25 Twitter Accounts That Will Make You Smarter

7/28/2019 25 Twitter Accounts That Will Make You Smarter

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25 Twitter Accounts That Will Make You Smarter

Matt Petronzio/ 2012-07-27 15:34:23 UTC

25 Twitter Accounts That Will Make You Smarter

1. Mental Floss

An extension ofmental_floss magazine, the @mental_floss account is

perfect for knowledge junkies. You'll discover little-known facts across

many topics, whether pop culture, sports or science.

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2. Google Facts

@GoogleFacts isn't actually affiliated with Google the account is run by

the same people behind the @MoorganFreeman parody but the facts are

real, and they're usually shocking.

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3. Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson is a noted American astrophysicist. He tweets facts

and links about science, and you'll often catch him answering really

interesting questions.

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4. Joanne Manaster

Joanne Manaster is a biology expert and all-around science enthusiast. Her

informative tweets are fun, inspiring and surprisingly accessible to the

average tweeter.

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5. Jonah Lehrer

Jonah Lehrer is a journalist and author writing about psychology,

neuroscience and the humanities. His blog, Frontal Cortex, was once part

ofWired, but now has a home at The New Yorker.

Editor's Note: Since this article was published, Lehrer hasresigned from

The New Yorker after admitting to fabrications in his latest book.

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6. TEDTalks

TED is a non-profit devoted to "ideas worth spreading." It has several

Twitter accounts, but @TEDTalks is the most-followed, and for good

reason. It's a feed of the company's regular talks, given by experts in

various fields.

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7. NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the part of

the United States government in charge of the nation's space program and

research. @NASA provides up-to-the-minute news and updates on various

projects, including the Mars rover and the International Space Station.

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8. DARPA

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is part of the

United States Department of Defense. It's in charge of developing new

technology for the military. You can interact with the account by answering

fun questions, and lately you can find tweets about its Autonomous Robotic

Manipulation (ARM) robot.

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9. Melinda Gates

Melinda Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where

she actively advocates for human rights (especially where health is

concerned). By following her, you'll be able to keep on top of the latest

issues and campaigns.

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10. Brian Solis

Brian Solis is a digital analyst, sociologist and futurist, not to mention, the

principal analyst at Altimeter Group. His tweets, much like his latest book,

The End Of Business As Usual, often focus on the business-consumer

relationship and social media strategy.

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11. Elon Musk

Elon Musk is the CEO and chief designer of SpaceX, CEO and product

architect of Tesla Motors and chairman of SolarCity. He tweets different

statistics and facts related to science, the environment and technology.

Plus, he's pretty funny.

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12. Maria Popova

Maria Popova runsBrainpickings, an extremely popular culture blog that

covers a wide range of topics. Her accompanying Twitter account,

@brainpicker, showcases the interesting, creative and frequently peculiar

things Popova finds across the web.

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13. Sally Ride Science

Sally Ride, who died on July 23, was the first American woman in space.

She founded and headed Sally Ride Science, which is dedicated to

promoting children's interests in science, technology, engineering and math.

The Twitter account keeps track of the latest STEM and education news.

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14. Random Facts

The Random Facts account shares exactly what its name promises facts

and trivia you wouldn't necessarily go looking for, but are certainly glad

you found. Did you know only male turkeys gobble?

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15. CERN

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is responsible

for operating the world's largest particle physics laboratory. It recently

discovered the Higgs boson. Follow @CERN for physics news and facts,

plus target the account with questions.

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16. Jennifer Preston

Jennifer Preston is a staff writer at The New York Times, where she writes

about technology, social media and politics. On Twitter, she does a great

job at rounding up recent articles that intersect those spheres.

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17. Gloria Steinem17.

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Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist and activist. She tweets about human

rights and noteworthy organizations. She's a must-follow for those

interested in social good and equality chances are you'll learn something

new.

18. Word of the Day

Learning a new word each day is a great way to increase your vocabulary,

not to mention, a surefire way to impress those around you. Whether it's

"caravansary," "osseous" or "nadir" @thewordoftheday has you

covered.

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19. Anne-Marie Slaughter

Anne-Marie Slaughter served as the director of policy planning in the U.S.

State Department from 2009 until 2011. She currently teaches politics and

international affairs at Princeton University. Her Twitter feed is chock full

of foreign policy information and intelligent conversation. You're sure to

learn a lot.

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20. Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra is a writer, speaker and physician specializing in spirituality

and alternative medicine. Chopra tweets out guidance on meditation,consciousness, emotions and much more.

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21. Sam Harris

Sam Harris is a neuroscientist and author. He co-founded Project Reason, a

non-profit that promotes scientific knowledge and secular thought in

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society. His tweets focus on writing, free will and religion, and he engages

in intelligent debates (both on Twitter and in articles he links to).

22. Bill McKibben

Bill McKibben is a well-known environmentalist who founded 350.org and

led protests against the Keystone XL pipeline project. Lately, he tweets

about climate change and global warming.

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23. MITnews

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is one of the leading schools

in the world for STEM studies. Its @MITnews account tweets school

updates as well as research advancements in relevant fields.

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24. OMG Facts

@OMGFacts shares exactly what you'd expect: exciting, strange and

little-known facts. With over 4 million followers and four accompanying

accounts for sex, celebrities, animals and sports, it's a safe bet that you'll

learn something new.

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25. Charlene Li

Founder of Altimeter Group Charlene Li is an expert on social media,technology and marketing. She often engages in Twitter chats, providing

enlightening feedback on multiple topics.

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Twitter can sometimes seem more like a newspaper or encyclopedia than a social

network. Its intelligent user base contributes a wealth of knowledge to the

microblogging platform. Experts of various fields tweet constantly, and their

followers can learn a lot simply by reading their 140-character updates.

We found 25 Twitter accounts that will increase your general knowledge of awide range of topics: science, technology, human rights, the environment and

more. These individuals and general fact-toting accounts will help you engage in

intelligent discussions so you can impress your friends and family.

SEE ALSO: Dont Block These 10 Hilarious Twitter Bots

There are more than 140 million monthly active users on Twitter, and plenty of

them can teach you new things. But these 25 aren't the only ones. Which

intelligent accounts and people doyou follow?

TOPICS: GALLERY, SCIENCE, SOCIAL MEDIA, TECH, TRENDING

BIG, TWITTER

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25 Twitter Accounts That Will Make You Smarter

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