Can Men Lactate?

Brenda V. asks: Is it true that men can breastfeed babies naturally? The ability to lactate exists in a variety of male animals, though male milk production is typically a rare occurrence. However, male Dayak fruit bats are commonly known to lactate. So what about human male lactation? Believe it or not, men can, in fact, lactate. Possessing all the […]

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The Transfermium Wars

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader If the Transfermium Wars raged from the late 1960s to the late 1990s, how is it that so few people have ever heard of them? Because they were fought by rival groups of scientists over who would get to name newly discovered chemical elements. PARENT TRAP When someone discovers a […]

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How George Washington Died, Why Rice Krispies Snap, Crackle, and Pop, Why Coke Tried to Switch to New Coke and More

In this week’s “best of” our YouTube channel, we answer such questions as how George Washington died, why Rice Krispies snap, crackle and pop, why Coke inexplicably tried to change their formula completely almost overnight, why lobsters turn red when you cook them, why poop is brown, why peppers taste hot and mint cold and why the traditional dog of […]

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Weekly Wrap Volume 131

This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. That Time Hoover Acciedentally Cost Itself Almost 50,000,000 by Giving Away Free Flights with the Purchase of a Vacuum Cleaner Giving away free stuff with a purchase is a good way to bolster sales and can result in a tidy increase […]

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Is Saccharin Bad for You, Why Do Amish Men Wear Beards but not Mustaches, Why Does Popcorn Pop and More

In this week’s “best of” our YouTube channel, we answer such questions as, why Amish men don’t wear mustaches, whether saccharin is bad for you, why popcorn pops, that time future president Andrew Jackson killed a man simply for verbally insulting him, why we measure time the way we do, and why braille is used in drive-up ATMs. Click here […]

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Inventing the Huddle

Mike P. asks: Who invented the huddle in football? Prior to the twentieth century, American football teams tended to call their plays via a quarterback simply giving signals while the team either stood in more or less a generic near-set position or back from the line a bit as the quarterback called out what they’d do next. So where did […]

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That Time Hoover Accidentally Cost Itself Almost £50,000,000 by Giving Away Free Flights with the Purchase of a Vacuum Cleaner

Giving away free stuff with a purchase is a good way to bolster sales and can result in a tidy increase in profits, provided you follow the general rule of making sure the long term projected profit from the promotion is greater than the cost of the giveaway. Appliance giant Hoover learned this seemingly obvious lesson first hand in 1992 […]

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Why the Mass Avoidance of Some Business is Called Boycotting, What is Supposed to Happen When You Land on Free Parking, Why Garlic Makes Your Breath Smell Bad and More

In this week’s “best of” our YouTube channel, have you ever wondered where the term “boycotting” came from, what’s actually supposed to happen when you land on free parking in Monopoly or why garlic makes your breath smell bad? We answer those questions and also look at the time Howard Hughes bought a TV station, why sterilization techniques are used […]

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The Nazis, Hitler, the Internet, and Godwin’s Law

“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.” – Mike Godwin Coined in 1990 by author and attorney Mike Godwin, Godwin’s Law was originally, to quote Godwin “a project in memetic engineering”, partially inspired by a 1980s article he read in Whole Earth Review in which they discuss the power of […]

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Who Really Invented Calculus

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Calculus involves the study of limits. By the time they were done arguing about who had invented it, Isaac Newton and G. W. Leibniz had probably both reached their limit as well. Science has seen a number of simultaneous discoveries. Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry independently discovered electromagnetic induction. Charles […]

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