Lists and Stories

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  Will a Suction Cup Work in Space? No, it won’t. We’ve all seen pictures of astronauts walking in space, and they are always prevented from drifting away from the spaceship to their death by a tether of some sort. But if you want to avoid getting tangled up in a tether, why not just use a suction cup? The problem is the lack of air...
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  Will Light-Speed Space Travel Ever Be Possible? The idea of travelling at the speed of light is an attractive one for sci-fi writers. The speed of light is an incredible 299,792,458 meters per second. At that speed, you could circle Earth more than seven times in one second, and humans would finally be able to explore outside our solar system....
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  Will We Ever Run Out of Sudoku Puzzles? Realistically, no! There are 6,670,903,752,021,072,936,960 possible solvable Sudoku grids that yield a unique result (that’s 6 sextillion, 670 quintillion, 903 quadrillion, 752 trillion, 21 billion, 72 million, 936 thousand, 960 in case you were wondering). That’s way more than the number of stars...
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  Woman-Made: 13 Architects You Might Not Know Throughout history, women have been interested and involved in architecture, yet in the 21st century it remains a male-dominated field. Nevertheless, here is a quick list of 13 women architects to know about. They’ve built museums, universities, skyscrapers—even whole cities—in every corner of the...
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  Woman-Made: 10 Sculptors You Might Not Know Beginning in the mid-19th century, there existed a successful and influential community of American women sculptors. Many traveled abroad to work in Rome, London, or Paris and to study in prestigious art schools that had begun to accept talented young women into their classes. Others found the few...
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  Women in the United States by the Numbers: 1920 Versus 2020 This infographic shows graphs that compare aspects of the lives of women in the United States over a century. Spotlight, women, United States, gender, statistics, life expectancy, marriage, children, education, workforce participation,...
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  Women in World War I: A Photo Gallery Women have long played a vital role during wartime. In World War I (1914–18), however, their contributions grew dramatically. Millions of women entered the workforce to fill jobs that were traditionally held by men. In addition, tens of thousands of women served as nurses and doctors, and many held...
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  Working Like a Dog: 7 Animals with Jobs The number one job for many animals is often simply being cute. However, for a few critters, working it means actual work—like detecting mines or taking out the trash or even predicting a seizure. In this list we’ve highlighted a few animals that have jobs ranging from the important to the unusual....
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  World AIDS Day Since 1988, World AIDS Day has been observed every year on December 1. It was created by the World Health Organization with the intent to increase awareness of AIDS and the virus that causes it, HIV, by distributing information and fostering discussion. The day typically involves many activities...
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  World Poetry Day Poetry is a form of literature that often celebrates abstraction and the beauty of words. Written poetry is thought to have surfaced about 2000 BCE with the Epic of Gilgamesh, although poetry likely predates literacy. Though the poetry of today has transformed in form and function, the root of its...
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  Would You Eat Bugs? There’s another food revolution coming. And it isn’t a quiet one. It’s practically buzzing. And clicking. And crunching. It’s almost orchestral, really, in a tinny, droning sort of way. That’s right: an increasing number of scientists suggest that if we’re to support our booming population in the...
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  Year of the Monkey February 8, 2016, begins the Year of the Monkey according to the Chinese calendar. Chinese New Year celebrations last 15 days and include a variety of traditions that are meant to bring luck and happiness for the new year. Families hold reunions, small gifts are exchanged, and special foods are...
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  Year of the Rooster According to the Chinese calendar, January 28, 2017, begins the Year of the Rooster. Chinese New Year celebrations last 15 days and include a variety of traditions that are meant to bring luck and happiness for the new year. Families hold reunions; small gifts are exchanged; and special foods are...
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  Yom Kippur Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is observed on the 10th day of the month of Tishri (falling in September or October). It is the culmination of a 10-day period of penitence and reflection that begins with Rosh Hashana (New Year’s Day). The most solemn of Jewish religious holidays, Yom...
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  You Ought to Be in Pictures: 8 Filming Locations You Can Actually Visit While many movie locations exist only on a studio backlot or as a collection of data on a hard drive, some of the most recognizable sites on the silver screen are only a hop, skip, and a transoceanic plane ride away. list, downton abbey, star wars, movie locations, hobbit, lord of the rings, luke...
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  Zika at the Rio Olympics: Is the Risk Real? In January 2016 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Zika virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern because of its rapid spread and its association with a severe deformity known as microcephaly (abnormal smallness of the head) in infants born to mothers infected early in...