media — psychology

Welcome, fellow seekers of the extraordinary, to the very first installment of The Bizarre & Beyond! Every Saturday, we’re peeling back the ordinary layers of the world to examine the weirdest, most jaw-dropping news headlines across the globe. Why? Because reality is far stranger than fiction, and because the human appetite for the unusual is something worth celebrating. Ever wonder why quirky headlines stick in our brains long after mundane news fades away? Psychologists call this the Von Restorff Effect, the tendency for an item that stands out from its surroundings to be remembered much more clearly than standard fare....

Why are humans so fascinated by the weird, the rare, and the extraordinary? Science has some surprising answers — and they reveal a lot about what makes us human.