Life's Little Mysteries Home Archives
Where Did Chalkboards Come From?
January 18, 2013, Heather Whipps, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
Chalkboards, sometimes just pieces of wood painted with black, liquid slate, hit the wall in the early 19th century.
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Where Are Most of Earth's Volcanoes?
January 18, 2013, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
Many volcanoes lie where you can't see them.
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When Was Beer Invented?
January 18, 2013, Ben Mauk, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
Beer likely dates back to the dawn of cereal agriculture.
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New Data Shows Supermassive Black Holes Grow Faster Than Previously Thought
January 17, 2013, Nina Sen, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
Scientists previously thought supermassive black holes, located at the center of galaxies, increased their mass in step with the growth of their host galaxy.
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When Did April Fool's Day Begin?
January 17, 2013, Andrea Thompson, OurAmazingPlanet Managing Editor
No one knows when or why the celebration of practical jokes and pranks began.
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Why Does Outer Space Look Black?
January 17, 2013, Corey Binns, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
The color black usually signals the absence of light. But inside the solar system, space is filled with light.
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4,000 Year Old Shaman's Stones Found in Panama
January 16, 2013, Nina Sen, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
The stones represent the earliest material evidence of shamanistic practice in lower Central America.
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What's the Temperature in Outer Space?
January 16, 2013, Michael Schirber, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
Is space cold or hot? It depends on whether it's sunny or not.
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What's the Significance of 11/11?
January 16, 2013, Heather Whipps, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
Some people feel haunted by the number everywhere they go, claiming it's a nod from angels or a mystical sign of eleven's importance in math and science.
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What's the Origin of Chewing Gum?
January 16, 2013, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
Even ancient civilizations chewed gums made from trees and other plants.
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How To Clip Your Fingernails In Space
January 16, 2013, Nina Sen, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield shows us how he clips his fingernails while in space.
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What's the Most Popular Pet?
January 15, 2013, Andrea Thompson, OurAmazingPlanet Managing Editor
The answer is less clear than you might have thought.
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What's the Longest Lake in the World?
January 15, 2013, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
The longest lake in the world is also a very popular place to live.
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What's the Leading Cause of Death for the Elderly?
January 15, 2013, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
Surpisingly, it's something that can easily be avoided.
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Scientists Catch Virus in the Act of Infecting a Cell
January 14, 2013, Nina Sen, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
The researchers found that the T7 virus has six tail fibers folded back against its capsid.
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What's the Largest Recorded Volcanic Eruption?
January 14, 2013, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
It wasn't in Italy, but the city it buried has been dubbed "The Pompeii of the East".
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What's the Deepest Canyon?
January 14, 2013, Andrea Thompson, OurAmazingPlanet Managing Editor
Are you looking on Earth, or in the vast solar system?
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What's the Deadliest Natural Phenomenon?
January 14, 2013, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
Hurricanes may have a ferocious bark, but the bite of floods and droughts is worse.
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What's So Special About Darwin's Finches?
January 13, 2013, Robin Lloyd, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
People refer to "Darwin's finches" from time to time as a symbol of evolution in the Galapagos Islands, but the father of evolutionary theory actually dropped the ball on those birds, collecting better...
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What's a Penny Made Of?
January 13, 2013, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
A penny is not what you think. Indeed, from 1783 to 1837, a cent was pure copper. But newer pennies are have a much different composition.
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What Was the First Museum?
January 13, 2013, Ben Mauk, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
The history of the public museum.
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Scientists Create Giant Tobacco Plants That Remain Young
January 13, 2013, Nina Sen, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
Normal tobacco plants grow for only about four months, then flower and die.
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Watch Science Fizzle, Pop, Expand, and Explode
January 12, 2013, Nina Sen, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
Heating the mercury causes it to react with oxygen, expand and form the serpentine ash.
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GRAIL's Final Moon Shots [VIDEO]
January 12, 2013, Nina Sen, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
The spacecraft was about six miles above the northern hemisphere of the moon's far side when the images were taken.
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What Was the Deadliest Day in American History?
January 11, 2013, U.S. Census Bureau
On Sept. 17, 1862, the battle of Antietam took thousands of lives.
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