Series: Deep Questions

When bees need a new queen, special “queen cells” are made in the hive. Zoo.org describes these cells as extensions of the wax and shaped like a peanut. Young worker bees secrete a special food called “royal jelly,” and place it in the queen cells as food for the special larvae.

Famed DJ and concert producer Alan Freed is widely credited with coining the phrase in 1951. Freed led an interesting life, bringing what we now call “rock and roll” to the masses. Unfortunately, he’s equally famous for his role in the payola scandal of the 1960s.

People have been calling for the penny’s eradication for years. Many Americans feel exact change isn’t worth the bother. Here’s the government’s two cents…

Third World countries (now known as “developing nations”) are countries with a low “Human Development Index.” First World countries (like the United States, Japan, and Germany) score much higher on the HDI. A nation’s HDI is determined by its literacy rate, poverty rate, life expectancy, etc. There is indeed a Second World, though the expression isn’t exactly parallel to the other terms, and these days, few mention it.

We’re all paying record high prices for gas making us chumps to the super profitable oil companies. Many people are taking hybrid cars more seriously now. So just which car is the most fuel efficient?

The external ear itself has the valuable function of collecting and directing sound into the inner ear. The parts of the ear you can see without a doctor’s help are called the pinna; those curvy bits conduct sound vibrations in the air down into the tympanic cavity. The shape of the pinna helps your ear and brain figure out what direction sound is coming from. But the lobule — the part hanging down — isn’t any help. In fact, some people are born lobeless because of recessive genes, and this doesn’t seem to affect their hearing.

I’ve always heard the wives tell that you count the seconds between seeing a lightening flash and the sound of the thunder to figure out how far away it is. Living here in Florida, we get lots of both. So is it true or an old wives tale?

Each year, a committee solicits nominations from thousands of select individuals (visit the page for a complete list of those eligible to submit nominations). These individuals must submit their nominations by February 1 of the year for which the nomination is being made.

Ever since Elvis died in 1977, tribute artists have been filling the void. These men, women, and children walk the

We’ve heard it’s because pants and shorts have two legs. But shirts have two sleeves, and you don’t have a “pair of shirts.” Hmm, so much for that theory.

The United States Football League is one of history’s more interesting failures. It was founded by entrepreneur David Dixon in