Science & Tech
Transforming the human body through surgery for aesthetic reasons is nothing new. While surgical procedures today are far more advanced, healers, doctors, and even barbers had been performing cosmetic procedures for centuries before the recent surge in popularity for plastic. (This article was originally published in Who Knew?) Ancient Healers Plastic surgery gets its name […]
Toilets: Is there anything they can’t do? New York Harbor doesn’t exactly have the reputation of being the cleanest body of water in the world. It borders the overpopulated, smoggy, Big Apple, and for decades has been besieged by pollutants and poor sewage management. You wouldn’t find much fish in there today, but even if […]
A total solar eclipse, already titled the Great American Eclipse, will be visible in the sky on August 21, 2017. Or rather, nothing else will be visible because it’s going to block out the sun. There are actually different categories of solar eclipses. For example, a partial solar eclipse happens when a portion of the […]
For centuries, inventors have been pursuing the concept of a perpetual motion machine—a device that generates its own power and, like the Energizer Bunny on TV commercials, keeps “going, and going, and going…” Here are two real-life objects that are doing just that.
Humans aren’t the only creatures with fathers, of course—we’re just the only ones with an official Father’s Day where we buy them gifts to thank them. Here are some other proud poppas from the realm of the animals. Seahorses It’s one of those well-known pieces of trivia that among seahorses it’s the males who bear […]
One of the harsh realities of life in space is that in an emergency, astronauts may have to live in their spacesuits for days on end. If that ever does happen, how will they go to the bathroom? That’s the question NASA hopes to answer.
You’ve heard the expression “as slow as molasses moving uphill in winter”? Here’s the story of something even slower.
Uncle John knows pretty much everything—and if he doesn’t, he heads his massive research library, or puts one of his many associates on the case. So go ahead: In the comments below, ask Uncle John anything. (And if we answer your question sometime, we’ll send you a free book!)
In honor of the handful of humans who have left the planet, here are some stories about the other unique experiences that astronauts have had. Space Gas As part of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972, astronaut John Young became the ninth person to ever walk on the moon. But he’s the first to have […]
It shouldn’t be so pleasurable but it is: That bizarre taste sensation of super-sour and super-sweet that comes with sour candy. Here’s the science behind how candy makes can make things taste so sour. The main supplier of sour kick: citric acid. It’s found in, well, citrus fruits: lemons, grapefruits, limes, and oranges, for example. […]
A working kitchen needs just a few things to function: an oven, a stove, a fridge, and, of course, an automatic hot dog cooker. Hot Diggity Dogger Cooking hot dogs in the microwave: It takes about a minute for the wiener and 10 seconds for the bun. That’s just so complicated. Fortunately, there’s the Hot […]
Cell phone towers: They’re a necessary part of today’s world, keeping us all connected and able to access trivia book publishers’ blogs whenever we like. But they’re also an eyesore. Fortunately, some designers out there are doing their best to disguise cell towers as things a bit more pleasing to the eye. Cacti In the […]
Be kind to animals—the life they save may be…yours. Captain Kangaroo In 2003 Leonard Richards, 52, was checking his Tanjil South, Australia, emu farm for storm damage when a tree branch came crashing down on his head and knocked him out. Luckily for Richards, Lulu, his pet kangaroo who “thinks she’s a dog,” was following […]
Seafaring was a major foundation of the world economy in the 1700s and 1800s because of whaling. Hunting whales and processing their fat, teeth, and other parts into useful goods was extremely important and profitable. (So much so that whales are now mostly endangered.) Whaling is now banned virtually worldwide, but here’s a look back […]
Even for creative types, it can be hard to come up with a good title. (Trust us – we make books for a living.) Here are some of the original names proposed for some of the most popular video games of all time…which might not have been so popular had those names been used. Sonic […]
Saving the princess, running from ghosts, and playing a plastic guitar can be hard work, so sometimes video gamers need something beyond a standard joystick. Super Scope The original Nintendo Entertainment System in the ’80s came packaged with a small handheld “light gun.” Used in a bunch of games, it allowed gamers to shoot at […]
The key to treating to metabolic disease that affects more than 20 million Americans may lie inside the stomach of the duck-billed platypus. There are already many unique things about the platypus, the furry little creatures native to Australia. For example, it’s semi-aquatic, meaning it spends some of its time on land, and some in […]
In preparation for the inevitable day when robots rise up and take over the world, you may want to familiarize yourself with these recent advancements in robot technology. Clonebots Scientists at Cornell University have built a small robot that can make copies of itself. The robot is made of several 10-centimeter-wide modules, each of which […]
