December 18, 2013
- This November was the warmest one since 1880; in fact, the 10 warmest Novembers on record have happened in the past 15 years.
- Map of mishaps that have occurred so far during the 2014 Sochi Olympic torch relay.
- Unsuccessfully marketed as an American patriot, Snowden has now rebranded himself as a Brazilian one.
- Google's 2013 Zeitgeist released; "tomato mozarella" was the top searched appetizer.
- Traffic violation data shows that Louisiana has the worst drivers, followed closely by other Southern states.
- The quietest place on Earth is a lab in Minnesota; the longest anyone's lasted in it is 45 minutes.
- Harvard Business Review experiment suggests that failing to acknowledge racial differences impedes communication and may be even more racist.
- Former prosecutor tries to get himself arrested to experience the system, but continually gets ignored or lost by the police.
- Covert observational study monitors the survival time of chocolates on hospital wards.
- IBM employees offer five predictions for the next five years—like local retail beating online shopping.
- Zebras evolved to have stripes because they cause optical illusions that mislead predators.
- Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill also suffered from "FOMO," the alleged plight of narcissistic urban dwellers.
- Americans spend $40 on average for a Christmas tree, with 70% of trees still sprouting from the ground.
- Infographic shows the most popular toys of the last 50 years.
- Thanks to climate change, Santa would have drowned long ago if he really lived at the North Pole.
- Australian postman found with 10,000 pieces of unopened mail in his bedroom.
- For a month, TMN's Giles Turnbull mailed his tweets instead of typing them.
- See also: Man replays the "space opera" he buried in a time capsule 30 years ago.
- OED birthday word generator offers words that originated in your birth year.