There are 54 countries in Africa (plus three disputed territories), more than any other continent. You can try memorizing them by studying a map and then picturing the map while you recite them, but that hasn't worked fo...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/26/Africa-But-This-Time-Its-Really-Africa/In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Phantasms," Data explores the world of dreams. As a result, he behaves strangely while awake.In one dream, he sees his colleagues in the Ten Forward lounge. Deanna...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/26/Counselor-Troi-Cake-Cosplay/Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is so common that almost all children are infected before the age of two. There are vaccines and therapies have been developed from the antibodies produced by people who have had RSV, bu...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/25/Pediatricians-A-Gold-Mine-of-Antibodies/A strange formation of lights made their way across the sky over Texas in 1951. There were multiple reports, photographs, and even radar sightings. Once the sightings hit the newspapers, other accounts rolled in until th...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/25/What-Made-the-Lubbock-Lights-Exceptional-Among-UFOs/In English, L'Oeuf Electrique means electric egg. Why it was dubbed an egg is obvious, and the electric part is how it's powered. But don't expect to find one of these cars at your local dealer, because there was only on...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/25/French-Design-Meets-Sustainability-in-LOeuf-Electrique/The term hypnosis grew out of the work of Franz Mesmer in the 18th century. He promoted the theory of animal magnetism and would cure illness with magnetic fluids. His successes were later attributed to the power of sugg...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/24/What-Hypnosis-is-Really-About/They say that, like opinions, everyone has one of these. But anuses are rare in the fossil record. Anuses generally do not survive the ravages of time. But, the New York Post reports, paleontologists found a fos...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/24/Scientists-Discover-Fossilized-Anus/The problem with being a Renaissance man is that your favorite skill may not be as in-demand as your least favorite skill. Michelangelo was uniquely talented in all aspects of art: design, drawing, sculpting, and paintin...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/24/Despite-the-Sistine-Chapel-Michelangelo-Did-Not-Consider-Himself-a-Painter/Imagine you are a spy in a medieval fantasy out on a dark night. You have a flashlight, but it only illuminates a small piece of what's in front of you. You move the flashlight around, trying to make sense of what you se...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/24/Reconstruct-A-Scene-From-Its-Parts-in-the-Game-Castlelight/In the original Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi returns from the dead to remind Luke to trust the Force. In The Lion King, Mufasa appears in the clouds to advise Simba. Mulan had a whole group of ancient ance...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/23/When-Your-Deceased-Ancestors-Show-Up-To-Help/When you are assigned to create an animated character from scratch, the first ideas are rarely what eventually makes it to the screen. Even if you have an idea in your head from a familiar fairy tale, it might not be Dis...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/23/Surprisingly-Different-Early-Concept-Sketches-for-Disney-Characters/I posted four years ago about a motorcycle produced for the British Army during World War II. The Welbike was sufficiently small that it could be air-dropped with paratroopers, who could then use the motorbikes to travel...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/23/You-Can-Buy-This-Motorcycle-Made-for-Paratroopers/We eat other living things, which are likely to contain parasites. Plant parasites don't worry us much because they are usually only dangerous to plants. But meat, on the other hand, sometimes has parasites that can surv...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/23/The-Statistical-Dangers-of-Eating-Raw-Fish/The English language we use today is different from the language we used 100 years ago. And 200 years ago. But we still read books that are a couple hundred years old, even if the vocabulary and style are a little differ...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/22/Can-You-Understand-English-as-It-Was-Once-Written/Up until 552 AD, Europe paid dearly for a luxurious fabric from China called silk. It was lightweight but strangely strong, felt good against the skin, and came in amazing colors and patterns. What was it made of? How di...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/22/The-Magical-Fabric-from-Ancient-China/I love this simple but ingenious idea. Feuerwasser, a company in Austria, manufactures outdoor bathing products, including hot tubs. The heat source is the most natural and primal of combustibles: wood.The company now of...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/22/A-Wood-Fired-Outdoor-Shower/The Sycamore Gap Tree was planted in the late 19th century next to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, England. The tree became famous when it was featured in the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It becam...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/22/The-Real-Story-Behind-the-Sycamore-Gap-Tree-Cutting/Brothers and sisters can be best friends or serious rivals, often both in a single day. Families do their best to make their children get along, because they'll be related for life. It doesn't work that way in all*/e...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/21/Deadly-Sibling-Rivalry-in-the-Natural-World/The Boston-based company Frigid Dynamics is the developer of the E-XC, which consists of a pair of motorized skis. These electric-powered machines have treads in the back that push the skier along the powder at high spee...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/21/Electric-Skis-Are-Like-Wearable-Snowmobiles/Look at the eyes on this kitten! She can't be real, can she? Dorito is a five-month-old black kitten in Minnesota who looks like she's been Photoshopped or is a product of AI. But she is very much real, and has those hyp...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/21/Dorito-the-Unbelievably-Big-eyed-Kitten/The trend these days is away from having a bar of soap in your shower or on your bathroom sink, and more toward a bottle of liquid soap or shower gel. Younger people see a communal bar of soap as dirty, with an ick facto...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/21/Everything-You-Ever-Wanted-to-Know-About-Bar-Soap/Most people become disgusted when they find a foreign object in their food, and even more so when that object is alive. Musician Simon Curtis, on the other hand, didn't lose it when he found a frog in his lettuce. Making...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/20/Tony-the-Frog-is-an-Escape-Artist/Embed from Getty ImagesHow often do you fart? Is that more or less than the average healthy human? Who knows? Scientists aren't quite sure, yet, but that could change with new technology. Brantley Hall of the Universit...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/20/Smart-Underwear-Can-Measure-Human-Farts/Design Boom introduces to us this delicious handbag made by Esenes Worldwide, a fashion house in New York City. Control your hunger because it's not edible unless you're really committed. The company is selling 150 of th...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/20/This-Purse-Looks-Like-a-Dumpling/The original Toy Story hits theaters in 1995, so an entire generation has grown up and produced their own children since then. But there have been three main story sequels and few spin-off films too, so eve...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/20/The-Toys-Battle-Tech-in-the-Trailer-for-iToy-Story-5i/This unassuming building in Millmont, Pennsylvania, looks like nothing more than a garage specializing in oil changes. But it's listed as a single family residence with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and 5,800 square fee...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/19/A-Unique-Property-For-Sale-In-Pennsylvania/The eyes of the world were drawn to an Olympic preliminary qualifying round in the women's cross-country skiing event in Tésero, Italy, on Wednesday. A large dog joined in the race and was even caught on Omega's o...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/19/A-New-Star-in-Olympic-Cross-country-Skiing-has-Emerged/The city of Hampi is in the Indian state of Karnataka, and its ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Five hundred years ago, Hampi was the biggest city in India, and the second largest city in the world, but today rela...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/19/A-Magnificent-Ruin-in-an-Obscure-City/The annual Spring Festival Gala is a "must see" TV experience in China, broadcast on the eve of the Lunar New year. This year's show featured dancing by humanoid robots developed by several Chinese robotics firms. The ro...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/18/Watch-Humanoid-Robots-Dancing-with-Children-in-an-Elaborate-Production-Number/Embed from Getty ImagesIf you picture two teenagers passing time in a dark basement, leisurely experimenting with chemicals, you might think of the 1970s. I can pull up many memories of just that scenario. You wouldn't...
https://www.neatorama.com/2026/02/18/Youd-Never-Guess-Where-DayGlo-Paint-Was-Invented/
