Series: Deep Questions

It’s certainly possible to die while laughing — probably by choking on something. But I was unable to find any documented evidence of someone literally “laughing to death.”

In the Biblical book of Exodus, the ark is introduced as the “ark of testimony.” God gives precise instructions to the Israelites for building this small box or chest out of wood. It was covered in gold, and on the lid were two golden cherubim with their wings facing each other to form an enclosed area.

The original title, Esquire, comes from the Middle Ages — an esquire was the rank above a gentleman, and below a knight. The word derives from the Latin scutum (shield), and Middle English esquier (shield bearer). It was also generally applied to upstanding members of society: judges, sheriffs, lawyers, professors.

“People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” The four-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

No birthday party is complete without cake, candles, and a performance of “Happy Birthday to You.” The song is quick, painless, and everyone knows the words. But while the lyrics are familiar to all, their author remains a mystery.

Thanks to the basketball team’s success, many are eager to know more about the school — specifically, who was George Mason and why does he have a university named after him?

If human skin comes and goes like dust in the wind, why do tattoos stick around? The explanation is simple. The top layer of skin is called the epidermis. This page from A Moment of Science explains that while the epidermis is always regenerating, a tattoo needle actually penetrates through to the dermis, the second level of skin. It’s here that the tattoo makes its home for the rest of your natural life.

According to anecdotage.com, the aptly titled “Cure for Insomnia” is the longest film ever. It runs about 87 hours and features L.D. Groban reading a really looooong poem. Just in case you find that kind of boring, according to IMDb, the film slices in pornography and music video footage. Probably not the best “date movie.”

Kidz World explains that beans contain sugars the human body simply cannot digest. Once these sugars (called oligosaccharides) reach a person’s lower intestines, “the bacteria go berserk, start feasting, and make loads of gas.” Before you know it — toxic fumes.

The origin of the “bless you” tradition is not entirely clear. The urban legend experts at Snopes.com list an impressive number of possibilities. One involves the (hopefully) mistaken belief that a human’s soul might escape through a sneeze. Saying “God bless you” wards off Satan while the soul is temporarily vulnerable. I’ve also heard that it was thought, in Biblical times, that a sneeze was an attempt to rid the body of a demon.

When we think of a person saying “that’s all she wrote,” we usually picture someone who’s disappointed for some reason.