Ill-Equipped Ships Run into Disaster

In May 1845, two Royal Navy ships, HMS Terror and Erebus, embarked from London on a voyage with ambitious aims. The mission would forge a passage through ...

Why a Popular Cheer Often Backfires

One of today's most popular sports cheers was first chanted in 1999 during the fourth quarter of an Army-Navy football game. The six-word cheer—I ...

Summarizing Your Life in Six Words

If you had to summarize your life in six words, what would they be? Several years ago an online magazine asked that question. It was inspired by a possibly ...

The Preemptive Autograph

J.J. Watt was a defensive end and tight end for the NFL's Houston Texans (retiring in 2022). He was one of the best players in the NFL, and of course, ...

Cathedral Took 632 Years to Complete

Consider the Cologne Cathedral. Begun in 1248, the Gothic jewel was to be the main place of worship for the Holy Roman Emperors. Frederick II, one of ...

Superhero Films Don't Focus on Training

Around the globe, people love superhero films. Batman, Iron Man, Thor, Superman, Spider-Man, Captain America … the list goes on. Almost all of ...

The Secret to Effective Tightrope Walking

There's a special word for those tightrope walkers who display amazing feats of balance on a high wire—they're called funambulists. In his ...

Confused Pilot Lands Plane at Wrong Airport

The Boeing 747 Dreamlifter is the modified plane that can haul more cargo than any plane in the world. It weighs about 600,000 pounds and usually requires ...

Love Your Work like a Dog Chasing a Ball

At the 2013 commencement speech at MIT, Drew Houston, the founder of Dropbox said:

When I think about it, the happiest and most successful people I know ...

The 10 Greatest Movies Never Made

There is something sad and powerful in the possibilities of a story that is never told. A recent article on the BBC highlighted the "10 Greatest ...