Take a turn to the left

Things you never knew about lefties (but will enjoy reading)

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Lefties make up only a small slice of the population, but they sure know how to keep things interesting. From wrestling with scissors to secretly beating everyone at video games, southpaws live in a world built for right-handers and still come out on top. Whether you are left-handed yourself or just curious about what makes them stand out, these facts will give you a fresh look at the lefty life.

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Only about 15 out of every 100 people are left-handed, making them a somewhat rare bunch. Men are more likely to be left-handed than women, and family history also plays a role. If you want to find out how, keep reading!

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Around one in five MENSA members, the society for people with sky-high IQs, is left-handed. Some scientists believe this may be due to the way left-handed brains connect information across the two hemispheres more easily. So if a lefty says they "think differently," they might be telling the plain truth.

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This one may raise some eyebrows: Studies have found that left-handed men with a college education actually make more money than their right-handed buddies, sometimes 15% more, and up to 26% more for those who complete a degree. No one has nailed down the reason, but it could be their knack for solving problems in unconventional ways.

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Mark your calendar: August 13 is International Left-Handers’ Day. It is a fun little holiday created back in the 1970s to celebrate life on the "other side." Some people spend the day using their non-dominant hand for everyday tasks, just to experience what lefties deal with all the time.

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Left-handedness can run in families. If both parents are lefties, there’s a 50% chance their kids will be too. Two right-handed parents, on the other hand, only have about a 2% shot at raising a lefty.

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Here’s a fact to share with your cat-loving friends: male cats tend to be "left-pawed," while females usually favor their right paw. So if your tomcat keeps swatting toys with his left paw, he is in good company. Turns out, even pets deal with a version of handedness.

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Let’s be honest: the world isn’t built with lefties in mind. Scissors, can openers, and even desks in school are usually designed for right-handed people. Half of lefties give up and use a mouse with their right hand, and most use the "wrong" hand for scissors and knives. Lefties learn to adapt quickly, but it’s not always easy.

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Here is where lefties really shine. Studies suggest they are better at processing lots of information at once, which comes in handy for activities like video games. Quick reactions, split-second decisions, multitasking… Lefties seem to have a knack for it all.

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Lefties may be in the minority, but that hasn’t stopped them from shaping history. Consider this: Out of the last five U.S. presidents, three were southpaws—Obama, Clinton, and George H.W. Bush. Clearly, we can say left-handers have left their mark in big ways.

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Interestingly, the older a mother is when giving birth, the more likely her child is to be left-handed. No one knows exactly why, but it adds another twist to the mix of biology and chance that determines whether a baby grabs a crayon with the left or right hand.

Secrets of heights

Unsolved mysteries, strange finds, and fossils: The truth about Everest

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At 29,032 feet, Mount Everest is known as the "rooftop of the world." While that's a fact most people already know, this ancient mountain holds more secrets than you might expect. From mythical creatures to the most unusual objects ever found there, today we're taking a journey up Everest, and what we'll discover might surprise you!

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Most of us know it simply as Everest, but this mountain has more identities. In the 19th century, the British named it after Sir George Everest, a British surveyor. But in Nepal, it's called Sagarmatha, which means "Forehead of the Sky." In Tibet, meanwhile, it's known as Chomolungma, meaning "Goddess Mother of the World." Beautiful, right?

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If you think marriage is only for the daring, you won't believe this. Despite the danger and harsh weather, several couples have chosen the world's highest peak as the location for their wedding. A recent example is Ashley Schmieder and James Sissom, who in 2017 became the first couple to get married on the summit of Everest wearing traditional wedding outfits. Imagine wearing a wedding dress at -10°F!

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On average, 800 to 900 people try to climb Everest each year, with many more visiting its base. Along the way, climbers often leave behind a surprising amount of items like crampons, clothing, cooking utensils, climbing tools, and oxygen bottles. In fact, there are "Trash zones" filled with these and many other articles left behind by people. You can imagine what else might be found there, especially since not everyone makes it to the summit.

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At the top of Everest, there's more than just leftover climbing gear. There, at almost 30,000 feet above sea level, they have found something else: marine fossils!

Although the summit is far from the sea today, it wasn't always that way. Millions of years ago, the area where Everest now stands was once part of a seabed at the bottom of the ocean. Over time, tectonic plates pushed the land upward, forming not just Everest but the entire Himalayan mountain range.

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Experienced climbers typically take 6 to 9 weeks to reach the summit of Everest, something incredible given the mountain's extreme conditions. But hear this: In 2003, expert Nepalese climber Lakpa Gelu reached the summit in just 10 hours and 56 minutes. And as if that wasn't impressive enough, in 2004, Sherpa Pemba Dorje beat that record, making it to the top in only 8 hours and 10 minutes!

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The movement of tectonic plates causes the Himalayas to rise. Incredible as it may seem, Mount Everest isn't just tall: It's actually growing a fraction of an inch every year! It may not sound like much, but over millions of years, it really adds up.

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There's an unsolved mystery on Everest involving two British climbers, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who aimed to be the first to reach the summit back in 1924. They were reportedly last seen close to the top, but no one knows if they actually made it.

Both climbers disappeared, and while Mallory's body was discovered in 1999, Irvine has never been found. Many people report encountering ghosts that haunt the mountain and sometimes even offer help. Could those spirits be the two of them?

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In 2024, Nat Geo explorers found a boot with a sock inside that read "A. C. Irvine." That's right! It took a hundred years before they finally discovered this boot, believed to have belonged to Irvine.

If it took a century to find just one boot, imagine everything else that might still be up there!

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Part of the mountain's folklore is the mythical Yeti, also known by his stage name: the Abominable Snowman. Reports of a huge, ape-like creature walking on two legs date back as early as the 19th century.

Most research suggests it's likely all about a bear species, but even today, some people still claim to have seen the Yeti. In the mountain, there have also been discoveries of footprints too large to be human, and even enormous bones!

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The extreme altitude, cold, and other harsh conditions make life on Everest tough. However, to many people's surprise, the mountain does have its own unique plants and animals, all known for their ruggedness. On one hand, you can find hardy plants like mosses, lichens, and the Himalayan Blue Poppy. When it comes to animals, the area is home to snow leopards, Himalayan tahr (wild goats), and yaks. Of course, the higher you go, the scarcer wildlife becomes.