Ask Us Anything

Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the ordinary to the off-the-wall.

Latest in Ask Us Anything

a person's hands typing on a laptop keyboard
Technology

How do chatbots work?

By Popular Science Team

robot doctor talks to elderly person sitting in chair
Health

Will we ever be able to trust health advice from an AI?

By Keith Wagstaff

A person wearing running shorts holding their thigh on a beach, potentially wondering what happens when you pull a muscle, because they probably just did.
Science

Here’s what really happens when you pull a muscle

By Nicole Wetsman

engineers working on voyager 2
Science

How is Voyager’s vintage technology still flying?

By Popular Science Team

Magnetic tape and Blu-Ray Discs for data storage forming an infinity sign on a yellow background. Illustrated.
Technology

Inside the search for the best way to save humanity’s data

By Charlotte Hu

Red and pink pill on yellow background with Swiss army knife coming out of it to symbolize off-label use of medications. Illustrated.
Health

Viagra and the abortion pill can treat multiple illnesses. But how?

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

An airplane taking off toward the camera at dusk, with lights along the runway and on the front of the plane, against a cloudy reddish sunset.
Technology

Let’s talk about how planes fly

By Rob Verger

illustration of person at computer with devil horns and cloven hooves
Health

Does playing devil’s advocate do more harm than good?

By Julia Craven

illustration of astronaut floating in space
Science

How astronauts pull off dangerous spacewalks

By Maria Parazo Rose

illustration of people on rollercoaster
Health

4 of the most extreme amusement park rides on the planet

By Purbita Saha

illustration of woman navigator
Technology

Voyagers made it to Hawaiʻi thousands of years ago with no compasses. Here’s how.

By Kat Eschner

illustration of pufferfish on a fork
Health

Deadly and delicious: These 6 foods can actually kill you

By Charlotte Hu

illustration of free-falling woman
Science

Why do we love watching people defy death?

By Leigh Cowart

a woman looks in the mirror as she pinches a pimple on her check with her two pointer fingers
Science

Why some people find pimple popping so grossly satisfying

By Chelsey B. Coombs

x-ray of impacted wisdom tooth
Science

We finally know why we grow wisdom teeth as adults

By Sara Chodosh

Bees hanging onto each other
Science

Do we still need to save the bees?

By Philip Kiefer

Germs and dirt around a playful child illustrated
Science

Children are grimy, and that’s (mostly) ok

By Jesse Greenspan

An hypothetical illustration of society running on garbage.
Science

Is trash a form of renewable energy?

By Sara Kiley Watson

Person with brown curly hair on a tablet looking unhappy while going back to work after vacation
Science

Why you hate going back to work after vacation

By Jordan Blok

Jack Russell terrier dog facing a podcast microphone to record a science show
Science

Our favorite science podcast episodes of 2021

By PopSci Editors

What happens if you eat too many Tums?
Science

What happens if you eat too many Tums?

By Claire Maldarelli

Is it safe to take expired medication?
Science

Is it safe to take expired medication?

By Nicole Wetsman

Person in gray exercise shirt and pink running tights with a side stitch
Science

When you get a stitch in your side, what’s really going on?

By Nicole Wetsman

Why do marathon runners get the runs?
Science

Why do marathon runners get the runs?

By Ellen Airhart

Will cracking my knuckles give me arthritis?
Science

Will cracking my knuckles give me arthritis?

By Nicole Wetsman

Antibiotic pills which are one of the causes of recurrent UTIs
Science

Why your UTI keeps coming back

By Cassidy Mayeda

Why do my muscles ache the day after a big workout?
Science

Why do my muscles ache the day after a big workout?

By Sara Kiley Watson

art illustration with a bushel of apples
Science

Did food taste better 50 years ago?

By Claire Maldarelli

the sun as seen with x-rays
Science

What would happen if the sun went out?

By Holly Otterbein

art illustration of the sun
Science

What happens when the sun burns out?

By Rahul Rao

the sun as seen with x-rays
Science

How close can you get to the sun? Closer than you’d think.

By Alessandra Calderin

art illustration of person reaching for their toes
Science

Why can’t we all touch our toes?

By Claire Maldarelli

a nose smelling the stars (illustration)
Science

What does space smell like?

