The Lowest Temperature A Human Can Actually Survive
People die 20 times more often from cold weather than hot weather. It's worth finding out how cold it can get before your goose is officially, uh, frozen.
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How To Tell The Difference Between Asteroids And Meteors
Asteroids and meteors are both small (relatively speaking) objects that inhabit our solar system. But is "asteroid" simply a synonym for "meteor," or are they actually two different things altogether? Buckle up: we're about to take you to space-stuff-school.
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Do Toilets Flush Differently Across The Globe?
What's stopping two fluid dynamics scientists on opposite sides of the world from getting on the phone and clearing it up once and for all?
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The Highest Temperature A Human Can Actually Survive
As with all things, moderation is key when it comes to heat. Too little and you'll freeze to death -- too much, and you'll become a hunk, a hunk of burning corpse. But just how hot can it get before you stop sweating bullets and your body is completely shot to hell?
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Optical Illusions That'll Fool Your Brain
Humans need to make sense of a messy, uncertain world using imperfect eyes and imperfect brains. That's where optical illusions that fool your brain come in.
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The Reason Your Dog Looks At You When It Poops
Sometimes our beloved dogs cross a line. Our dear pooches can do things that make their owners really uncomfortable -- and one of those things is that seriously disconcerting habit they have of staring deep into our eyes. While they're pooping. Ugh. Why do dogs do this?
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Do People Actually Live In Antarctica?
What if there was an entire continent, nearly entirely uninhabited that you could scamper off to? That place exists: Antarctica.
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What Would Happen If The Earth Stopped Spinning?
Good news: no force known to humankind could make Earth suddenly stop spinning, and scenarios where the planet instantly or rapidly stops spinning are completely hypothetical. The slightly less good news is that if we're wrong about that and it one day does happen to us, we're pretty much screwed.
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What Would Happen If Sharks Went Extinct?
Sharks are aquatic hellspawn, whose sole enjoyment in life derives from dismembering screaming humans. But would the ocean be a better place without them?
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How Do Birds Know Where To Migrate?
It's long been one of nature's greatest mysteries: how the heck do birds know where to go for the winter? If most humans tried to migrate south without a map or a GPS, we'd probably end up in Nova Scotia. Scientists have been trying to solve this mystery for a long time.
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Are Sharks Really Afraid Of Dolphins?
Dolphins are cute and playful. Sharks are scary and full of teeth. So how can it be true that a ruthless predator like a shark is afraid of a sweet little thing like a dolphin? Could such a concept even be true at all? Well, yes and no.
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What Happens When You Hold Your Pee?
When you've got to go, you've got to go, but sometimes there's no convenient place to do your business. We've all experienced the agony of a full bladder. What happens when you're stuck in traffic, or the line to the restroom is winding down the hallway and you have no option but to hold your pee?
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Could A Black Hole Destroy Earth?
Are we in danger of being wiped out by such the space-borne suckfest known as a black hole?
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Here's The Reason Why Yawns Are So Contagious
You probably know from firsthand experience that yawning is incredibly contagious. In fact, you might be yawning now because, according to Psychology Today, simply "reading the word 'yawn' can make people yawn." What makes human bodies behave this way? Don't fall asleep -- we have answers.
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What Really Happens To Bodies That Aren't Buried
If you don’t want to be buried after you die, the options for what to do with your remains are endless. Here’s what really happens to bodies that aren’t buried.
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Dinosaurs That Some People Think Are Still Alive Today
If you ask some folks in cryptozoology circles, they'll tell you that a few dinosaurs are still roaming about.
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Why Is Saturn Losing Its Rings?
If our Solar System's planets were people on a bus, Saturn would be the guy in a purple cape, smelling of patchouli and smoking a corn husk pipe. With its distinctive rings, Saturn is the eccentric bus-guy of our cosmic neighborhood. Sadly, Saturn is slowly losing its ring-bedazzled mojo. But why?
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What Happens When You Drink Too Much Water?
Water is essential to cell-building, temperature regulation, and other bodily processes. But how much H2O must you drink? What happens if you drink too much?
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Real Phenomena That People Used To Think Were Fake
From freaky weather events to bizarre bodily reactions, the world is full of real phenomena that people used to think were fake.
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What Do Tarantulas Eat?
Contrary to what many think, tarantulas are not generally a threat to human life, and they can't (and won't) try to eat you. But what will they eat?
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Why People See Ghosts, According To Science
Believing in ghosts doesn't hurt anyone, and also it's fun. But, scientists can't resist endlessly telling us how wrong we are about why people see ghosts.
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What Will Happen To The Earth When The Sun Dies?
As far as existential threats that you have to push to the back of your mind just to get through the day go, the inevitable death of the sun in a scant few billion years has to take the wildly depressing cake. But come on. How bad could things really get? The answer, folks, is bad.
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What Would Happen If Mosquitoes Went Extinct?
From a human perspective, mosquitoes suck. They drink our blood and transmit diseases like yellow fever, malaria and West Nile virus. In fact, mosquitoes cause over 1 million deaths per year, making them one of the world's deadliest species So, say we choose to eradicate them. Should we?
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What's The Difference Between Magma And Lava?
You've heard of both "magma" and "lava" when it comes to that hot stuff from the end of Lord of the Rings. You know it's spicy enough to melt evil rings. But you might not be clear on the difference between the two terms. Well, we'll keep you from embarrassing yourself in front of the elves.
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Do Sharks Sleep?
Sharks are enigmatic creatures, but if there's one emotion we've felt comfortable assigning to them, it's severe crankiness. But what if it's not in their nature to be underwater rage machines? What if they're just really tired? Do sharks need a nap? Could they nap if they wanted to?
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Are Elephants Really Scared Of Mice?
It's basically a cartoon trope: the giant, seemingly unflappable and mighty elephant is reduced to abject, prancing terror at the sight of a plucky mouse (who's probably involved in an elaborate heist to obtain cheese). Is there any truth to it? And if not, where did this weird notion come from?
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What's Brain Freeze, And Why Do We Get It?
One moment you're enjoying a nice cold treat with your two closest friends. The next, you're doubled over in pain as a thunderous pain claps your temples. Unfortunately, you're not Harry Potter sensing Voldemort, you've just got brain freeze. What is this scourge of summertime snow-sweets?
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