http://www.wonderquest.com/ WonderQuest: a monthly science question and answer column/blog that solves the mysteries people wonder about. http://www.wonderquest.com/00-little-pix-border-ant.jpg http://www.wonderquest.com/ Biological clocks exist and you have one. Why you can set your alarm clock and wake up when you want takes us to the frontiers of knowledge. Here's how an alarm system that bees learn works. http://www.wonderquest.com/circadian-rhythm.htm How many and what ratio of men and women do we need to create a healthy human population on another planet? How many: About 160 original pioneers can do the job.  Ratio: 50 - 50. Now let's delve into how we got the numbers --- sex and genes. http://wonderquest.com/space-colonization.htm Learn the cause of this mysterious glow sailors see on tips of masts and land lubbers on lightning rods and in neon tubes. It's a spark sustained by an electric field and sharp-tip geometry. http://weatherquesting.com/st-elmos-fire.htm Why does pop explode when shaken? Pressure and whirlpools... http://wonderquest.com/spewing-soda-can.htm Why don't ants die when falling from a high distance? http://wonderquest.com/falling-ants.htm Gravitation tends to reduce distances between objects with mass, whereas cosmic expansion tends to increase distances. But the diameter of galaxies, for example, remains constant. So, at what scale does cosmic expansion start dominating gravitation? http://wonderquest.com/expanding-space.htm They only run for short bursts. Do they run out of breath? http://www.wonderquest.com/can-lizards-breathe-while-running.htm Why do the tips of your fingers shrivel like a raisin when you stay in the water too long? http://wonderquest.com/pruny-fingers.htm Can we clone dinos, if we have a blood sample? http://wonderquest.com/cloning-dinos.htm Why are we always able to sense it when someone is looking at us? http://wonderquest.com/someone-looking-at-us.htm What is the fastest object in the Universe? http://www.wonderquest.com/fastest-speed.htm Do boat windshields shatter often? http://www.wonderquest.com/boat-windshield-eclipse-squirrels.htm How does cloning work? http://wonderquest.com/cloning.htm If a human yawns in front of a monkey, will the monkey yawn? http://wonderquest.com/monkey-yawn-wiki.htm If we see a full moon tonight, will there be a full moon on the other side of the world tomorrow? http://www.wonderquest.com/full-moon-times-across-earth.htm If I put a small burning candle on the middle of a dish, fill the dish with water, and cover the candle with an inverted glass — why does the candle go out and the water flow into the glass? http://www.wonderquest.com/candle-out.htm How does lightning kill?  How does it injure people? http://www.weatherquesting.com/how-lightning-kills.htm What caused the natural selection for eye color?? http://www.wonderquest.com/eye-color-evolution.htm Can crocodiles live in the sea? http://www.wonderquest.com/saltwater-crocodiles.htm Adding salt helps to melt road ice and freeze ice cream — why the different effect? Eye-color genetics, Unhappy scorpions http://www.wonderquest.com/ice-cream-eye-color-scorpions.htm Is an 'Evil' gene nonsense? If lightning strikes a tornado... http://www.wonderquest.com/evil-gene.htm If a man has twins running in his family, can he in any way cause his sex partner to become pregnant with twins? http://www.wonderquest.com/twins-heredity-sundog-name.htm Why are Sundogs called sundogs? http://www.wonderquest.com/twins-heredity-sundog-name.htm#sundog Exactly how many little legs are on a millipede? Which ball hits harder --- plastic or clay? http://www.wonderquest.com/collision-times-millipede-legs.htm Strange bath laws, Can fish feel pain? How many rings does Saturn have? http://www.wonderquest.com/bath-laws-fish-pain-saturn-rings.htm Is there wind on the moon? If not, why does the photograph of the astronauts on the moon show the flag extended? http://www.wonderquest.com/moon-flags.htm Do octopuses make any sound? http://www.wonderquest.com/octopus-sounds.htm Why do hurricanes spin counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere? http://weatherquesting.com/hurricane-spin.htm Why can't wood melt? http://www.wonderquest.com/wood-cant-melt.htm Do grasshoppers sleep? http://www.wonderquest.com/grasshoppers-sleep.htm Has anyone every actually set off a gasoline explosion using a cell phone pumping gas?  http://www.wonderquest.com/cell-phone-gasoline-pump.htm How come big birds don't take a whack at little birds harassing them? Do the big birds feel threatened or just annoyed? http://www.wonderquest.com/mobbing-big-birds.htm Do wolves run and walk on their toes? Why? http://www.wonderquest.com/wolves-run.htm What materials are used in black boxes, and how do they prevent it from destruction? http://www.wonderquest.com/black-boxes.htm How do chameleons change color? http://www.wonderquest.com/chameleons.htm Is daydreaming, rather than being just a form of goofing off, the mechanism by which the brain processes learn material while