Damn Interesting

All Items • Page 43/52
Article:

Smoke Detectors and a Radioactive Boyscout

David Hahn was an Eagle Scout who had a merit badge in atomic energy; as everyone should know, that is ample educatio...
Written by Jason Bellows • 19 Jan 2006 • Read →
Curio:

The Spanish Flu Epidemic

If you're worried about the possibility of a coming bird flu epidemic, you can take comfort in the fact that humanity...
Written by Daniel Lew • 17 Jan 2006 • Read →
Curio:

The Singing Scourge

Early in the 1200’s, Genghis Khan and the Mongol army he commanded were well on their way to becoming the most feared...
Written by Cynthia Wood • 17 Jan 2006 • Read →
Article:

Phineas Gage’s Brain Injury

In 1848, a twenty-five-year-old construction foreman named Phineas Gage won nationwide fame by way of a hole in his h...
Written by Alan Bellows • 16 Jan 2006 • Read →
Article:

The Most Powerful Bomb Ever Constructed

On 30 October 1961, over the island of Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Sea, Soviet scientists detonated the most powerful...
Written by Alan Bellows • 13 Jan 2006 • Read →
Article:

The Hazards of Eating Bats

Bats, along with spiders and snakes, are one of the most frequently feared animals. Ask any bat lover, and they will...
Written by Bryan Lowder • 13 Jan 2006 • Read →
Curio:

Hole-y Cow

Animals can live a surprising amount of time with a permanent hole to their stomach, especially if it is a surgically...
Written by Daniel Lew • 12 Jan 2006 • Read →
Article:

Prepare for Ludicrous Speed

In 1957, German theoretical physicist Burkhard Heim publicly outlined a new idea for spacecraft propulsion. It was ba...
Written by Alan Bellows • 11 Jan 2006 • Read →
Curio:

A Coffee For When You Feel Like Crap

Coffee connoisseurs are known to be willing to shell out large sums of money for a high-quality bean. The high-end be...
Written by Cynthia Wood • 11 Jan 2006 • Read →
Curio/Podcast:

Nuclear Landmines

In 1950s-era Germany, the British forces which had been stationed there after World War 2 were understandably nervous...
Written by Alan Bellows • 10 Jan 2006 • Read/Listen →
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