Byron T. asks: Why do bananas go bad faster in the refrigerator than at room temperature? If by “go bad” you mean that the banana peel gets incredibly grotesque looking, then this is true. However, if you mean that the inside gets all mushy and tastes awful, a-la extreme over ripeness, or the old wives’ tale that bananas in the […]
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J.Temple asks: Why are the Olympians wearing colored tape on random parts of their bodies? The colored tape the Olympians and other athletes wear is called “Kinesio® Tex Tape”, which is essentially just an elastic cotton strip with an acrylic, heat activated adhesive. The tape was designed in the 1970s by a Japanese chiropractic and acupuncture specialist, Kenzo Kase. To […]
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Kelly asks: Why do Olympians bite their medals? According to four time Olympic medalist Summer Sanders, mainly because the photographers incessantly ask them to until they do it, usually at the end of the podium photo shoot sessions. The tradition probably stems from the age old practice of testing whether something was really solid gold or not by biting it. […]
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Kelly asks: Do Olympic medalists receive cash prizes with their medals? Some are awarded cash prizes by their respective local Olympic committees or governments. Also, sometimes private businessmen will match values given, such as in Armenia where a man donated $700,000 to be added to the cash given by the Olympic committee for medals. Another similar thing occurred for Belarus […]
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Kelly asks: How much are Olympic gold medals worth? As far as the value of the raw materials in them, this varies from Olympiad to Olympiad. For the recent 2012 Olympics in London, the medals were the largest of any in Summer Olympic history up to that point, weighing in at 400g for the gold medal. Of this 400g, 394g […]
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Rebecca S. asks: The other day you answered why the Oscars are called the Oscars, now why are the Emmy Awards called “Emmy”? This one’s got a more succinct and well documented answer than the Oscar question. Pioneering TV engineer (and third American Academy of Television Arts President) Harry Lubcke suggested that the name “Immy” be used, named after the […]
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vipman.g asks: Why is there a light in my refrigerator and not in my freezer? While your freezer doesn’t have a light (or is perhaps just burnt out; you should check! ;-)), in fact, many freezers do have a light or lights. As to why it seems somewhat common for a lot of freezers not to have lights, there are […]
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Jesse L. asks: Why are the Oscars called the Oscars? No one is 100% sure, though the popular theory is that the nickname for the “The Academy Award of Merit”, as it is actually named, was coined by Academy Award librarian and future Director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick. Supposedly she bestowed the nickname […]
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Nathan asks: Why does itching a mosquito bite make it itch more? It all comes down to your body’s histamine response to the female mosquito’s saliva. After the mosquito has drunk her fill of your blood, she leaves behind the cocktail that is her saliva. Your body’s response to this foreign substance is to produce a variety of antibodies to […]
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Sharon S asks: Why are beets red? Beets contain a pigment known as betalain, which incidentally is Latin for a certain type of common beet (Beta vulgaris). It was this type of beet that the betalain pigment was first extracted from. (It is contained in many different types of plants) Depending on which type of betalain pigment and the concentration […]
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Barefootangel asks: “I read your report on honey and have a question. Yesterday (June 21, 2012) I went to a farmer’s market and while there I tried a teaspoon of raw honey. It left an awful taste and certainly did not taste like good honey. I helped my grandfather with his hives and know how honey should taste. After leaving […]
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Abi asks: What causes dew to form on grass and why does dew only form in the mornings? Actually, dew can form at any time; it just needs the right weather/temperature patterns to make it happen. However, nighttime is usually the primary period when the factors that cause dew to form are just right. Although, as an example of when […]
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Chelsea asks: Why are potatoes called “spuds”? Among other definitions, a “spud” is a “sharp, narrow spade” used to dig up large rooted plants. Around the mid-19th century (first documented reference in 1845 in New Zealand), this implement of destruction began lending its name to one of the things it was often used to dig up, namely potatoes. This caught […]
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Kyle asks: Why do doughnuts have holes? Because bakers make them that way… 😉 In truth, nobody knows for sure why people started putting holes in the fried cakes. There are some outlandish tales from a sailor, Captain Hanson Gregory, who claimed to have invented the holed doughnut in 1847 at the age of 16. There is even a plaque […]
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Emma asks: Why does your nose runs when you cry? Well when you’re crying, if you find your nose running and your feet smelling, perhaps you’re upside down? *crickets* In truth, your nose runs when you’re crying because the tears from your tear glands not only drain out onto your face, but there is also a passage way in the […]
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Ali asks: What is the origin of Spelling Bee contest, its rules and regulation and interesting facts about it, the first winner, etc? Though spelling competitions were very likely around long before “spelling bees”, the first documented case of a spelling bee called such was in 1825. It wasn’t until a century later that the first National Spelling Bee was […]
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Carl F. states: During WWII, I saw my father go to get a physical for the Navy, when he returned home for a week before shipping out he had red ink on the back of his hand that took 2 or 3 days to wash off. He said after the physical if you passed they would brush red ink on […]
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J. Doherty asks: How do Honey bees produce a queen bee? I mentioned this in an article on Honey bees a couple years ago in the Bonus Facts, but for those who missed it, Honey bees create a queen bee for a few different reasons, such as the death of the previous queen bee, if the hive gets overpopulated resulting […]
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