Tom Scott: Things You Might Not Know

The brain is a mass of neurons, but some areas are more important than others. How can surgeons navigate inside the brain? How do they know exactly where to operate, and what to do? Alex from Brainbook explains.

Coca-Cola's brand of bottled water, Dasani, was a flop in the UK after the public realised it was just filtered tap water. But the story's a bit more complicated than it might seem.

Dark scenes in television, YouTube, and streaming platforms all look pixelated and blocky. Here's why.

Ipley Cross, in the middle of the New Forest, is one of the most dangerous road junctions in Britain. Why?

When YouTube allowed music labels to "remaster" their original uploads, different videos had very different approaches. Some are in crystal-clear 4K; others are very definitely not. Here's why some of them look terrible.

The Icknield Way, in south-east England, is a road and footpath that's been part of the landscape for millennia. But if parts of it hadn't been legally marked down, then those parts would have become private land, gone forever. Who has the right to walk where?

Green screen looks terrible sometimes. Here's why

Linby is a small village in Nottinghamshire, England. It wouldn't have much strategic value... unless some commander didn't read their map properly. Here's a local legend, with a few questions about it.

In 1834, Parliament burned down, and the Standards of Measurement were melted or destroyed. So when there's no agreed-upon standard for length: how do you fix it? Also: how you can still publicly check the length of your sandwich.

Cornwall rises and falls by a few centimetres, twice a day. I didn't believe that when I read it. In this video: "ocean tide loading": why, how, and does it actually matter?

Kolbeinsey is the most northern part of Iceland, a tiny island that, according to Wikipedia, is due to disappear due to wave erosion "probably around the year 2020". Which raised an obvious question: is it still there?

Normally, the answer would be no. But in these very limited circumstances, at Iceland's Blue Lagoon, you can swim in geothermal power plant wastewater, and it's even healthy: although the marketing material doesn't usually mention it. Here's a story about geothermal energy, cheap heat, and how to keep some ducks warm.

The Roadmachines Mono-Rail may have been the only truly useful, fit-for-purpose monorail in the world. Of the hundreds that were built, most were never meant for passengers. But they did carry a couple of famous people in their time, including a certain secret agent...

If you want to sell alcohol in England, you need a license. But the Licensing Act 2003 has some unusual exceptions.