Mental Floss

ALL STORIES

From Monty Python to Minnesota's SPAM Museum, this little packaged luncheon meat has a big cultural footprint.

Michele Debczak






The tell-tale hourglass identifies female black widow spiders.

Black widow venom is about 15 times as potent as a rattlesnake's, yet these charismatic spiders generally aren't a threat to humans.

Anne Taylor


Is it possible to put a kiss into words?

In English we have a few different ways to write the sound of a kiss: muah, smack, xxx. They get the idea across, but none of them imitate the actual sound of a kiss.

Arika Okrent






Can you bee-lieve it?

We’re all familiar with the feeling of having an idea or subject stuck in your head that makes it difficult to think about anything else. But why (and when) did we start comparing that experience to a bee buzzing around in your hat?

Rick Marshall


John Steinbeck

The author of ‘East of Eden’ and ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ was also a three-time Academy Award nominee and found an enemy in J. Edgar Hoover.

Anne Taylor




An irate fish crow (Corvus ossifragus).

Crows are among the brainiest birds, able to recognize faces and hold grudges. Read on for more about these crafty corvids.

Mark Mancini