-286), US Census Bureau, www2.census.gov ; NIST/SEMATECH e-Handbook of Statistical Methods, 1.3.5.1 Measures of Location, National Institute of Standards and Technology, itl.nist.gov
748. A TOWN ON COAL POWER WOULD LOSE AT LEAST 25 PEOPLE A YEAR; ON NUCLEAR, ONE EVERY 33 YEARS †. What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy?, Hannah Ritchie, Our World in Data, ourworldindata.org ; Chernobyl: the true scale of the accident, joint news release of the World Health Organization, IAEA and UNDP, 5 September 2005, who.int
749. DROP EVEREST INTO THE DEEPEST SEA AND IT STILL SITS UNDER MORE THAN A MILE OF WATER. How deep is the ocean?, NOAA National Ocean Service, oceanservice.noaa.gov ; Planet Postcard: The Mariana Trench, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, ncei.noaa.gov
750. SHUFFLE A DECK PROPERLY AND YOU HAVE ALMOST CERTAINLY MADE AN ORDER NOBODY HAS EVER HELD. There are more ways to arrange a deck of cards than there are atoms on Earth, Cassandra Lee, Office for Science and Society, McGill University (28 June 2018), mcgill.ca
751. MODERN COUNTS OF THE SPANISH INQUISITION'S EXECUTIONS ARE A FRACTION OF THE FIRST ONE †. Tomasz Karlikowski, Spanish Inquisition: number of victims, Ereticopedia, Dizionario di eretici, dissidenti e inquisitori nel mondo mediterraneo (Edizioni CLORI, Florence, ISSN 2282-1589), ereticopedia.org
752. ABOUT 117 BILLION PEOPLE HAVE EVER BEEN BORN. How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth?, Toshiko Kaneda and Carl Haub, Population Reference Bureau, prb.org
753. YOU ARE TENS OF TRILLIONS OF CELLS, AND BY NUMBER MOST OF THEM ARE BLOOD. There are 37.2 Trillion Cells in Your Body, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; The human cell count and size distribution, Hatton et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023), via PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "The human cell count and size distribution", Hatton and others, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023), pnas.org
754. A ZIP CODE IS A LABEL FOR POSTMEN'S ROUNDS, NOT A PLACE. ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs), US Census Bureau, census.gov
755. "SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION" COUNTS ONLY THE FOLDERS THAT ARRIVED †. Could It Be a Big World After All? The "Six Degrees of Separation" Myth, Judith S. Kleinfeld, University of Alaska Fairbanks (forthcoming in Society, 2002), hosted by Princeton University, cs.princeton.edu ; Six Degrees: Urban Myth?, Psychology Today, psychologytoday.com
756. CLEOPATRA LIVED CLOSER TO THE MOON LANDING THAN TO THE GREAT PYRAMID. The Great Pyramid, Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, egymonuments.gov.eg ; The Creation of New "Cultural Codes": The Ptolemaic Queens, Getty Publications, getty.edu ; Apollo 11, NASA, nasa.gov ; "July 20, 1969: One Giant Leap For Mankind", NASA, nasa.gov
757. THE MILKY WAY PROBABLY HAS 100 TO 400 BILLION STARS, AND THAT IS THE BEST ANYONE CAN DO. How Many Stars in the Milky Way?, NASA Blueshift, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, asd.gsfc.nasa.gov ; What is a light-year?, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; How many stars are there in the Universe?, ESA, esa.int
758. YOUR AIR CONDITIONER IS RATED IN TONS OF MELTING ICE. Chapter 4: Small Commercial and Residential Unitary and Split System HVAC Cooling Equipment-Efficiency Upgrade Evaluation Protocol, The Uniform Methods Project, US Department of Energy, energy.gov ; ton of refrigeration, ASHRAE Terminology, terminology.ashrae.org ; "NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.9: Factors for units listed by kind of quantity or field of science", NIST, nist.gov ; "Ice Breaker: What Is a Ton of Refrigeration?", ACHR News, achrnews.com
759. THE METRE IS HOW FAR LIGHT GOES, NOT A METAL BAR. Resolution 1 of the 17th CGPM (1983), Definition of the metre, BIPM, bipm.org ; Historical perspective on the base units: metre, BIPM, bipm.org ; SI base unit: metre (m), BIPM, bipm.org
760. HIROSHIMA'S DEATH TOLL IS PUT AT 90,000 TO 166,000. Frequently Asked Questions, Radiation Effects Research Foundation, rerf.or.jp
761. A POSITIVE RESULT ON ONE BOWEL CANCER TEST COULD BE WRONG 19 TIMES IN 20. Simple tools for understanding risks: from innumeracy to insight, Gerd Gigerenzer and Adrian Edwards, BMJ 327 (2003), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
762. BETTY WHITE WAS OLDER THAN SLICED BREAD. This Week in Illinois History: Betty White born in Oak Park (January 17, 1922), Northern Public Radio (Northern Illinois University), northernpublicradio.org ; Chillicothe Missouri Baking Company Bakery: Home of the Sliced Bread, Historic Missouri (University of Central Missouri Department of History), historicmissouri.org ; Betty White, The Interviews, Television Academy Foundation, interviews.televisionacademy.com
763. THE LAST FEW METRES OF EVEREST ARE SNOW. Measurement of Height of Mt. Sagarmatha, Dangol and others, Journal on Geoinformatics, Nepal 20(1), Survey Department, Government of Nepal, nepjol.info ; the same paper as PDF, nepjol.info
764. NOBODY HAS SHOWN THAT MOSQUITOES KILLED HALF OF EVERYONE WHO EVER LIVED †. Malaria: One of the leading causes of child deaths, but progress is possible and you can contribute to it, Max Roser, Our World in Data, ourworldindata.org ; "Malaria", fact sheet, World Health Organization, who.int ; "7 things you need to know about the state of malaria today", Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (5 December 2025), gavi.org
765. NUMBERS IN THE REAL WORLD START WITH A 1 FAR MORE OFTEN THAN YOU WOULD EXPECT. Benford's Law Applies to Online Social Networks, Jennifer Golbeck, PLoS ONE 10(8), 2015, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
766. THE 1918 FLU ALSO KILLED YOUNG ADULTS, AND ITS DEATH TOLL IS STILL ARGUED OVER †. Partner Key Messages on the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Commemoration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, archive.cdc.gov ; 1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics, Taubenberger and Morens, Emerging Infectious Diseases 12(1), January 2006, wwwnc.cdc.gov ; Reassessing the Global Mortality Burden of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, Spreeuwenberg, Kroneman and Paget, American Journal of Epidemiology 187(12), 2018, abstract via PubMed, US National Library of Medicine, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "RE: Reassessing the Global Mortality Burden of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic", Siddharth Chandra and Julia Christensen, American Journal of Epidemiology 188(7) (2019), Oxford University Press, academic.oup.com
767. FOOD MILES ARE 11 PER CENT OF FOOD'S EMISSIONS IN ONE STUDY AND 19 IN ANOTHER †. Weber and Matthews, Food-miles and the relative climate impacts of food choices in the United States, Environmental Science & Technology 42, 3508-3513 (2008), abstract via PubMed, US National Library of Medicine, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Li et al., Global food-miles account for nearly 20% of total food-systems emissions, Nature Food 3, 445-453 (2022), nature.com
768. SOMEONE PAID 10,000 BITCOINS FOR TWO PIZZAS. Pizza for bitcoins?, original forum thread, Bitcointalk, bitcointalk.org ; "Bitcoin Burn Addresses: Unveiling the Permanent Losses and Their Underlying Causes", Mohamed El Khatib and Arnaud Legout, Inria, arXiv (2025), arxiv.org
