If you’ve ever careened into the sink on your way across the kitchen in the morning, you know a patch of spilled water is slippery. On a dry floor, the friction between your shoes and the floor’s surface keeps you from [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2012/01/30/how-come-ice-is-so-slippery/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2012/01/26/how-do-the-bodys-own-electric-currents-work/ http://www.how-come.net/2012/01/26/how-do-the-bodys-own-electric-currents-work/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:46:33 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://www.how-come.net/?p=146 How do the body’s own electric currents work? asks a reader.

In “I Sing the Body Electric,” a story by Ray Bradbury, an “electric grandmother” arrives to take care of a family of motherless children. This “grandmother” was a robot, but human grandmothers–and children–are electric, too. In fact, every body is electric. Just as the [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2012/01/26/how-do-the-bodys-own-electric-currents-work/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2012/01/22/why-do-a-few-big-ice-cubes-seem-to-melt-more-slowly-than-many-smaller-cubes/ http://www.how-come.net/2012/01/22/why-do-a-few-big-ice-cubes-seem-to-melt-more-slowly-than-many-smaller-cubes/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:23:21 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://www.how-come.net/?p=140 Why do a few big ice cubes seem to melt more slowly than many smaller cubes? asks a reader.

If the ice in your drive-through drink disappears on the short trip home, don’t blame the kid who filled your cup. Some of that crushed ice had vanished before your drink even settled into the cup [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2012/01/22/why-do-a-few-big-ice-cubes-seem-to-melt-more-slowly-than-many-smaller-cubes/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2012/01/22/how-come-your-reflection-in-the-bowl-of-a-spoon-is-upside-down/ http://www.how-come.net/2012/01/22/how-come-your-reflection-in-the-bowl-of-a-spoon-is-upside-down/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:09:44 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://www.how-come.net/?p=136 How come your reflection in the bowl of a spoon is upside down? asks reader Matthew Wiegert.

An ordinary mirror is made by coating one surface of a piece of glass with a thin layer of metal, like silver or aluminum. It’s this shiny metal that reflects your image. So a shiny, scratch-free metal spoon, [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2012/01/22/how-come-your-reflection-in-the-bowl-of-a-spoon-is-upside-down/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2009/10/08/how-come-yelling-on-a-mountain-can-start-an-avalanche/ http://www.how-come.net/2009/10/08/how-come-yelling-on-a-mountain-can-start-an-avalanche/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:36:38 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://www.how-come.net/?p=118 How come yelling on a mountain can start an avalanche? asks reader Paul Grinde.

Scream and bring down a roaring cascade of snow? It seems plausible, especially since a single person skiing in the wrong place can trigger an avalanche above. But researchers say that a human voice doesn’t have the power to move mass [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2009/10/08/how-come-yelling-on-a-mountain-can-start-an-avalanche/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2009/09/28/how-come-its-so-hard-to-break-a-piece-of-dry-spaghetti-in-two/ http://www.how-come.net/2009/09/28/how-come-its-so-hard-to-break-a-piece-of-dry-spaghetti-in-two/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:06:58 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://www.how-come.net/?p=112 How come it’s so hard to break a piece of dry spaghetti in two? Why does it break into more pieces? Also, when you slurp up a strand of cooked spaghetti, why does the pasta sauce fly off? asks a reader.

Spaghetti cooking

Before you is a pile of dry spaghetti. Your job, should [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2009/09/28/how-come-its-so-hard-to-break-a-piece-of-dry-spaghetti-in-two/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2009/09/12/how-come-there-are-bars-in-some-galaxies/ http://www.how-come.net/2009/09/12/how-come-there-are-bars-in-some-galaxies/#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:21:46 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://www.how-come.net/?p=105 How come there are bars in some galaxies? Or is this an illusion? asks George W. Bowman.

Actually, there are bars at the center of most spiral-shaped galaxies. But you won’t find any drunken Wookies or neon Budweiser signs, only vast sweeps of dust and stars.

A barred spiral galaxy

Galaxies are enormous, turning [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2009/09/12/how-come-there-are-bars-in-some-galaxies/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2009/08/17/how-come-flies-dont-fall-off-the-ceiling/ http://www.how-come.net/2009/08/17/how-come-flies-dont-fall-off-the-ceiling/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:54:03 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/?p=93 How come flies don’t fall off the ceiling? asks reader J. Jones.

If we could look closely at our ceilings, we’d see the crisscrossing paths of thousands of tiny footprints, left by flies, ladybugs, and other insects (as well as by spiders). In fact, the problem for flies and other bugs may not be holding [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2009/08/17/how-come-flies-dont-fall-off-the-ceiling/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2009/08/17/is-it-true-that-bumblebees-shouldnt-be-able-to-fly/ http://www.how-come.net/2009/08/17/is-it-true-that-bumblebees-shouldnt-be-able-to-fly/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:52:55 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/?p=91 Is it true that bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly? asks a reader.

No one’s sure where the myth started, but it has legs (er, wings): Bumblebee flight is impossible. According to the principles of aerodynamics, the story went, a big, fuzzy bumblebee, powered only by tiny wings, shouldn’t leave the ground. A French book [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2009/08/17/is-it-true-that-bumblebees-shouldnt-be-able-to-fly/feed/ 0 http://www.how-come.net/2009/08/17/when-youre-outdoors-and-it-starts-to-rain-does-running-rather-than-walking-to-the-nearest-shelter-really-keep-you-any-drier/ http://www.how-come.net/2009/08/17/when-youre-outdoors-and-it-starts-to-rain-does-running-rather-than-walking-to-the-nearest-shelter-really-keep-you-any-drier/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:51:38 +0000 Kathy Wollard http://how-come.net/?p=89 When you’re outdoors and it starts to rain, does running (rather than walking) to the nearest shelter really keep you any drier? asks a reader.

It begins to pour. You have no umbrella, or printed newspaper. (The internet, alas, won’t keep your head dry.) Never mind singing in the rain. The question is, To run [...]]]> http://www.how-come.net/2009/08/17/when-youre-outdoors-and-it-starts-to-rain-does-running-rather-than-walking-to-the-nearest-shelter-really-keep-you-any-drier/feed/ 0