![Typical northern lights over Longyearbyen. The “exceptionally gigantic” polar rain aurora was even bigger. Typical northern lights over Longyearbyen. The “exceptionally gigantic” polar rain aurora was even bigger.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2997,h_1685,x_0,y_116/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/mentalfloss/01j2h9rqp7km17bryad4.jpg)
![Nick Keppler Nick Keppler](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_180,ar_1:1,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/Avatar-8b333255f69874c28bb96c0db7831641.png)
Nick Keppler
Joined: Jun 8, 2015
Nick Keppler is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Village Voice, Nerve, Vice, and Slate. When he’s not on his laptop, he’s probably kayaking on one of the city’s rivers with a Led Zeppelin track blaring through his earbuds.
![Typical northern lights over Longyearbyen. The “exceptionally gigantic” polar rain aurora was even bigger. Typical northern lights over Longyearbyen. The “exceptionally gigantic” polar rain aurora was even bigger.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2997,h_1685,x_0,y_116/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/mentalfloss/01j2h9rqp7km17bryad4.jpg)
![A century-old law keeps American sunscreen from offering the best UV protection possible. A century-old law keeps American sunscreen from offering the best UV protection possible.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2121,h_1193,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/mentalfloss/01j1wfj9z6r1vsqp0tdh.jpg)
Why American Sunscreen Falls Short of the Rest of the World
![Exploring OldMapsOnline is great way to spend an hour or five. Exploring OldMapsOnline is great way to spend an hour or five.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_724,h_407,x_0,y_9/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/mentalfloss/01j1fqrz5svjeae18ghx.jpg)
This Interactive Tool Lets You Explore Centuries of Old Maps at Once
![Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Moai at Ahu Tahai with dramatic clouds. Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Moai at Ahu Tahai with dramatic clouds.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_5000,h_2812,x_0,y_352/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/mentalfloss/01j0vr7rt54rsabnr1b5.jpg)
Rock Gardens Contradict Easter Island “Ecocide” Theory, Study Finds
Ancestry Has Digitized Records of 183,000 Enslaved Americans Dating Back to 1788
Rare details about the lives of enslaved and emancipated Americans reveal the cruel treatment they suffered as well as their resilience.
Kids Unearth a Teenage ‘T. rex’ While Hiking in North Dakota
This “Teen Rex” was 25 feet long and weighed about 3500 pounds while alive.
Woolly Mammoth Bones Unearthed in Austrian Wine Cellar
The three mammoth skeletons represent the first significant paleontology discovery in Austria in a century.
Interactive Map Shows How School Segregation Has Changed in Your Town
See how your neighborhood is faring.
Why Don’t Doctors Perform Tonsillectomies Like They Used To?
The surgical extraction of the tonsils was a hallmark of a 1950s childhood, but now the operation is not nearly as common.
See Exact Replicas of King Tut’s Treasures in His Recreated Tomb
If you can’t make it to Egypt, head to Washington, D.C., where “Tutankhamun: His Tomb and His Treasures” puts visitors inside the artifact-stuffed rooms of King Tut’s tomb.
Want to Live Longer? Taking the Stairs (and Skipping the Elevator) May Help
For better heart health—and even a longer lifespan—new research suggests one doing simple and accessible exercise regularly: Taking the stairs.
Shavarsh Karapetyan, the Champion Swimmer Who Saved Over 20 People from Drowning
When a trolley filled with passengers fell into a reservoir, Armenian finswimming champ Shavarsh Karapetyan dove in.
How the FBI's National Stolen Art File Reunites Lost Works With Their Rightful Owners
Works by Monet, Warhol, and Dalí; Super Bowl rings; Stradivarius violins; and 1930s comic books are just some of the items you'll find in the FBI's National Stolen Art File, a public database of more than 5500 missing items of cultural value.
11 Made to Order Facts About Sheetz
For people in a swath of the country, Sheetz is an unwritten item on the itinerary of any journey of more than 40 miles.
10 Fascinating Facts About Margaret Thatcher
Some people remember former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as the quick-witted "Iron Lady" who resolutely lead the U.K. through the end of the Cold War. Others recall her as a heartless conservative hardliner who tore down labor unions while str
ScareHouse: How a Famously In-Your-Face Haunted House Is Using the Pandemic to Its Advantage
During its first 20 years, every face paint-caked zombie or masked ghoul working at ScareHouse was taught one maxim: Get into people’s personal space. Then the COVID-19 pandemic arrived.