Drinking Gold Was a Grisly Anti-Aging Trend of 16th-Century France. It worked, as the alternative to aging is early death.

*

The Finalists have Been Selected for the 2018 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. The winners will be announced November 15 at the awards ceremony.

*

Carl Sagan's Problems With Plato. Sagan thought observable facts should shape philosophy; Plato, not so much.

*

The Hidden Limits of the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet. Every buffet restaurant has a story about people who eat more than should be humanly possible, but dealing with them is a delicate balance of economics and reputation.

*

You Have Teamwork and Courage and Magic in Your Blood. Blair Braverman's puppies helped to clean up fallen branches in the yard, so she told them a bedtime story about their heroic grandfather.

*

11 Horrible Jokes Restaurant Servers Have Heard a Million Times. And more importantly, what they really think when they hear them.

*

Science Fair is Full of Cocky Girl Geniuses—and It's Glorious. The new documentary is about smart, ambitious science students, and the girls steal the show.

*

What’s the Difference Between a Pirate and a Buccaneer? The terms were not originally interchangeable.

Is Breakfast Cereal Any Good for You? Nutrition experts say it depends on which cereal you select.

*

Chelsea Peretti’s Controversial Cake Photo Made the Internet Go Bananas. Everyone has an opinion on eating cake without frosting.

*

The Muscogee Maintained Independence Against Colonizers for 200 Years. They realized the Europeans were trouble from the beginning.

*

Let the Nomad Games Begin! The competitions in Kyrgyzstan this month including horseback wrestling, bone tossing, and dead goat polo.

*

Why 95.8% of Female Newscasters Have the Same Hair. The pressure for TV reporters to look a certain way is not necessarily to make them look better, but to make them less distracting.

*

The Fake Neighborhoods on Google Maps. Anomalies and mistakes on the app have real-world consequences, including almost starting a war between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

*

The Frozen Dead of Antarctica. Some are eventually buried on the continent, others are lost to deep snow and ice, or they become part of glaciers moving toward the sea.

*

14 of the World’s Coolest Ice Bars. Any of them will give you a great excuse to plan a winter getaway.