BIG QUESTIONS

Why Don’t Cell Phones Have Dial Tones?

Matt Soniak answers today's Big Question.

Who Was "Miranda" of the Miranda Warning?

Even if you’ve never had your own brush with the law, you no doubt know the Miranda warning. But who was it named after?

What Do Those Recycling Symbols and Codes Mean?

Earth Day is here again, serving as an annual reminder of the need to reduce, reuse, and recycle our way to a better planet.

When and Why Did People Start Saying "Um"?

Reader Darren wrote in to ask, "When and why did people start saying um when they are talking?"

Where Do the Words “Mom” and “Dad” Come From?

Even the Oxford English Dictionary admits they have no evidence of the actual origin.

Can Stress Really Cause Hair Loss?

People have long been known to willfully pull out their own hair owing to anxiety, but it’s widely believed that chronic stress can cause inadvertent hair loss as well.

What Does a Foreign Service Officer Do?

The unfortunate and untimely death of a young Foreign Service Officer in a suicide bombing on April 6 in Afghanistan’s Zabul province has drawn attention to the careers of U.S. diplomats.

How Can US Citizens Legally Travel to Cuba?

Musical power couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z jetted down to a tropical and somewhat-forbidden destination last week for their fifth wedding anniversary: Cuba. Because of travel restrictions to the country, the couple’s trip raised the eyebrows of some U.S. lawm

What's the Real Origin of "OK"?

It's amazing that we ever got along without "OK." But we did. Until 1839.

Why Do People Get Emotional When They Drink?

At one time or another, though, we’ve all been the emotional drunk, a condition typically marked by ill-timed espousals of affection (or reprisal), acute introspection, and an incontrollable urge to cry in the middle of a crowded bar.

Why is English Spelling So Messed Up?

If you're a kid learning how to write, English spelling can seem like a cruel prank.

Where Did the Phrase “Dressed to the Nines” Come From?

Whatever significance the number nine had to the phrase, it doesn’t seem to have always been specific to clothing.

Will We Ever Be Able to Clone Dinosaurs?

When I was a little dinosaur fan, all I wanted was a pet dinosaur. An Apatosaurus would have been choice—big enough to be impressive, but not especially likely to eat me. But that’s never going to happen. As much as I hate to say that science will never s

How Much Does a Cloud Weigh?

It's time to pull out those calculators and do the math with the density and volume to determine the total water content of the cloud.

Could Cockroaches Really Survive a Nuclear War?

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice; still others say in a nuclear apocalypse that will annihilate humanity while leaving cockroaches intact. It’s an unhappy picture, homo sapiens being completely wiped out by its own technology as the li

How Did Pabst Win Its Blue Ribbon?

Before it was called PBR or even Pabst, the official beer of hipsters, old blue collar Wisconsinites and Frank Booth was brewed under the name Best Select, starting in 1875.

Why Are Whole Foods Typically More Expensive Than Processed?

Close perusal of a Wonder loaf’s list of ingredients reveals some 29 tongue-tying components, while the whole grain loaf has five or six, none over two syllables. So why are more heavily processed foods and those with more ingredients typically less expen

Why is Chicago Called the "Windy City"?

Travelers to Chicago may experience the wind gusts that come off Lake Michigan, get tossed around a bit and think, “So this is why it’s called the Windy City.” The nickname, which dates back to the late 1870s, is deceiving because, literally, Chicago is a

What's the Difference Between Table Salt and Kosher Salt?

In truth, not much. The primary ingredient to both, not surprisingly, is sodium chloride. In fact, the U.S. government requires that any food-grade salt be a minimum of 97.5 percent pure, so any type of salt you consume in the U.S. (and most developed cou

Why Do Cicadas Spend So Much Time Underground?

In 1996, the cicadas of Brood II (the “East Coast Brood”) swarmed the northeastern United States and then disappeared almost as quickly as they came, leaving only their eggs and molted exoskeletons behind. Once the eggs hatched, the new generation of cica

Can You Fire the Pope?

Reader Gabrielle wrote in to ask: “Can a pope be ousted? And has it happened before?”

Is There Such a Thing as Photographic Memory?

The best early ‘90s children’s bookshelves were full of books about child detectives, including Cam Jansen, the fifth grade super-sleuth with a photographic memory. She was called “Cam,” short for “camera,” because she would close her eyes and say, “cli

Why Don’t Big Dogs Live as Long as Small Dogs?

Large animals tend to live longer than smaller ones. But this isn't the case for most breeds of dog. What gives?

How Do They Make the "Pope Smoke"?

When the Catholic cardinals meet to pick a new pope in the “papal conclave,” they’re sequestered in the Sistine Chapel so that their deliberations aren’t influenced by the outside world and that their ballots, burned after each round of voting, remain sec

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