Fun Q&A sites?
December 6, 2010 12:25 AM   Subscribe

Are there are any sites which feature a variety of curious science or technology posts. structured as puzzling questions which are followed by answers? Inspired by this Gizmodo post.

I'm thinking something with a fun format, maybe blog-style, which asks interesting questions by out-of-the-ordinary science or other questions. I know there must be a bunch of books like this too (feel free to suggest some), but, are there are any websites?
posted by schmichael to Grab Bag (6 answers total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Straight Dope is still going strong. The archive makes for fascinating reading.

Also, Futility Closet does posts like this a few times per week, though it's more brain-teaser than story. They're usually structured as "Ask a puzzling logical/mathematical question, post the explanation the next day," but they're still interesting and educational (albeit a little frustrating when you want the answer right away). Here's their latest puzzle and answer.

Lastly, if you don't mind dispensing with the "ask a question" part of this, DamnInteresting.com publishes fascinating articles about obscure scientific and historical phenomenon on a regular basis.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:13 AM on December 6, 2010


The back page of the New Scientist has something like this called The Last Word, with readers writing in with scientific questions and other readers answering them. The column has also spawned a couple of books (collections of past questions and answers).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:14 AM on December 6, 2010


I'm embarrassed to admit that the little I know about cars comes from "Car Talk." Their archives are full of questions (some more relevant to your science/technology preference than others) and Tom and Ray's answers.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:59 AM on December 6, 2010


Not quite what you're asking for, but I think Radiolab's shows do a great job of exploring scientific topics in ways you weren't expecting - often beginning with an intriguing question, though not always.
posted by Mchelly at 5:18 AM on December 6, 2010


What Is It? posts pictures of unusual, obscure tools every Thursday with their names/uses posted Friday.
posted by galadriel at 8:53 AM on December 6, 2010


Last Word Challenge.

It is the website of the book of the magazine... selections from New Scientist's Last Word feature, which were published as books like "Why Don't Penguins Feet Freeze?", and then made into a quiz website.

The site was created by a Mefite's company and posted as a project a while back.
posted by philipy at 11:19 AM on December 6, 2010


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