BIG QUESTIONS

How Do Movies Get Their Ratings?

How Do You Decaffeinate Coffee Beans?

And what happens to all the caffeine that gets stripped out?

How Does the Farmers' Almanac Work?

Why Do Seagulls Hang Out in Parking Lots?

Parking lots offer plenty of food, trash, and scraps, especially if there’s a supermarket or restaurant there.

Why Do Koalas Hug Trees?

Just as we humans cling to our air conditioners and plunge our heads into the freezer in the summer months, koalas have found a source of relief from stifling temperatures.

Did Ostriches and Emus Ever Fly?

Not recently, of course. But what about their ancestors? The question is: Did the flightless birds of today, a family known as Ratites, evolve from flightless birds of yore or did their airborne ancestors lose the ability to fly over the millennia?

Do Polka Dots Have Anything to Do With Polka?

What Is a TPS Report?

Mike Judge was asked this at a 10th Anniversary screening of Office Space.

Where Does Tea Time Come From?

How Do Soccer Referees Determine Stoppage Time?

Toward the end of each half of a soccer match, the fourth official on the sideline hoists an illuminated sign over his or her head that displays a number.

Why Did We Invent Pants?

These days, pants are our garment of choice. But for years, our ancestors draped themselves in tunics, robes, and gowns, until someone decided they were tired of having the wind up their skirt. So, what prompted the change? When, exactly, did two-legged t

How Does an Anti-Gravity Treadmill Work?

The "anti-gravity treadmill" was originally invented by Robert Whalen, a biomechanics researcher at NASA Ames Research Center, in the 1990s. Hint: It *doesn't* defy the laws of physics.

Why Have Baby Names Become Increasingly Female-Sounding?

The overarching drive in naming practices over time seems not to be toward giving names pre-determined masculine or feminine properties, but toward keeping them different.

How Does Counting Cards in Blackjack Work?

Owning a casino isn't much of a gamble. In almost every game, the casino has a statistical advantage—so for every one gambler raking it in, there’s more than enough people leaving with empty pockets to net an enormous profit. But between the rolling dice

Why Do So Many Churches Have "First Church of" in their Names?

And why do we rarely see 'second' or 'third' churches?

Where Do U.S. Coin Names Come From?

A little fiscal etymology.

How Do Tornadoes Form?

The science of twisters

Why Does Bacon Smell So Good?

It is an immutable fact that nothing will get a person's mouth watering like the smell of bacon cooking.

Why Does “Terrible” Mean Bad and “Terrific” Mean Good?

Terrible and terrific are both formed off the same root: terror. Both started out a few hundred years ago with the meaning of terror-inducing. But terrific took a strange turn at the beginning of the 20th century and ended up meaning really great, not ter

What Is El Niño?

Climate models are predicting that this fall, there's a 75 percent chance that an El Niño will occur. But just what is this weather phenomenon, and how does it affect us?

Why Don't Octopuses Get Stuck to Themselves?

Life can't be easy for octopuses. Sure, they're universally loved for changing color, opening jars from the inside, and predicting the winners of World Cup games. But they have eight very flexible arms to keep track of, which aren't even under their full

Why Did MAS*H Have A Laugh Track?

What's the Difference Between Seals and Sea Lions?

There's a good reason seals and sea lions look so similar—they're both members of the pinniped taxonomic group, a name which refers in Latin to their "fin feet." Walruses are also a part of the clade but while their prominent tusks set them apart, seals a

How Did the New York Rangers Get Their Name?

Reader Meghan writes, "Why is New York's hockey team called the Rangers?"

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