Big Questions

Big Question

What’s the Difference Between ( ), [ ], { } and < >?

( )Parentheses (the single one is called a parenthesis), also known as curved brackets, have plenty of uses in everyday written language. Their most common use, as I’ve demonstrated already, is segregating subordinate material or asides. Usually, this is stuff that could be left out of the text or skipped over during reading without altering the flow or meaning of the surrounding sentence. You can do the same thing with commas, like I did in the last sentence and am doing now, but, if you’ve got a... READ ON

Big Question

Why Do the Sun and the Moon Appear to be the Same Size?

Keith Tarrier / Shutterstock.comIt’s just kind of a strange coincidence. The diameter of the Sun is about 400 times larger than the Moon's, but it is also roughly 400 times farther away from Earth. These two qualities almost cancel each other out, and the Sun usually winds up looking either the same size or just a wee bit bigger than the moon to us.How do we know how far away and how big the Sun and Moon are in the first place?Since we can’t just wrap a giant measuring tape around a celestial... READ ON

Big Question

Did Astronauts Really Eat Astronaut Ice Cream?

Of the many specialty items made for space travel, food was obviously a top priority. NASA commissioned several different companies to come up with freeze-dried snacks that the men could nosh on while in orbit, and the Whirlpool Corporation’s contribution was Neapolitan ice cream in a pouch. Coconut fat, sugar, milk solids and other ingredients were freeze-dried, ground and compressed into tasty cubes that were then coated with a layer of gelatin.“Astronaut ice cream" only went on one space... READ ON

Big Question

What Is the Mystery Flavor of Dum Dums?

Image credit: Temptation CandyIn 1924, the Akron Candy Company in Ohio had developed a small, spherical hard candy on a stick whose size was perfect for children, but could be enjoyed by adults as well. When it came to naming the confection, sales manager I.C. Bahr came up with “Dum Dums” because he thought it was a phrase that could easily be uttered by children. Simple, colorful, and inexpensive, Dum Dums soon became an... READ ON

Big Question

Why Are There Different Names for the Same Country?

Reader Jonathan wrote in to ask, “Why do we call other countries by names that they do not use themselves? Where did these names come from and why do we use... READ ON

Big Question

What Does That Dangly Thing in the Back of Your Throat Do?

Uvula image via ShutterstockThe uvula is one of the weirdest looking features of the human body. Yet despite its infamy, scientists have spent centuries puzzling over its function.The hangy ball's full name is the “palatine uvula,” referring to its location on your soft palate. Not to be confused with the uvula vermis, a lobe of the cerebellum, or the uvula vesicae, in the urinary bladder. Through history, scientists have had many theories about the uvula. Among... READ ON

Big Question

What Do Snakes and Sticks Have to Do With Doctors?

If you’ve ever seen the World Health Organization or American Medical Association logo, or the “star of life” on the side of an ambulance, you might have wondered what a snake wrapped around a stick has to do with those who fix what ails us. Well, that stick is the asklepian, or rod of Asclepius. In ancient Greek mythology, Asclepius was the son of Apollo, and the god of medicine and healing. Depending on which historian you ask, he may have even been based on an actual historical doctor whose... READ ON

Big Question

Why Are The Best Competitive Eaters So Skinny?

ALLISON JOYCE/Reuters/LandovMostly so they don't die. In 2011, Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas won the first-ever Women’s Division of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest by downing 40 dogs in one sitting. That’s 12,360 calories consumed in 10 minutes ... not to mention 800 grams of fat, 1,400 milligrams of cholesterol, and 920 grams of carbohydrates! When you’re putting away a feast like that two or three times a month, watching your diet and getting plenty of exercise are keys to... READ ON

Big Question

What Made People Think Dewey Defeated Truman?

Truman isn’t just gleeful in that famous photo because he won the election, but because it was egg on the face of a paper he hated, the Chicago Tribune. The paper had a conservative bent, disapproved of most of his policies, and had once even called him a “nincompoop” in an editorial.The Tribune was suffering under the weight of a strike, which meant its morning edition needed to go to press much earlier than in other election years - even before the polls... READ ON

Big Question

Why Do Beans Make You Fart?

Baked beans image via ShutterstockBeans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you toot. But don't blame your flatulence on the poor legumes directly. The blame lies instead with the loads of little critters teeming in your gut.Once you mash a bowl of barbecue baked beans into a fine mush in your mouth and stomach, it moves along to the small intestine. This organ is basically a molecular chop shop, where digestive enzymes strip your meal down for whatever bits and pieces your body... READ ON