769. 10 PRESIDENTS HAVE BEEN ATTACKED BY ASSASSINS IN OFFICE, AND FOUR DIED. U.S. Secret Service: Direct Assaults and Assassination Attempts on Sitting Presidents and Vice Presidents, Congressional Research Service In Focus IF11732, updated April 28, 2026, congress.gov ; the same report's full text as published at everycrsreport.com
770. THE KILOGRAM WAS A LUMP OF METAL IN A PARIS VAULT, AND IT WOULD NOT HOLD STILL †. Kilogram: Introduction, National Institute of Standards and Technology, nist.gov ; Kilogram: The Present, National Institute of Standards and Technology, nist.gov
771. AMERICA'S CATTLE HAVE KILLED MORE PEOPLE A YEAR THAN THE WORLD'S SHARKS. Fatalities caused by cattle, four States, 2003-2008, CDC, MMWR 58(29):800-4 (2009), abstract via PubMed, US National Library of Medicine, eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; Yearly Worldwide Shark Attack Summary, International Shark Attack File, Florida Museum of Natural History, floridamuseum.ufl.edu
772. AMERICA'S POWER STATIONS CUT THEIR SULPHUR DIOXIDE BY 96 PER CENT. Power Sector Programs, Progress Report: Emissions Reductions, US Environmental Protection Agency, epa.gov ; Acid Rain Program Results, US Environmental Protection Agency, epa.gov
773. THE GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL LASTED 30 SECONDS, AND WAS NOT AT THE O.K. CORRAL. Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, from the series History, Smithsonian American Art Museum, americanart.si.edu ; These Dramatic Photos Reveal How It's Always High Noon in Tombstone, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com ; Gun Control Is as Old as the Old West, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com
774. MEASURE A QUBIT AND YOU GET ONE BIT BACK. Qubits, The Quantum Atlas, Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland, quantumatlas.umd.edu
775. THE MOON DOES NOT KEEP A 28-DAY MONTH. Eclipses and the Moon's Orbit, Fred Espenak, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov
776. WIND CHILL IS NOT A TEMPERATURE ANYTHING ACTUALLY REACHES. Wind Chill Chart, National Weather Service, weather.gov ; Wind chill, JetStream, NOAA, noaa.gov
777. THERE ARE 575 FEDERALLY RECOGNISED TRIBES, AND NOT ALL OF THEM HAVE A RESERVATION. What is a federally recognized tribe?, Bureau of Indian Affairs, US Department of the Interior, bia.gov ; What is a federal Indian reservation?, Bureau of Indian Affairs, bia.gov
778. EIGHT PRESIDENTS DIED IN OFFICE, AND THE FIRST DEATH STARTED AN ARGUMENT OVER WHO WAS PRESIDENT †. Presidential and Vice-Presidential Vacancies Before the Twenty-Fifth Amendment's Ratification, Constitution Annotated (Congressional Research Service), as published by Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, law.cornell.edu ; the same essay at Congress.gov, constitution.congress.gov ; Warren G. Harding: Death of the President, Eugene P. Trani, Miller Center, University of Virginia, millercenter.org
779. A COTTON BAG HAS TO BE USED 131 TIMES TO BEAT A PLASTIC ONE ON WARMING. Life cycle assessment of supermarket carrier bags: a review of the bags available in 2006, Report SC030148, Environment Agency, assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
780. A HURRICANE'S CATEGORY MEASURES THE WIND, NOT WHAT KILLS PEOPLE. Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, National Hurricane Center, NOAA, nhc.noaa.gov ; Muller et al., Continental United States direct Atlantic tropical cyclone fatalities: 1963-2024, npj Natural Hazards (2026), nature.com ; "Tropical Cyclone Report: Tropical Storm Allison, 5 to 17 June 2001", Stacy R. Stewart, National Hurricane Center, NOAA, nhc.noaa.gov
781. A NAUTICAL MILE IS ROUGHLY ONE MINUTE OF LATITUDE, WHICH IS WHY SHIPS USE IT. What is the difference between a nautical mile and a knot?, NOAA National Ocean Service, oceanservice.noaa.gov
782. NAPOLEON'S FIVE FOOT TWO WAS IN FRENCH FEET AND INCHES. Marcel Dunan, La taille de Napoléon, Revue de l'Institut Napoléon no. 89 (October 1963), Fondation Napoléon, napoleon.org
783. A DOG YEAR IS NOT SEVEN HUMAN YEARS. How Old Is Your Dog in Human Years? Scientists Develop Better Method than 'Multiply by 7', UC San Diego Today, today.ucsd.edu
784. THERE ARE MORE WAYS TO PLAY CHESS THAN PARTICLES IN THE OBSERVABLE UNIVERSE. Programming a Computer for Playing Chess, Claude E. Shannon, Philosophical Magazine (1950), Computer History Museum archive, archive.computerhistory.org ; Estimation of the information contained in the visible matter of the universe, Melvin M. Vopson, AIP Advances (2021), arxiv.org
785. HOW LONG A COASTLINE IS DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF YOUR RULER. Fractal dimension of coastline of Australia, Husain and others, Scientific Reports 11, 6304 (2021), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Frequently asked questions", Maritime jurisdiction, Geoscience Australia, ga.gov.au
786. THE GROUND UNDER YOUR FEET IS AN EGGSHELL. Inside the Earth, This Dynamic Earth, US Geological Survey, pubs.usgs.gov ; "Earth vs. the Egg: Measuring Earth's Layers", IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology), iris.edu
787. THERE HAVE BEEN 27 LEAP SECONDS, AND NONE SINCE 2016. Leap second and UT1-UTC information, NIST, nist.gov ; A Proposal to Change the Leap-Second Adjustments to UTC, Judah Levine, NIST Time and Frequency Division (preprint, not peer-reviewed), tsapps.nist.gov ; Resolution 4 of the 27th CGPM (2022), On the use and future development of UTC, BIPM, bipm.org ; "Resolution 5 of the 28th CGPM (2026), On the technical actions needed to ensure the continuity of UTC", BIPM, bipm.org
788. A CITY NEAR ST LOUIS MAY HAVE BEEN AS BIG AS MANY EUROPEAN CITIES OF ITS DAY †. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org ; "Cahokia: Urbanization, Metabolism, and Collapse", Joseph A. Tainter, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities (2019), frontiersin.org
789. THE OBSERVABLE UNIVERSE IS ABOUT 94 BILLION LIGHT-YEARS ACROSS. Age & Size of the Universe Through the Years, Cosmic Times, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov
790. STINGING INSECTS KILL ABOUT 72 TO 83 AMERICANS A YEAR. QuickStats: Number of Deaths from Hornet, Wasp, and Bee Stings Among Males and Females, National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2011-2021, MMWR 72(27):756 (2023), via PubMed Central, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; the same QuickStats for 2000-2017, MMWR 68(29):649 (2019), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ; "Animal-Related Fatalities in the United States (2018 to 2023)", Langley and Kearney, Environmental Health Insights (2025), SAGE, journals.sagepub.com ; abstract at PubMed, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
791. THE BOMBER STORY IS MOSTLY LEGEND, THOUGH THE MATHS UNDER IT IS REAL †. The Legend of Abraham Wald, Bill Casselman (University of British Columbia), Feature Column, American Mathematical Society, ams.org
792. AMERICA HAD TWO DIFFERENT FEET UNTIL 2023. New Year's Eve 2023 Marked the Retirement of the U.S. Survey Foot, NIST, nist.gov ; U.S. Survey Foot, NIST, nist.gov ; NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B: Conversion Factors, NIST, nist.gov
9. SPACE, BRIEFLY, BEFORE YOU GET IDEAS
793. PLUTO HAS A BLUE SKY, IN ABOUT 20 LAYERS. New Horizons Finds Blue Skies and Water Ice on Pluto, NASA, nasa.gov ; Haze Layers Above Pluto, NASA, nasa.gov ; Haze in Pluto's Atmosphere, Cheng et al., Icarus (2017), arxiv.org ; Why Is the Sky Blue?, NASA Space Place, spaceplace.nasa.gov
