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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.

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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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As climate change brings moister, warmer air, lightning is increasing and causing fires in the boreal forests where that used to be rare.

Why Does Lightning Rarely Strike in the Arctic? And More Questions From Our Readers

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Oscillations originating deep inside the sun become detectable only on the surface.

How Do Scientists Record Sounds From the Sun? And More Questions From Our Readers

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The North Island brown kiwi is a flightless, nocturnal bird that lays the biggest egg relative to its body size.

What Bird Lays the Biggest Eggs Compared to Its Body Size? Where Does 'Lame Duck' Come From? And More Questions From Our Readers

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While mosquitoes can be pesky, they're an important part of the food chain.

Why Do Mosquitoes Exist? Why Do Elephants and Donkeys Represent the G.O.P. and the Democrats? And More Questions From Our Readers

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

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

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The word "teetotaler" dates back to the temperance movement that preceded Prohibition.

Where Does the Word 'Teetotaler' Come From? And More Questions From Our Readers

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The jumping that you see in cute goat videos online is a natural behavior.

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Do Goats Really Love to Jump? 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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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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If Light Can't Escape Black Holes, How Do We Get Photos of Them... and More Questions From Our Readers

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Does the Same Goose Always Lead the Flying V and More Questions From Our Readers

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Could Lava Incinerate Trash and More Questions From Our Readers

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Do Marine Mammals Yawn and More Questions From Our Readers

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How Come U.S. Currency Never Changes Its Face and More Questions From Our Readers

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What's the Difference Between Moths and Butterflies and More Questions From Our Readers

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Why Don't We See Fireflies in the Western U.S.?

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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.

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What’s a "Missing Link"?

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

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