BIG QUESTIONS

Why Do Spicy Foods Make Your Nose Run?

Hot sauces, curries, wasabi peas and other spicy treats turn you into a snot faucet. Why is that? Capsaicin is the chemical found concentrated in the placental tissue of chile peppers and allyl isothiocyanate is an oil contained in plants like mustard and

Who Cleans Up After Seeing Eye Dogs?

Dog turds are stealth weapons. People with 20/20 vision often fail to notice them until they appear hours later, on the bottom of a shoe. How the heck is someone who can’t see supposed to track down and eliminate these sidewalk scourges, then?

Why Are Textbooks So Expensive?

It’s hard to make that first trip to the college bookstore for required texts without leaving with a bit of sticker shock. Why are textbooks so astonishingly expensive? Let’s take a look.

Firefighters battle a state of emergency.

What Does 'State of Emergency' Really Mean?

Governors across the U.S. are declaring states of emergency during the coronavirus pandemic. But what does the dire-sounding phrase really mean?

Why Are Moths Drawn to Flames?

Around the world, moths make kamikaze dives into light bulbs and open flames with such regularity that they have their own idiom. What is it about lights that make moths so crazy?

memoriesarecaptured/istock via getty images

What Does '100% Juice' Mean?

Buying fruit juice at the supermarket is a surprisingly complicated task that leads to myriad questions. What’s really in that “100% juice”? Why does that “juice” have the word “cocktail” loitering behind it? Let’s take a look at the exciting world of jui

Tony Webster / Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

"Chai" and "Tea" Both Mean the Same Thing

Next time you order a chai tea from your corner coffee shop, take a moment and appreciate your killer multilingual skills.

What Are Eye Boogers, Anyway?

You ever wake up and have lots of crust in the inner corner of your eye? What is this stuff, and where does it come from?

Why Do Coins Have Ridges?

The rims on U.S. dimes, quarters, half dollars and some dollar coins are called reeded edges. They’ve been on American currency almost since day one as a way of keeping people honest.

Why Do Fake Phone Numbers Start With 555?

Since the early 1970s there’s been at least one 555 number callers can dial and get an answer—555-1212 is a standard number that rings directory assistance. The rest of the 555 numbers have largely gained fame as fake numbers in movies and on TV.

The Nintendo Zapper offered a new angle on interactive television.

How Did the Duck Hunt Gun Work?

The 'Duck Hunt' gun, officially called the NES Zapper, seems downright primitive next to today's technology. But in the late '80s, it filled plenty of young heads with wonder.

How Does an Etch A Sketch Work?

In 1955, a French electrician named André Cassagnes got an idea for a new toy after seeing how an electrostatic charge could hold aluminum powder to glass.

Why Does My Gadget Say It's December 31, 1969?

If you’ve ever had the date on a cell phone or computer mysteriously switch to December 31, 1969, you may have thought it was simply random. However, the reason behind this odd glitch is a nice little tidbit of computer trivia.

Why Do They Use Sterile Needles for Lethal Injections?

“Lethal injection” isn’t a marketing term or a cute nickname. The intent of the injection is to execute someone. So why bother with the alcohol swab and sterile needle? Are they really worried about the condemned getting an infection?

Mail carrier Alberto Jo on his route in Miami, Florida, in 2010.

Why Can't You Start a Rival Post Office?

Sure, there are package delivery services—but the U.S. Postal Service is the only one that really does letters. Why?

Why Are Scrubs Usually Blue or Green?

Medical professionals can choose from a wide variety of scrubs with different colors and patterns. So why are plain blue and green ones so popular?

Why Do Coins Make Your Hands Smell Funny?

A lot of people assume that it's just the way that coins smell, and the odor is rubbing off on their hands, but you're not smelling the metal so much as you're smelling yourself.

Why Did Soap Operas Look Different From Other TV Shows?

Soap operas, "soaps" or "my stories," as many a <em>grandmother</em> has called them, are dramas presented in a serial format on daytime television or radio. Their name comes from a time when old serial dramas broadcast on radio had soap manufacturers (Pr

Why Do Your Dog's Feet Smell Like Popcorn?

You're not crazy—your dog's feet really are snack-food scented.

Do Fish Really Have a Three-Second Memory?

Modern myth would have you believe that goldfish can't remember anything that happened more than three seconds ago and, hence, their lives are filled with the constant excitement of never-before-seen sights and sounds.

Can Soap Get Dirty?

We all know washing our hands is important, but, like washcloths and towels, can the bars of hand soap we use to clean ourselves become dirty as well?

In Space, Can Anyone Hear You Scream?

"In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream." That was the tagline for the movie Alien, Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi/horror masterpiece. Released two years earlier, Star Wars allowed us to hear plenty of things in space, like the whine of TIE fighter engines and

The Origin of the Gatorade Shower

Bill Parcells was one of the first coaches to be doused with celebratory Gatorade after a win. But who came up with the idea? Here are the answers to some burning questions about this fairly new tradition.

Why Did Kamikaze Pilots Wear Helmets?

This is sort of a trick question, as they technically didn’t wear “helmets,” but leather “flight caps” that covered the head and ears. These kept the pilots from getting too cold or going deaf while flying with their cockpit canopies open, which they some

PREV NEXT