Random facts.
April 1, 2025
Kermit the Frog will deliver the commencement speech at the University of Maryland. Kermit was created by Jim Henson, a 1960 graduate of the university.
According to a new study, AI-generated poetry is indistinguishable from human-written poetry and is rated more favorably.
Finland was once again named the world’s happiest country, a merit largely attributed to the Nordic welfare state, trust in the government, and public policies like free education and universal health care. The US slumped to 24th place, its lowest position in the World Happiness report.
Centenarians are the fastest-growing demographic group of the world’s population, with numbers roughly doubling every ten years since the 1970s.
Only 34% of single American women are looking for romance, compared to 54% of single men, and the number of single women aged 18-40 has jumped since 2000.
One 18-inch pizza is more pizza than two 12-inch pizzas.
Scientists have developed a groundbreaking “taste simulator”—essentially virtual reality for your mouth—that enables users to experience flavors of foods that don’t physically exist.
The Boston Celtics were sold for $6.1 billion, a record for North American professional sports.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), approximately 30–40% of the U.S. food supply is wasted each year, totaling around 133 billion pounds or $161 billion in value.
Ultra-wealthy buyers snapped up 133 superyachts in 2023, with an average price of $37.3 million. In 2024, sales dipped slightly to 131 vessels, but the average price plunged to $27 million.
When astronauts spend months in space, their bone density takes a serious hit that they may never fully recover from.
Global music streaming revenue topped $20B in 2024, a 7% increase over 2023.
New research suggests that flossing and maintaining good oral health may help mitigate the risk of AFib and blood clot-related stroke.
Old-school metal dental braces are making a comeback as a status symbol.
In 2010, not a single sports team was worth $2 billion—now, there are more than 100 valued above that mark.
Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel-winning psychologist, died by assisted suicide in Switzerland last year, a long-time collaborator revealed. The 90-year-old Kahneman wrote in a final email that “the miseries and indignities of the last years of life are superfluous” and “I … will die a happy man.”
A 2024 meta-analysis of 154 studies found that venting anger does not help reduce it and can even increase aggression, while calming activities like deep breathing, mindfulness, and slow-flow yoga are more effective at managing anger by lowering physiological arousal.
The word PEZ comes from the German word for peppermint—PfeffErminZ.
People who were raised as Christian and Buddhist may be more likely to abandon their religion in later life, a new Pew Research poll of 36 countries suggested.
A team of scientists has identified 128 previously unknown moons around Saturn, bringing its total to 274 and leaving Jupiter’s 95 moons far behind.
This climbing season, drones will be tested to transport loads of up to 35 pounds from Base Camp to Camp I, reducing the burden on Mount Everest’s Sherpas.
Joint studies from OpenAI and MIT Media Lab find higher use of ChatGPT may correspond with increased loneliness and higher emotional dependence on the chatbot.
Gen Z fans pay much more for tickets than previous generations of concertgoers. In 1996, the average cost of a ticket to the year’s biggest tours was $26 — adjusting for inflation, that’s about $52 today. Last year’s average was $136.
Northwestern University researchers demonstrated that brewing tea naturally adsorbs heavy metals like lead and cadmium, effectively filtering dangerous contaminants out of drinks. Heavy metal ions stick to, or adsorb to, the surface of the tea leaves, where they stay trapped.
Drones, rather than traditional weapons of war, do most of the killing in Ukraine.
According to a new study, chewing on a hard substance like wood can boost levels of a naturally occurring antioxidant in the human brain, which in turn might improve a person’s memory.
Honda debuted its Pokémon Koraidon motorcycle with hands, face, eyes, and feet that move as the vehicle speeds away.
As Beijing works to increase birthrates, Chinese companies are instructing their employees to start families or lose their jobs.
According to a new study by a team of researchers from Michigan State University, the sentiment commonly known as "Zoom fatigue" or videoconference fatigue, is linked with dissatisfaction about one's facial appearance.
Denmark’s postal service will shutter after 400 years of service, the result of a precipitous decline in the volume of mail.
In a groundbreaking scientific advancement, a 3D-printed penis implant has successfully restored erectile function to rabbits and pigs with damaged penile tissue, dramatically improving reproduction rates from 25 to 100 percent in treated pigs.
OpenAI advocates for recognizing AI model training on copyrighted work as fair use in comments submitted to the White House’s AI Action Plan, set for release in July.
New research suggests that dark energy—the force pushing the cosmos apart—might not destroy the universe. Whoopee!
The colors of this snowy owl have enthralled and mystified bird watchers.
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