Big Questions Answered, How and Why

Spoiler alert: They’re not just sitting around.

As anyone who has seen ‘A Christmas Story’ knows, licking a cold metal object can be dangerous. Here’s why you should never stick your tongue to a metal pole in winter.

Mary Janes have an early-20th-century comic strip to thank for their name.

A 1920 mural by paleoartist Charles Robert Knight depicting Cro-Magnon people painting on cave walls at Font-de-Gaume, France.

These prehistoric members of our genus, ‘Homo,’ occupy different branches of the human family tree.

As with many words, we have Latin to thank.

Grandfather clocks often become family heirlooms.

The imposing clocks have an origin story, but it doesn't have much to do with any actual grandfathers.

“Fido” is a name that has become synonymous with all things dog. But where did the name come from?

Alexander Hamilton argued that lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court were the only way, but some modern scholars disagree.

Here are the differences between green onions or scallions (left) and chives (right).

One of these things is not like the others.

A hearse with S-shaped bars in place of back windows.

Those evocative scrolls you see on hearses actually have a name—and going back in the 1800s, they actually served an important purpose.

It’s common for many little kids to go through a “dinosaur phase.” Here’s why.

One theory suggests that we call liquor “spirits” because of alcohol’s association with one spirit in particular: the Holy Spirit. But there are other possible origins.

Your dog’s motivations for licking you range from adorable to disgusting.

The heavy-duty tool is said to be the work of a man named Moncke. Or was it Moncay?

Traveling with a peanut allergy isn't the flight risk you think.

The idea of peanut dust being carried through a plane cabin has always worried those with serious allergies. New research should ease their concerns.

One of the few days this family probably used their dining rooms.

Fewer and fewer newly constructed homes actually have dining rooms. Here’s why.

Can a haunted attraction really be insulated against legal action for scaring people? A law expert weighs in.

Sneezing is gross, but it’s also normal.

Many people underestimate the damage that suppressing a sneeze can cause.

“And then, yada yada yada, I made a movie about Pop Tarts.”

The ’90s catchphrase was made famous by ‘Seinfeld,’ but Jerry and company didn’t coin it.

Roborock has teamed up with Mental Floss to explain why space is a vacuum—all while pushing the boundaries of smart cleaning technology back on Earth.

Presented by Roborock