Why Do We Actually Cry?
Something happens, and salt water starts leaking out of two holes in your head. It's so normal nobody stops to question it, and from a survival standpoint it makes almost no sense at all. So why do we...
1 Sep 12min
Why Is The Sky Really Blue? (Refresher)
Ask a five year old why the sky is blue and you'll get a shrug. Ask an adult and you'll get a confident sentence with the word atmosphere in it, followed by a long pause when you ask the follow up.We ...
30 Aug 8min
If Aliens Actually Exist, Where Are They? The Fermi Paradox and Drake Equation
There are something like 100 billion stars in our galaxy alone. Run the numbers and the universe should be crowded.But nothing has ever shown up. A physicist noticed that contradiction over lunch in 1...
28 Aug 11min
How Much Ancient Knowledge Did We Lose in the Library of Alexandria?
For two thousand years the Library of Alexandria has stood in for everything humanity has ever lost. It's near the top of every list of history's great tragedies.Ask what was actually in it, though, a...
25 Aug 11min
Did Alexander Graham Bell Really Invent The Telephone? (Refresher)
Everybody learns the same fact in school. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. It's on the patent, it's in the textbooks, and it leaves quite a lot out.On the very same day Bell filed his pat...
24 Aug 11min
Where Do the Days of the Week Get Their Names?
Seven days, seven names. You say them constantly and have probably never once wondered where they came from. The trail runs through Roman planets and Norse gods, and some of the names sitting on your ...
21 Aug 9min
How Did We Figure Out That Germs Make Us Sick?
For most of human history, nobody knew what was making them sick. The leading theory blamed bad air, and it held for centuries. Then a few people started noticing things nobody else was looking at. A ...
18 Aug 10min
Why Are Car Dealerships Closed on Sundays? (Refresher)
Every other business in America wants your money seven days a week. Car dealerships, across most of the country, will not sell you a car on a Sunday.It isn't tradition, and it isn't dealers being gene...
16 Aug 9min
