The short and long tail of Cars
Why nearly every new car is the same machine in a different coat, and what a 59-kilogram three-wheeler, a cotton-bodied Trabant and a Japanese box drawn by law reveal about who decided that.
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The short and long tail of File Formats
Why every PNG starts with a trap, why geneticists renamed human genes for Excel, and how a bigger file can mean less downloading.
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All 6 essays →The short and long tail of Hurricane Names
A calendar that keeps killing the letter I, a Greek backup that broke in 2020, typhoons named after puddings, and lows over Berlin that anyone can buy.
The short and long tail of Maps
Your phone's map rests on a sailors' projection from 1569, a pyramid of 366 billion squares, and a zero line that sits 102 metres east of the famous one at Greenwich.
The short and long tail of Water Transport
Water holds weight up for free. Follow that one fact outward and you reach canals that run on rain, a boat lift powered like eight kettles, and aircraft the law treats as ships.
The short and long tail of WWE Moves
Every wrestling move is a sentence two people say together, and the one who loses is usually doing most of the talking.