Life's Little Mysteries

Here's why you sometimes hear a hum when you turn on an electric device or walk near a transformer.

How long could you walk in a straight line? What if the path meandered?

Humans have sent many species to extinction, but can other animals do the same?

Of all the living animals in the world, these are the ones with the longest arms, relative to body size.

Here's why you may start tearing up while slicing an onion.

Is there any truth to the tale that daddy longlegs are the most venomous spiders?

Here's why flat world maps always have distortions.

Here's how much water is in Earth's atmosphere at any one time.

Here's what it's like inside a kangaroo's pouch, where joeys can live for up to one year.

Cannabis has long been called "skunky." Turns out, stinky sulfurous compounds are to blame.

Humans will likely never run out of regular, mundane ideas, but whether will will run out of big ideas is a more nuanced issue.

Here's why wisdom teeth usually don't come in until the ages of 17 to 21.

Do scientists know if Earth is shrinking or expanding, and if this difference over time will threaten life on our planet?

Here's how the term "horsepower" got its start and why we still use it today.

Here's what historians have to say about whether Benjamin Franklin really flew a kite tied to a key during a lightning storm.

Researchers have several ideas as to why people sometimes stick out their tongues when they're concentrating.

Other mountains could be considered Earth's tallest; it just depends how you measure them.