Why Didn't Evolution Give Us the Ability to Smell Fresh Water? - Today on HowStuffWorks NOW

Oct 27, 2016 02:00 pm   Today on HowStuffWorks NOW   Why Didn't Evolution Give Us the Ability to Smell Fresh Water? You'd think being able to smell drinkable water would be an evolutionary advantage. But we can only smell things that suggest potable water. Why is that?       There Are 5 Types of Haunted House Visitors. Which One Are You? Haunted houses have an arsenal of scare tactics they deploy depending on who darkens their doors.       Earthlings Crowdsource the Search for Martian 'Spiders' Earth's next-door neighbor has a lot of weird geological formations, like spiders, to map, but only so many scientists who can do it. That's where you come in.       Small Lies Build Up the Brain's Tolerance for Being Dishonest Stay honest! The more little white lies we tell, the more likely our brains feel O.K. about telling big, fat whoppers, a new study finds.       Junko Tabei, the First Woman to Conquer Everest, Has Died Tabei, also the first woman to reach the highest peak on all seven continents, spent her life challenging social norms and championing environmental causes.       Cartoonist Jack Chick Dies, Having Offended Pretty Much Everyone He was the man behind those cheaply printed, widely disseminated fire-and-brimstone comics that were intended to scare the hell out of you. And he just passed away.       Teaching Typing May Be a Waste of Time A new study pitted touch-typists against people using a hunt-and-peck style. Guess what they found.       What Are the Top Picks for Halloween Costumes This Year? In 2016 the princess has been dethroned as the top choice for children dressing up on the sweet and spooky holiday. Which costumes top the list for people of all ages?       Why Humans Scream, Make Crazy Faces When Terrified Wouldn't keeping quiet help us get away from whatever's scaring us? What's the science behind the weird face and raw shout?       What's It Like These Days for Regular People Named Trump? Donald Trump may be the most prominent Trump, but he's not the only one. His polarizing candidacy is affecting ordinary people who share the surname.       Hear and Now: Echidnas Are the Coolest Monotremes Ever Plus, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange found himself without internet access, and Facebook really isn't helping your fear of missing out.       Monster Science Figures Out What That Creepy 'Alien' Facehugger Is If you've seen "Alien," you know the monster that is the xenomorph. But what about that thing that attaches itself to human faces and deposits an embryo? What's that?       Should You Know if Your Doctor Is a Democrat or a Republican? A new study says you may get different treatment options depending on your doctors' political beliefs? What's a patient to do?       Would You Pay $56 for Five Potato Chips? Because that's how much these exclusive Swedish crisps cost. At more than $11 each, they're the world's most expensive. The money's going to charity, but still …       A Few Encouraging Words Can Change the Lives of Female STEM Students Talk about minimal input for maximum result. A new study suggests that encouragement from a female role model could keep some girls from dropping out of STEM classes.     Copyright © 2016 InfoSpace LLC, All rights reserved. HowStuffWorks, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30308 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

Is Anyone Safe From Another Massive Internet Outage? - Today on HowStuffWorks NOW

Oct 24, 2016 05:02 pm   Today on HowStuffWorks NOW   Is Anyone Safe From Another Massive Internet Outage? Friday's widespread Internet outages hit companies such as Twitter and Spotify hard. Are any systems safe from distributed denial-of-service attacks like these?       Ridiculous History: How an Irish Beer Became the Authority on World Records What's the relationship between Guinness beer and the Guinness Book of World Records? How did it start?       Which Country Is the Most Empathetic? (Hint: It's Not the U.S.) The results of a worldwide survey on empathy are in and it's full of surprises.       Why Your Employer Should Cut You Some Slack After Your Team Loses It's not so easy to leave Sunday's blowout game behind when it's time to go to work on Monday. A new study has some ideas on how companies can handle this issue.       Wonder Woman Named Honorary U.N. Ambassador For 75 years, Wonder Woman has been a symbol for strength and empowerment for women. Now the United Nations has made it official.       The Link Between Birth Control and Depression: Should Women Be Worried? The headlines suggesting a link between depression and birth control might not be telling the whole story.       Conspiracy Theories About, Around and From Donald Trump The latest episode of our Stuff They Don't Want You to Know podcast examines the fringe ideas around the 2016 Republican nominee.       Adorable Echidnas Keep Australia's Soil Healthy Yep, these adorable Seussian misfits play a key role in the local environment.       Scientists Create Mind-blowing 3-D Acoustic Holograms A wall of Lego-like bricks creates the illusion of hyper-vivid, three-dimensional audio, altering sound waves much like a hologram does visible light.     Copyright © 2016 InfoSpace LLC, All rights reserved. HowStuffWorks, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30308 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list