Mental Floss

LISTS



Alexandre Rodrigues in 'City of God' (2002).

Shot on location in Rio's poorest neighborhoods, ‘City of God’ used amateur actors from the community in many of its most famous improvised scenes, which are as evocative today as they were when the film first hit theaters in 2002.

Scott Beggs


The northern lights—caused by solar or geomagnetic storm—float over Tromsø, Norway.

Solar storms are one of the most extreme types of space weather, and big ones can cause electronic malfunctions, GPS breakdowns, and gorgeous northern lights.

Julie Fogerson




















Some of them had no choice.

From the Founding Father who stuck whalebone where he shouldn’t have to the only known woman to have given herself a C-section.

Jake Rossen, Erin McCarthy
The survivors of 'Lost.'

What began as a show about the survivors of a plane crash attempting to survive all alone on a tropical island quickly turned into something much different—and weirder.

Erin McCarthy