80% complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossil

“Did you get your flu shot?” If your friends are anything like mine, you heard this question at least a dozen times before Thanksgiving. You probably got your fair share of disdainful looks too, if you answered “No.” But why are we worried about getting the…

game, played with a group or alone, in which players imagine that the floor is made of lava and avoid touching the ground lest they get burnt by standing on furniture; the players must move from one piece of furniture to the next

The words cement and concrete are often used interchangeably, but they actually have very different meanings. In fact, many things you probably think are made of cement are actually made of concrete. And while you probably refer to those big trucks with rotating…

Why is the US drinking age 21? And how did it happen? In this episode of Vox Almanac, Vox’s Phil Edwards explores the history of the somewhat unusual way the drinking age became 21.

Help us make more ambitious videos by joining the Vox Video Lab. It brings…

extra second inserted to keep civil time in sync with the Earth's rotation

It has been revealed that deep in the bowels of the Cumbrian nuclear plant there is a freezer packed with an expanding mountain of radioactive gulls.

46 years later, it's still unsolved.

elves in Icelandic folklore

The Alabama gubernatorial election of 1982 included the last campaign and final electoral victory of George Wallace. The election occurred on November 2, 1982. Incumbent Governor Fob James declined to run for a second term, allowing for an open election in…

plasma railgun development project

1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise

famous cat who guarded the gates of the British Museum

This is why your chocolate bar forms that unique, dusty film. (it’s still safe to eat!) This white film does not mean the chocolate is moldy or has gone bad. It’s just a scientific process called “chocolate bloom". What can you do with chocolate that has…

First brought to North America by Shakespeare enthusiasts in the nineteenth century, European Starlings are now among the continent’s most numerous songbirds. They are stocky black birds with short tails, triangular wings, and long, pointed bills. Though…

A research team exploring the Antikythera shipwreck in 2012 found several artifacts including this amphora, a ceramic jar used to store and transport goods. (Photo courtesy Brendan Foley, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) What is the Antikythera shipwreck?…