By Lizzie Schiffman

A child doing homework at a table
Science

Kids are onto something: Homework might actually be bad

By Stan Horaczek

art illustration of a person drinking from a bucket.
Science

How much water should you drink in a day?

By Claire Maldarelli

Some dinosaurs on the PopSci Ask Us Anything podcast background.
Science

What would a dinosaur taste like?

By John Kennedy

art illustration of woman with open mouth and laptop
Science

What would happen if I ate my computer? Asking for a friend.

By Ellen Airhart

art illustration with vintage painting/sculpture
Science

A complete guide on how to safely take, send, and store nudes

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

art illustration with a mug of beer
Science

What is a hangover? And can you cure it?

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

How to eat sweet foods on a healthy diet
Science

How to eat sweet foods on a healthy diet

By Claire Maldarelli

The Ask Us Anything logo with an illustrated heap of potatoes.
Science

Ask Us Anything: Can you survive on a single food forever?

By Claire Maldarelli, Jessica Boddy

Types of bread for a bread and water diet
Science

Can you live on bread and water alone?

By Claire Maldarelli

How many hours of sleep do you actually need?
Science

How many hours of sleep do you actually need?

By Claire Maldarelli

You can injure yourself stretching—but it’s not easy
Science

You can injure yourself stretching—but it’s not easy

By Claire Maldarelli

What Makes A Boomerang Come Back?
Science

What Makes A Boomerang Come Back?

By Kirstin Fawcett

Lava
Science

Why don’t we just throw all our garbage into volcanoes?

By Mary Beth Griggs

You might be overusing hand sanitizer
Science

You might be overusing hand sanitizer

By Claire Maldarelli

Do animals have orgasms?
Science

Do animals have orgasms?

By Shaunacy Ferro

FYI: Do Fat People Stay Warmer Than Thin People?
Science

FYI: Do Fat People Stay Warmer Than Thin People?

By Daniel Engber

tons of potatoes
Science

Is there a single food that you can survive on forever?

By Ellen Airhart

crowd in swimming pool
Science

Peeing in the pool is actually really bad for you

By Claire Maldarelli

A trio of giraffes from the necks up against a cloudy sky backdrop.
Science

Ask Us Anything: Why do humans stop growing?

By Claire Maldarelli, Jessica Boddy

an illustrated man with a magnifying glass held up to his eye
Science

Ask Us Anything: Why can’t we see more colors?

By Claire Maldarelli, Jessica Boddy

woman sneezing into a tissue
Science

Ask Us Anything: What are allergies?

By Claire Maldarelli, Jessica Boddy

Ask Us Anything: What happens in your brain when you daydream?
Science

Ask Us Anything: What happens in your brain when you daydream?

By Claire Maldarelli, Jessica Boddy

an artist's interpretation of a virus over top of the ask us anything logo
Science

Ask Us Anything: Can viruses be good for us?

By Claire Maldarelli, Jessica Boddy

astronaut on spacewalk
Science

Ask Us Anything: What happens to your body when you die in space?

By Shannon Stirone

trash falling into a volcano under the ask us anything logo
Science

Ask Us Anything: Why can’t we burn our trash in volcanoes?

By Claire Maldarelli, Jessica Boddy

The Ask Us Anything logo with an illustrated black hole
Science

Ask Us Anything: What would happen if you fell into a black hole?

By Claire Maldarelli, Jessica Boddy

If The Sun Went Out, How Long Would Life On Earth Survive?
Science

If The Sun Went Out, How Long Would Life On Earth Survive?

By Holly Otterbein

If Snow And Rain Come From The Ocean, Why Aren’t They Salty?
Science

If Snow And Rain Come From The Ocean, Why Aren’t They Salty?

By Sophie Bushwick

Can Sour Candy Actually Damage Your Tongue?
Science

Can Sour Candy Actually Damage Your Tongue?

By Alyssa Clough

A bag of chocolate chip cookies holding up a sign that says "nutrition facts, one cookie, 320 calories"
Science

Why you can’t trust the calorie count on food labels

By Daniel Engber

How much chocolate would you have to eat for it to kill you?
Science

How much chocolate would you have to eat for it to kill you?

By Claire Maldarelli