Stories that stay with you after the final line.
Imagine arriving at a hotel after a 15-hour flight. Your phone is nearly dead. You unpack your charger, walk over to the wall—and discover that your plug does not fit. …
Electrical Outlet Types Worldwide: Why the World Still Uses So Many Different Plugs Read MoreEvery sentence you are reading right now depends on one of humanity’s most transformative inventions: writing. Before writing, information survived primarily through speech, memory and oral tradition. Writing changed that. …
Writing Systems of the World: Why Humanity Invented So Many Different Ways to Write Read MorePut three completely different cultural topics on the same world map— Bible. Quran. Manga. —and an unexpectedly clear geographic pattern appears. According to the Google Trends comparison represented in this …
Bible, Quran or Manga? What Google Searches Reveal Around the World Read MoreFew foods divide people quite like chili peppers. For some, a meal does not feel complete without heat. For others, a tiny piece of chili can turn dinner into an …
Where in the World Is Spicy Food Most Popular? What Search Interest Reveals About the Global Love of Chili Read More
Humans can live in an astonishing range of environments. We have cities above the Arctic Circle. Millions live in deserts. Mountain communities survive thousands of meters above sea level. Tropical …
Where on Earth Is Most Suitable for Human Settlement? Read MoreIn 1920, Europe was still trying to understand what had just happened to it. World War I had killed millions. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had disappeared. The German Empire had fallen. …
The Forgotten 1920 Plan to Erase Europe’s Borders and Replace Them With 24 Giant Cantons Read MoreMother’s Day feels like one of those holidays that should have a universal date. It doesn’t. In the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy and dozens of other countries, mothers …
When Is Mother’s Day Around the World? Why Countries Celebrate on Different Dates Read MoreOne of the world’s biggest demographic changes is happening quietly. Women around the world are having fewer children than previous generations. In 1950, the global total fertility rate was close …
Global Fertility Rates: Why Some Countries Average Six Children per Woman While Others Are Below One Read MoreToday, interracial marriage is legal throughout the United States. A couple does not lose the right to marry because one partner is Black and the other white, Asian and Latino, …
Interracial Marriage in America: How a 1967 Supreme Court Case Ended State Bans Read MoreEnergy is the foundation of modern society. Every country needs electricity, transportation fuels, heating, and industrial power — but the way nations produce and consume energy varies dramatically. Some countries …
Europe’s Dominant Energy Source: How Each Country Powers Its Economy Read More