The Best of HowStuffWorks
6 most popular HowStuffWorks articles, as voted by our community.
No, really. How does stuff work? Be the first to read our latest stories! Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.howstuffworks.com/newsletter
HowStuffWorks on Travel
10 of the Oldest Continuously Inhabited Cities in the World
It's hard to nail down the oldest city in the world. Some say it's Damascus, Syria, while others suggest it's Jericho, in the West Bank. So which is older?
HowStuffWorks on Zen
How Zen Koans Unlock the (Gateless) Gate of Enlightenment
A koan is a riddle or puzzle that Zen Buddhists use during meditation to help them unravel greater truths. We look at some examples to see how these enigmatic sayings work.
Popular
These are some all-time favorites with Refind users.
Meet The Line, Saudi Arabia's Future 106-mile, One-building City
Saudi Arabia's proposal to build a 106-mile-long, self-sufficient, road- and car-free, one-building city would make it the first of its kind in the world.
Why Breathing Through Your Nose Is Best
We've probably all been breathing wrong our entire lives. Why is that? Experts suggest we should focus on breathing through our noses and most of us don't.
It Took a Court to Decide Whether Pringles Are Potato Chips
Pringles aren't like other potato chips. And back in 2007 Procter & Gamble sued to declare the snacks weren't even potato chips at all.
Do mice really love cheese?
If you're plagued by rodents, the only sure way to catch them is to load a mousetrap with a large wedge of cheese, right? Wrong – to catch mice, think sweet!
What is Refind?
Every day Refind picks the most relevant links from around the web for you. is one of more than 10k sources we monitor.
How does Refind curate?
It’s a mix of human and algorithmic curation, following a number of steps:
- We monitor 10k+ sources and 1k+ thought leaders on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
- In addition, our users save links from around the web using our Save buttons and our extensions.
- Our algorithm processes 100k+ new links every day and uses external signals to find the most relevant ones, focusing on timeless pieces.
- Our community of active users gets the most relevant links every day, tailored to their interests. They provide feedback via implicit and explicit signals: open, read, listen, share, mark as read, read later, «More/less like this», etc.
- Our algorithm uses these internal signals to refine the selection.
- In addition, we have expert curators who manually curate niche topics.
The result: lists of the best and most useful articles on hundreds of topics.
How does Refind detect «timeless» pieces?
We focus on pieces with long shelf-lives—not news. We determine «timelessness» via a number of metrics, for example, the consumption pattern of links over time.
How many sources does Refind monitor?
We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Can I submit a link?
Indirectly, by using Refind and saving links from outside (e.g., via our extensions).
How can I report a problem?
When you’re logged-in, you can flag any link via the «More» (...) menu. You can also report problems via email to hello@refind.com
Who uses Refind?
200k+ smart people start their day with Refind. To learn something new. To get inspired. To move forward. Our apps have a 4.9/5 rating.
Is Refind free?
Yes, it’s free!
How can I sign up?
Head over to our homepage and sign up by email or with your Twitter or Google account.