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King Tut鈥檚 Sweet Tooth

31 May 2017

Among the treasures discovered during the famous 1922 archaeological excavation of King Tutankhamun鈥檚 tomb was a jar of honey. 聽Archaeologists tasted it (brave souls those archeologists), and to...

Smooth ice cream

31 May 2017

If you see a product label that lists 鈥済uar gum or cellulose gum鈥 among its ingredients you would probably expect to chew rather than lick. 聽But these substances are critical to making a smooth...

Copernicium

31 May 2017

We can now add the newest element to the periodic table. 聽It has been named Copernicium in honour of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the Polish astronomer who first hypothesized that the Earth...

Aloe

31 May 2017

Alexander the Great was known to use aloe as a purgative after being taught about the plant鈥檚 effects by his tutor Aristotle. 聽Purgatives were highly valued at the time because it was believed that...

Latex-Emitting Dandelions

30 May 2017

Ever snap off a dandelion head and see the white liquid seeping out from the stem? It turns out that fluid isn鈥檛 sap or poison, but a defense mechanism, in the form of latex! The Lithuanian word...

Rats Don't Really Squeak

30 May 2017

Despite what movies would have you think, rats barely ever聽make any sounds, at least those that humans are able to hear. Rat鈥檚 vocalizations start at around 2 kHz and extend as far up as 100 kHz....

St. John鈥檚 Wort and Depression

30 May 2017

The hypericum herb, or St John鈥檚 wort as it is commonly referred to, is widely used for the treatment of mild depression. In fact, in Germany it outsells the synthetic drug Prozac. It has been...

The Stormy Petrel

30 May 2017

The Shetland Islands are famous for sheep and wool. 聽But did you know that they are also home to the stormy petrel? 聽This unusual bird, so-named because it was thought to appear before a storm, has...

Vomit

30 May 2017

This sounds distasteful, but is worth remembering. 聽Believe it or not, vomit appears to be astonishingly effective at spreading viruses. 聽Investigators were called in when 52 people at a hotel...

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