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Ask Us Anything

PopSci editors answer your most-outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the ordinary to the off-the-wall.

Latest Ask Us Anything Stories

How Big Would A Meteorite Have To Be To Wipe Out All Human Life?

By Daniel Engber

/ Feb 26, 2015

Ask Us Anything: Can Body Fat Protect You Like A Built-In Cushion?

By Daniel Engber

/ Feb 6, 2015

Ask Anything: Can Plants Get STDs?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jan 2, 2015

Ask Us Anything: Are There Electronic Defenses Against Drones? [Video]

By Daniel Engber

/ Dec 17, 2014

How Did That Spiderweb Cross The Road?

By Daniel Engber

/ Dec 12, 2014

Could An Asteroid Impact Knock The Moon Into Earth? [Video]

/ Dec 7, 2014

Why Does Crying Make My Nose Run?

By Daniel Engber

/ Dec 4, 2014

Which Came First, The Chicken Or The Egg? [Video]

/ Nov 21, 2014

Ask Anything: What’s The Hottest Temperature Possible?

By Daniel Engber

/ Nov 14, 2014

Can You Fix A Machine By Smacking It?

By Daniel Engber

/ Nov 13, 2014

Why Does My Dog Kick When I Scratch His Belly?

By Loren Grush

/ Oct 27, 2014

Can You Get PTSD From A Virtual Experience?

By Daniel Engber

/ Oct 7, 2014

Is Screen Time Bad For Your Eyes?

By Daniel Engber

/ Oct 4, 2014

Where Does The Moon’s Smell Come From?

By Sarah Fecht

/ Aug 27, 2014

Ask Anything: Why Is Picking Up A New Language Easier As A Kid?

By Daniel Engber

/ Aug 26, 2014

Ask Anything: Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Brain Damage?

By Daniel Engber

/ Aug 22, 2014

What Happens When A Volcano Erupts Under A Glacier?

By Sarah Fecht

/ Aug 20, 2014

FYI: Can Praying Mantises Eat Hummingbirds?

By Douglas Main

/ Aug 18, 2014

Ask Anything: Can Humans Smell Fear?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jul 21, 2014

Ask Anything: How Long Can A Flower Live Once It’s Picked?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jul 3, 2014

Ask Anything: Would Cannibalism Make You Fat?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jun 27, 2014

Ask Anything: Could You Build A Spaceship Out Of Wood?

By Daniel Engber

/ May 27, 2014

Ask Anything: What Would People Eat In A Permanent Space Colony?

By Daniel Engber

/ May 15, 2014

Ask Anything: Can Insects Get Fat?

By Daniel Engber

/ Apr 23, 2014

Ask Anything: Why Do Some Birds Chirp While Others Gobble?

By Daniel Engber

/ Apr 2, 2014

Ask Anything: Wind Chill? Heat Index? Can’t We Combine Them?

By Daniel Engber

/ Mar 24, 2014

What Happens To Your Body When You Get Drunk And Stoned At The Same Time?

By Gabe Bergado

/ Mar 21, 2014

Ask Anything: Why Is The Milky Way A Spiral?

By Daniel Engber

/ Mar 4, 2014

Ask Anything: What Happens In Your Computer When You Turn It On?

By Daniel Engber

/ Feb 27, 2014

Ask Anything: Can You Hypnotize An Animal?

By Daniel Engber

/ Feb 21, 2014

Why Does White Noise Help People Sleep?

By Colin Lecher

/ Feb 17, 2014

Ask Anything: Is It Worse To Be Licked Or Sneezed On?

By Daniel Engber

/ Feb 5, 2014

Ask Anything: What Does Water Taste Like?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jan 30, 2014

Ask Anything: Do Plants Get Cancer?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jan 23, 2014

FYI: Did Dinosaurs Get The Flu?

By Daniel Engber

/ Dec 25, 2013

FYI: How Much Weight Can You Gain From Thanksgiving Dinner?

By Daniel Engber

/ Nov 28, 2013

FYI: Why Doesn’t Plan B Work For Heavier Women?

By Francie Diep

/ Nov 27, 2013

FYI: What’s The Most Durable Way To Store Information?

By Daniel Engber

/ Nov 26, 2013

FYI: Could A Virgin Birth Ever Happen?

By Daniel Engber

/ Nov 18, 2013

FYI: How Did English Get To Be The International Language Of Science?

By Daniel Engber

/ Nov 6, 2013

FYI: Can You Overdose On Halloween Candy?

By Shaunacy Ferro

/ Oct 31, 2013

How Long Could You Survive In A Coffin If You Were Buried Alive?

By Christina Cala

/ Oct 31, 2013

FYI: Why Do Leaves Turn Different Colors?

By Daniel Engber

/ Oct 28, 2013

FYI: Does Stress Make You Hungry?

By Daniel Engber

/ Oct 8, 2013

FYI: What Would Happen If You Got Zapped By The Large Hadron Collider?

By Daniel Engber

/ Oct 3, 2013

FYI: Do Cloned Wild Animals Have Instincts?

By Bjorn Carey

/ Sep 27, 2013

FYI: Can Wireless Electricity Kill People?

By Lizzie Schiffman

/ Sep 26, 2013

FYI: Is It Possible To Control Our Dreams?

By Kaitlin Miller

/ Sep 25, 2013

FYI: Do Insects Have Personalities?

By Daniel Engber

/ Sep 24, 2013

FYI: Why Do I Poop More When I Have My Period?

By Francie Diep

/ Sep 23, 2013

Are Acid Flashbacks A Myth?

By Shaunacy Ferro

/ Sep 23, 2013

Have Modern Scientists Made Any Advancements In Alchemy?

By Lana Birbrair

/ Sep 20, 2013

FYI: Can Humans Survive In A Completely Self-Sufficient Closed Environment?

By Ryan Bradley

/ Sep 19, 2013

FYI: Why Are Escalators So Dangerous?

By Ryan Bradley

/ Sep 17, 2013

FYI: How Forceful Is A Sneeze?

By Daniel Engber

/ Sep 17, 2013

FYI: Why Do Libraries Have That Smell?

By Shaunacy Ferro

/ Sep 16, 2013

FYI: What Happens If I Put Rocket Fuel In My Gas Tank?

By Sean Kane

/ Sep 13, 2013

Fact: You Carry Around Enough Bacteria To Fill A Large Soup Can

By Nick Statt

/ Sep 12, 2013

FYI: Can Snakes Really Be Charmed By Music?

By Ryan Bradley

/ Sep 11, 2013

FYI: How Do You Dispose Of Chemical Weapons?

By Kelsey D. Atherton

/ Sep 11, 2013

FYI: Can Anything Move Faster Than Light?

By Sarah Fecht

/ Sep 10, 2013

FYI: What Would Happen If Every Element On The Periodic Table Came Into Contact Simultaneously?

By Bjorn Carey

/ Sep 3, 2013

FYI: Can I Buy The Moon?

By Rebecca Boyle

/ Sep 2, 2013

How Long Would It Take To Walk A Light-Year?

By Jessica Cheng

/ Aug 30, 2013

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