Awesome Mental Floss

If you can believe it, it’s been nearly 25 years since the 20th century ended. While we still use some slang terms from the era, others like “automobubble,” “skunky,” and “zozzled” have long since left our lexicon. Mental Floss looks back at slang of the 20th century in hopes we might start using some of these again. We still use “scofflaw” all the time.

Are sloths lazy? Are elephants afraid of mice? Can porcupines shoot their quills? In this video from Mental Floss, host Justin Dodd explores myths, misconceptions, and inaccuracies about 64 different animals. We’re just glad we’re not actually swallowing spiders in our sleep.

Time isn’t as simple as what shows up on your phone’s screen. Erin McCarthy of Mental Floss offers up a number of interesting tidbits about the nature of time, how humans perceive its passage, how space and time relate, and the different ways of measuring time itself.

We love us some gummy bears. There’s something so perfect about their chewy texture, fruity flavors, and adorable form that makes them special. Mental Floss series Food History looks back at the origins and evolution of the tasty candy treat, which first took their bear-shaped form in the 1920s in Germany.

Mention the word “Vikings” and it conjures up images of burly warriors with horned helmets, laying waste to all who stood in their way. But as Justin from Mental Floss explains, most modern conceptions about these feared Norsemen are totally wrong.

Have you run out of trash talk? Perhaps it’s time to dig into our past and dust off some old-timey insults like “rapscallion” and “blatherskate.” Erin from Mental Floss gives us the rundown on 16 of these classics we might be ready to bring back. Learn more about interesting words in the new book The Curious Compendium of Wonderful Words.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. And apparently, war creates a lot of necessities. So it’s no wonder so many things get invented for the military. Mental Floss digs into nine popular items that you probably didn’t know started with a military purpose from Silly Putty to Slinkies to powdered cheese.

Did you know that the sunlight you’re looking at now is 8-minutes old? Or that the most common maps completely distort the relative size of countries? Mental Floss Editor-in-Chief Erin McCarthy digs into these and plethora of other facts about our planet in this extensive trivia video.

Growing up, the tongue-twister that always got us was “The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.” Erin McCarthy from Mental Floss explains the origins of this classic and seven other tricky sentences created by cunning linguists to trip up our tongues. We’re wondering how many takes it took for Erin to get through all of these.

If you can believe it, there was a brief moment when people thought spaghetti grew on trees. Erin from Mental Floss takes a look at this famous hoax along with a handful of others that were so well executed that the public was convinced of its truth. That lady who gave birth to bunnies, woah.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can easily get lost in the woods. Serious explorers know how to navigate with as little as the sun, stars, or wind. Still, it’s possible for even the greatest explorers to become lost and never found again, as Erin at Mental Floss explains.

Chocolate has been one of the world’s favorite confections for thousands of years. But it hasn’t always been the sweet treat we know and love today. Mental Floss host Justin Dodd takes us through the earliest known uses of cacao beans, and explains the process that turns it into chocolate.

You may have heard that dogs only see in black and white, or that one dog year equals seven human years. Both of those are untrue. Mental Floss host Justin Dodd looks at those and other misconceptions about our canine pals, and sets us straight on the facts.

We love us some nice crispy French fries. Mental Floss host Justin Dodd digs into the origins of this fast food staple, its varieties, and why it’s become one of the most popular side dishes on earth. Along the way, you’ll enjoy a snack of potato chips and Tater Tots.

From the time Curb Your Enthusiasm gave a murder suspect an alibi to how Basil Fawlty was based on a real innkeeper, here are 16 facts about television shows that you probably didn’t know. Mental Floss shares a few interesting tidbits from The Curious Viewer, their new book packed with obscure TV trivia.

From fabled stashes of pirate’s booty to irreplaceable reels of film and works of art, there are some very special treasures waiting out there to be discovered. Join Mental Floss editor and host Erin McCarthy as she gets out her shovel and digs for some of the world’s most elusive artifacts.

We love using hot sauce to add a kick to many foods. Chili flavored sauces have been around for thousands of years, and Mental Floss‘ Food History explains where these spicy condiments likely originated as well as some of their varieties. Along the way, you’ll learn why peppers are spicy in the first place.

While many considered Nikolai Tesla to be a genius, he also had some pretty outlandish ideas, like the notion that we would stop drinking coffee by the 21st century. Mental Floss editor Erin McCarthy explores this and a number of other wacky predictions that have yet to come true, among them, undersea buses propelled by whales.

You might assume that most people in the middle ages thought the earth was flat, but it turns out many of them already knew the earth was round. Mental Floss host Justin Dodd explores this misconception and a few others about medieval times.

Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, Chupacabra, and the Mongolian Death Worm all have one thing in common. Their existence is highly questionable. This category of elusive creatures is known as “cryptids,” and Erin from Mental Floss is here to walk us through more than 20 of these likely imaginary beasts.

Would firing a bullet inside of an airplane really cause explosive decompression? Could an airplane’s toilet suck your intestines out? Does autopilot fly a plane all by itself? Mental Floss host Justin Dodd takes a look at these and other myths and mistaken beliefs about flight.

From Elton John’s Rocket Man to Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, many popular songs found their inspirations in unexpected places. Mental Floss Editor-in-Chief Erin McCarthy digs into a dozen tunes which didn’t just pop into songwriter’s heads, but came from unusual sources.

From the vault that holds Coca-Cola’s secret recipe to the Brazilian island covered with venomous snakes, there are some places where humans just aren’t supposed to go. In this episode of Mental Floss‘ List Show, editor Erin McCarthy explores through some of these unusual places that you can never visit.