794. THE OH-MY-GOD PARTICLE "SHOULD NOT EXIST". Telescope Array detects second highest-energy cosmic ray ever, University of Utah Department of Physics and Astronomy, physics.utah.edu
795. THE WEBB TELESCOPE WORKS AT ABOUT MINUS 225 DEGREES CELSIUS. Orbit, NASA Science (James Webb Space Telescope), science.nasa.gov
796. WITHOUT THE MOON, EARTH'S TILT WOULD WANDER, BUT PROBABLY NOT WILDLY †. Stabilization of the Earth's obliquity by the Moon, Laskar, Joutel and Robutel, Nature 361, 615-617 (1993), nature.com ; Obliquity variations of a moonless Earth, Lissauer, Barnes and Chambers, Icarus 217 (2012), abstract at Carnegie Science, carnegiescience.edu
797. A DAY ON VENUS IS LONGER THAN ITS YEAR, DEPENDING ON WHICH DAY YOU MEAN. Venus: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Venus Fact Sheet, NASA NSSDC, nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Notes on the Fact Sheets, NASA NSSDC, nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov
798. THE AIR ON MARS PRESSES DOWN LESS THAN 1 PER CENT AS HARD AS OURS. Mars Fact Sheet, NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Earth Fact Sheet, NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Mars: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
799. YOU CAN SEE MORE THAN HALF THE MOON: UP TO 59 PER CENT. Librations of the Moon, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (ISTP historical pages, David P. Stern), pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov
800. THE FIRST PHOTOGRAPH OF EARTH FROM SPACE WAS TAKEN FROM A CAPTURED GERMAN MISSILE. The First Photo From Space, Tony Reichhardt, Air & Space Magazine, Smithsonian, smithsonianmag.com
801. SATURN WEARS A HEXAGON ON ITS NORTH POLE. Saturn's Streaming Hexagon Storm, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Saturn: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
802. PHOBOS HAS WHAT LOOK LIKE STRETCH MARKS, AND MARS IS REELING IT IN †. Mars' Moon Phobos Is Slowly Falling Apart, NASA, nasa.gov
803. THE FASTEST THING EVER BUILT WENT 692,000 KILOMETRES AN HOUR. Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to the Sun, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, jhuapl.edu
804. THE SUN CROSSES 13 CONSTELLATIONS, BUT THERE ARE 12 STAR SIGNS. Constellations and the Calendar, NASA (official Tumblr, from NASA Space Place), nasa.tumblr.com ; Ophiuchus, 88 Constellations, NSF NOIRLab, noirlab.edu
805. VENUS IS HOTTER THAN MERCURY, AND ITS AIR WOULD CRUSH YOU. Venus: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
806. NEPTUNE WAS FOUND WITH MATHS BEFORE IT WAS FOUND WITH A TELESCOPE. Neptune Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; 175 Years Ago: Astronomers Discover Neptune, the Eighth Planet, NASA History, nasa.gov ; Secret Documents Rewrite the Discovery of Neptune, Sky & Telescope, skyandtelescope.org
807. A SUGAR CUBE OF NEUTRON STAR WEIGHS ABOUT AS MUCH AS A MOUNTAIN. Neutron Stars, Imagine the Universe!, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Neutron Stars Are Weird!, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
808. URANUS SPINS ON ITS SIDE, TIPPED OVER AT 97.77 DEGREES †. Uranus: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Tilting Uranus via the migration of an ancient satellite, Saillenfest et al., Astronomy and Astrophysics 668, A108 (2022), arxiv.org
809. BITS OF MARS HAVE LANDED ON EARTH, AND WE SENT ONE BACK †. Martian meteorites: Rare visitors from the red planet, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk ; Possible Evidence for Life in ALH84001, McKay, Gibson and Thomas-Keprta, NASA Technical Reports Server, ntrs.nasa.gov
810. A STAR'S TWINKLE IS ADDED BY OUR AIR. Why do stars twinkle?, StarChild, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Why Stars Twinkle, Astronomy Picture of the Day, 25 July 2000, NASA, apod.nasa.gov ; Astronomy without a telescope: what can I see in the night sky?, Royal Museums Greenwich, rmg.co.uk
811. A PULSAR'S FLASHES ARE A BEAM SWEEPING PAST, LIKE A LIGHTHOUSE'S. Neutron Stars Are Weird!, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Neutron Stars, Imagine the Universe!, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Nature's Most Precise Clocks May Make "Galactic GPS" Possible, NASA, nasa.gov
812. TITAN HAS RAIN, RIVERS AND SEAS, AND NOT A DROP OF IT IS WATER. Titan, NASA Science (Cassini), science.nasa.gov
813. WE SENT ALIENS DIRECTIONS TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM, DRAWN WITH DEAD STARS. Recalculating the Pulsar Map for the 21st Century, Margaret A. Weitekamp, National Air and Space Museum, airandspace.si.edu ; APOD: 1996 June 30, Greetings from the Pioneers, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
814. CERES'S BRIGHT SPOTS ARE SALT, LEFT BY BRINE FROM BELOW. Mystery Solved: Bright Areas on Ceres Come From Salty Water Below, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, jpl.nasa.gov
815. SATURN'S RINGS MAY BE YOUNGER THAN THE DINOSAURS. OR NOT †. NASA's Cassini Data Show Saturn's Rings Relatively New, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Pollution resistance of Saturn's ring particles during micrometeoroid impact, Hyodo, Genda and Madeira, Nature Geoscience 18 (2025), nature.com
816. BY ONE COUNT, 20 ROGUE PLANETS FOR EVERY STAR †. New Study Reveals NASA's Roman Could Find 400 Earth-Mass Rogue Planets, NASA, nasa.gov
817. THE BIG BANG MADE THREE ELEMENTS. STARS MADE MOST OF THE REST. Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, aether.lbl.gov ; DOE Explains...Nucleosynthesis, US Department of Energy Office of Science, energy.gov ; WMAP Overview, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
818. IT RAINS IRON ON WASP-76b, ASTRONOMERS SUSPECT †. ESO Telescope Observes Exoplanet Where It Rains Iron, European Southern Observatory, eso.org ; No umbrella needed: Confronting the hypothesis of iron rain on WASP-76b with post-processed general circulation models, Savel et al., Astrophysical Journal 926, 85 (2022), arxiv.org
819. THERE IS SUGAR IN SPACE, AND YOU CANNOT PUT IT IN YOUR COFFEE. Sweet Result from ALMA, ESO science release eso1234, eso.org
820. THE CHELYABINSK METEOR RELEASED MORE THAN 30 TIMES THE ENERGY OF THE HIROSHIMA BOMB. Around the World in Four Days: NASA Tracks Chelyabinsk Meteor Plume, NASA, nasa.gov ; What was the Chelyabinsk meteor event?, The Planetary Society, planetary.org
821. THE BRIGHTEST GAMMA-RAY BURST YET SEEN IS CALLED THE BOAT †. NASA's Fermi Finds New Feature in Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst Yet Seen, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; GRB 221009A, The BOAT, Burns et al., Astrophysical Journal Letters (2023), arxiv.org
822. IN 2021 A SPACECRAFT FLEW THROUGH THE SUN'S ATMOSPHERE. NASA Enters the Solar Atmosphere for the First Time, Bringing New Discoveries, NASA, nasa.gov ; NASA probe breaks speed records as it tops 150,000 mph on way to the Sun, Guinness World Records, guinnessworldrecords.com
823. INDIA WAS THE FIRST TO LAND NEAR THE MOON'S SOUTH POLE, ABOUT 600 KILOMETRES FROM IT. Chandrayaan-3, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon's south pole, Nature India, nature.com ; NASA's LRO Observes Chandrayaan-3 Landing Site, NASA, nasa.gov
