MF Explains It All

Fresh snow might look tasty, but just because it looks clean doesn’t mean it actually is.

Glugging tap water on a plane is a terrible idea.

How a love of drinking and Britain’s 18th-century Toby jugs might have inspired the slang word for ‘face.’

The definition of a continent isn't as concrete as you might expect, but a few qualities help earn Australia that distinction.

Why does the fire department show up for emergency calls if nothing is on fire?

That delicious bowl of cheddar soup is really a big bowl of (good) bacteria.

Deciding to write 'disc' or 'disk' depends on what kind of disc it is. Sometimes.

Eating well often comes at a premium price. Here’s why.

Worried about pressing strange buttons in your new car? Us, too. But you'll probably like this one.

Oven mitts allow us to handle delicious hot things, but using one that's not totally dry can result in kitchen mishaps.

Ever wonder why the new year officially starts on January 1? Turns out, you can thank Pope Gregory XIII—and Julius Caesar.

Breaking out in a sweat after you take a hot shower is normal, but there are steps you can take to prevent it.

A meta-analysis found a greatly reduced level of information retention when people got their data from screens instead of physical books.

Seattle’s iconic Space Needle debuted at the 1962 World’s Fair—and was inspired by America's Space Race with the Soviet Union.

The meaning of ‘Bah, humbug!’ is a little more layered than what people normally attribute to Ebenezer Scrooge of ‘A Christmas Carol.’

The ‘egg’ part of ‘eggnog’ is obvious. The ‘nog’ is a little more mysterious—possibly involving noggins and/or grog.

“Last Christmas” is now the centerpiece of a growing holiday tradition based around ... not listening to it.

Frankincense and myrrh are a fragrant part of traditional Christmas celebrations, but what exactly are these pebble-like perfumes?

Some children love meeting Santa. Others believe they're meeting the devil himself. Why?

We often use ‘eldest’ and ‘oldest’ interchangeably, but the words shouldn’t be swapped out so easily. Here's how to use each.

Some people can drink a lot of wine without ill effect. Others are on the couch after a glass. Science might know why.

A home on Sesame Street may have been affordable when the show premiered, but that's no longer the case.

Save your nap for the cruising portion of your flight.

A very, very specific set of standards can keep books from falling apart. But it's usually too expensive for consumers.