Ask Us Anything

Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the ordinary to the off-the-wall.

Latest in Ask Us Anything

A blue tit flies to a feeder in a garden, where a great spotted woodpecker is currently sitting.
Environment

Are backyard bird feeders safe? How to stop illness and intruders.

By Laura Baisas

a mother and child walk in beside an amtrak train parked at railroad station
Science

What happens if Amtrak gets privatized? 

By Mack DeGeurin

a mosquito under a microscope
Environment

What would a world without mosquitoes look like?

By RJ Mackenzie

white smoke coming out of a chimney
Science

What makes smoke black versus white?

By Laura Baisas

Passengers inside the cabin of a commercial airliner during flight. Shallow depth of field with focus on the seats in the foreground.
Science

Why are airline seats so small? It all started in 1978.

By Mack DeGeurin

Teenage boy in record store shopping for music
Science

What does ‘remastering’ an album actually mean?

By Tom Hawking

a spiral galaxy with red, white, and yellow stars, swirling around a bright, yellow, star in the center
Science

Is the universe really infinite? Astrophysicists explain.

By Lauren Leffer

An unrecognizable person doing full-body red light therapy (RLT) in a dark room surrounded by LED.
Health

Do infrared saunas work? What the science says. 

By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

small gumballs in bright colors including green, blue, red, pink, orange, white, yellow, and purple
Science

Chew on this: The 10,000-year history of gum

By Lauren Leffer

Close-up of Funny gigner cat sniffs at a cucumber on the table against gray background,
Environment

Are cats really afraid of cucumbers? We asked the experts.

By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

A man suffering from hay fever next to a flowering shrub.
Science

Why are some cities worse for allergies than others?

By Laura Baisas

water from a faucet fills a plastic cup
Health

Why is fluoride in water so controversial? The science of fluoridation, explained.

By Lauren Leffer

a wrinkly hand
Science

Why do our fingers wrinkle in water? It’s much deeper than skin.

By RJ Mackenzie

White SUV driving with passenger holding American flag
Technology

Why are cars bigger in the U.S.? It’s not just cheap gas.

By Kristin Shaw

Sant'Antiocho, Sardinia, Italy - May 6, 2008: A senior fisherman in a traditional cap squints at the camera at golden hour with the sea in the background in the fishing village of Sant'Antiocho. Close-up shot.
Health

Do people in blue zones actually live longer?

By Clarissa Brincat

colorful and fun web of polygons lines and small round particles floating randomly
Science

Why don’t molecules ever stop moving?

By Harriet Weber

Man shakes his head while being doused with water
Science

How is head hair different from body hair? 

By RJ Mackenzie

A postcard advertises the GM (or General Motors) Chevrolet Nova Custom coupe, seen from both the side and from the rear with the hatchback open, 1974. (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)
Technology

How do cars get their names? Art, science, and a legal process.

By Kristin Shaw

An Opened Prescription Medicine Bottle Among Many Other Sealed Bottles on Yellow Background High Angle View.
Health

How prescription drugs get their names

By Julia Craven

CALIFORNIA, USA - MAY 9: U.S. President Biden arrives at Moffett Federal Airfield of NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, United States on May 9, 2024.
Technology

Why does Air Force One take so long to replace? It’s not just bureaucracy.

By Mack DeGeurin