824. THE GALAXY DOES NOT SMELL OF RUM, BUT ONE CLOUD IN IT HOLDS A RUM CHEMICAL. Tracking down organic molecules, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, mpifr-bonn.mpg.de ; Ethyl formate (CID 8025), PubChem, US National Library of Medicine, pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
825. THREE SUNS' WORTH OF MASS TURNED INTO RIPPLES IN SPACE. LIGO Opens New Window on the Universe with Observation of Gravitational Waves from Colliding Black Holes, LIGO Caltech (GW150914 press release), ligo.caltech.edu
826. JAPAN LANDED ON THE MOON 55 METRES FROM WHERE IT AIMED. Outcome for the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM)'s Moon Landing, JAXA, global.jaxa.jp ; Conclusion of Lunar Activities of the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), JAXA, global.jaxa.jp
827. SPACE IS VERY BADLY FURNISHED. Matter in Space, Ask Us, Cosmicopia, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, cosmicopia.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Stellar Evolution: Cycles of Formation and Destruction, Chandra X-ray Observatory, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, chandra.harvard.edu ; Dark Matter, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
828. THE IAU INVENTED THE "DWARF PLANET" IN 2006 AND PUT PLUTO IN IT. IAU 2006 General Assembly: Result of the IAU Resolution votes, International Astronomical Union, iau.org
829. IN 2020 A FAST RADIO BURST WENT OFF INSIDE OUR OWN GALAXY †. NASA Missions Help Pinpoint the Source of a Unique X-ray, Radio Burst, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, jpl.nasa.gov ; A recent fast radio burst calls into question what astronomers believed they knew, Phys.org, phys.org
830. SPACE HAS A SMELL, AND THE ASTRONAUTS CANNOT AGREE WHAT IT IS. December 2021: What does space smell like?, NASA Ames Research Center, nasa.gov
831. BY NASA'S SUMS, VOYAGER 1 REACHES ONE LIGHT-DAY FROM EARTH ON 18 NOVEMBER 2026. Voyager 1: What Is a Light-Day?, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
832. THE MOON IS PROBABLY WRECKAGE FROM A CRASH INTO THE EARTH †. Moon Formation, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; A Multiple-Impact Origin for the Moon, ScienceDaily (Weizmann Institute of Science), sciencedaily.com
833. THE 1919 ECLIPSE BACKED EINSTEIN, BUT ONLY ROUGHLY. Relativity and the 1919 eclipse, European Space Agency, esa.int ; The 1919 eclipse results which verified General Relativity and their later detractors: a story re-told, Gilmore and Tausch-Pebody, Notes and Records of the Royal Society 76 (2022), arxiv.org
834. BIG STARS CANNOT FUSE THEIR WAY PAST IRON, AND TRYING FINISHES THEM. The Life Cycles of Stars: How Supernovae Are Formed, Imagine the Universe, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Sensing the Dynamic Universe: Supernovae, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, lweb.cfa.harvard.edu
835. THE FIRST LANDING ON A COMET, IN 2014, BOUNCED. Touchdown! Rosetta's Philae probe lands on comet, European Space Agency, esa.int ; Rosetta and Philae: one year since landing on a comet, European Space Agency, esa.int
836. THE STUDENT WHO DISCOVERED PULSARS DID NOT GET THE NOBEL PRIZE. Journeys of discovery: Jocelyn Bell Burnell and pulsars, University of Cambridge, cam.ac.uk ; The Nobel Prize in Physics 1974, NobelPrize.org, nobelprize.org
837. EUROPA MAY HOLD MORE THAN TWICE THE WATER OF EARTH'S OCEANS †. Why Europa: Evidence for an Ocean, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
838. TWO SPACECRAFT ARE LEAVING THE SOLAR SYSTEM WITH A GOLD RECORD OF US ON BOARD. Voyager, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Voyager Golden Record, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Oort Cloud: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
839. NASA HIT AN ASTEROID ON PURPOSE AND CUT 33 MINUTES OFF ITS ORBIT. NASA Study: Asteroid's Orbit, Shape Changed After DART Impact, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, jpl.nasa.gov
840. PLANETS WITH TWO SUNS ARE REAL, AND KEPLER'S FIRST IS A COLD GAS GIANT. NASA's Kepler Discovery Confirms First Planet Orbiting Two Stars, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, jpl.nasa.gov ; Kepler-16 b: (Almost) a Real-life Tatooine, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
841. IO IS THE MOST VOLCANIC WORLD IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. Io, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; High Tide on IO!, NASA Space Place, spaceplace.nasa.gov ; Io: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
842. THE NIGHT SKY IS DARK BECAUSE THE UNIVERSE HAS NOT BEEN AROUND FOR EVER. Olbers' Paradox, ASTRO 801, Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, courses.ems.psu.edu ; Why Is the Sky Dark at Night? You Can Thank the Big Bang, Phil Plait, Scientific American, scientificamerican.com ; Olbers' paradox, Encyclopaedia Britannica, britannica.com
843. AN ASTEROID SAMPLE CAME HOME CARRYING AMINO ACIDS. First Look at Ryugu Asteroid Sample Reveals it is Organic-Rich, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, nasa.gov
844. SATURN IS LESS DENSE THAN WATER, ON AVERAGE. Saturn: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Saturn Makes Waves in Its Own Rings, California Institute of Technology, caltech.edu
845. THE COMMONEST PLANETS IN THE GALAXY ARE PROBABLY A KIND WE HAVE NOT GOT †. Getting To Know Super-Earths, California Institute of Technology, caltech.edu ; What Is a Super-Earth?, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
846. BETELGEUSE AND RIGEL ARE YOUNGER THAN THE LAST DINOSAURS. Discovering the Universe Through the Constellation Orion, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; How an asteroid ended the age of the dinosaurs, Natural History Museum, London, nhm.ac.uk
847. A HINT OF A LOST OCEAN WORLD, IN 121.6 GRAMS OF ASTEROID †. Surprising Phosphate Finding in NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample, NASA, nasa.gov
848. EARTH SOMETIMES CATCHES A SECOND MOON, AND THEN ARGUES ABOUT IT †. Earth's Minimoons: Opportunities for Science and Technology, Jedicke et al., Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences (2018), frontiersin.org ; MPEC 2020-D104: 2020 CD3: Temporarily Captured Object, IAU Minor Planet Center, minorplanetcenter.net ; NASA to Track Asteroid 2024 PT5 on Next Close Pass, January 2025, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; The discovery and characterization of minimoon 2024 PT5, Bolin et al., arXiv:2411.08029 (ApJL), arxiv.org
849. IT RAINS GLASS SIDEWAYS ON THIS BLUE PLANET, OR SO THE LINE GOES †. Hubble spots azure blue planet, ESA/Hubble science release heic1312, esahubble.org ; Astronomers sniff out pungent exoplanet using James Webb Space Telescope, Arizona State University News, news.asu.edu
850. JUPITER'S GREAT RED SPOT HAS BEEN SHRINKING SINCE THE 1800s. Hubble Shows that Jupiter's Great Red Spot Is Smaller than Ever Seen Before, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; NASA's Hubble Watches Jupiter's Great Red Spot Behave Like a Stress Ball, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Hubble shows that Jupiter's Great Red Spot is smaller than ever measured, ESA/Hubble heic1410, esahubble.org ; Jupiter's great red spot is not the same one Cassini observed in 1600s, ScienceDaily (American Geophysical Union), sciencedaily.com
851. THE CRASH WITH ANDROMEDA IS NOW A COIN TOSS †. Hubble and Gaia revisit fate of our galaxy, European Space Agency, esa.int
