Mental Floss

BIG QUESTIONS

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Images of two-lobed hearts are all over everything this month: candy, cards, decorations, etc. But why does the ubiquitous heart symbol not look anything like an actual human heart?

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Listen closely ...

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In Wilt Chamberlain's 1991 book, 'A View From Above,' the basketball great claimed to have slept with 20,000 different women during his life. Let's check his math on the basketball legend's most famous statistic.

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If you attend a Super Bowl party on Sunday, you’ll probably hear at least one casual football viewer ask, “How do they get that yellow first-down line on the field?”

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We often hear about the plights of the Third World, and most of us have our share of First World problems. But is there something in between—a Second World?

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Those tiny candies pack a lot of pressure.

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It cannot be reasoned with. It cannot be bargained with. It's coming for you.

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The earthquake-triggered waves are both destructive and unpredictable.

House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and Donald Trump arrive for a meeting with the House Republican conference.

Both the House and the Senate have their own Sergeant at Arms, and their visibility is highest during the State of the Union address. But what do they do the other 364 days of the year?

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It's surprisingly easy—though it sometimes necessitates an ice pick.

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We turn to a 3000-year-old corpse for answers.

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The reason behind the limited color choice is simple.

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And when did Uga start showing up on the sidelines?

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We get to the core of the issue.

He has garnered plenty of controversy over the past few years, but how did he enter the mainstream?

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He's just one of a handful of brown giant pandas in the world. Researchers want to know why.

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It sounds like nonsense … but is it?

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It's a lot less scary than it feels.

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One of the most delicious parts of the bird was once banned from import to the Pacific Islands. We investigate.

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The tradition comes from Europe, and is thousands of years older than Thanksgiving.

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It’s a matter of language.

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It might be the most polarizing leaf in the culinary world.

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Also considered: Polar Bears.

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News you can use this holiday season.