Science Versus Myth

If the colonists hadn't eked out a victory against the mighty British Empire, what would have been their fate? Would leaders like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson have been executed?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Black holes have serious pull, and they're not afraid to use it. Could one of these skulking bad boys ever arise in our home, sweet (solar system) home?

By Nicholas Gerbis

It's all fun and games when you're on a deserted island. But eventually you're going to get really thirsty. How bad can glugging seawater be?

By Vicki M. Giuggio

You can say goodbye to the seven continents and hello to days that seem infernally long. What else awaits you on a spin-free Earth?

By Jonathan Atteberry & Desiree Bowie

Would the people of the world get along better if they spoke the same language? Or would it just be easier for us to hate each other?

By Colleen Cancio

Some malarkey is so believable that it's turned many of us into inadvertent purveyors of hogwash. What are 10 bits of malarkey that tend to slip through the "hey, wait a minute" filter?

By Julia Layton

Blood-sucking vampires and brain-munching zombies tend to hog all the undead credit, but we think ghouls deserve a macabre article all their own. Read it -- if you dare.

By Robert Lamb

Made of plain pine or shaped like a shoe, mourners may inter them, suspend them or set them ablaze. How much do caskets and coffins differ?

By Allison Wachtel & Desiree Bowie

The Tower card is one that people are afraid to draw. But what if the seemingly ominous tarot card is just misunderstood?

By Dominique Michelle Astorino

If you think chainsaws were first invented to take down a swath of trees, think again. The real story is much more cringe-worthy and involves cutting bones during childbirth.

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

"Safety coffins" were tricked-out caskets that provided a way for prematurely buried people to escape from 6 feet under, back when this fear was sometimes a frightening reality.

By Dave Roos

Indigo children are either here to save the world or need help with their undiagnosed ADHD, depending on your point of view. We explore this New Age concept in more detail.

By Alia Hoyt

In the Namib Desert, fairy circles have stumped researchers for decades. Where did they come from? One scientist thinks he's solved the mystery.

By Allison Troutner

When it comes to water witches we're faced with two distinct possibilities. One, they're either really good, at pulling a fast one on desperate landowners looking for groundwater. Or, two, they actually know what they're doing.

By John Donovan

You know you can't believe everything you see or hear. But between the misinformation on the Internet and our natural propensity to believe what we're told, it can be hard to tell fact from fiction. Here are 10 ways to avoid being conned.

By Patrick J. Kiger

The best photograph can't touch one. A death mask, in all its 3-D glory, is the last likeness of a loved one that a family can own. After all, it vividly preserves what some consider to be the very essence of a person -- the face.

By Erin Wright

These booming sounds are part of a mysterious phenomenon that's occurred for years around the U.S. and elsewhere in the world.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Are strange skeletons unearthed across the globe evidence that we're not alone, or are they simply more myths and legends that are bound to be debunked?

By Diana Brown

There's no doubt people are seeing lights. But are they really spirits of ghosts — or even aliens — or can these unusual lights be clarified with a simple explanation?

By Diana Brown

From plane crashes and deaths to sports superstitions and hexagrams, many people believe that the number 23 possesses magical properties.

By Patrick J. Kiger

You've heard this bit of hair care advice before, but is it true?

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

Whether you call it a contrast shower, a Scottish shower or a James Bond shower, it's guaranteed to wake you up. Here's why people are trying it.

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

Fire will turn a human's teeth to dust. But what about a dragon's?

By Robert Lamb

Can infrasound explain away ghosts, hauntings and other paranormal activity?

By Diana Brown

When a super-realistic android or video character gives us a creepy feeling, it enters the uncanny valley. Why do we get spooked, and what can we do to avoid it?

By Ed Grabianowski