Big Questions Answered, How and Why

The ‘tow’ in ‘towhead’ doesn't refer to transporting a vehicle with a flat tire.

The origin of ‘towhead’ has roots in 14th-century England, when ‘tow’ often referred to textile fibers.

Cleaning a porta potty is no walk in the park.

To keep porta potties (relatively) clean, sanitation workers require special equipment and a strong stomach.

When it comes to superstitions about bad luck, indoor umbrellas are right up there with broken mirrors and black cats.

Getting a concept onto the big screen is a difficult process, and the pilot episode is what can make—or, more often, break—a series. By why is it called that?

Modern office machines are made to fit a certain size of paper.

The letter-sized standard actually has roots in the 1660s, when paper was made by hand—and Herbert Hoover had something to do with it, too.

Use of the word ‘placebo’ in a medical context is more recent than you might think.

What is a placebo? Technically, a Latin phrase meaning ‘I will please.’ It’s also a Catholic prayer and a clever insult.

Hawaii is home to a number of lava tubes.

Caves and volcanoes don’t often go hand-in-hand in our imaginations, but the second most common type of cave in the world is made from the power of volcanoes.

Scare crows may deter crows and blackbirds, but you'll have to make some modifications for them to really work.

The "creme" in Oreo cookies isn't really cream at all, but does that make Oreos vegan? The answer is complicated.

The ancient art of sword swallowing may seem like some sort of elaborate trick—but it’s very, very real (and very, very dangerous).

Watching a scary movie can definitely send shivers down your spine—but why?

You’re watching a scary movie or the music swells during your favorite song—the shiver up and down your spine is your body responding to a range of emotions.

Their (often literal) blood feud is a relatively modern creation. So how did vampires and werewolves end up at each other’s throats?

You know planes cover hundreds of miles per hour. So why doesn't it look like they do?

How and when to wash jeans is a debate for the ages.

Some denim devotees never wash. Others find that disgusting. The head of Levi's weighs in.

If you were an 18th-century settler in Australia with no knowledge of marsupials, you just might decide to call a koala a ‘bear,’ right?

The answer lies in their chromosomal makeup.

Nowadays, we use jones to express an intense craving for something. But it used to refer specifically to drugs.

Earth may be the most precious place we have, but it isn't priceless. We know because one scientist did the math.

Karl Aspelin, Public Domain // Wikimedia Commons

As is often the case when you look back into history, there’s more than one possible answer. But one of the leading contenders has a fairly predictable culprit: the Puritans.