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Amelia Earhart mounted publicity stunts to earn money for her flights.

How Did Amelia Earhart Raise the Money for Her Flights?

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Fumigation was used on library book collections in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when book-borrowing was seen as a possible disease vector.

How Do Libraries Clean Books? And More Questions From Our Readers

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Eugene V. Debs was in a West Virginia penitentiary when he lost the 1920 presidential election.

Has Anyone Ever Run for President While in Prison? And More Questions From Our Readers

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The Wright brothers' 1903 flight made history, regardless of other claims about earlier flights.

Was Jakob Brodbeck First in Flight? And More Questions From Our Readers

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Photography was so expensive when it was first introduced that people treated getting their photo taken like a once-in-a-lifetime portrait opportunity.

Why Don't People Smile in Old Photographs? And More Questions From Our Readers

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A volcano can provide a great deal of geothermal energy

Could Yellowstone's Volcanoes Provide Geothermal Power and More Questions From Our Readers

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Dragons in Chinese art represent the emperor.

What Do Dragons Symbolize and More Questions From Our Readers

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Women have graced coinage since the third century B.C.

Who Was the First Woman Depicted on Currency and More Questions From Our Readers

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One of this issue's questions is about the starfish's namesake shape.

Why Are Starfish Shaped Like Stars and More Questions From Our Readers

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What Would Happen if the Earth Stopped Rotating? and More Questions From our Readers

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Could Lava Incinerate Trash and More Questions From Our Readers

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The handbones seen in the whale model in the center of this image tell the curious story of how whales went from land to water.

What’s a "Missing Link"?

While some still use the term, experts abhor it because it implies that life is a linear hierarchy

Who Was the First First Lady to Adopt a Cause and More Questions From Our Readers

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Many animals, like this red sphinx cat, are bred to be hairless. Other times, animal baldness is a symptom of stress and other factors.

Do Other Animals Besides Humans Go Bald?

From Andean bears to Rhesus macaques, non-human mammals have hair woes of their own

Genetic testing is opening up new ethical questions for parents.

Now You Can Genetically Test Your Child For Disease Risks. Should You?

Genomics is cheaper and more available then ever, but its usefulness for parents has yet to be proven

A replica of Foucault's famous experiment at the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e Tecnica in Milan, Italy

How Does Foucault's Pendulum Prove the Earth Rotates?

This elegant scientific demonstration has been delighting everyday people for nearly 200 years

Can All Living Things Exhibit Albinism?

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The 200 or so volunteer “elves” at the Santa Claus museum in Indiana respond to about 20,000 letters each year.

What Happens to All Those Letters Sent to Santa?

Believe it or not, most get answered

What's a dinosaur, anyways? The answer is in the evolutionary tree.

What Makes a Dinosaur a Dinosaur?

The question may sound like a "duh," but it gets to the heart of how we categorize and define nature

Do Other Animals Cry and More Questions From Our Readers

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