Objects
Why a Paper Clip Springs Back After You Bend It
Why a paper clip springs back depends on its looped wire and the metal’s elastic range. Learn why gentle flexes…
The collection
All articles
Browse explanations of the objects, words, patterns, customs and ideas that reward a closer look.
Language
Borrowed Words or Calques: Two Routes Into a Language
Borrowed words or calques reveal whether a language imports a word’s sound or rebuilds its parts, helping you…
Customs
Before Standard Time, Noon Belonged to the Sun
Before standard time, local solar time made noon a local event. See why distant clocks disagreed and how shared time…
Nature
The Rainbow Is Not a Painted Band in the Sky
Learn why a rainbow is not a fixed band, and use a simple viewing routine to see how sunlight, raindrops and your…
Ideas
A Pocket Notebook for Questions on the Move
A pocket notebook for questions on the move helps you capture curiosity in brief phrases, then sort what you can…
Our point of view
Curiosity begins with looking again.
A small question can make an ordinary object or familiar phrase newly interesting. We follow the clues without pretending every answer is simple.