Mental Floss

LISTS









Stenciled human hands in a cave near Rio Pinturas, Argentina, dating from the last ice age.

We break down some common myths about our early human ancestors—and what makes our species, ‘Homo sapiens,’ so different from them.

Kat Long






Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in a remote location in Chile’s Andes Mountains on October 13, 1972—and those who made it through the crash would need to resort to desperate measures to survive.

Lorna Wallace


Foot pain and sprained ankles are just a few of the common problems affecting our ill-adapted feet.

From back injuries to difficult childbirth, here are six annoying parts of being human that you can blame on evolution.

Megan Gannon
iStock

If you’re grandiloquent, then you like to use extravagant, high-flown words—precisely like the 50 verbs listed here, which either refer to everyday activities or else can be used in place of everyday words.

Paul Anthony Jones








’Tis the season to learn about your favorite Christmas songs.

You’ve sung them while clutching cups of hot cocoa. You’ve heard them played in shopping malls. But do you know how some of the world’s best-known Christmas carols were created?

Kristy Puchko