Can Holding in a Fart Kill You?: Over 150 Curious Questions and Intriguing Answers

227 Pages·2015·7 MB·English

by  Andrew Thompson

Text copyright © 2015 Andrew Thompson. Design and concept copyright © 2015 Ulysses Press and its
licensors. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this
edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic devices, digital versions, and
the Internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Published in the U.S. by
ULYSSES PRESS
P.O. Box 3440
Berkeley, CA 94703
www.ulyssespress.com
ISBN: 978-1-61243-507-7
Library of Congress Control Number 2015937154
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Managing Editor: Claire Chun Editor: Kathy Kaiser Proofreader: Lauren Harrison Layout: Lindsay Tamura
Front cover design: what!design @ whatweb.com
Front cover artwork: © Hein Nouwens/shutterstock.com
Back cover artwork: bottle © Ruslan Semichev/shutterstock.com; popcorn © Ruslan
Semichev/shutterstock.com; dinosaur © para/shutterstock.com; dog © warat42/shutterstock.com
Interior artwork: see page 205
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To Hugo
CONTENTS
Can the Great Wall of China Be Seen from Space?
Why Is the Ocean Salty?
What Causes Headaches?
How Do Gun Silencers Work?
What Is the Origin of the Scottish Kilt?
What Makes Popcorn Pop?
What Causes a “Stitch” During Exercise?
What Is the History of the Pizza?
What Makes Drugs Addictive?
How and Why Do Chameleon Lizards Change Color?
Why Is It Called an Indian Summer?
Did Robinson Crusoe Actually Exist?
What Are the Health Risks of Cell Phones?
What Is the Origin of Halloween?
What Caused the Great Depression?
What Makes Chili Peppers Hot?
How Did the Saying “Mind Your P’s and Q’s” Originate?
Is There Any Science to Handwriting Analysis?
Do Fish Ever Sleep?
Why Do People Have Wisdom Teeth?
What Is the Origin of the Handshake?
What Is Stockholm Syndrome?
How Does Tear Gas Work?
Why Did Dinosaurs Become Extinct?
What Is Household Dust?
Is Time Travel Possible?
Why Do People’s Feet Swell During Airplane Travel?
What Is the Origin of the Term “Honeymoon”?
What Causes “The Shakes” After Drinking a Lot of Alcohol?
How Do Animals Hibernate?
What Is Truth Serum and Does It Work?
Why Don’t Birds Fall Off Branches When Asleep?
Why Is the Bermuda Triangle Such a Feared Boating Area?
Why Do Fingers Wrinkle in Water?
Did Santa Claus Really Exist?
How Did Chopsticks Originate?
What Is Exorcism and Is It Successful?
How Is a Safe Cracked?
What Is the History of Bullfighting?
Can the Full Moon Affect Human Behavior?
How and When Did Russian Roulette Originate?
Why Are Black Cats Considered Unlucky?
What Causes Postnatal Depression?
How Is Money Counterfeited?
How Harmful Is Passive Smoking?
What Is the History of the Swastika?
What Is the Origin of “His Name Is Mud”?
What Causes People to Go Bald?
Can a Chicken Run with Its Head Cut Off?
Why Do People Blush?
What Is the Best Way to Treat Snakebite?
How Do Hovercrafts Work?
How Was the Great Pyramid of Egypt Built?
What Led to the Y2K Hysteria?
How Are 3-D Movies Made?
Did Thomas Crapper Invent the Toilet?
Why Do People Get Goose Bumps?
Why Are Horseshoes Considered Lucky?
Has Any Human Been Successfully Raised by Animals?
Why Are Most Barns in America Red?
Is Jurassic Park Possible?
Why Does Helium Alter the Human Voice?
How Does Acupuncture Work?
Why Is Route 66 Famous?
How Does Ventriloquism Work?
Why Are Children’s Coin Banks Called Piggy Banks?
Why Is Chicago Known as the “Windy City”?
How Do Birds Migrate?
What Are the Poker Hand Rankings?
