What is Occam’s Razor? Why is it so commonly misunderstood? Why do people talk about hooves and zebras when describing it? Who was Occam, and why is it his razor? What is Occam’s broom? What are other philosophical razors that we should know about?

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Why is it called a bear market? How did it become used to describe financial markets? What does it have to do with bear skins? What does a stock market ‘dead cat bounce’ mean?

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We talk so much about oxygen and carbon, but 80% of the atmosphere is nitrogen. How does it fit in? Why does it not get talked about? Why does 1% of the world’s energy go into speeding up the nitrogen cycle? Why do divers know a lot about nitrogen? Why is liquid nitrogen so useful?

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How did white become the standard color for golf balls, when a more vibrant color would make it easier to see as it’s flying through the air? How do TV camera people follow golf balls so accurately? How is ‘par’ determined for a golf course? And of course, the classic golf question - why are there dimples on golf balls?

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Why did we settle on chicken eggs as our standard eggs? Why not quail eggs, duck eggs or even ostrich eggs? What in evolution made chickens so productive? How did cow’s milk win over goats milk or bison milk? What is the concept of the butter line and why does it matter?

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What’s the difference between natural gas, gasoline and crude oil? Why doesn’t the flame from a gas stove ignite the supply line? How is natural gas transported via pipeline if it’s a gas? Why do gas pipelines have bendy sections? How come we see clean air natural gas buses, but not really any natural gas cars?

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Some people say Coca Cola tastes different from an alumninum can compared to when drinking out of a glass bottle? Why is the level of fizziness also different between aluminum, plastic and glass bottles? What is so hard to replicate about the original Coca Cola? How can soft drinks like Coca-Cola Zero have almost 0 calories in them?

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Which is more popular, driving on the left side of the road or the right? How has this changed in the last 100 years? How did Sweden manage to make the switch from left hand traffic to right hand traffic in one day? What are the practical considerations? Is this the same for rail and boat transport?

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Why are clothes that are hung to dry crunchy/stiffer than clothes dried in a dryer? How does spandex make cotton stretchy? What does it mean when they say cotton 50% and something else 50% like polyester or lycra? Please explain bed sheets and thread counts?

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How is monkeypox related to smallpox? Why was it possible to eradicate smallpox, when it’s been impossible to do for other diseases? Why do vaccines owe their name to smallpox? What is cowpox? How does chickenpox fit into all this?

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