852. THE MOON DOES SPIN, EXACTLY ONCE EACH TIME IT GOES ROUND YOU. Tidal Locking, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
853. SEVEN EARTH-SIZED PLANETS THAT WOULD FIT INSIDE MERCURY'S ORBIT. Largest Batch of Earth-size Habitable Zone Planets Found Orbiting TRAPPIST-1, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
854. THE SUN IS WHITE, AND IT SHINES BY NUCLEAR FUSION. What Color is the Sun?, Stanford Solar Center, Stanford University, solar-center.stanford.edu ; How can the Sun "burn"?, StarChild, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov
855. THE BIG BANG'S LEFTOVER GLOW WAS FOUND BY TWO MEN WHO BLAMED THEIR AERIAL. Murmur of a Bang, Cosmic Times 1965, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Press release: The Nobel Prize in Physics 1978, NobelPrize.org, nobelprize.org ; The Temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background, D. J. Fixsen, Astrophysical Journal 707 (2009), arxiv.org ; WMAP Overview, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Holmdel Horn Antenna, American Physical Society Historic Sites, aps.org
856. THE FIRST POWERED FLIGHT ON ANOTHER PLANET LASTED 39.1 SECONDS. NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succeeds in Historic First Flight, NASA, nasa.gov
857. MERCURY, THE PLANET NEAREST THE SUN, KEEPS ICE AT ITS POLES. NASA Spacecraft Finds New Mercury Water Ice Evidence, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, jpl.nasa.gov
858. THE BIGGEST VOLCANO IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM IS NEARLY AS FLAT AS A PANCAKE. Olympus Mons, 1998 (Color), NASA Science Photojournal, science.nasa.gov ; NASA's Mars Odyssey Captures Huge Volcano, Nears 100,000 Orbits, NASA, nasa.gov
859. THE SUN DOES NOT SPIN IN ONE PIECE. Solar Rotation Varies by Latitude, NASA (Solar Dynamics Observatory image article), nasa.gov ; Sun: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
860. EVERY ASTEROID IN THE BELT ADDS UP TO ABOUT 3 PER CENT OF THE MOON. Asteroids: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Masses of the Main Asteroid Belt and the Kuiper Belt from the Motions of Planets and Spacecraft, Pitjeva and Pitjev, Astronomy Letters 44 (2018), arxiv.org ; Moon Fact Sheet, NASA NSSDC, nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov ; Ceres: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Ceres, NASA Science (Dawn mission), science.nasa.gov
861. THE SUN'S OUTER ATMOSPHERE IS HUNDREDS OF TIMES HOTTER THAN ITS SURFACE †. What Is the Sun's Corona?, NASA Space Place, spaceplace.nasa.gov ; NASA's Parker Solar Probe and the curious case of the hot corona, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via EurekAlert!, eurekalert.org
862. THE FIRST VISITOR FROM ANOTHER STAR TURNED UP IN 2017 †. 'Oumuamua, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Accelerating 'Oumuamua with H2 is challenging, Ligterink et al., Nature (2023), nature.com
863. A SATELLITE IS FALLING ALL THE TIME. IT JUST KEEPS MISSING. Basics of Space Flight, Chapter 3: Gravity & Mechanics, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; What is Microgravity?, NASA Glenn Research Center, nasa.gov
864. IN ONE MARS CRATER, THE METHANE COMES AND GOES WITH THE SEASONS †. NASA Finds Ancient Organic Material, Mysterious Methane on Mars, NASA, nasa.gov ; First results from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, European Space Agency, esa.int
865. A WORLD THAT COULD HOLD WATER IS PROBABLY WITHIN ABOUT 20 LIGHT-YEARS †. Planets around stars are the rule rather than the exception, European Southern Observatory, eso.org ; About Half of Sun-Like Stars Could Host Rocky, Potentially Habitable Planets, NASA, nasa.gov
866. TOTAL ECLIPSES ARE A COINCIDENCE, AND THEY ARE RUNNING OUT. Why Do Eclipses Happen?, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Limited Edition: Total Solar Eclipses, National Air and Space Museum, airandspace.si.edu
867. EXPLORER 1 FOUND THE VAN ALLEN BELTS BECAUSE ITS DETECTOR COUNTED TOO LITTLE. Explorer 1, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, jpl.nasa.gov
868. EVERYTHING ORDINARY IS ONLY ABOUT 5 PER CENT OF THE UNIVERSE. Dark Matter, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; What is Dark Energy? Inside Our Accelerating, Expanding Universe, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
869. THE FIRST CONFIRMED PLANETS BEYOND THE SUN ORBIT A DEAD STAR. Cosmic Milestone: NASA Confirms 5,000 Exoplanets, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Extreme Planets (Artist Concept), NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; PSR B1257+12 Overview, NASA Exoplanet Archive, exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu
870. THE NEAREST KNOWN BLACK HOLE IS ABOUT 1,560 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY. Gaia discovers a new family of black holes, European Space Agency, esa.int ; Black Holes, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
871. A SPACECRAFT MADE THREE TRILLION OBSERVATIONS, THEN WAS SWITCHED OFF. Gaia factsheet, European Space Agency, esa.int ; Last starlight for ground-breaking Gaia, European Space Agency, esa.int ; Farewell, Gaia! Spacecraft operations come to an end, European Space Agency, esa.int
872. BETELGEUSE WAS NOT ABOUT TO EXPLODE. IT COUGHED. "Hubble Finds that Betelgeuse's Mysterious Dimming Is Due to a Traumatic Outburst", NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
873. NASA CRASHED CASSINI INTO SATURN TO KEEP ITS MOONS CLEAN. Cassini's Grand Finale, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
874. SPACE IS FULL OF RUBBISH, AND MOST OF IT IS TOO SMALL TO TRACK. Space Environment Statistics, European Space Agency Space Debris Office, sdup.esoc.esa.int ; Frequently Asked Questions, NASA Orbital Debris Program Office, orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov
875. THE MOST DISTANT THING EVER EXPLORED UP CLOSE LOOKS LIKE A SQUASHED SNOWMAN. Arrokoth (2014 MU69), NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Arrokoth: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; New Horizons, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
876. NEPTUNE'S WINDS BLOW AT MORE THAN 2,000 KILOMETRES AN HOUR. Neptune Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
877. THE SOLAR SYSTEM GOES ROUND THE GALAXY ABOUT ONCE EVERY 230 MILLION YEARS. Sun: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Orbital Period of the Sun in the Milky Way Galaxy, Ask an Astronomer, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, public.nrao.edu ; How many times has the sun traveled around the Milky Way?, Live Science, livescience.com
878. ALMOST NONE OF THE STARS YOU CAN SEE ARE DEAD. When you wish upon a star, is it already dead? An astronomer crunches the numbers, Laura Nicole Driessen, University of Sydney, The Conversation, theconversation.com ; What is Betelgeuse? Inside the Strange, Volatile Star, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Hubble Finds that Betelgeuse's Mysterious Dimming Is Due to a Traumatic Outburst, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Supernova 1987A, ESO press release eso8704 (25 February 1987), eso.org
879. THE MOON HAS QUAKES, AND THEY CAN GO ON FOR HOURS. Moonquakes, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; NASA's Apollo Samples, LRO Help Scientists Forecast Moonquakes, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
