Curiosity Aroused

No doubt you can win the giant panda. But how much dough do you want to blow on something that cost about 50 cents to make? The minds behind these games have set them so you’ll pay big for that damn bear. We asked game –booth managers at some of the country’s busiest state fairs, boardwalks, and carnivals just how lousy your odds really are. Balloon darts – 57% Aim at the shiny ballons; they’re reflecting light because they’re most inflated or ready to pop.

Cluster Headache - Photo credit: Peter Hellberg - Flickr If you’ve ever had a cluster headache, you know how painful it can be. These sudden-onset headaches have specific symptoms that identify them, such as: Sudden pain in one eye that may spread to other parts of the head or face. Pale facial skin. Eye problems such as tearing, redness in the eye, and a droopy eyelid. Nasal issues such as a stuffy or runny nose on the affected side.

What is the longest running TV show? There are a number of ways to approach this question. The first is the most obvious: duration or number of years. Meet the Press is the clear winner here. It premiered in 1947 and is still airing today, which means it’s been around for a staggering 68 years and counting. Even if you define “longest running” in terms of actual minutes on the air, Meet the Press still probably comes out on top.

Photo Credit: Auntikhaki, Flickr Every pre-teen party is filled with high-calorie, waist-ballooning snacks, loud music, endless movies and, of course, truth or dare. No party is complete without a round of this forever-loved game, because nothing is better than getting down into the dirty details and embarrassing all your friends. While truth or dare has been around for ages, the questions have not really changed. Everyone is going to hear the classic “Who is your crush?

Credit: Truth or Dare movie 2012 Truth or Dare is one of the greatest party games of all time. Infinitely adaptable, you can tailor it to the style and level of just about anyone. Need to babysit a slumber party full of fourth-graders? This game can accommodate, and do so in a safe, kid-friendly fashion. On the other hand, Truth or Dare goes down just as well at a college frat party.

On one side of the field, we have Hollywood starlets, activist-parents of autistic children, and a rash of opportunistic politicians – all lining up to condemn the nation’s immunization program for young children. Over the last decade, this fervent coalition has convinced more and more parents that routine childhood injections against diseases like measles and mumps are causing autism and should be avoided at all costs. As a result, child vaccination rates are declining and infectious outbreaks are increasing at an alarming pace.

Earthquakes are a natural disaster that occurs because of the sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust. Seismic waves are created and the tremors that are felt can be measured by seismometers. Earthquakes are measured based on their magnitude (the Richter scale). There have only been a couple that registered over a magnitude of 9.0 on the seismometer. An earthquake with a magnitude greater than 9.0 is an extreme natural disaster and are very rare.

How to pass a lie detector test - Photo credit: Lwp Kommunikáció - Flickr The polygraph is no ordinary psychometric test. Although widely used by government agencies, especially in law enforcement and intelligence, polygraph techniques have been repeatedly discredited as pseudoscience by the scientific community. Polygraphs are based on the simple notion that most people become physiologically ‘aroused’ in response to their own lies. The typical arousal response includes increased heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, and skin conductivity.

**Snipers have always held a place of esteem and fascination in popular culture, perhaps because of the amazing level of precision and patience involved with long-distance kills. ** While sniping has a long and illustrious history, the range and precision of weapons has improved with advancing technology in recent years, enabling longer shots. Handheld computers, devices that gather information about the weather and quality of the atmosphere, and laser rangefinders have all improved shooter accuracy.

Black holes are undoubtedly one of the most bizarre and intriguing phenomena in the universe. We’ve only known about them for about a hundred years, though their existence has been postulated since the 18th century. What is a black hole, anyway? What really happens when you fall into one? Astronomers and physicists have been wrestling with black hole mysteries for years, but a growing consensus has emerged on a number of points.