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Introduction | |
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Movin' and Shakin' | |
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Why do we drive on the right? | |
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Why are cloverleaf intersections so complex? | |
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Can Earth's orbit be changed if a billion people jump at the same time? | |
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Can jumping up at the last instant save you in a falling elevator? | |
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Where does the rubber go when a tire wears out? | |
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Can a bullet fired into the air come down and kill somebody? | |
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Why does the Lone Ranger use silver bullets? | |
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What really keeps an airplane up? | |
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Are astronauts weightless? | |
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If you drive your car faster than the speed of sound, can you hear the radio? | |
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Looky Here! | |
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What makes Day-Glo colors so bright? | |
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Why is snow white? | |
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Why are there two sets of primary colors? | |
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How do fluorescent and halogen lamps work? | |
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Why do mirrors seem to reverse left and right, but not top and bottom? | |
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Why do stagecoach wheels appear to turn backward? | |
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Why do wet things look darker? | |
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Why is glass transparent? | |
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Why do WintOGreen Life Savers make sparks? | |
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Hot Stuff | |
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Is 100 degrees twice as hot as 50 degrees? | |
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What is temperature, anyway? | |
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How cold can it get? | |
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Why is the bathroom floor so cold on your bare feet? | |
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How hot can it get? | |
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How does a flame know which way is up? | |
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Why is a candle flame tapered at the top? | |
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Could we counteract global warming by turning on all our air conditioners? | |
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What's so dangerous about high voltage? | |
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Why doesn't it rain dead sparrows? | |
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The Earth Beneath Our Feet | |
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Why does Earth pull everything toward its exact center? | |
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How does hot air defy gravity by rising? | |
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If hot air rises, why is it colder in the mountains? | |
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Does it ever get too cold to snow? | |
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If Earth is spinning so fast, why don't we fly off? | |
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Can the astronauts see Earth turning beneath them? | |
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Would a polar bear weigh less at the equator? | |
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Do toilets flush counterclock-wise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere? | |
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Can you stand an egg on end during the vernal equinox? | |
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Why is nuclear energy unique on Earth? | |
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How does radiocarbon dating work? | |
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Heavens Above! | |
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How do odors find your nose? | |
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Can you operate a vacuum cleaner in a vacuum? | |
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Why does a lion tamer's whip make such a loud "crack"? | |
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What is the sound barrier made of? | |
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Why does thunder sound the way it does? | |
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Why is the moon so much bigger when it's near the horizon? | |
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Why do the stars twinkle? | |
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How does the moon keep one side always facing Earth? | |
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How do the oceans' tides work? | |
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Does the moon ever turn blue? | |
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Why is it cold in space--or is it? | |
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All Wet | |
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What color is water? | |
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Why are the oceans blue? | |
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And salty? | |
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Precisely where is sea level? | |
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Why does spilled coffee dry to a ring? | |
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Why does your shower curtain cling to you? | |
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Where do your socks go when they disappear in the laundry? | |
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What's the most expensive ingredient in laundry detergents? | |
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(Advertising.) Is glass a liquid? | |
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What makes ice cubes cloudy? | |
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If the humidity got to be 100 percent, would we drown? | |
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How can you clear your fogged-up windshield? | |
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Can a farmer smell rain? | |
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Stuff and Things | |
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Are airplanes safe? | |
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How does an eraser erase? | |
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Why does rubber stretch? | |
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Why are cars noisy? | |
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Why do clothes wrinkle? | |
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How does a skateboard work? | |
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What happens when you shake a bottle of soda? | |
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Can you get electricity out of a lemon? | |
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Are smoke alarms radioactive? | |
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Can fertilizer explode? | |
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How do sailors keep clean? | |
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If you stopped dusting, how long would it take to be buried in dust? | |
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Can you unburn a match? | |
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Some Techspeak Buzzwords | |
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Index | |