Strictly FYI · Vol. I A field guide to the fascinating MONDAY, JULY 27, 2026
Strictly FYI

The Archive · Nº 009 entries filed

Everything worth knowing.

Short, well-sourced entries on the fascinating. Filed by department, newest first.

  1. FYI-009 Curiosity Why Are Barns Red? The Answer Starts Inside a Dying Star Why are barns red? Not because red paint was cheap. The real reason runs from farmyard chemistry back to the physics of how stars die. 4 min read
  2. FYI-008 Culture Why Do We Say 'Bless You' When Someone Sneezes? Why do we say bless you when someone sneezes? The plague story is unverified, the soul-escaping story is folklore, and the real answer is far older than either. 4 min read
  3. FYI-007 Tech Why Is the Keyboard QWERTY and Not ABC? Why is the keyboard not in alphabetical order? The QWERTY layout is 150 years old, it was never designed to slow you down, and historians still argue about where it came from. 5 min read
  4. FYI-004 Science Why Do We Have Wisdom Teeth If They Just Cause Trouble? Why do we have wisdom teeth if they so often get impacted or pulled? The evolutionary story of shrinking jaws and a changing diet. 4 min read
  5. FYI-001 History Why Airplane Windows Are Round It's not for the view. The rounded corners are the direct result of one of aviation's deadliest lessons - and a beautiful bit of physics you can see everywhere once you know it. 5 min read
  6. FYI-005 Science Why Do We Get Brain Freeze? The Ice-Cream Headache, Explained Why do we get brain freeze? The real science of the ice-cream headache, referred pain, and the tongue trick that stops it fast. 4 min read
  7. FYI-002 Science Your Brain Is Wired to See Faces That Aren't There The face in your car's grille, the man in the moon, the shocked expression on a power outlet - they're all the same trick your brain plays, and it kept your ancestors alive. 5 min read
  8. FYI-006 Science Why Do We Need Mosquitoes? The Case for the World's Most Hated Insect Why do we need mosquitoes when they kill hundreds of thousands of people a year? The surprising ecology behind the world's deadliest animal. 4 min read
  9. FYI-003 Everyday Honey Never Spoils - Here's the Chemistry Archaeologists found 3,000-year-old honey in Egyptian tombs, still perfectly edible. Almost no other food can do this. The reason is a quiet masterpiece of chemistry - performed by bees. 5 min read

Five interesting things, every week. No filler, no algorithm bait.

Subscribe →