We sometimes get a cockeyed view of life in pre-modern times because it's common knowledge that thre average life expectancy during the medieval era was about 40. It's taken years to convince people that the number was low because so many infants and children died, drawing down the average. If you made it to puberty, you probably had a lot of years ahead of you. And then there's the fact that books are written about kings and especially queens who were married off at shockingly young ages. These were often arranged political alliances that had little to do with anyone else. 

Meanwhile, the common people of Europe tended to delay marriage until their twenties. While education ended early, young people would work to buy a home, and women could earn a fair amount of money before they settled down to have children. These everyday folk didn't make the history books, but they were documented in records that tell the real story. Read more about the customs of medieval marriage at Fake History Hunter. -via Strange Company 

When you think about animals using tools, you probably don't think about the examples given at the beginning of this video. You think about the Veronika the cow, or maybe Figaro the cockatoo. But yeah, chimps and crows and octopuses use tools as well. Even insects use tools! Stefan Chin of SciShow tells us how various insects use external objects as weapons, grocery bags, glue traps, bait, compactors, and amplifiers. He also goes into the evolving definition of "tool." 

By now, we should completely let go of that outdated theory that tool use is what distinguishes humans from other species. A commenter said,

I remember being taught as a kid that "Man is the only animal that uses tools." More like "Man us the only animal that pretends other animals aren't using tools."

The problem with that is having to come up with a new way to distinguish humans from other animals. -via Laughing Squid 

Winter has come to much of the South, including Texas. We are familiar but not intimate with cold weather, as King of the Hill teased. It is currently well below freezing in the Texas town of Roanoke, which is north of Fort Worth. The police department of that municipality has published this guide to understanding the difference between freezing rain and sleet.

People who live in the tundra north of the Red River may understand it intuitively, but those of us south of that wall representing the northern limit of civilization must learn that the ice is different. Freezing rain is liquid when it strikes the ground, whereas sleet fell in solid form. The police explain this distinction using iconic of law enforcement foods: the donut.

-via Scanner Radio Fort Worth

The great boxing championships we recall from history tend to be the heavyweights, but in the early 20th century, all weight classes could draw huge crowds. And a little guy who didn't mind being beaten could make a lot more money as a fighter than as a farmer. Adolph Wolgast became a prizefighter in his teens and quickly became popular, despite being only 5' 4" and skinny, because he was fast, relentless, and fearless. By 1910, he was booked to compete for the world lightweight championship against Oscar Nelson, the "Durable Dane," who had held the title for four years. 

The fight drew ticket prices as high as $85, a considerable sum in 1910. The match went for forty rounds, with rules thrown out the window. Neither boxer backed down, but when the fight was finally stopped, Wolgast became the youngest lightweight champion ever. He also became a rich man, but paid a terrible price for his fame and fortune. Read the story of Adolph Wolgast at 3 Quarks Daily.  -via Nag on the Lake 

When you want to make a good impression on a first date, you take any advantage you can. This guy is a bit shy and socially awkward, but thinks he will get a leg up with the help of the Artificial Intelligence Dating Assistant, or AIDA. Yep, there's no need to think when you have an app to tell you what to say and do. What could possibly go wrong?

This creepy little skit portends a world in which we've outsourced our common sense and personalities to AI as well as our mental work, because it's just easier that way. I used to tell my kids that they needed to learn to navigate because GPS and cell signals can fail, and it only needs to happen once to drive the point home. Sometimes technology enhances our lives, but when it takes over, we could be left unable to stand on our own feet. -via Kuriositas 

The Lunar New Year is Tuesday, Feb 17, 2026. That date will usher in the year of the horse, according to the Chinese zodiac. In preparation, factories in China are quickly rolling out symbols and souvenirs. One factory had a little oopsie in making their red plush horses. If you look carefully, you can see that the muzzle was attached upside-down, which gave the horse a frowning mouth instead of the intended smile. When the manufacturer realized the error, they offered customers replacement horses. 

The frowning horses were dubbed the "cry-cry horse," even though the toy's wide eyes combined with the frown seem to imply fear or dread more than sadness. It quickly became a viral sensation. Suddenly, everyone wanted a frowning horse. The manufacturer hopped on board, and reset the factories to produce more cry-cry horses to meet the demand. In China, they are sold for about US$3.50, but if you order from the US through Amazon, they will cost you $10 to $15 plus shipping, depending on size and vendor. If you're moving into the year with trepidation, this may be your spirit animal. -via kottke 

We learn in elementary school that planets orbit around the sun (or their nearest star, in the case of exoplanets), and moons revolve around a planet. But then there are asteroids, which also revolve around the sun like planets, but we didn't cover those much in elementary school because there are too many of them to learn. The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter has thousands of asteroids, which were once called small or minor planets. But are they really planets? That's a matter of semantics, and depends on how you define terms, which is very important in astronomy. A discovery in 1953 helped to determine the definition of a planet, sort of, but it took some time for all astronomers to come around to how these terms are used. Meanwhile, Minute Physics makes the difference between a planet and an asteroid clear and simple, although there are still some edge cases.

Do you want to drive women wild with desire? Flex out your dewlap with your hyoid muscles. Pulse it rhythmically while bobbing your head up and down. Hopefully your dewlap has a naturally red coloration.

If not...well, just be confident. Likle this guy in Ryan Mason's At Random Comics. Flex what you have like you have the biggest, brightest dewlap in the forest.

When the dystopian comedy movie Idiocracy was filmed in 2004, the fashion coordinators selected crocs as the common footwear because they looked simultaneously futuristic and stupid. But they have since transcended those humble and intentionally insulting origins to be a worldwide "fashion" phenomenon.

