Julia G. asks: Why do gas stations get to set their prices ending at 9/10ths of a cent, but nothing else is priced that way? The practice of pricing fuel with a fraction of a penny is thought to have started around the 1930s. While we can’t be sure who was the first to price fuel this way, it seems […]
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Our very good friends over at Neatorama are currently running a sale in their popular NeatoShop, including free world-wide shipping (yes, world-wide) on their awesome t-shirts. The sale ends tonight (Sunday) at 11:59pm. So if you’re looking to stock up on some T-shirts and other Neato stuff at a great price, go check it out now before the sale ends!
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Why “C” is the Default Hard Drive Letter in Many Computers For nearly as long as hard disk drives have been placed in personal computers running certain popular operating systems (notably MS-DOS/Windows), the primary hard disk has been designated with the […]
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Wrestling for honor and victory can be traced back to a least 4000 years ago, to the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia. The first great work of literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh, was written around 2100 BCE. In it, the two main characters Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, who was sent by the gods to challenge Gilgamesh over his appalling abuse […]
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It is undisputed that Josh Gibson was the greatest position player in Negro League history. He could field, throw, catch, and most of all, he could hit. His power was legendary. It was claimed by Chicago American Giants infielder Jack Marshall that Gibson hit a ball out of Yankee Stadium in 1934, in the history of the stadium the only player […]
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Nancy P. asks: How were raisins made before seedless grapes? Leaving fruit to dry out in the sun is one of the oldest and easiest ways of preserving this variety of food- our ancestors being the type to never waste anything edible, even if it is sometimes past its prime (see: The History of French Toast). Not only did dried […]
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Ladybugs, sometimes known as Ladybirds and less commonly Lady Beetles, are a rarity in the insect world in that they’re one of the few creepy crawly insects we as a species don’t actively dislike, due to their habit of eating the things that destroy our crops. But just how did this little insect get such a strange name? To start, […]
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Mark S. asks: Why does brown sugar form lumps but regular sugar doesn’t? When we say the word “sugar”, it’s highly likely that the first image to pop into your head is that of the ultra-fine, pure white granulated kind you can buy in most supermarkets. But how does this kind of sugar differ from the less popular brown kind, […]
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During WWI, when an Allied soldier wanted to read a map or letter at night, his choices were very limited- wait until it gets light, or risk exposing himself to enemy fire by firing up something like a bright lamp or lighter, if he had one. However, there was a seldom discussed third choice that was readily available- gather up […]
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Paul H. asks: Why doesn’t the moon have a cool name like the moons of other planets in our solar system? Almost every planet in our solar system and their respective orbiting moons have names taken directly from Greek and Roman mythology. For example, Mars is named for the Greek and Roman god of War, also known as Ares, while […]
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Julie N. asks: Why is “C” the default drive letter in computers? For nearly as long as hard disk drives have been placed in personal computers running certain popular operating systems (notably MS-DOS/Windows), the primary hard disk has been designated with the letter “C”. But why? The idea for designating different storage devices with simple letters is generally attributed to […]
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Sometimes the worst nightmares are the ones you don’t have. There are numerous conditions, disorders, and illnesses that either limit or prevents the amount of sleep an individual is able to get. Many of them are quite dangerous, but none of them are as frightening or rare as fatal familial insomnia. Prion diseases are a category of rare fatal brain […]
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Just wanted to say quickly that if you’re having the site freeze up on you on occasion right now, I’m aware of the issue and have tracked it down to a certain ad network’s ads being the culprit. I now have my ad people on it and they are attempting to track down which network within their network is serving […]
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Whether caused by a tumor, a stroke, a blow to the head, or they were just born that way, people with achromatopsia have a limited or no ability to see color. Each of the possible physical causes of the condition, such as a growing tumor or a brain hemorrhage, damage either the thalamus (a relay station in the brain for […]
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Don H. asks: Do car blinkers click naturally or is there some mechanism added to make the clicking noise to let you know your blinker is on? Motor vehicle directional signals have been around almost as long as cars, and as early as 1909, a device was patented that had hand-shaped lights that indicated to other drivers which way a […]
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Extending nearly 1.2 million square miles across Belarus and Poland, the 7,000 year old Białowieża Forest is home to more than 12,000 distinct species of plants and animals. Comprising the largest, and one of the last holdouts of, primeval forest in Europe, the Białowieża has been designated a World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations. As […]
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Through the latter half of the 19th century, Mark Twain was on a mission to attack pretense with satire. One of his most hilarious, if completely scandalous and by many standards inappropriate, works was a lecture he gave to The Stomach Club in 1879 about masturbation titled, “Some Thoughts on the Science of Onanism.” During the 19th century, medical practice […]
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Sean M. asks: Why does chicken go bad so much faster than other meats at room temperature? Food-borne bacteria are the primary cause of spoilage and food poisonings. Thriving in moist, low-acid environments where lots of protein is present, pathogens like Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli live with the bird during its life and stay with its meat after slaughter; […]
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