BIG QUESTIONS

Do Cameras Really Add 10 Pounds?

For everyone who’s ever been unhappy with the way they look in a picture or on video, there’s almost always someone there to try and comfort them by pointing out that the camera “adds ten pounds” to its subjects.Sometimes this just excuses actual flabbine

Are Poinsettias as Dangerous as Everyone Says?

Poinsettias are as indispensable to Christmas as evergreen trees and mistletoe. Every year, they come out of the greenhouses and off the store shelves into our homes, and every year, some well-meaning but factually-challenged aunt or family friend warns u

When and Where Was the First Car Accident?

That depends on how you define a “car.” In 1869, Irish scientist Mary Ward was riding in a steam-powered automobile built by her cousins.

Why Do They Click That Board Thing Before Filming A Movie Scene?

The slate board is used to make syncing audio and film easier, but here are more facts to know about it.

What Causes Morning Sickness?

Buckingham Palace has confirmed what the British tabloids have suspected for a while: The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting. Unfortunately, Kate has also been admitted to the hospital due to hyperemesis gravidarum, or acute morning sickness—so severe that

What is a Pigeonhole?

“What exactly is a pigeonhole anyway?" semi-creepy fast food mascot Jack in the Box wondered on Twitter last month. "Last I checked pigeons live in parks.” Reader @amyh914 put up the bat signal and called us into

Why Does Skin Get Pruney in the Tub?

For a long time, scientists thought that pruning of the skin after spending time in the water was simply a matter of fingers being a little spongey. The outermost layer (the stratum corneum) of the outermost layer (the epidermis) of our skin is mostly mad

Why Do Chile Peppers Make People Cough?

In my house, we really like Mexican food. And Thai food. Oh, and Chinese food. We like all food, I guess, but that’s sort of beside the point.

Will Sitting Too Close To The TV Hurt Your Eyes?

Daven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his “Daily Knowledge” newsletter, click

What is Martial Law?

After the tri-state area was devastated by Hurricane Sandy, food, gas, and power were in high demand but short supply. In those situations, people get desperate, and they sometimes become violent, throwing not just common courtesy, but also any sense of w

Why Do Flocks of Geese Fly in a “V” Shape?

In large swaths of the U.S. this time of year, it seems you can’t get more than a few feet without tripping over a Canada Goose; they come down here from the Great White North for the winter months (or, in some places, hang out year-round). When they’re n

Why Can't We Predict Earthquakes?

The ruins of San Francisco's City Hall after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Image Courtesy of the Library Of Congress.In late October, Italian courts convicted six scientists and a government official—all members of the National Commission for the Forecast

What Ever Happened to Acid Rain?

Back when I was a kid, life was pretty simple. Saturday morning cartoons were awesome, Ecto Cooler was abundant and the Soviet Union collapsed before they could drop any nukes on us. I couldn’t watch the news, or even my cartoons, though, without being re

Will There Be a Hurricane Sandy Baby Boom?

Last week, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, readers @amyh914, @dauentina and ?@TheRealYadiM all asked if we should expect a spike in birth rates along the East Coat nine months from now—a mini-baby boom caused by Sandy.The idea that disasters and birth rat

Element5 Digital, Unsplash // Public Domain

Why Do Nebraska and Maine Split Electoral Votes?

In the majority of the United States, one candidate gets all of a state’s electoral votes. Two states, however, don’t have to go the all-or-nothing route: Nebraska and Maine, thanks to the Congressional District Method.

When Did We Start Naming Winter Storms?

Don’t be surprised if you hear a meteorologist refer to the nor'easter that’s about to hit the East Coast as “Athena.” They’re just following the example of The Weather Channel, which recently announced that it will name “noteworthy winter storms,” just a

Where Did The Idea Of "Red States" and "Blue States" Come From?

Wikimedia CommonsThat’s all, folks: The 2012 election is finally over. In the run up, we tackled big election questions, from why we vote on Tuesdays to what would happen in the event of a natural disaster on Election Day to whether Americans actually mov

Why Do Cats Paw Around Their Food Bowls?

I could write a book on the strange stuff my cat does, but when I switched her food from dry to wet recently, she started doing something really weird: She’d maneuver her way around her food dish, pawing the ground as she went. Her behavior was odd enough

How Do Two-Way Mirrors Work?

A two-way mirror in the film The Cabin In The Woods. Photo Courtesy Lionsgate Entertainment.It’s a familiar scene from every police procedural: In one brightly lit room, a perp is being questioned. In an adjacent room, officers watch the proceedings in ne

How Do Blood Pressure Tests Work, And What Do Those Numbers Mean?

Getting your blood pressure taken is a standard part of most visits to the doctor, but the details might seem mysterious—so read on.What It IsBlood pressure (BP) is the force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of the arteries as it's pumped from th

Is It Legal To Kill A Zombie?

Like the Shaun of the Dead slogan says, "aim for the head." But before you start readying your zombie apocalypse weapon of choice, you'd better find out if you're going to get in trouble for taking out the infected. According to San Diego criminal lawyer

What Were They Thinking?: The Psychology of Riding Out the Storm

Last night we put the call out for readers’ nagging hurricane questions. @BrothaDom and @michellesipics both asked for a peek into the minds of people who defy evacuation orders “in the face of everything that is sane.”Just hours before Hurricane Sandy ma

Why Do Dogs Kick Their Legs When You Scratch Their Bellies?

Every dog seems to have one—that special spot on his belly or flank that, when scratched, sends his back leg kicking like crazy. It’s odd and amusing, especially because some dogs seems to be as confused by it as their owners are. What’s going

Do People Really Walk in Circles When They’re Lost?

It’s a reliable movie trope: Our heroes are lost in the woods, and in their valiant effort to make a beeline out of the forest or back to camp or civilization, they inevitably get turned around and wind up back at the same spot where they began.When a sci

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