awake? http://www.wonderquest.com/daydreaming.htm Does copper corrode in salt water? What is the average life span of a grasshopper? Who invented the water faucet? http://www.wonderquest.com/copper-grasshopper-faucet.htm Why do leaves change color in the fall? http://www.wonderquest.com/FallColors.htm Is genetically modified food good to eat? What happens to genes we eat? What insect has the longest life span? http://www.wonderquest.com/gm-genes-insect.htm In America, a billion has 9 zeros (1,000,000,000). Why does this word contain a "bi" (indicating two), when there are three triplets of zeroes? And why does a billion have 12 zeroes (1,000,000,000,000) in Britain? http://www.wonderquest.com/Billions.htm What is Vacuum, such as in Space, is there vacuum between the atoms of water molecules? Is Vacuum a squishable-stretchable thing? http://www.wonderquest.com/vacuum.htm Why leg cramps are called 'Charley Horses'; How to stop them http://www.wonderquest.com/charley-horse.htm I have a television set that displays the text of what people say. How does it work? http://www.wonderquest.com/ClosedCaptions.htm Why do evergreen trees, such as pine trees, have needles, while other trees, such as maples, have flat leaves, which are shed in the fall? http://www.wonderquest.com/PineNeedles.htm Do fish get carried over Yosemite waterfalls? Or do they know to stay away from the edge? Do fish go over Niagara Falls? Do they live? http://www.wonderquest.com/fish-over-falls.htm What land mammal migrates the farthest, What are the orange marks on envelopes, What are lichen? http://www.wonderquest.com/envelope-lichen-caribou.htm Why is there such a difference (30 to 60 minutes) between high-tide times for two neighboring coastal cities --- only 15 miles apart http://www.wonderquest.com/UntimelyTides.htm Also: Seeing the Leonid meteor shower http://www.wonderquest.com/smellflower-smellrain-quitsmell-leonids.htm Also: Origin of the Moon, Fall-leaf color in a drought http://www.wonderquest.com/junk-moon-leaves.htm Does lightning strike indoor swimming pools? Has anyone ever been hurt or killed? http://www.weatherquesting.com/indoor-pools.htm Moths aren't attracted to light, Why stainless steel is stainless, How kites fly http://www.wonderquest.com/moth-stainless-steel-kite.htm What causes radium watches to glow? http://www.wonderquest.com/radium.htm How long is a chameleon tongue and why do escalators handrails go faster than the stairs? http://www.wonderquest.com/escalators-chameleon-tongue.htm Do we have any cells in our body that are with us from birth to death? http://www.wonderquest.com/lifetime-cells.htm Can ostriches swim? http://www.wonderquest.com/ostrich-swims.htm Why does children's hair darken; What causes candles to burn very fast? http://www.wonderquest.com/hair-color-candles.htm I have read that weasels sometimes perform a 'hypnotic dance' to mesmerize their prey before attacking them. Any truth to this notion? Why can't you cut old glass with a scoring tool? Is glass really a super-cooled liquid? http://www.wonderquest.com/weasels-glass.htm Do scorpions drink water? Is the dark side of the Moon always dark? http://www.wonderquest.com/scorpions-moon.htm What is the optimal relative humidity for a swamp cooler to work? Please show a humidity/temperature chart. Why is the ground darker after a rain? http://www.wonderquest.com/swamp-cooler-humidity.htm Can scientists create a black hole in a laboratory? What would it take to create a black hole in a lab? http://www.wonderquest.com/black-holes-lab.htm How many teeth do ants have? Why do people only snore when they are asleep? http://www.wonderquest.com/ant-teeth-snoring.htm Can scientists create a black hole in a laboratory? What would it take to create a black hole in a lab? http://www.wonderquest.com/black-holes-lab2.htm Can scientists create a black hole in a laboratory? What would it take to create a black hole in a lab? http://www.wonderquest.com/black-holes-lab3.htm What is the surface like on Jupiter? Where did the word 'grapefruit' come from? http://www.wonderquest.com/jupiter-grapefruit.htm Do fireflies have fires inside them? If they don't, how do they light up? http://www.wonderquest.com/Fireflies.htm Recently we were sitting outside and heard a bizarre noise coming from something flying over our heads. We realized it was a couple of swans, and we are now trying to figure out what the noise was. Can you help? http://www.wonderquest.com/swans.htm Why do shrimp and lobsters turn orange when cooked? http://www.wonderquest.com/OrangeShrimp.htm Why do light bulbs get real bright just before they burn out? http://www.wonderquest.com/BrightBulbs.htm Why do helium balloons come down after a few days? Can't they make balloons that keep helium in? http://www.wonderquest.com/Balloons.htm Why are Indian Corn kernels different colors? http://www.wonderquest.com/IndianCorn.htm I know it's just a joke, about astronauts cleaning bugs off their windshield. But do astronauts really see bugs in space? http://www.wonderquest.com/space-bugs.htm