Is hydrogen a fuel? Or a battery?

Is Curiosity a political position? Should it be? Maybe.

Why does Washington D.C. look "broken"?

You know what a camel's hump contains, right? RIGHT?

A picture is worth 1,000 words, but which ones?

A moving mountain.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice has more accuracy in it than you might think.

Take one old swimming pool, add common objects from 1940s, and fill it with an inert gas. Then cover it with a seven foot stone slab, and you’ve created “The Crypt of Civilization."

The Sorcerer's Apprentice has more accuracy in it than you might think.

People read headlines and think they know the story. They often know less than they knew before.

Bottle messages are icons in our culture, and interest in them continues unabated. Here are some facts about messages in bottles that add to the romance.

Captain Cook named it Christmas Island, despite the fact that he actually arrived on Christmas Eve.

Prisoners Cinema plays 24/7. Even if you don't want it to.

I’m holding in my hand a deck of cards, and they’re wonderful.

Fire up a Google for a moment. Type in the words “How do you pronounce…” and then look at the autofill results. If you get the results I did, the first hit will be “gyro.’ Or is that “gyro” or “gyro”? The second hit will be “GIF.” An acronym is a word that’s made out […]

Most history buffs know that Japanese suicide pilots, know as Kamikaze, were devastating to allied vessels. The word “Kamikaze” means “divine wind,” and refers to a series of typhoons that wiped out invading Mongols off the Japanese coast in the 13th century. When the tide turned against the Japanese during World War II, they called […]

Ahh Bermuda, that beautiful Caribbean island filled where natives in grass skirts offer you exotic drinks under palm trees by a waterfall and where planes and ships suddenly disappear in vast numbers! Well, hopefully you picked up on the fact that everything in that sentence is wrong, except for the occasional palm tree. Let’s take […]

Words are powerful, but why do we have some words that are taboo or bad?

I made my wife a cup of coffee this morning, and an image of totem poles came to mind. You’re due an explanation. About ten years ago, James “The Amazing” Randi and I were in the small kitchen at the former James Randi Educational Foundation headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Most mornings, this rooms was […]

There’s a routine that’s been done only once, and it is arguably the greatest magic trick ever performed.

Chicago has a long history of fire. While the Chicago Fire is well known, there were several other fires that made national headlines, and none was deadlier than the Iroquois Theater fire of 1903. And this one changed your life. In an all too familiar story, something the “newest and best” was promoted as being […]

If I say “polka dots” you likely imagine dots of the exact same size evenly spaced on a highly contrasting background. And I’ll bet you’ve never thought of them like that before. But why do we call them that? In medieval times, dots were sometimes considered taboo, or sinister. Remember the black spot of Treasure […]

I’ve made a concerted effort not to bring up political views in anything the College of Curiosity does. Of course, my own political views will seep in from time to time, but my goal in producing this content is not to sway opinions, but to create more questions. Today, I have the same question on […]

Winter is coming. For those that live in the snow belt, it’s time to think about switching over to snow tires or at least check the all-seasons to make sure there’s enough tread there. Most modern tires have tread-wear indicators, but there’s always the tried and true Lincoln test…. stick an upside down US penny […]