Popular Science. Demystifying the worlds of science and technology since 1872.
Fake banknotes mocked a US president. And are now worth thousands.
The rare ‘Great Loco Foco Juggernaut’ is basically an 1837 meme bashing Andrew Jackson.
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Phosphorescent paint inspired Victorian-era Australians to dress up as ghosts and pull pranks
Plus, Louis Pasteur’s secrets and other weird things we learned this week.
Rachel Feltman
At Popular Science, we report and write dozens of stories every week. And while a lot of the fun facts we stumble across make it into our articles, there are lots of other weird facts that we just keep around the office. So we figured, why not share those with you? Welcome to The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week.
Latest Articles
It’s a bird! It’s a head! No, it’s a mummified foot.
CT scans help a museum examine mummified remains that were sitting in its collections for half a century.
Yes, your lobster dinner probably died an excruciating death
Pain killers seem to work on lobsters, so being boiled alive may be just as gruesome as it sounds.
Artemis II crew used modern photography to tell the visual story of their lunar journey
…and update some classic Apollo images.
Shakespeare’s long-lost London home is finally found
In the past 100 years, the spot has been an architecture firm, carpet wholesaler, and more.
Visit a WWII destroyer without leaving your sofa
The USS Cassin Young is one of the last of the war’s Fletcher-class destroyers.
Not all naked mole-rat queens go out in a blaze of bloody violence
Surprising study reveals peaceful succession is possible.
50,000 illegal shark fins found inside fake car part boxes
The poached ingredients worth $1.3 million were seized in a nationwide hunt.
Megalodon set to become Maryland’s state shark
The Bay State is now home to the first state shark in the country.
The skylines of the future will be made of wood
Laminated timber is more environmentally friendly than steel, and perfectly safe for constructing tall buildings.
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Popular Science has been demystifying the worlds of science and technology since 1872. We explain the inner workings of the phone in your pocket, explore world-changing innovations, and examine everything from the marvels of deep space to the secret lives of staples like bread. We deliver an engaging, approachable, and inclusive look at emerging technologies and scientific advances.
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