880. WHEN KEPLER BROKE, ITS ENGINEERS STEERED IT WITH SUNLIGHT. Kepler / K2, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
881. THE FIRST SPACEWALK WAS LESS OF A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE THAN THE STORY SAYS †. Alexei Leonov's First Spacewalk Wasn't Quite as Dramatic as We Thought, Anatoly Zak, Air & Space Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com
882. JUPITER HAS TWICE THE MATERIAL OF EVERYTHING ELSE BAR THE SUN. Jupiter Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov
883. SUNLIGHT IS EIGHT MINUTES OLD, BUT THE ENERGY IN IT IS FAR OLDER †. What Is a Light-Year?, NASA Space Place, spaceplace.nasa.gov ; Sun: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Ancient Sunlight, Sun-Earth Day 2007: Technology Through Time, NASA (archived), spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov
884. OUR GALAXY'S BLACK HOLE LOOKS THE SIZE OF A DOUGHNUT ON THE MOON. Astronomers reveal first image of the black hole at the heart of our galaxy, European Southern Observatory, eso.org ; First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. I., The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Astrophysical Journal Letters 930 (2022), arxiv.org
885. THE FIRST GOLD IN THE UNIVERSE IS STILL AN UNSOLVED CASE †. Where Does Gold Come From? NASA Data Has Clues, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; A magnetar giant flare in the nearby starburst galaxy M82, Mereghetti et al., Nature (2024), arxiv.org ; Blast Affected Earth From Halfway Across The Milky Way, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, cfa.harvard.edu
886. ENCELADUS SPRAYS ITS OCEAN INTO SPACE, ORGANICS AND ALL. NASA Cassini Study Finds Organics 'Fresh' From Ocean of Enceladus, NASA, nasa.gov
887. THE SPACE STATION SEES 16 SUNRISES A DAY. Space Station Facts and Figures, NASA, nasa.gov
888. HUBBLE HAS SEEN A GALAXY AS IT WAS 13.4 BILLION YEARS AGO. What Is a Light-Year?, NASA Space Place, spaceplace.nasa.gov ; Hubble Team Breaks Cosmic Distance Record, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; Webb unlocks secrets of one of the most distant galaxies ever seen, ESA/Webb release weic2406, esawebb.org ; A Remarkably Luminous Galaxy at z=11.1 Measured with Hubble Space Telescope Grism Spectroscopy, Oesch et al., Astrophysical Journal 819 (2016), arxiv.org
889. MERCURY IS SHRINKING, AND NOBODY AGREES BY HOW MUCH †. Mercury: Facts, NASA Science, science.nasa.gov ; The Incredible Shrinking Mercury is Active After All, NASA, nasa.gov ; Mercury, The Not So Shrunken Planet, Thomas Watters, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, airandspace.si.edu ; Mercury is shrinking more than we thought, American Geophysical Union press release on Nishiyama et al., Geophysical Research Letters (2026), EurekAlert!, eurekalert.org
890. A SPECK OF SKY A HUNDREDTH THE SIZE OF THE MOON HOLDS 5,500 GALAXIES. Hubble goes to the eXtreme to assemble the deepest ever view of the Universe, ESA/Hubble release heic1214, esahubble.org ; Size of the eXtreme Deep Field, ESA/Hubble video heic1214b, esahubble.org
891. IN 1859 A STORM OFF THE SUN RAN THE TELEGRAPH WITH THE BATTERIES OFF. That Time Demons Possessed the Telegraph, Sam Kean, Distillations, Science History Institute, sciencehistory.org ; Five historically huge solar events, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, noaa.gov
10. WORDS DO NOT MEAN WHAT YOU THINK
892. A MUSCLE IS A LITTLE MOUSE. Muscle - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
893. A BULLY WAS A SWEETHEART IN THE 1530s. "bully (n.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
894. CHECKMATE MAY NOT MEAN "THE KING IS DEAD" †. Checkmate - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
895. NICE USED TO MEAN IGNORANT. "nice (adj.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
896. RÖNTGEN CALLED THEM X-RAYS BECAUSE HE DID NOT KNOW WHAT THEY WERE. "History of Medicine: Dr. Roentgen's Accidental X-Rays", Columbia University Department of Surgery, columbiasurgery.org ; "Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen", University of Würzburg Archives, uni-wuerzburg.de
897. MEAT MEANT ANY FOOD, AND VEGETABLES COULD BE GREEN MEAT. "meat (n.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
898. SAVED BY THE BELL IS A BOXING PHRASE. saved, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; Saved by the Bell, World Wide Words (Michael Quinion), worldwidewords.org ; "saved by the bell", Wordorigins.org (David Wilton), wordorigins.org
899. THE COLOUR PINK IS NAMED AFTER A FLOWER. "pink (n., adj.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
900. OK MEANS "OLL KORRECT", SPELT WRONG ON PURPOSE. Origin and history of OK, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
901. DROPPING YOUR R'S WAS ONCE THE POSH AMERICAN SOUND. "How American English has evolved since the country's founding", Penn Today, University of Pennsylvania, penntoday.upenn.edu
902. A SHREWD MAN WAS A WICKED ONE. shrewd (adj.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
903. PANIC IS NAMED AFTER THE GOD PAN. Panic - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
904. BITING THE BULLET PROBABLY MEANT A REAL BULLET †. bullet (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; "the authentic origin of 'to bite the bullet'", word histories (Pascal Tréguer), wordhistories.net
905. THE WORD GUY COMES FROM GUY FAWKES. guy (n.2), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
906. HIGH TEA WAS THE WORKERS' MEAL, AFTERNOON TEA THE DAINTY ONE. "The history of tea", National Trust, nationaltrust.org.uk ; "high", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
907. TIP DOES NOT STAND FOR "TO INSURE PROMPTNESS". Online Etymology Dictionary, "tip", etymonline.com
908. A SHAMBLES WAS A MEAT MARKET. shambles (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
909. HIEROGLYPHS WRITE SOUNDS AS WELL AS WORDS. "Hieroglyphs: unlocking ancient Egypt, large print exhibition text", The British Museum, britishmuseum.org
910. SPITTING IMAGE IS PROBABLY ABOUT ACTUAL SPIT †. spitting image (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; "Spitting image", The Phrase Finder (Gary Martin), phrases.org.uk
911. SARCASM MEANS STRIPPING THE FLESH OFF. Sarcasm - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
912. THE ROYALS BECAME WINDSORS IN 1917 BECAUSE OF ANTI-GERMAN FEELING. "Royal family name", The Royal Family, royal.uk
913. NEWS IS JUST THE PLURAL OF NEW. News - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
914. THE GAUNTLET YOU RUN IS NOT A GLOVE. gantlet (n.) and gauntlet (n.1), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com and etymonline.com
915. CURRYING FAVOUR MEANT GROOMING A HORSE. curry (v.) and curry (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
916. AWFUL MEANT AWE-INSPIRING LONG BEFORE IT MEANT BAD. "awful (adj.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
917. HUSBAND MEANT MASTER OF THE HOUSE, NOT MARRIED MAN. Origin and history of husband, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
918. SMART STUNG BEFORE IT WAS CLEVER. smart (adj.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
919. RULE OF THUMB IS ABOUT A RULER, NOT A WIFE. Rule of thumb: origins and true meaning, World Wide Words (Michael Quinion), worldwidewords.org ; Thumb - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; Rule of thumb, Merriam-Webster, merriam-webster.com
920. CURFEW MEANS "COVER THE FIRE". Curfew - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
