HowStuffWorks_Culture

Did you see Donnie Darko? What was up with that "cellar door" thing?

There was once a chicken who survived his head being cut clean off and lived anouther year and a half, gaining six pounds and dying in a hotel room because he choked to death. It's all true and Josh spreads the Gospel of Mike in this video.

Where did spoken language come from? Join Josh and Chuck as they go back in time to follow the hunting exploits of Tuk-Tuk, a hungry homosapien who evolves a primitive language.

You've probably heard that you can count the seconds between seeing a lightning strike and hearing thunder to figure out how far away it is. That's pretty much true, and here's why.

A groundbreaking study out of Switzerland discovers that drinking beer makes you friendlier, happier, and less inhibited. Stunning news. Also, we get into the surprisingly complicated business of determining the world's oldest living person.

Have you ever wondered how many people have ever walked the face of the Earth? Turns out a demographer made a rough calculation. The answer: A lot.

Y'ever heard that about 200 or so years were just added to the calendar a thousand years ago and that the Dark Ages never really happened?

People love to talk about what's the biggest, what's the smallest, what's the oldest, all that stuff. So sit there as Josh does it too about the largest organism in the world, okay?

"Hypnic jerk" might sound like a pretty good insult, but it's actually a common sleep-related phenomenon. Perk up and let Josh explain.

That doctor who removed your appendix "just to be safe" might have made a big mistake.

Has some old man ever told you that you can tell the temperature by counting crickets' chirps? That old man was right!

If you've made it to your early 20s, you've probably had a tooth problem, meaning that you got more coming in. That's because you haven't evolved all the way yet, man.

Maybe you've noticed that when you eat aspargus your urine tends to smell a little funny. Or maybe you haven't. It could be that you're either one of those people who can't smell asparagus pee or doesn't produce it. Just watch this and be quiet.

If you've ever noticed that hot water freezes faster than cold water and it didn't blow your mind, then you're not paying enough attention when you make ice cubes. Because that's not supposed to happen, it's just not.

This week on SYSK Animated, Josh and Chuck look at the historic myths behind vampire stories from Lamastu to Lilith all the way up to today's popular vampire movies and TV shows.

Stuff You Should Know: Don't Be Dumb: Wine Corks

The Army went and designed a lefty-friendly grenade, plus Josh and Chuck mull over the history and use of the exclamation point.

That doctor who removed your appendix "just to be safe" might have made a big mistake.

If you've ever used the phrase "beg the question" you almost certainly used it incorrectly. Here, Josh explains it so you don't say something dumb anymore.

This week Josh and Chuck take you to Ohio to visit the site of the largest roadside Jesus in Ohio and discuss why student loans are kind of a racket.

Chuck and Josh get to the bottom of ectogenesis - the gestation of fetuses in artificial wombs - and other cool stuff.

In this episode, Josh explains how when you're eating a banana, you're actually eating the product of cloning! Don't Be Dumb - watch the video to find out why.

Josh and Chuck show off the new podcast studio and talk about the comeback of grappa, an alcoholic beverage from Italy, then show some video unearthed by the Found Footage Festival of an awkward hospital clown instructional video.

Built by CERN, the Large Hadron Collider is supposed to search for the elusive Higgs boson -- but why? Tune in as Josh and Chuck catch you up to speed on the Higgs boson in this exclusive video from HowStuffWorks.com and the Science Channel.

A commercial air liner abandoned takeoff after the discovery of a mysterious smiley face, plus Josh and Chuck explain why grapes can appear to be magnetic, but are not.