Science Questions

You may have heard of Topsy the elephant and her sad demise at the hands of Thomas Edison. But what's the real story?

By Nathan Chandler

Nuclear plants provide the world with much of its electricity. Learn why Uranium-235 is ideal for nuclear power, in this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

Seven million (and counting) YouTube viewers can't be wrong. Nano quadrotors are tiny, autonomous flying machines that have the Internet buzzing.

By Chris Opfer

Bend but don't break: That's the idea behind many of these temblor-thwarting technologies. They may even allow a building's inhabitants to walk out unharmed and start picking up the pieces after the earthquake subsides.

By William Harris

Most loss of life in earthquakes comes from people being trapped inside crumbling buildings. And engineers have come up with many techniques to lessen the structural damage. But is there a way to make a building completely earthquake-proof?

By Laurie L. Dove

You stay behind at work and agree to close up alone. You go into the walk-in freezer to put away some food, and the door shuts behind you. You do everything you can think of, but you can't get it open. Now what?

By Katherine Neer

In movies, bad guys can take over an airplane and start shooting up the place. Wouldn't the plane explode or depressurize as soon as the bullet pierced its skin?

By Marshall Brain

A man has a gun. But this is no ordinary man, and this is no ordinary gun. This isn't a setup for a sci-fi thriller. It's the premise for quantum suicide.

By Josh Clark

Although spending time upside down can be good for overall health, doing so eventually can be fatal under the right conditions.

By Jesslyn Shields

You've seen them. Those iconic, mesmerizing liquid sculptures that dance inside a glass bottle, casting a warm and nostalgic glow. Yes, we're talking about the lava lamp. But, how do lava lamps work?

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors & Austin Henderson

In 1915, the great physicist predicted the existence of ripples in space-time called gravitational waves. A century later, scientists finally have detected them on Earth.

By Patrick J. Kiger

On its good days, science is incredible and enlightening. On its bad days, science can be anywhere from gross to downright bizarre. What are some of science's craziest questions? (And why did anyone want to answer them?)

By Jessika Toothman

"Objects in mirror are closer than they appear." That little line appears so often and in so many contexts, it's almost lost all meaning -- but why is it there, and what does physics have to do with it?

By Julia Layton

Why is the sky blue? What's relativity all about? If you're thinking, "something to do with light and physics and stuff," we have some short explanations for you.

By Patrick J. Kiger

If you step on a crack, you'll break your mother's back. Surely you know this jingle from childhood. It's a silly example of a correlation with no causation. But there are some real-world instances that we often hear, or maybe even tell?

By Nicholas Gerbis & Melanie Radzicki McManus

Gravity is great, but if we could figure out how to selectively reduce its effects, we could cut the energy demands of travel and transportation. Don't cheaper airline tickets sound pretty good?

By Robert Lamb

Gravity dictates the structure of the universe, from the way cosmic bodies form to the way they orbit more massive planets or stars. Has it always played such a starring role in our cosmic history?

By Robert Lamb