For at least 180 years, an electric bell at Oxford University has been ringing continuously — and no one knows exactly how it works. The university has covered the bell with a double-paned glass dome (who could study with such noise?), but the mystery of its battery has gone unsilenced. Built by a London instrument manufacturing firm in 1825 and acquired by Oxford in 1840, the item consists of two brass bells set below two batteries that look a bit like big wax candles. Between these bells is a small lead sphere, or clapper, that shutters back and forth, creating a near-constant ring. Estimates suggest the bell has likely rung more than 10 billion times. 

Benjamin Franklin coined the term “battery.”

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In the mid-1700s, Benjamin Franklin experimented with devices for storing static electricity known as Leyden jars. Franklin called groupings of these jars a “battery,” referencing a military term for artillery working in unison.

This strange bell is powered by what’s called dry pile batteries, which use an incredibly small amount of electrostatic energy to move the clapper back and forth — so small that the two batteries have yet to run out of charge. Although no one’s sure exactly what’s inside the batteries (dissecting them would disrupt the bell’s historic run), the best guess is that they’re full of several thousand quarter-sized discs, made with metal foil and paper that has zinc sulfate and manganese dioxide added to it, all coated in sulfur. Oxford believes the bell has another five to 10 years of life left, as the ringing has slowed considerably in the past 40 years. (These days, it’s inaudible.) That hasn’t kept the Oxford Electric Bell — also known as the Clarendon Dry Pile — from being recognized as the “world’s most durable battery” by the Guinness Book of World Records. After more than 180 years in service, it’s an accolade that’s well deserved.

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True ambidexterity is the ability to use one’s left and right hands equally well when it comes to tasks such as writing or throwing a ball. This rare trait naturally occurs in roughly 1% of the global population (around 82 million people). In a 2019 study, 1.7% of respondents said they could use both hands interchangeably, far fewer than the 89% who were right-handed and the 9.3% who were lefties. 

The study also found a higher predisposition for ambidexterity among males than females (2.1% and 1.4%, respectively), which some theorize may have to do with the effect higher testosterone levels have on brain development (though this has yet to be conclusively proved). This is just one of several studies on handedness — the tendency to use one hand over another — and while the exact percentages of right-handed, left-handed, and ambidextrous people vary, the results are largely consistent across the board.

Thomas Jefferson learned to write with his left hand at the age of 43.

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Though he was a natural righty, Jefferson learned to write with his left hand after dislocating his right wrist in 1786. The founding father’s left-handed letters were surprisingly legible, though the handwriting slightly differed from those written with his right hand.

The root cause of ambidexterity — or any handedness, for that matter — remains tough to pin down. One 2009 study suggests it may be determined by a combination of genetics and environmental influences (for instance, being taught to write with a certain hand in school). It’s also believed that ambidextrous people possess atypical brain laterality compared to right-handed individuals, which forms during development.

This cerebral asymmetry is arguably why ambidextrous people have a higher propensity toward conditions including ADHD, and also why they generally are less proficient than right-handed people in topics such as arithmetic and logical reasoning. Ambidextrous people also possess a unique versatility when it comes to sports, playing music, or performing everyday physical activities.

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If you think the son/niece/grandchild in your life is sprouting before your eyes now that the winter clothing has been shed, you're probably not imagining things. Researchers have long studied the connection between seasonal changes and youth growth patterns, with substantial evidence pointing to higher rates of growth among children in the Northern Hemisphere during the spring and summer months. While we might question results drawn from, say, a 1930 publication, newer research has validated these older findings: A 2015 study of 760 Danish students aged 8 to 11 revealed the most growth recorded around April and May, while a 2022 paper, which tracked the development of thousands of Texas kids from kindergarten to fifth grade, confirmed strong growth rates in spring and early summer.

Human noses and ears never stop growing.

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Although our noses and ears appear to get bigger as we age, it's just because they're comprised of soft cartilage. The connective fibers in skin and cartilage weaken over time, leaving these body parts susceptible to the elongating pull of gravity.

But while we have the numbers to show that children shoot up like springtime onion stalks, the science is less definitive when it comes to determining why. One possible explanation is that exposure to longer hours of sunlight may stimulate bone growth and hormone regulation. Other potential factors, which can vary according to location and financial means, include increased access to fresh foods and healthy activities come springtime. Whatever the reasons, the onset of warmer weather should provide a signal to parents that Junior will likely grow out of those pants and shoes sooner rather than later.

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