With the weekend comes a look at some of the happiest, most inspiring tales that took place over the past week. In addition, you can get your dose of weird by checking out the offbeat list. We have a few stirring rescues this week. A teenager tackles a violent pit bull to save a young

Food today is incredibly convenient. Thanks to manufacturing, people in wealthy countries have better access to food than any other generation in history. In the past, people had no choice but to prepare all their own meals from scratch. This required time, skill, and effort. If no one in the family could cook, the family

While we don’t often like to speak of it, death inevitably comes to us all. Most of us hope for a peaceful drift into eternal sleep in old age. For some of us, accident or misadventure sees us meeting an untimely end. Death is always tragic, but throughout history, there have been some truly bizarre

These days, smartphones and the Internet seem to have more negative connotations than positive. People blame the former for the death of conversation and both for actual deaths when selfies go awry, to name a mere few examples. However, this was not the intention when these things were first created. The purpose of smartphones and

Bioluminescence (light produced by biological organisms) can be entrancing. The soft glow of fireflies at night is a common sight in places around the world, but not all cases of bioluminescence are so peaceful. Although the firefly uses its glow for communication and finding sexual partners, bioluminescence isn’t always an invitation. Sometimes, it is used

Between 1984 and 1988, the young men of Kansas City, Missouri, and the surrounding area lived in the grip of fear. The fear was the result of a string of ghastly murders, almost all of which involved torture of the most barbarous kind. Until 1988, nobody knew that the root cause of this horror was

Researchers are inquisitive creatures. They leave no stone unturned. Especially the weird ones. In recent times, studies were sprung on volunteers and the unsuspecting alike. Tests to determine their neuroticism, honesty, and appreciation of bad jokes were borderline strange. The answers even more so. They also threw the common cold at cancer, considered chocolate’s extinction,

Humanity’s opinion on sex is nearly unanimously favorable. Just about everyone likes talking about it, doing it, watching other people do it on the Internet, and pretty much everything else involving sex—and for good reason, too; it’s awesome! Despite being such a prominent part of our lives, though, sex remains a poorly understood function of

In eighth-century England, criminals could escape the death penalty by retreating to churches and paying a fine. In the years leading up to the Reformation, however, the principle of sanctuary declined, and church sanctuaries were officially abolished in 1540.[1] Although religious institutions are no longer legal sanctuaries, they continue to operate as powerful symbols in

Deserts are typically portrayed as empty wastelands. Although their surface does not have a lot to offer, there is plenty to discover underneath. Archeologists have been digging up fossils in deserts for decades—especially the Sahara Desert, the biggest hot desert in the world. Scattered across the globe, fossils are traces of organisms from a past

A very large percentage of the population has to be able to cook at least a little bit to survive. Since humans tend to be a proud lot, we’re all often pretty convinced of our own ideas and our own ways of doing things. Of course, other people are just as sure of their methods.

Weeping is not just about ruining a good tissue. Researchers have found that crying could serve an important evolutionary purpose, that tears send chemical signals to other people, and that the salty globules can generate electricity. Then there are the mysteries, like why some people cry more on planes while others cry when they pee.

Cities and towns are essential to our lives. As centers of trade, community, and art, they are the places where exciting things happen and progress is made. Whole civilizations have been driven by powerful cities like Rome, London, and Paris. But sometimes, cities fall afoul of Mother Nature. Cities can survive most natural disasters, but

If the rest of the week has got you down, maybe this list can cheer you up a little. Here are some inspiring and positive tales to lift your spirits. If you like weird and wacky, try the offbeat list as well. Quite a few inspiring tales of rescue this week involve children, puppies, stranded

Forget Mars. Swim deep enough, and you are on a different planet. Deep below, there are things older than dinosaurs and forests from ancient lands. While that makes for a great view, divers also face life-threatening situations like toxic streams and whales in a manhandling mood. Then there are the heroes who risk themselves by

Many people dream of being a king or queen, but in truth, it is a hard task. While the wealth and power are an obvious boon, monarchs live their whole lives in the public gaze, their every act observed and criticized by thousands of people. Their position at the center of a state often means

Castles are one of the most popular remnants of the Middle Ages still standing today, but they are also some of the most misunderstood. Many of us think of them as dark, gray, cold places that must have been miserable to live in, but in their heydays, they were brightly colored, warm, and comfortable. We

For hundreds of years in Europe, all of the great works of art produced were in service of the Christian faith. Patrons were either rich nobles looking to boost their faithful credentials or the Church itself. Saints were popular subjects in art because images of their actions in life, and especially their deaths, were potent

Sewers and drains are more vital to civilization than many people in the modern world imagine. Before the widespread introduction of sanitation systems, human waste and other filth was often just tossed out of windows and onto the street—or the heads of passersby—below. Now we simply press a button or pull a lever and we

Some of us will carefully check the labels on most of the products we use, scrutinizing them to see if we can find some suspicious ingredients listed. The rest of us do not care and just use these products anyway. But how would you feel if you discovered that your food or body lotion contained

Ancient burials can release a lot of information about the past. However, the rare ones often highlight the incompleteness of our known history. For some reason, the ancients mummified mice, wore bird beak collars, and put horses in boats. When rare burials do reveal tangible information, the stories can range from the unexpected—like the Europeans

Prior to the breakout of World War II in 1939, the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany had caused concern throughout the Western world due to its anti-Semitic and aggressive policies. However, some within other countries harbored sympathetic and understanding feelings with the Nazi Party and their leader Adolf Hitler. At the conclusion of

We are all aware that when traveling overseas, you need to abide by the laws and customs of the country you are visiting. Obviously, drug smuggling, spying, and other criminal activity will earn you either a hefty fine or a longer-than-planned vacation behind bars. It’s common sense that if you break the law overseas, you

The Great Wall of China is a series of defensive walls that surround China. The walls were built to protect ancient China from its neighbors and other pesky invaders, who often attacked whenever they got the opportunity. Construction took several hundreds of years, during which sections were continuously added to the walls until they were

Even though almost all of us have played with LEGO sets while growing up, not everyone is that good at it. For good reason, too, as building anything more complicated than rudimentary replicas of our favorite cars and tiny houses with just those blocks is not easy. That is, of course, if you exclude the

Dinosaurs continue to fascinate us. Every now and then, we discover a fossil that reveals some new facts about their lives—for example, their diets, injuries, or habitats. However, some fossils also reveal evidence of diseases that affected dinosaurs. Yes, these animals had their own illnesses, too, just like every other living creature out there. The

If the week has got you down, this list might help lift your spirits. We looked at all the positive, inspiring, and amusing stories that made the headlines over the last few days and put them all into one list. It goes well with a side of offbeat quirkiness. This week, we look at regular

The Spanish flu often gets overshadowed by its more popular counterparts like Ebola and the Black Plague. In many ways, though, it was far deadlier than anything we’ve seen before or since. An estimated one third of the entire world’s population contracted it, and it killed at least 50 million people. The doctors of 1918

Think libraries are boring? Well, think again. Today’s libraries are a delightful combination of old school and high tech. Of course, libraries will always have great books waiting to be plucked from the shelves, but at many locations, you can also find free Internet, downloadable media, 3-D printing, and more. Unfortunately, there are some parts

In our modern age of satellite imagery and aircraft, it is incredibly easy to explore and map out new locations. In the past, though, the job fell to small expeditions of well-equipped people. Relying on nothing but their log, some rations, and a handful of mapping tools, these groups would often spend months, if not