BIG QUESTIONS

What Is Catnip and Why Are Cats Crazy For It?

The stuff that drives your kitten crazy goes by the Latin name 'Nepeta cataria.'

Obscenity vs. Profanity vs. Vulgarity: What's the Difference?

The Dilemma: You just stubbed your toe or opened your 401(k) statement and you want to let loose with some language that would make a sailor blush. Which category do those colorful words fall under?

Can Opera Singers Really Shatter Glass?

Saturday morning cartoons would have us believe that anyone in a dress and Viking helmet can shatter wine glasses, monocles and even the opera house chandelier with one powerful high note.

How Does Scratch and Sniff Work?

Scratch and sniff was born of the noble endeavor of making copies. In the dark ages before word processors, inkjet printers, and the Xerox machine, copies of documents were made by placing carbon paper between the sheet you were typing on and the sheet th

How Did Hypercolor Shirts Work?

Readers of a certain age might remember Hypercolor or Hypergrafix clothing, the color-changing T-shirts produced by Generra that were all the rage in the early '90s. Now that the '90s are back, it's a good time to finally figure out the science behind the

Who Pays for the Obama Family's Food?

Like all presidents, Barack Obama and his family will have to pay for their own food while they're living in the White House. But does someone actually send them a bill? How does this system work?

How Do Fire Eaters Eat Fire?

Very carefully. No, I'm not being a smart aleck; fire eaters, from fakirs to sideshow performers, have very few secrets about their craft.

Who Was Ponzi & What Was His Scheme?

Investigators are trying to figure out whether the financial fraud allegedly perpetrated by Bernard L. Madoff was, in fact, the largest Ponzi scheme in history. The alleged scam, which cost investors $50 billion, sounds like a classic Ponzi racket. But

Everything You Wanted to Know About the Electoral College But Were Afraid to Ask

Who makes up the Electoral College? Where and when does the Electoral College vote? What happens if no candidate received 270 electoral votes? And all your other Electoral College questions answered.

Why Do We Get Red Eye in Photos?

Grab a partner and look into his or her eye "“ or stare deeply into it, if appropriate "“ in a normally lit room. The quick and dirty version of how you're able to view each other is this: Light enters the eye through the cornea, the clear outer dome, and

What's the Difference Between Art Deco and Art Nouveau?

The Quick Trick: It all comes down to "flowery" vs. "streamlined." Art Nouveau is the decorative one. Art Deco is sleeker.

What would happen if you ate one of those silica gel packets?

Well, for one thing, you'd be eating a misnomer. Silica gel isn't actually a gel, but a granular form of silicon dioxide (SiO2), a compound formed when silicon is oxidized.

What would happen if you ate one of those silica gel packets?

Well, for one thing, you'd be eating a misnomer. Silica gel isn't actually a gel, but a granular form of silicon dioxide (SiO2), a compound formed when silicon is oxidized.

Serial Killer vs. Mass Murderer: What's the Difference?

The Quick Trick: The creepy guy at the bar is full of it: Gacy was a serial killer because he committed many murders over a long period of time; mass murderers commit many murders all at once.

KatarzynaBialasiewicz/iStock via Getty Images

Models vs. Supermodels: What's the Difference?

The Quick Trick: A model gets arrested for snorting cocaine; a supermodel gets on the cover of People for snorting cocaine.

Foil vs. Epee vs. Saber: What's the Difference?

To the uninitiated, fencing can be a bit baffling. For instance, in modern fencing, the touches are registered electronically but there's still a referee (also called a president) who can call hits that didn't register electronically or overrule ones that

TNT vs. Dynamite: What's the Difference?

If it's a white powder found in sticks, it's dynamite. If it's a yellow crystal, it's TNT.

Why Does Hot Water Sometimes Feel Cold?

Home experiment time! Go run some hot water, either in a sink or tub, and stick your hand under it.Some of you might be mad at me—the water was hot and you have no idea why I asked you to scald yourself. (We'll work through this.) Some of you, thoug

5 October Surprises From Past Presidential Elections

An October surprise is any bit of news that breaks right before an election that has the capability to help determine the outcome of the race.

What Happens if a Criminal Survives Execution?

Does the condemned get to go free?

Why Does Swiss Cheese Have Holes?

Swiss cheese is made by adding cultures of the bacteria S. thermophilus, Lactobacillus and P. shermani to warm (and, in the case of Swiss Emmentaler, unpasteurized) milk.

Why do we sing the National Anthem at sporting events?

On the night of September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer and amateur poet, accompanied American Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner to negotiate a prisoner release with several officers of the British Navy.

How Do Sword Swallowers Swallow Swords?

Swallowing food involves a series of muscle contractions, both voluntary and involuntary. Swallowing a sword requires no actual swallowing, but the complete opposite: the deliberate relaxation of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Is IKEA the World's Largest Charity?

If it's possible to assemble a piece of IKEA furniture without cursing at the top of your lungs, I've never seen it happen. There's always a missing piece of hardware, an unclear spot on the instructions, or an excruciating amount of hex wrenching to be d

PREV NEXT