Saint Bernards
Rescuing the rescuers
The monks who bred St. Bernards in the Swiss alps since the 17th century and used them to help rescue travelers have decided their time is better spent on other pursuits, but the dogs are still OK, as are the travelers.
Freecycling
Finding your stuff a new home, painlessly
Your unwanted stuff needs a new owner. Someone else needs your stuff. Freecycling puts those two needs together with the simplest and most useful online service since Craigslist, and keeps landfills clear at the same time.
Plate Clouds
Alien spacecraft hidden in plain sight?
A relatively rare type of cloud formation may resemble anything from a stack of pancakes to a flying saucer, and mysteriously appears to stay in one place while emanating an eerie glow.
Binaural Beats
The magical music of the brain
When your brain tries to process two tones with slightly different pitches, one delivered to each ear, it creates the sensation of a rhythmic beat. This phenomenon can help put the brain into a relaxed state.
Celebrating Our 16th Birthday
No foolin'! Interesting Thing of the Day turns 16 today. Time for a brief look back…and forward.
The Skin Project
Short story as body art
Artist Shelley Jackson has created a short story that was published by tattooing one of its words onto each of more than 2,000 volunteers.
Palais Idéal
The postman’s palace
For 33 years in the late 1800s and early 1900s, a postman in rural France worked to build an elaborate palace out of stones he collected during his daily rounds.
Mouth Music
Music without instruments
An old style of rhythmic Scottish singing consists largely of nonsense words chosen more for their sound than their meaning, and sometimes sung to sound like particular instruments.
The Writings of Carlos Castaneda
Sorcery, mythology, or both?
Revered by some as a great spiritual leader and mocked by others as a fraud, Carlos Castaneda made a huge (if dubious) impact on the way people think about sorcery and mysticism.
Milk in a Box
Losing the bottle
It's not just powdered milk that comes in a box. Liquid milk treated with Ultra High Temperature (UHT) pasteurization can stay fresh in your pantry for months. But taste, cost, and buying habits may spoil the deal.