921. FABULOUS FIRST MEANT MYTHICAL. fabulous (adj.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
922. GENUINE PROBABLY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH KNEES †. Origin and history of genuine, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; genuine and ingenuous, Dictionary.com, dictionary.com and dictionary.com
923. A DAISY IS A "DAY'S EYE". Origin and history of daisy, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; "push up (the) daisies v.", Green's Dictionary of Slang, greensdictofslang.com
924. PRETTY COMES FROM AN OLD ENGLISH WORD FOR A TRICK †. pretty (adj.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
925. SINCERE DOES NOT MEAN "WITHOUT WAX". Origin and history of sincere, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
926. A COMPANION IS SOMEONE YOU SHARE BREAD WITH. Companion - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
927. SOS WAS PICKED BECAUSE IT IS EASY TO SEND. Origin and history of SOS, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
928. ANEMOIA IS A NEW WORD, AND WE KNOW WHO MADE IT. "anemoia", The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com ; home page, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, thedictionaryofobscuresorrows.com
929. A DISASTER IS A BAD STAR. Disaster - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
930. BUXOM MEANT OBEDIENT. Buxom - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
931. ORANGE HAD AN N AT THE FRONT BEFORE IT REACHED ENGLISH †. Origin and history of orange, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
932. A LET IN TENNIS IS A HINDRANCE, NOT PERMISSION. let (v.) and let (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; let (noun, "let 2"), Dictionary.com, dictionary.com
933. CABAL WAS NOT MADE FROM THE INITIALS OF CHARLES II'S MINISTERS. Origin and history of cabal, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; Origin and history of cabbala, etymonline.com
934. IN MILTON, TERRIFIC MEANT TERRIFYING. "terrific (adj.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
935. ALCOHOL WAS NAMED AFTER EYE MAKE-UP. Alcohol - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
936. A VILLAIN WAS A FARMHAND. Villain - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
937. BEYOND THE PALE MEANS OUTSIDE THE FENCE †. pale (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; "Beyond the pale", The Grammarphobia Blog, grammarphobia.com
938. THE QUICK ARE THE LIVING. quick (adj.) and quick (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
939. NICKNAME AND NEWT STOLE THEIR N FROM "AN". Origin and history of nickname, newt, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; etymonline.com
940. HAZARD WAS A DICE GAME, AND THE ARABIC "DIE" IS DOUBTFUL †. Origin and history of hazard, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
941. TO STARVE WAS SIMPLY TO DIE. starve (v.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
942. GOLF NEVER STOOD FOR "GENTLEMEN ONLY, LADIES FORBIDDEN" †. 7 Good Stories That Just Aren't True (Golf), Merriam-Webster, merriam-webster.com ; Golf - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
943. EGREGIOUS COMES FROM RISING ABOVE THE FLOCK. "egregious (adj.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
944. APRON, ADDER AND UMPIRE EACH LOST AN N TO "A". Origin and history of apron, adder, umpire, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; etymonline.com ; etymonline.com ; "Origin and history of orange", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
945. BOYCOTT WAS A MAN BEFORE IT WAS A PROTEST. Origin and history of boycott, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
946. LUNATIC MEANT "MOON-STRUCK", AND THEY MEANT THE MOON. Origin and history of lunatic, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
947. A NEST EGG WAS BAIT FOR A HEN. nest (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
948. AVOCADO MEANT AVOCADO. THE RUDE MEANING WAS THE SIDELINE. Avocado - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
949. NAUGHTY IS BUILT ON NAUGHT, MEANING NOTHING. "naughty (adj.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
950. GOSSIP MEANT GODPARENT. Gossip - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; 7 Good Stories That Just Aren't True (Gossip), Merriam-Webster, merriam-webster.com
951. SALARY COMES FROM SALT. THE SALT-MONEY STORY IS A GUESS †. Salary, Merriam-Webster, merriam-webster.com ; Salary - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
952. HONEYMOON FIRST MEANT THE SWEET BIT BEFORE IT WEARS OFF †. Honeymoon - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
953. THE LOONIE IS NAMED AFTER A STAND-IN BIRD. "1 dollar", Royal Canadian Mint, mint.ca ; "A Tale of Two Designs: How Canada's 1-dollar Coin Became the Loonie", Royal Canadian Mint, mint.ca ; "A Coin for a Modern World: Exploring the Story Behind Canada's Toonie", Royal Canadian Mint, mint.ca ; "Once-scorned loonie turns 20", The Globe and Mail, theglobeandmail.com
954. A MENTOR IS A CHARACTER IN THE ODYSSEY. Origin and history of mentor, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
955. SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER ARE NUMBERED SEVEN TO TEN. "September", "October", "November", "December", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; etymonline.com ; etymonline.com ; etymonline.com ; "January", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; "The Consular Year", Encyclopaedia Romana, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu. The sources disagree on when: etymonline's September entry credits the Julian reform with moving the new year; the Chicago page gives 153 BC for the consular and calendar year
956. SILLY STARTED OUT MEANING HAPPY. "silly (adj.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
957. QUARANTINE MEANS FORTY DAYS. Quarantine - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
958. THE EARL OF SANDWICH'S GAMBLING STORY IS ONLY "SAID TO BE" TRUE †. Origin and history of sandwich, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
959. THE BYZANTINES CALLED THEMSELVES ROMANS. Anthony Kaldellis, review of Gill Page, "Being Byzantine", The Medieval Review (Indiana University), 09.04.10, scholarworks.iu.edu ; "Byzantine (adj.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
960. BRAND-NEW MEANS FRESH FROM THE FORGE. brand-new (adj.) and brand (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com and etymonline.com
961. IT WAS RAINING DOGS AND POLECATS BY THE 1650s †. "rain", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; "Upon a Cloak lent him by Mr. J. Ridsley", Olor Iscanus (1651), in Poems of Henry Vaughan, Silurist, Volume II, Project Gutenberg, gutenberg.org ; "What is the origin of the phrase 'it's raining cats and dogs'?", Everyday Mysteries, Library of Congress, loc.gov
962. STEALING THUNDER STARTED WITH STAGE THUNDER. thunder (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; "Quote Origin: They Will Not Let My Play Run, But Steal My Thunder", Quote Investigator, quoteinvestigator.com
963. HANDICAP CAME FROM A BETTING GAME, NOT FROM BEGGING. Handicap - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; Etymology of Handicap, Snopes.com, snopes.com ; 7 Good Stories That Just Aren't True (Handicap), Merriam-Webster, merriam-webster.com
