Gold has no nutritional value or flavor—but edible gold is still popular

Gold's electrical conductivity, reflectivity, and catalytic capabilities make it scientifically valuable

Although gold has been prized since its use in 40,000 BCE for decorative purposes, it has more recently served as a replacement for mercury in the production of PVC plastic. Because gold does not react with air or corrode, it has remained in circulation and reused in electronics and biomaterials.

All of the world's gold, visualized

Out of the total above-ground stock of gold (weighing roughly 216,265 metric tons), the largest share is found in jewelry (97,149 metric tons).

A ‘gold bug’ is a person who is bullish on gold as an investment

"Gold bugs" often argue that fiat money allows governments to engage in financially reckless behavior (think: chronic borrowing). They also say the price of gold rises as the value of fiat currency falls.

A gold standard is a system where every dollar in circulation can be exchanged for a set amount of gold

For centuries, the things people used as money had intrinsic value, such as precious metals like gold. In medieval Italy, giant wheels of parmesan cheese were once used as a store of value.

Gustav Klimt featured a lot of gold leaf in his art

Austrian artist Gustav Klimt's most iconic image, "The Kiss," can be seen today printed on tapestries, t-shirts, mugs, and more. The painting comes from a decade in his career where gold held a prominent place. Klimt's family business of goldsmithing, in tandem with inspiration from Byzantine churches, coalesced in his obsession with gold.

Health food broke into the mainstream by the 1980s

A 1984 New York Times story noted that Americans were eating less red meat than a decade prior, and that, in general, the country was “talking, thinking and worrying about what they eat to a degree unique in the nation's history.” The feature then details foods that were then considered bizarre: whole-grain muffins, hummus, and a variety of vegetarian dishes. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

American Express was the first company to offer 'gold' cards to borrowers

American Express began offering gold cards to affluent consumers in 1966. However, other credit card companies began offering similar, premium cards in the 1980s, which quickly became a status symbol for wealthy Americans.

Costco's bullion program offers an attractive option for retail investors, experts say

Although Costco's gold bars often sell out, experts caution that the Costco gold rush was more "mob mentality" than sound investment. The bullion program is one way for retail investors to get exposure to the commodities market.

Why caviar is still so expensive, even though it's no longer rare

An ounce of caviar can cost more than $250, even though China has flooded the market with a surge in supply over the past decade. As it turns out, the perception of caviar as a luxury good rather than a true scarcity is part of what keeps it so expensive.

How five of the world's most expensive salt and spices are made

Part of the charm of certain spices and salts is their exotic origin, hailing from difficult-to-access locales or hewn via special processes. That also explains why they can be so expensive. Dive into the businesses of producing and marketing five of the world's most expensive food additives with this engaging video.

The mysterious Fort Knox houses much of America’s gold reserves

This fortified vault, built in 1936, is part of the US Mint, but it doesn’t create any currency. Only a presidential order can open Fort Knox—there has not been an audit of its contents since 1953.

How goldfish cause significant environmental damage when released

Researchers have found that goldfish cause "regime shifts" in habitats as they search for food in places like lake beds, kicking up sediment that muddies the water and disrupts small invertebrates. They can also outcompete native species to further destabilize existing food webs.

Eating fish during Lunar New Year is believed to bring prosperity

Many of the traditional Lunar New Year dishes are deeply symbolic—such as fried spring rolls resembling bars of gold. How the dishes are prepared, served, and eaten is crucial for carrying out their powers.

A delicious flavor used to be made from a beaver’s butt

Love vanilla-flavored foods? Well, it was once made from castoreum - a yellowish exudate from the castor sacs of mature beavers. And the FDA regards castoreum as “natural flavoring."

Explore a list of 12 recipes incorporating techniques from molecular gastronomy

The recipes include popcorn shooters that taste like liquid caramel corn, almost-instant soft serve made by blending frozen fruit with sugar and fromage blanc, a fusion of fried rice and pizza, and skewered fruit coated in a broiled, glossy meringue.

What ghosts eat around the world

This Thrillist article compiles a rich assortment of cultural beliefs and practices surrounding food for the dead. From Bengali folklore to Ancient Greek mythology, peruse through the different ways in which cultures around the world use food to maintain connected to the deceased.

The dominant popularity of McDonald's french fries

McDonald's french fries are, by far, the most popular french fries available at fast food restaurants around the world. Since their beginnings, their consistent and unique flavor, crispiness, and shape formed a new staple side at restaurants. Despite undergoing drastic shifts in how they are made due to health and business factors, the fry has remained dominant in the fast food culinary world. Find out more about its history in this video.

A startup is trying to create the diamond equivalent of the gold standard

It's called the Diamond Standard Co, and it uses an algorithm to assign standard values to a variety off small diamonds, grouping them together into individual coins. Historically, diamonds haven't been able to be classified as commodities or standardized like gold because they aren't uniform—factors such as clarity, cut, color, and carat size significantly influence the value of a diamond.

Geneva, Switzerland, has some of the highest grocery prices worldwide

Other cities that made the top 20 on the list of the global cities with the highest grocery prices around the world include Boston, Hong Kong, and Toronto, at least as of 2025.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

The economics of all-you-can-eat buffets

Is it possible to out-eat the price you pay for a buffet? How do these places make money? We looked at the dollars and cents behind the meat and potatoes.

The cuisine of the Mount Everest base camps

Depending on their budget, Mount Everest climbers are either eating canned meats and hearty vegetables or a more elaborate menu with additions like protein powder and chia seeds. Fresh food flies to the base camp every day by helicopter.

Luxury Advent calendars now include fine china, jewelry, and rare whisky

Advent calendars have shifted sharply upmarket, with retailers offering versions filled with bone china ornaments, gold jewelry, premium beauty products and even rare whisky. Some cost hundreds or thousands of pounds, including a £10,000 whisky calendar and Dior's £570 perfume-filled set.

The Michelin Guide is the gold standard in fine dining

Michelin may be chiefly concerned with tires, but it's also known for its restaurant rating system, commonly referred to as “Michelin Stars.” The guide awards restaurants between one and three stars to designate varying levels of excellence in cuisine.

Champagne has a rich history in hip-hop

The drink is both aspirational and a bragging right. Famous artists name-check brands like Cristal, and up-and-comers long for the day when sparkling wine will flow like water. The trend traces back to the early 1990s and Branson B., “hip-hop’s unofficial sommelier.” The Harlem-based artist would bring bottles of his favorite bubbly to parties, celebrations, and, crucially, recording studios, where friends like the Notorious B.I.G. were laying down some of rap’s foundational tracks.

When it's good for your food to stick in the pan

Non-stick cookware has wired us to think any sticking in the pan is bad. While that's true for cleaning purposes, some foods—like thin smash burgers or sauces—require that stickiness to achieve the right taste or shape.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

Poison ivy is in the same family as mangoes, cashews, and pistachios—and they all produce oily urushiol in their raw, unprocessed state—but they are typically prepared in ways to avoid causing human discomfort.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.