curiosities

Meet The Bullet Ant, The Tiny Insect With The Most Painful Sting On Planet Earth

It may be only an inch long, but the bullet ant has an excruciating sting that leaves victims in agony, including temporary paralysis and hallucinations.

By Bernadette Giacomazzo • Jul 9, 2022

Meet The Bullet Ant, The Tiny Insect With The Most Painful Sting On Planet Earth

It may be only an inch long, but the bullet ant has an excruciating sting that leaves victims in agony, including temporary paralysis and hallucinations.

By Bernadette Giacomazzo • July 9, 2022

How Drugs Like Pervitin And Cocaine Fueled The Nazis’ Rise And Fall

Despite Adolf Hitler's anti-drug rhetoric, Nazi Germany used a little courage pill called Pervitin to take Europe by storm. It turns out it was pure methamphetamine.

By John Kuroski • Jul 9, 2022

How Drugs Like Pervitin And Cocaine Fueled The Nazis’ Rise And Fall

Despite Adolf Hitler's anti-drug rhetoric, Nazi Germany used a little courage pill called Pervitin to take Europe by storm. It turns out it was pure methamphetamine.

By John Kuroski • July 9, 2022

Why The Cartoonish Yet Deadly Punt Gun Was Banned After Just A Few Decades

The 12-foot, 200-pound punt gun could kill up to 100 ducks at a time — nearly annihilating America's waterfowl population by the 1860s.

By Katie Serena • Jul 8, 2022

Why The Cartoonish Yet Deadly Punt Gun Was Banned After Just A Few Decades

The 12-foot, 200-pound punt gun could kill up to 100 ducks at a time — nearly annihilating America's waterfowl population by the 1860s.

By Katie Serena • July 8, 2022

Why Jacob’s Well Is One Of The World’s Most Alluring Diving Spots — And The Most Dangerous

Jacob's Well Natural Area is a park outside of Austin, Texas, with a water system that goes at least 4,500 feet underground — and has killed at least nine people trying to explore its depths.

By Aimee Lamoureux • Jul 5, 2022

Why Jacob’s Well Is One Of The World’s Most Alluring Diving Spots — And The Most Dangerous

Jacob's Well Natural Area is a park outside of Austin, Texas, with a water system that goes at least 4,500 feet underground — and has killed at least nine people trying to explore its depths.

By Aimee Lamoureux • July 5, 2022

Meet The Maned Wolf, The Bizarre South American Creature That’s Like A Cross Between A Fox And A Deer

With its enormous ears and stilt-like legs, the maned wolf is a one-of-a-kind animal that roams the plains of Brazil and Argentina.

By Bernadette Giacomazzo • Jul 5, 2022

Meet The Maned Wolf, The Bizarre South American Creature That’s Like A Cross Between A Fox And A Deer

With its enormous ears and stilt-like legs, the maned wolf is a one-of-a-kind animal that roams the plains of Brazil and Argentina.

By Bernadette Giacomazzo • July 5, 2022

The Chilling Legend Of The Jersey Devil, The Horse-Headed Beast Said To Haunt The Pine Barrens

For centuries, people across southern New Jersey and Delaware have supposedly encountered a horse-headed flying demon known as the Jersey Devil.

By Leah Silverman • Jul 3, 2022

The Chilling Legend Of The Jersey Devil, The Horse-Headed Beast Said To Haunt The Pine Barrens

For centuries, people across southern New Jersey and Delaware have supposedly encountered a horse-headed flying demon known as the Jersey Devil.

By Leah Silverman • July 3, 2022

Have Scientists Just Uncovered Patient Zero For The Black Plague?

Using DNA and following a hunch, researchers have identified the earliest-known victims of the Black Death in a 14th-century graveyard in Kyrgyzstan.

By Kaleena Fraga • Jun 28, 2022

News

Have Scientists Just Uncovered Patient Zero For The Black Plague?

Using DNA and following a hunch, researchers have identified the earliest-known victims of the Black Death in a 14th-century graveyard in Kyrgyzstan.

By Kaleena Fraga • June 28, 2022

Explore Aoshima, Japan’s ‘Cat Island’ That’s Been Taken Over By Felines

Once a thriving fishing village in southwest Japan, Aoshima is now home to only six humans but hundreds of cats, earning it the moniker of "Cat Island."

By Leah Silverman • Jun 25, 2022

Explore Aoshima, Japan’s ‘Cat Island’ That’s Been Taken Over By Felines

Once a thriving fishing village in southwest Japan, Aoshima is now home to only six humans but hundreds of cats, earning it the moniker of "Cat Island."

By Leah Silverman • June 25, 2022

Meet Adam Weishaupt, The German Philosopher Who Founded The Illuminati In 1776

While many are familiar with conspiracy theories claiming that the Illuminati had a hand in events like the French Revolution or the assassination of John F. Kennedy, few know the story of the organization's founder, Adam Weishaupt.

By Kaleena Fraga • Jun 23, 2022

Meet Adam Weishaupt, The German Philosopher Who Founded The Illuminati In 1776

While many are familiar with conspiracy theories claiming that the Illuminati had a hand in events like the French Revolution or the assassination of John F. Kennedy, few know the story of the organization's founder, Adam Weishaupt.

By Kaleena Fraga • June 23, 2022

Timber From 17th-Century Spanish Shipwreck Discovered In Caves Off Oregon’s Coast

Legends of the shipwreck long tantalized Oregonians and may have even inspired Steven Spielberg's 1985 film The Goonies.

By Kaleena Fraga • Jun 23, 2022

News

Timber From 17th-Century Spanish Shipwreck Discovered In Caves Off Oregon’s Coast

Legends of the shipwreck long tantalized Oregonians and may have even inspired Steven Spielberg's 1985 film The Goonies.

By Kaleena Fraga • June 23, 2022

The Bizarre History Of The Mongoose In Hawaii And Why Colonial Sugar Barons Are To Blame For The Havoc It’s Caused

Rich plantation owners in the 1880s were so desperate to combat the rats eating their sugarcane that they brought the mongoose to Hawaii — and the government still can't get rid of them to this day.

By Bernadette Giacomazzo • Jun 22, 2022

The Bizarre History Of The Mongoose In Hawaii And Why Colonial Sugar Barons Are To Blame For The Havoc It’s Caused

Rich plantation owners in the 1880s were so desperate to combat the rats eating their sugarcane that they brought the mongoose to Hawaii — and the government still can't get rid of them to this day.

By Bernadette Giacomazzo • June 22, 2022