Samurai swords are reputed to be among the best ever produced, a fact attested to by the practice of testing the swords on cadavers, usually those of condemned criminals. Just […]

Here’s a quick way to lose a new friend: ask them if they think that tattoo that seemed like such a good idea at age 22 will appeal at age […]

In her book Seabiscuit Laura Hillenbrand says 1930s jockeys trying to lose weight would swallow a capsule containing a tapeworm egg. The worms would then mature in the jockeys’ stomachs […]

Over the years I’ve noticed a variety of siren sounds for emergency vehicles. Is it true siren sounds have to be changed periodically, particularly in urban areas, to prevent drivers […]

A mechanic friend claims to have a gizmo that makes his vehicles run at least partially on water. It will work best on vehicles with carburetors—fuel-injected vehicles need tweaking of […]

One often hears references to rampant buggery among sailors in the glory days of the Royal Navy. Sometimes, its said, young boys called peg boys were on board solely for […]

I’m reading World War Z by Max Brooks, a fictional account of the world’s response to a zombie outbreak. In the book the U.S. military fails miserably in its first […]

We’ve all seen it in a movie: A small group of people are swimming. Someone gets hurt, blood touches water, and instantly sharks appear who then devour the party. But […]

What’s the straight dope on the world’s first powered flight? Sources claim people from New Zealand, Scotland, and France flew earlier than the Wrights, and one claims John Stringfellow from […]

I read your column “Do lightning rods really work?” [August 24, 2001], in which you note that fire-prevention folks were about to decide whether there was any scientific basis to […]

I’ve read that elephants are now exhibiting aggression previously unseen —including raping rhinos on the African savannah. Have we truly screwed up the elephants that much, or is this merely […]