Rob B. asks: Is the happy Chinese guy picture fake and who is the guy shown? For much of the early history of photography smiling in photographs was almost unheard of for various reasons. (See: When Did People Start Smiling in Photographs?) Despite this, a photo of a Chinese man, dubbed by the masses on the internet, “the happiest man […]
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Valerie C asks: Can staying awake too long really kill you? Every college student knows the eye-stinging pain of a caffeine-induced all-nighter. It’s been well documented that prolonged sleep deprivation will lead to lower cognitive and motor function, as well as impaired memory; it might even give you the tired-giggles. No one has ever definitively shown why sleep is necessary […]
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Gianna D. asks: On movies the guards outside of Buckingham palace can’t move while on duty, is this true? “The Queen’s Guard” comprise of various soldiers tasked with guarding the residences of the Queen and, by extension, the Queen herself. Consisting of soldiers (mostly) hand picked from five elite regiments within the British military, the Queen’s Guard are internationally renowned […]
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George asks: Weird question, but do trees poop? A wise man once said, “Everybody poops.” Well that should probably be changed to everything poops, because all living things excrete waste. This brings us to a brilliant question posed by a reader whose head we’d love to crack open and see what’s going on inside- do trees poop? As it so […]
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Ana D. asks: Do mounted police officers have to clean up their horse’s poop? Mounted police are a common sight in many cities across the world; a reasonable sized draft horse, which is usually what such officers use, produces about 40 pounds (18 kg) of feces per day or about 14,000 pounds (roughly 7,000 kg) per year (not to mention […]
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Ross T. asks: When people leave a house to their pet cat or dog, do the pets really get the house? How are things like paying taxes and upkeep handled? To a lot of people the idea of a person leaving money in their will to a pet instead of a charity or, you know, their own family or friends, […]
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Jessica H. asks: What happens to people you hear about who fall over in museums and damage priceless works of art, do they have to pay damages? If you’ve ever walked through a museum or an art gallery you may have noticed that a lot of the art and historical treasure on display is completely exposed. In fact, with the […]
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What Would Jesus Do?, often shortened to WWJD? or W.W.J.D. is a slogan so famous that millions of objects have been emblazoned with it. However, the person who came up with “W.W.J.D.” never saw a penny of the millions of dollars companies across the globe have made from it. The earliest known instance of the full slogan “What Would Jesus Do” […]
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Jack A. asks: Is it true that McDonalds gives out special cards that give you free food for the rest of your life? If so, how do I get one? Like the American Express Centurion Card – a hyper-exclusive charge card only gifted to the wealthiest of individuals – there exists equivalently exclusive cards issued by both McDonald’s and Burger […]
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Joshua F. asks: Is it true that in the UK they have big power surges every time soap operas end because everyone makes a cup of tea at the same time? At first glance the idea of the UK being simultaneously addicted to both trashy soaps and tea to such an extent that the country’s national power grid experiences a […]
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Kelley M. asks: Is a guy’s hand or foot size actually a good indicator of the length of their penis or is that a myth? Given that public nudity is generally considered unacceptable in most of the modern world (and if you’re wondering, see: When Did Humans Start Wearing Clothes?), people have long tried to come up with other potential […]
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Blake M. asks: Does the queen of England have any real power anymore or is her position just ceremonial at this point? A short while ago we wrote about the fact Queen Elizabeth II needs neither a passport nor driving license thanks to a quirk of British law. But what other powers does the Queen of many titles have and […]
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John T. asks: Is it true that there’s a special black credit card they only give to billionaires that they can buy anything with? Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s there was a legend that was passed around speaking of a special credit card only issued by American Express to people with more zeroes in their bank balance than […]
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Becky asks: When did women start growing out and painting fingernails? On humans and other primates, nails are a flattened version of a claw which likely developed to aid in gripping and climbing. However, they can also act as a visible “health report.” Someone in poor health, or infected by a fungus, might have yellow, brittle nails, while someone in […]
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Julia C. asks: Why do you get a lump in your throat when you are sad? If, like me, you’ve been subjected to watching The Notebook with your spouse, you might have experienced an uncomfortable lump in your throat. As you attempt to breath heavy and avoid crying like a little kid who has just skinned her knee, you might […]
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Joseph B. asks: How long would it take to count to a million? What about a billion? What’s the highest anyone has ever counted? Counting is one of life’s most basic skills and something most humans are quite adept at. Despite most of us being experts on the subject, theoretically capable of counting infinitely high with the ceiling bounded only […]
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Shannon D. asks: How come people who smell really bad can never seem to smell their own stench? Have you ever sat next to a woman on a bus who lost her sense of smell? Or, at least, you assume so as the eye-watering fragrance wafting from her perfume is so overpowering that the nausea it induces makes you appreciate […]
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Jack T. asks: What happens when a town votes to make a cat or something mayor? Surely the cat needs an assistant, right? Do they have official duties? Salary? Do they pay taxes? How do the townspeople actually take care of things the mayor should be doing? Inquiring minds want to know. We’ve talked before about animals who’ve gone above […]
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