“See the taboo lengths people will go to change their looks. Could you tattoo the whites of your eyes?” — NatGeo

“If you were to point to the most marvelous product kicking around in your pantry right now, would it be your loaf of bread? It is one of the most mundane staple foods, but as Aaron Bobrow-Strain shows in his book White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf, the lowly loaf is so much more than the sum of its simple parts. In American culture, bread is a status symbol, and the book provides a fascinating look at how store-bought white bread rose and fell in prominence. The book also answers the big question: Why do we have pre-sliced bread, and why it was the greatest thing to hit grocery store shelves?” w/ photo

“In what way do you spend your time online? Do you check your e-mail compulsively? Watch lots of videos? Switch frequently among multiple Internet applications — from games to file downloads to chat rooms? We believe that your pattern of Internet use says something about you. Specifically, our research suggests it can offer clues to your mental well-being. In a study to be published in a forthcoming issue of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, we and our colleagues found that students who showed signs of depression tended to use the Internet differently from those who showed no symptoms of depression…” w/ photo

“A space traveler’s guide to exploring the alien mysteries of the planets.”

“This should end racism!” — FrostBiteLogos

“If you were a kid in the 1980s or 90s, you probably spent some time reading, watching, or playing with four adolescent reptilian martial arts experts with irregular DNA. To make sure I got the scoop on everyone’s favorite heroes in a half-shell, I went straight to the source – co-creator Peter Laird – who was kind enough to answer our burning questions about the franchise. If you’re looking for a thorough history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this is a pretty good place to start.” w/ photos

“How on earth would any human being manage to hold his or her breath for these extraordinary periods? And why? Most of us find it difficult to do a length under-water in the average swimming pool. Indeed, the average person can’t hold their breath for more than 30 seconds or so — and even someone in excellent health is gasping by two minutes. Most Japanese pearl divers, who dive deep without oxygen for their treasure, can’t manage more than seven minutes. Such discipline is vital to pearl divers if they want to make a living, but Sietas, a 35-year-old German, risked his life simply to get in the Guinness Book Of Records. So how does anyone go about training themselves to hold their breath for ten minutes and beyond?” w/ photos

“The global water crisis will be the central issue facing our world this century. We can manage this problem, but only if we are willing to act now. The global water crisis will be the central issue facing our world this century. We can manage this problem, but only if we are willing to act now. Hidden Water, the video created in support of Participant Media’s documentary, Last Call at the Oasis, visualizes the true cost of water – how much water we really use in our daily lives, which in turn affects the global water crisis.”

“Can folding a piece of paper 45 times get you to the moon? By seeing what happens when folding just one piece of paper, we see the unbelievable potential of exponential growth. This lesson will leave you wanting to grab a piece of paper to see how many times you can fold it!” — TEDEducation

“The problems with getting the ‘whole internet’ on your TV have been legion. For one, the fuzzy standard definition TVs in most homes in the late ’90s and early 2000s made content designed for (slightly) higher definition computer monitors displayed on a TV look like you’d rubbed your eyes with sandpaper. But even once you solve the display issue, the more fundamental problem is the interactive model — using a web browser requires a pointing device and text input. You need a way to punch in URLs, site logins, things you want to search for, and a way to select stuff and click on links. From your couch. It’s all about bridging the gap between a 10-foot interface (your TV) and a 2-foot interface (your computer). So the sordid history of internet browsing on your television is partly a timeline of failed interaction experiments.” w/ videos