Why eating turkey really makes you sleepy

Is everyone's favorite Thanksgiving centerpiece really to blame for the post-dinner doldrums?

(Photo from Flickr)
  • Americans kill around 45 million turkeys every year in preparation for the Thanksgiving meal, only to blame our favorite centerpiece for the following food comas.
  • Rumor has it our after-dinner sleepiness results from the tryptophan found in turkey.
  • However, it is the meal's overall nutritional imbalance, not just the tryptophan, that make us want to leave the dishes for tomorrow. Or maybe the next day.
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Surprising Science

How to split the USA into two countries: Red and Blue

Progressive America would be half as big, but twice as populated as its conservative twin.

Image: Dicken Schrader
  • America's two political tribes have consolidated into 'red' and 'blue' nations, with seemingly irreconcilable differences.
  • Perhaps the best way to stop the infighting is to go for a divorce and give the two nations a country each
  • Based on the UN's partition plan for Israel/Palestine, this proposal provides territorial contiguity and sea access to both 'red' and 'blue' America
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Strange Maps

Reality show idea: Make Flat-Earthers search for the world's edge

The contestants would try to reach the end of the world, as they understand it.

  • According to Flat-Earthers, our planet is flat and space travel doesn't happen.
  • People are calling for a reality show about Flat-Earthers.
  • Flat-Earthers say a 150-foot ice wall surrounds the world.
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Surprising Science

Why Some Conservative Thinkers Seriously Want the Return of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages see a resurgence of interest among the alt-right and some conservative thinkers.

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Politics & Current Affairs

Richard Dawkins: Religion Is a Meme and Religious Beliefs Are "Mind-Parasites"

Work on "memes" by Richard Dawkins provides insight on the spread of thought viruses.

We are used to the idea that diseases can be passed down from person to person. One gets ill and gives the sickness to everyone he meets, and so on till you have an epidemic. But what about ideas? Can ideas infect societies like viruses?

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Surprising Science