Big Questions Answered, How and Why

Common household cleaning products like dish soap and laundry detergent might get forgotten about for years before being found and used. Will they still be effective?

People have been observing faces and figures on the moon for hundreds (if not thousands) of years. There’s a perfectly scientific explanation as to why.

A bride and groom exchanging wedding rings.

For years, couples have dedicated that finger to romance when any other digit would do.

Skylab 2 commander Peter Conrad attempts to take a shower aboard the spacecraft in 1973.

Here on Earth, we tend to take showering for granted. But getting clean isn’t so easy without the force of gravity helping you out.

Where did this weather-related idiom come from?

Where did this curious expression come from, and what’s so right about rain, anyway?

The phrase dates back to the 19th century, but it took a fictional 20th century detective to take its popularity to new heights.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, discover the origins of the phrase ‘weak at the knees,’ including its ties to ancient Rome and even astrology.

Try not to hold any knife like this. It could lead to a mishap.

Also called scallops, these tiny indentations have a purpose. And it’s not just to make the knife look cute.

An old-timey fireman with some dead weight.

Why your drunk friend feels so much heavier than your sober buddies.

Pillows work tirelessly to hold your head up. Here's how to know when they've had enough.

Several factors make people more susceptible to the flu in winter.

Like clockwork, flu viruses seem to strike more people in winter than in any other season—and there are several reasons for that.

The initialism was originally a bit of shipbuilder marketing—and now there are many different kinds of ship designations.

How did we come to associate sleeping and snoring with the letter ‘Z’? The origins trace back farther than you might think but are tied to early 20th-century American comic strips.

There comes a point in every child’s life when they ask where babies come from, and some parents—not wanting to explain the details of reproduction just yet—turn to the story of storks. We explore the origins of a myth that has been around for centuries.