ARCHIVE:
Explainer
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“A Peculiar Moaning Sound”
How did people describe the sound of a tornado before the advent of trains?
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Is Anywhere Safe in a Tornado?
Why researchers pummel storm shelters with 15-foot-long planks at 100 mph.
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Can a City be a Tornado Magnet?
Moore, Okla., may be one of the unluckiest cities in the country, but it’s not alone.
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How Did "Tornado Alley" Get Its Name?
The deadliest twisters aren’t necessarily within its boundaries.
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What “Social Welfare” Work Do Tea Party Groups Perform?
Does Karl Rove hold bake sales?
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Let Me Tell You All About My Narcissism
How do researchers determine whether a generation thinks highly of itself?
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Are Tiger Mothers (Literally, Tiger Mothers) Good Mothers?
Measuring big cats against Amy Chua’s high maternal standards.
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Don’t School Bus Drivers Undergo Background Checks?
Ariel Castro had run-ins with the police. Why was he allowed to drive children?
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Investigative Intuition
Do psychics ever solve crimes? Why do police consult them?
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When Did Doctors Become Obsessed With Obesity?
Would William Howard Taft’s doctors consider Chris Christie overweight?
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How Do You Load a Cargo Plane?
After a horrific crash in Afghanistan, a guide to positions, locks, and load masters.
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How Do You Search a Landfill?
The FBI’s painstaking search for Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s laptop.
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How Many People Have Really Been Killed by Chernobyl?
Why estimates differ by tens of thousands of deaths.
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Does Stephen Colbert’s Endorsement of His Sister Violate Election Laws?
Why Mark Sanford probably won’t get equal time on Comedy Central.
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How Many Apples Could Apple Buy?
What $145 billion gets you in airplanes and artwork.
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Old Enough to Vote, Old Enough to Smoke?
Why are young people considered adults at 18?
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Can the Cops Make Dzhokhar Talk?
The legal ins and outs of interrogating someone who has life-threatening injuries.
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Are Terrorists Often Brothers?
A shocking number of attacks have been planned or executed by siblings.
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Can the Police Search My Home for a Bomber?
Why the door-to-door manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev doesn’t violate the Constitution.
