Mental Floss

ALL STORIES

Getting ready to catch some Zs.

How did we come to associate sleeping and snoring with the letter ‘Z’? The origins trace back farther than you might think but are tied to early 20th-century American comic strips.

Marla Mackoul








Snow is no match for smart design.

Hiking over several feet of snow becomes possible with some clever physics and nature-inspired design.

Jessica Young


An illustration of red blood cells.

George Washington died after his physician treated his sore throat with bloodletting, but don't let that stop you from learning more about the human circulatory system.

Autumn Spanne




Delivery!

There comes a point in every child’s life when they ask where babies come from, and some parents—not wanting to explain the details of reproduction just yet—turn to the story of storks. We explore the origins of a myth that has been around for centuries.

Lorna Wallace








Its value as the key that unlocked the meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphs is world-famous—but the turbulent history surrounding the Rosetta Stone’s discovery and translation is more obscure.

Jeff Wells


Grab your magnifying glass.

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?

Ellen Gutoskey