964. PHOENIX WAS NAMED FOR THE RUINS IT ROSE FROM. "City of Phoenix History", City of Phoenix, phoenix.gov ; "The Ancestral Sonoran Desert People", Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, National Park Service, nps.gov ; "Hohokam Irrigation Canals", Historic American Engineering Record HAER AZ-89, National Park Service (Library of Congress), tile.loc.gov ; "Pueblo Grande Museum Renamed S'edav Va'aki Museum", Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, oan.srpmic-nsn.gov
965. THE CANARY IS NAMED AFTER THE ISLANDS, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND †. Canary - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
966. AROUND 1300, A GIRL COULD BE A CHILD OF EITHER SEX. "girl (n.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
967. LAS VEGAS MEANS THE MEADOWS. "Las Vegas (The Meadows)", State Historical Marker No. 40, Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, shpo.nv.gov ; "Who Is Rafael Rivera?", City of Las Vegas, lasvegasnevada.gov ; "Las Vegas name comes from image of valley during trading party's search for water in 1829", 8 News Now, 8newsnow.com
968. AN AFTERMATH IS A SECOND CROP OF GRASS. aftermath (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
969. PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS MEANS PLAYING THE ORGAN LOUDER. stop (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
970. METTLE IS METAL WITH A DIFFERENT SPELLING. "mettle (n.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; "Show Your Metal", A-Z Glossary, The Mills Archive, millsarchive.org
971. CLUE IS A RESPELLING OF CLEW, A BALL OF THREAD. "clue (n.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
972. TERTIARY JUST MEANS "THIRD". "EarthWord: Tertiary", US Geological Survey, usgs.gov ; "tertiary", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com. Opened and read 2026-09-23 and 2026-09-26
973. POSH IS OLDER THAN ITS "PORT OUTWARD, STARBOARD HOME" STORY †. Posh - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
974. OSTRACISM WAS A VOTE ON BROKEN POTTERY. ostracism (n.) / ostracize (v.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
975. THE PLUMBER DID NOT GIVE HIS NAME TO THE RUDE WORD. crap (v.), Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
976. A PARSEC IS A DISTANCE, NOT A TIME. "parsec (n.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; "Milky Way", Imagine the Universe!, NASA, imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov ; "au (astronomical unit)", JPL Solar System Dynamics, NASA, ssd.jpl.nasa.gov
977. MARMALADE WAS FIRST A QUINCE PRESERVE. "marmalade (n.)", Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
978. DECIMATE MEANT KILLING ONE MAN IN TEN. Decimate - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
979. COP COMES FROM AN OLD VERB MEANING TO SEIZE. Does Cop = 'Constable on Patrol'?, Snopes.com, snopes.com ; Cop - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
980. INFLUENZA MEANS THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS. Origin and history of influenza, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
981. ALGORITHM IS A MATHEMATICIAN'S NAME, MANGLED. Origin and history of algorithm, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; Khwarezm, Encyclopaedia Britannica, britannica.com
982. THE WHOLE NINE YARDS HAS NO KNOWN ORIGIN †. whole nine yards, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com ; Bonnie Taylor-Blake, "The full nine yards (1907)", American Dialect Society list (6 September 2013), listserv.linguistlist.org
983. A BONFIRE WAS A FIRE OF BONES. Bonfire - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
984. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THE ASSASSINS TOOK HASHISH †. Assassin - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
985. TANTALISE IS NAMED AFTER A PUNISHED KING OF MYTH. Origin and history of tantalize, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
986. NIMROD MEANT A MIGHTY HUNTER, AND BUGS BUNNY IS ONLY A GUESS †. Nimrod - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
987. BERSERK PROBABLY MEANS BEAR SHIRT, NOT BARE SHIRT †. Berserk - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
988. ENGLAND, GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED KINGDOM ARE DIFFERENT THINGS. "Toponymic guidelines for map and other editors: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", GOV.UK, gov.uk ; "A to Z style guide", GOV.UK, guidance.publishing.service.gov.uk
989. TRIVIA COMES FROM A PLACE WHERE THREE ROADS MEET. Trivia - Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
990. AN ALLIGATOR IS SPANISH FOR "THE LIZARD". Origin and history of alligator, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
THE CLOSING NINE
991. THE NINE-BANDED ARMADILLO HAS IDENTICAL QUADRUPLETS "EVERY TIME", AND DOES NOT ALWAYS HAVE NINE BANDS. Armadillos: Identical Quadruplets Every Time, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, carnegiemnh.org ; "Dasypus sabanicola (Cingulata: Dasypodidae)", Julio Chacón-Pacheco, Carlos Aya-Cuero and Teresa Cristina S. Anacleto, Mammalian Species 52 (991), 2020, Oxford University Press, academic.oup.com
992. A CAT HAS NINE LIVES IN ENGLISH, BUT ONLY SEVEN IN SPANISH AND ITALIAN. Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, scene 1, Folger Shakespeare Library, folger.edu ; vida, Diccionario de la lengua española, Real Academia Española, dle.rae.es ; gatto, Vocabolario on line, Treccani, treccani.it
993. SHAKESPEARE'S CLOWN MORRIS-DANCED FROM LONDON TO NORWICH AND CALLED IT HIS NINE DAYS' WONDER. Kemps Nine Daies Wonder: Performed in a Daunce from London to Norwich, William Kemp (1600), ed. Alexander Dyce (Camden Society, 1840), Project Gutenberg, gutenberg.org ; nine, Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com
994. ABRAHAM LINCOLN CHECKED HIS SUMS BY CASTING OUT NINES, AND IT MISSED HIS MISTAKE. Casting Out Nines, Wolfram MathWorld, mathworld.wolfram.com ; Casting out Nines, Assignment #34, Math 13700, Purdue University, math.purdue.edu ; 103. Abraham Lincoln, Jewels in Her Crown, Columbia University Libraries, exhibitions.library.columbia.edu
995. THE CD WAS MADE TO HOLD 74 MINUTES, AND BEETHOVEN'S NINTH MAY OR MAY NOT BE WHY. Kees A. Schouhamer Immink, Shannon, Beethoven, and the Compact Disc, IEEE Information Theory Society Newsletter, December 2007 (author's transcript), turing-machines.com
996. PI HAS SIX 9S IN A ROW, STARTING AT THE 762ND DECIMAL PLACE. Feynman Point, Wolfram MathWorld, mathworld.wolfram.com ; A048940, The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, OEIS Foundation, oeis.org
997. 0.999 RECURRING IS NOT NEARLY 1. IT IS 1. Why Does 0.999... = 1?, Math Fun Facts, Harvey Mudd College, math.hmc.edu ; Kim Beswick, Why does 0.999... = 1? A perennial question and number sense, Australian Mathematics Teacher 60 (4), via ERIC, files.eric.ed.gov
998. 1 DIVIDED BY 998,001 COUNTS THROUGH EVERY THREE-DIGIT NUMBER EXCEPT 998. A384627, Decimal expansion of 1/998001, The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, OEIS Foundation, oeis.org ; A059988, a(n) = (10^n - 1)^2, The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, OEIS Foundation, oeis.org
999. 999 IS THE WORLD'S OLDEST EMERGENCY NUMBER, AND THE WIND IS WHY IT IS NOT 111. 999 celebrates its 77th birthday, London City Hall (Greater London Authority), london.gov.uk ; The 999 service is 80 years old today, BT (press release), mynewsdesk.com ; 999 emergency service, BT Archives information sheet, bt.com