The LEGO and Croc companies have collaborated to develop these novel variants in the shape of LEGO bricks. Will they protect your feet in the event that you step on LEGO bricks left on the floor by small children. It will be necessary to test them to find out.

This pair isn't a one-off design for publicity. Crocs is actually selling them for $149.99 starting on February 16.

-via Discussing Film

The first cloned mammal was Dolly the sheep born in 1996, who developed from the complete genome of an another single adult sheep. At the time, we thought cloning animals might come in handy someday for producing beef or something, but only if the costs came way down. Cloning a beloved pet is available for very rich people, and some entities are trying to bring back extinct species by cloning (with little luck so far). But there is one animal that can earn millions of dollars in its lifetime in sports- horses. Yet it's not thoroughbred racing. Neither artificial insemination nor embryo transfer is allowed in thoroughbred breeding, much less cloning. But no such restrictions exist for polo ponies. 

The world's top polo player, Argentina's Adolfo Cambiaso, wanted to preserve the genetic legacy of his best horse Aiken Cura after he suffered a devastating injury and was euthanized. He founded Crestview Genetics, which not only cloned Aiken Cura but also Cambiaso's best mare, the retired but still living Cuartetera. Twenty years later, there are many Cuarteteras and Aiken Curas. Read how that came about at Knowable magazine. -via Metafilter 

A homeowner in Altadena, California, had a bear living in the crawl space under their home for more than a month! They had contacted state wildlife officials, but attempts to evict the 550-pound bear were unsuccessful. The bear was causing some damage down there, so they did the prudent thing and shut off the gas line before Christmas. Then they called the Bear League, who does this a lot. They sent Scott and Dave, who aren't afraid of anything. They couldn't lure Yogi out with a pic-a-nic basket, so Scott went down into the crawl space and got behind the bear to chase him out! Dave was ready outside to chase the bear away, and we get to see it because he was wearing a camera on his hat. The bear barely squeezed through the opening, and went back into the woods. No bears nor humans were injured in the operation. -via Laughing Squid 

If you are a Star Trek fan, you will appreciate this video of this lady performing Frozen in Klingon!!! pic.twitter.com/lg6aQGqaOX

— Hollywood Horror Museum (@horrormuseum) January 22, 2026

Pa’ Emerald City Comic Con Seattle, Washington-Daq, Frozen muchDaq Elsa ghomDu’ tIvqu’moH. noyDaj qaDtaHbogh qaDmeyDaq, quvHa’be’ bomDaj tIvqu’qu’ bomta’, "yIbuSHa’” pongbogh bom leghlu’ Hoch. Disney bommey — Do’Ha’be’, Shakespeare qaDmey je bommey rur —tlhIngan Hol motlhDaq qaqu’qu’.

Puqpu’wIj puqpu’pu’DI’ Frozen tIvqu’, ’ach tlhIngan Hol ghoj Da’pu’. ’ach nom mu’mey potlh tlhIngan ghojlaHpu’, bomvam mu’mey tIqDaq lanlu’pu’mo’.

The whole point of using slang words is to be trendy, a member of the cool group that knows the latest word usage. These word usages may arise from anywhere, but they don't become trendy until a critical mass of the group, say, teenagers or influencers, use them. And considering how long these terms have been around, it could take a hundred years to reach that critical mass, or more likely, they were resurrected from a more ancient time. 

For example, the word "fly" can mean an insect or the act of moving through the sky. But as a slang term meaning fashionable or stylish, you probably didn't hear it much until the 1980s. But it was used in exactly that way to describe a petticoat in a book written in 1753! The list distinguishes the slang term "high" from its normal meaning of elevated, which confused me for a second, because the word "elevated" is now a term used to get around TikTok censorship. But "high" meaning intoxicated by drugs, came into wide use in the 1930s to distinguish it from bring drunk on alcohol. But the term "high" was used for alcohol intoxication going back to 1607. Find out how far back some slang terms can be traced at Mental Floss. 

We haven't had a live-action He-Man movie since 1987, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. The new Masters of the Universe has been in development for twenty years, but couldn't get off the ground because of the huge investment required, so the rights have been bandied about like a balloon. But by the power of Grayskull, the movie was finally made. 

This movie is an origin story, in which Prince Adam Glenn/He-Man is exiled as a child to modern-day America for his own safety, but returns to Eternia as an adult to fulfill his destiny and defeat the evil Skeletor (Skeletor, no! Everyone loves Skeletor!) played by Jared Leto (oh, never mind, then). He-Man is played by Nicholas Galitzine, and the movie also features Camila Mendes, Alison Brie, James Purefoy, Kristen Wiig, and Idris Elba. 

In case you're wondering, yes, Mattel still sells Masters of the Universe toys, the 1983 TV show can be found on streaming services, and there was an animated reboot in 2021. Masters of the Universe will open nationwide on June 5, 2026. -via Geeks Are Sexy 

Imagine yourself marooned on an uninhabited island, alone, with no one trying to find you. We don't really have to imagine, because that's been a staple of stories from Robinson Crusoe to Gilligan's Island to the upcoming movie Send Help. Those stories were inspired by real instances of people surviving being stranded for a long time. That doesn't mean you can count on survival- that depends on your resourcefulness. Do you have guns, tools, and provisions? Can you figure out what you need and how to get it? And most importantly, is there any fresh water available? We must assume that for every amazing survival story, there are many more cases of people who died and left no trace. 

Some survivors were marooned intentionally, while others were victims of weather or bad planning. Some even returned to a life of solitude after their rescue! Smithsonian has the accounts of seven instances involving 13 people who survived being marooned on a desert island, sometimes for many years.