How Did the Expression “Riding Shotgun” Begin?
How Do Bees Navigate?
Why Does Pasta Water Foam?
Why Do Cats Purr?
What Is the Origin of the Werewolf Legend?
What Led to the Downfall of Communism?
What Are the Seven Wonders of the Natural World?
How Do Lie Detector Tests Work?
What Are the “Big Five” Game Animals of Africa?
What Causes Phantom Limb Pain in Amputees?
What Is the Difference Between Flotsam and Jetsam?
Why Is a Left-Handed Sportsman Called a Southpaw?
Why Do Dogs Walk in Circles Before Lying Down?
What Is the Origin of “Son of a Gun”?
What Is Lightning?
What Makes People’s Joints Click?
What Is the Big Bang Theory?
Why Is Walking Under a Ladder Considered Bad Luck?
What Are the Origins of The Strip in Las Vegas?
How Are Codes Broken?
What Is the Difference Between a Mushroom and a Toadstool?
Why Do Roosters Crow?
How Do Steroids Enhance Sports Performance?
Why Do Clocks with Roman Numerals Use IIII Instead of IV?
What Do the Nautical Measurements Knot, Fathom, and League Mean?
What Are the Most Common Methods of Torture?
What Is the Origin of Kissing Under the Mistletoe?
How Did Mother’s Day Originate?
How Are Swords Swallowed?
What Does It Mean When a Person “Gives You a White Elephant”?
What Causes “the Bends” in Some Scuba Divers?
What Are the Fastest Land, Water, and Air Animals?
What Is the Difference Between “Partly Sunny” and “Partly Cloudy” in a
Weather Report?
Can Holding in a Fart Kill You?
How Do Martial Artists Break Things with Their Bare Hands?
Why Do Fast-Moving Wheels Appear to Go Backward on Film?
Why Do Dogs Sniff Each Other’s Behinds?
What Are the Origins of Male Circumcision?
What Are the Principles of Feng Shui?
What Does Trainspotting Involve?
What Causes Premenstrual Syndrome?
What Causes “Sexual Chemistry” Between Two People?
Why Does Touching Metal Sometimes Cause an Electrical Shock?
Why Do People’s Eyes Sometimes Appear Red in Photographs?
Is There Any Science to Palm Reading?
Can a Person Be Frozen and Then Brought Back to Life?
Why Do British Pubs Have Colorful Names?
How Does DNA Identification Work?
How Do Fish Breathe?
What Causes Altitude Sickness?
What Is the Origin of “Freeze the Balls Off a Brass Monkey”?
Why Does the Pope Change His Name?
Is the Human Body Really 80 Percent Water?
How and Why Do Crickets Make Such a Loud Noise?
What Are Shooting Stars?
Why Is the Empire State Building Famous?
How Do Squirrels Find Their Buried Nuts?
Why Do People Have Fingerprints?
Why Do People Shiver?
What Is the Difference Between Hard and Soft Water?
What Makes a Person Good-Looking?
Why Is the Color Yellow Associated with Cowards?
What Is the Origin of the Red and White Barber Pole?
What Are “Crocodile Tears”?
Why Do Geese Fly in a V Formation?
How Did the Term Bootlegging Originate?
Is Telekinesis Possible?
What Causes “Pins and Needles” in the Feet?
Should You Feed a Cold and Starve a Fever?
What Are the Harmful Side Effects of Cocaine?
What Is the Difference Between Holland and the Netherlands?
What Causes Depression?
Was The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Based on a Real Person?
What Causes People to Hallucinate?
What Are the Origins of the Expressions “on the Wagon” and “One for the
Road”?
How Did the Custom of Giving Engagement and Wedding Rings Originate?
Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses?
What Causes People to Be Nearsighted or Farsighted?
Why Do Volcanoes Erupt?
What Causes Parkinson’s Disease?
Why Do Women Wear High Heels?
Why Are Typewriter Keys Arranged the Way They Are?
What Is the Difference Between a Kangaroo and a Wallaby?