Mental Floss

ENVIRONMENT

The busy 2010 Atlantic hurricane season shows Hurricane Karl west of the Yucatan Peninsula, Hurricane Igor east of Puerto Rico, and Hurricane Julia in mid-Atlantic.

The hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30 each year. Here’s what you need to know about these destructive storms.

Dennis Mersereau

Take a look at the origins of Fat Bear Week, an annual celebration of the brown bears at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Reserve.

Michele Debczak








Raccoons are smart, dextrous, and in your garbage cans.

Whether they’re scaling skyscrapers or digging through your trash, raccoons are fascinating. Discover more about their habits, diet, and intelligence.

Michele Debczak
Not a unicorn.

Here’s what we know about these fascinating Arctic whales, including their life cycle, habits, and unique spiraled tusks.

Jessica Hullinger






We learned a lot in 2023.

From record-breaking plants and incredible animal news to space superlatives and the awesome power of Taylor Swift fans, here’s the long list of things we learned in 2023.

mentalfloss .com










Permafrost in Eastern Siberia.

About 11 percent of the Earth’s surface is perpetually frozen, though that will surely change as global warming continues.

Tim Brinkhof