Quirky Queries

Ask us your random science questions! Our writers will try their best to answer it in an article.

Why does coffee make you poop?
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Why does coffee make you poop?

Sooyeon Jung

Have you ever had some coffee and had to go to the bathroom within the hour? This article explores what exactly happens to our digestive system when we drink coffee.

Different types of coffee. Photo From Shutterstock.  Quirky Queries answers your random science questions. If you have a query, let us know! - Have you ever ordered an iced mocha with almond milk or an iced vanilla latte with oat milk before class and then later had to poop really badly during lecture? Well, according to science, you aren’t the only one! In fact, about 30% of people need to use the bathroom after drinking coffee.  Contrary to popular belief, caffeine isn’t the main culprit. In 2008, the National Library of Medicine published a study that tested the colonic function...
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How Do Fireflies Glow?
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How Do Fireflies Glow?

Sarah McNamara

The Lampyridae family, more commonly referred to as fireflies and lightning bugs, are neither true bugs nor flies… but within these colloquial names, it sure is apparent where the “lightning” and “fire” came from! But how do fireflies produce light in the first place?

Firefly. Photo by @yb_woodstock on Flickr, cc-by-sa-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Fireflies are winged beetles, and there are over 2000 species distributed across the temperate and tropical areas of the world; in fact, especially when considering that not all species glow, it is likely that there are multiple species within your own backyard alone! An abundance of fireflies in Delaware County (Catskills), NY. Photo by @s58y on Flickr, CC by 2.0, via Flickr.  Fireflies are bioluminescent, meaning they produce and emit light through chemical reactions in their bodies. Light is produced in a firefly’s abdomen — the “light organ” — when oxygen, calcium,...
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What Actually Happens When You Black Out From Drinking?
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What Actually Happens When You Black Out From Drinking?

Simon Thill

What exactly happens in your brain if you black out from drinking? Why does this happen, and how dangerous is it?

Quirky Queries answers your random science questions. If you have a query, let us know! — To be honest, this was a very fun, and also very alarming question to research and write about. A lot of what I learned, especially about the human brain, was surprising, but I was shocked to learn just how potent alcohol is — it can completely shut down entire regions of your brain.  There are many different types of memories, including long-term, short-term, and muscle memory. These are all stored in different, interconnected regions of your brain. Interestingly, binge drinking does not prevent you from creating...
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How does wind happen?
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How does wind happen?

Simon Thill

Have you ever wondered how wind happens? This short article describes the cause of wind and some of its patterns.

Hurricane Katrina. Courtesy of NOAA Quirky Queries answers your random science questions. If you have a query, let us know! — This is an excellent question, and one that I was curious about myself when I was younger. I would often ask my parents scientific questions, and they would do their best to respond, sometimes without actually knowing the correct answer. When I asked this same question, my parents told me something along the lines of “wind is caused by the rotation of the Earth.” While the Earth’s rotation does play a significant role in wind and weather patterns, this is not...
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How do Snakes Move?
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How do Snakes Move?

Emi Krishnamurthy

How do these legless creatures slither, glide, crawl, and climb? Here we discuss multiple different mechanisms of snake locomotion (including flying!).

Characters Kaa, an Indian python, and Mowgli in Disney’s “The Jungle Book” (1967). From the Disney gallery. Quirky Queries answers your random science questions. If you have a query, let us know! -- How do these legless creatures slither, glide, crawl, and climb? Here we discuss multiple different mechanisms of snake locomotion (including flying!). Serpentine locomotion Snakes are known to slither. They move by pushing off of rocks, branches, and other surfaces in order to propel forward, but how do snakes travel on flat surfaces? Slithering, called serpentine locomotion, is dependent on the muscles that connect a snake’s skin, spine,...
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