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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

Classic FYI: Is It Ever OK To Drink Your Own Urine?

By Ryan Bradley

/ May 3, 2012

Why Does Coke From a Glass Bottle Taste Different?

By Doug Cantor

/ Jul 31, 2009

FYI: Do I Really Need My Pinky Toe?

By Sally Zhang

/ May 15, 2013

FYI: Which Emotion Is The Hardest To Fake?

By Emily Ferber

/ May 16, 2013

FYI: Do Wind Farms Make It Less Windy?

By Daniel Engber

/ May 20, 2013

FYI: Do Parasites Get Parasites?

By Daniel Engber

/ May 20, 2013

FYI: Can A Bionic Eye See As Well As A Human Eye?

By Alyssa Brewer

/ May 20, 2013

FYI: Where Is The Center of the Universe?

By Rose Pastore

/ Apr 20, 2012

FYI: Is the Glass Really Half-Full?

By Ryan Bradley

/ Apr 19, 2012

FYI: Could Climate Change Cause More (And Bigger) Tornadoes?

By Shaunacy Ferro

/ May 22, 2013

FYI: Are Unvaccinated Kids Really Causing The Whooping Cough Resurgence?

By Francie Diep

/ May 22, 2013

FYI: How Does Chewing Gum Freshen Breath?

By Brianna Keefe

/ May 23, 2013

Why Does Sunlight Lighten Hair But Darken Skin?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jun 6, 2016

FYI: When Did People Start Inventing Things In The Garage?

By Daniel Engber

/ May 27, 2013

FYI: What Is The Limit To How Fast A Human Can Run?

By Jia You

/ May 28, 2013

FYI: Do Other Animals Have Trouble With Wisdom Teeth?

By Amber Sasse

/ Aug 20, 2009

Why Does Mold Come In So Many Colors?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jun 9, 2015

FYI: Why Does Some Food Taste Bad To Some People And Good To Others?

By Emily Elert

/ Mar 27, 2012

FYI: Do We Really Get Cold Feet When We Have The Jitters?

By Suzee Skwiot

/ Jun 4, 2013

FYI: How Do Mosquitoes Survive Rainstorms?

By Meghan Cetera

/ Jun 5, 2013

FYI: Is There a Scientific Way to Measure How Bad a Fart Smells?

By Bjorn Carey

/ Sep 1, 2009

Why hasn’t the U.S. adopted the metric system?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jun 14, 2016

FYI: Why Do Kids Hate Brussels Sprouts?

By Ryan Bradley

/ Mar 14, 2012

FYI: Are People Born With A Tolerance For Spicy Food?

By Agneeta Thacker

/ Jun 10, 2013

FYI: Are Beer Bellies A Myth?

By Victoria Hilbert

/ Jun 11, 2013

FYI: What Makes Tattoos Permanent?

By Carley Lintz

/ Jun 13, 2013

Can Two People Repopulate Earth?

By Morgan Kinney

/ May 20, 2015

Are Men Or Women More Likely To Be Hit By Lightning?

By Natalie Avon

/ Sep 22, 2009

FYI: Will People Ever Evolve Out of Craving Unhealthy Food?

By Amber Williams

/ Feb 21, 2012

FYI: Do Competitive Eaters Have Unusual Stomachs?

By Bette Marston

/ Feb 20, 2012

FYI: Could A 3-D Movie Improve Your Vision?

By Colin Lecher

/ Jun 20, 2013

FYI: What Is the Oldest Toy in the World?

By Amber Williams

/ Feb 16, 2012

Do Babies Express Emotions In The Same Way Adults Do?

By Daniel Engber

/ May 15, 2015

Do Mice Really Adore Cheese?

By Scott Brown

/ May 11, 2015

FYI: Does The Komodo Dragon Really Kill With A Bacteria-Filled Bite?

By Dan Nosowitz

/ Jun 28, 2013

FYI: Do Animals Dream?

By Kaitlin Miller

/ Feb 1, 2012

FYI: Will Listening to Mozart Really Make Me Smarter?

By Joseph A. Bernstein

/ Jan 30, 2012

FYI: What Would Happen If You Shot Off Fireworks In Space?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jul 3, 2013

FYI: How Long-Running Is the Longest-Running Lab Experiment?

By Amber Williams

/ Jan 25, 2012

What Are The Least Essential Organs In The Human Body?

By Daniel Engber

/ Jul 9, 2013

FYI: What Is Hikikomori?

By Francie Diep

/ Jul 9, 2013

Ask Us Anything: Why Don’t Electric Eels Electrocute Themselves? [VIDEO]

By Daniel Engber

/ Apr 20, 2015

FYI: Why Do Humans Like Fizzy Drinks?

By Colin Lecher

/ Jul 17, 2013

How Much Can A Human Body Sweat Before It Runs Out?

By Julie Beck

/ Jul 17, 2013

FYI: If A Mosquito Bites Me After I’ve Had A Beer, Can It Get Drunk?

By Bjorn Carey

/ Jul 19, 2013

FYI: What’s the Point of Nose Hair?

By Amber Williams

/ Jan 4, 2012

FYI: Could A Human Beat A T. Rex In Arm Wrestling?

By Bjorn Carey

/ Jul 22, 2013

FYI: Why Does Lobster Turn Red When You Cook It?

By Shaunacy Ferro

/ Jul 24, 2013

Could An Asteroid Impact Knock The Moon Into Earth?

By Sandeep Ravindran

/ Jul 26, 2013

FYI: Why Is It Funny When A Guy Gets Hit In The Groin?

By Shaunacy Ferro

/ Jul 26, 2013

FYI: Could I Have Prevented My Nearsightedness If I’d Just Spent More Time Outside As A Kid?

By Francie Diep

/ Jul 26, 2013

FYI: How Long Would It Take Piranhas To Eat A Person?

By Catherine Schwanke

/ Jul 29, 2013

Could Dragons Have Existed If Evolution Had Taken A Different Turn?

By Bjorn Carey

/ Jul 30, 2013

Could a Human Beat a T. Rex In Arm Wrestling?

By Bjorn Carey

/ Oct 23, 2009

Ask Us Anything: How Common Is Scientific Fraud?

By Daniel Engber

/ Mar 30, 2015

Why Not Just Dispose Of Nuclear Waste In The Sun?

By Bjorn Carey

/ Jul 31, 2013

Do Skunks Hate The Smell Of Their Own Spray?

By Melissa Klein

/ Aug 1, 2016

Could There Be A Planet Hidden On The Opposite Side Of Our Sun?

By Danny Freedman

/ Aug 1, 2013

FYI: Why Does My Voice Sound Different When I Hear It On A Recording?

By Amber Sasse

/ Aug 5, 2013

FYI: Are Organs Ever Re-Donated?

By Lana Birbrair

/ Aug 6, 2013

FYI: Just How Old is Dirt?

By Bjorn Carey

/ Aug 8, 2013

Do Fish Get Out Of Breath?

By Daniel Engber

/ Mar 16, 2015

FYI: How Often Do Astronauts Do Laundry?

By Shaunacy Ferro

/ Aug 9, 2013

Can ‘Brain Freeze’ Cause Long-Term Brain Damage?

By Bjorn Carey

/ Aug 9, 2013

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