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11 Urban Legends The Government Has Addressed
Usually the government sticks to reality, but there are a number of times where agencies have investigated or weighed in on more mythical ideas. From mermaids to Santa Claus, here are 11 legends that...
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11 Brand Names With Unforunate Meanings In Other Languages
Once in a while, an international company will come out with a new product, brand name or slogan that gets, well, seriously lost in translation. One famous example is Mitsubishi’s unfortunate 1973...
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Science Explains Why It Hurts So Much To Get Hit In The Balls
More than any other bodily injury, getting hit in the testicles is probably what every man dreads most. Of all the soft, fleshy spots on the human body, none register the same kind of incapacitating,...
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Seedless Watermelons Are Strange Hybrids Fathered By 'Frankenmelons'
When a run-of-the-mill watermelon and a souped-up frankenmelon love each other very much, they come together and make a baby seedless wundermelon. Seedless watermelons are a lot like mules — sterile...
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10 Apps That Put Science In Your Pocket
Your iPhone is not living up to its full potential. Sure, everyone loves posting pictures of their cats to Instagram, and the new RadioLab app is awesome. But we’re living in the future! Why not use...
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Here's The History of Nickelodeon's Infamous Green Slime
Nickelodeon’s iconic slime made it’s first appearance on "You Can’t Do That on Television," the Canadian-made sketch comedy show that ran from 1979 to 1990. From there, it became a staple of almost...
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The 9 Weirdest Excerpts From FBI Files
Under J. Edgar Hoover, everybody who was anybody had an FBI file. Here are some interesting things we found while poking around their archives. Click here to see the excerpts >Albert Einstein Our...
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21 Countries That Have Brought Home Only One Olympic Medal
Earlier, we quizzed you on the countries that have won more than 100 Olympic medals. Now it’s time for the other side of the equation. Twenty-one countries have won just one medal. Here are the...
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Yes, The 'Happy Birthday To You' Song Is Copyrighted—And Its Owners Will Earn...
“Happy Birthday to You” has been used in hundreds of movies, countless advertisements, an estimated 1,500,000+ singing telegrams, and been the basis for pieces by classical composers like Igor...
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Pandas Are Actually Terrible Investments For Zoos
There’s a new baby panda at the San Diego Zoo! While they’re obviously adorable, they’re also the high-priced divas of the animal kingdom. Here’s why you should think twice before taking in a stray:...
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Here's What The Olympic Committee Did With The $1.2 Billion NBC Paid To...
NBC paid the International Olympic Committee a record $1.18 billion for the U.S. broadcast rights to the 2012 London Games and $4.38 billion for the four Olympics from 2014-2020. What does the IOC do...
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Finding Any Of These 10 Lost Treasures Will Make You Rich
You’ll need more than a map and a shovel to find these cultural gems. But trust us, it will be worth the effort. Click here to see the lost treasures > More From Mental_Floss: 11 of the Craziest...
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5 Olympians Who Sold Their Gold Medals
You wouldn’t know it with all of the hype surrounding the Olympics right now, but there are things more important than winning a gold medal. Just ask these athletes, who had good reason to sell their...
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The Science Of 'Breaking The Seal' When You're Drinking
If you like beer, and like it in large quantities, this might be a familiar scenario: You sit down at the bar, get a beer and drink it. You drink another one. Maybe a third. Things have gone well up...
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8 Simple Sounds That Are Trademarked By Huge Companies
Most of us are aware that you can trademark a slogan, a logo, and a name, but did you know that you can also trademark a sound? In order to get approval from the United States Patent and Trademark...
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How 13 Classic Video Games Got Their Names
Pac-Man, Tetris, Halo—these are just some of the odd names of video games that are now so widely used that we rarely questions where those names came from. See the stories behind how these games, and...
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Meet The 15 Other People Running For President
You don’t have to read mental_floss to know that President Obama is running for re-election on the Democratic ticket and that Mitt Romney is opposing him on the Republican ticket. However, you might...
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The Five Weirdest Ways You Can Earn A Free Ride To College
College is expensive. Scholarships can help to relieve some of that financial burden, and we’re here to clue you in to a few that are available to students who aren’t star athletes or in the upper...
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10 Frightening Ways Doctors Used To Treat Mental Disorders
Nobody ever claimed a visit to the doctor was a pleasant way to pass the time. But if you’re timid about diving onto a psychiatrist’s couch or paranoid about popping pills, remember: It could be...
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The Mental Illnesses Of Historical Geniuses
Studies have shown that there are much higher instances of mental disorder in political leaders and creative geniuses than in the general population. And while it’s impossible to be completely sure of...
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