Department Index
Explainer 2010:
Answers to your questions about the news.
If you'd like to sort this department listing by headline, author or date, please use the Slate search.
- Name That Mission How did Operation Iraqi Freedom turn into Operation New Dawn?
Sept. 3, 2010 - Crash-Test Corpses The many ways to donate your body to science.
Sept. 2, 2010 - Do Freelance Assassins Really Exist? They're huge in Hollywood.
Sept. 1, 2010 - How Does Booze Extend Your Lifespan? Plus: Which kind of alcoholic drinks are best for your health?
Aug. 31, 2010 - Golden Locks Troy Polamalu's hair is insured for $1 million. How does body-part insurance work?
Aug. 31, 2010 - How Do You Measure a Crowd? Disagreements over the Glenn Beck rally in Washington, D.C.
Aug. 31, 2010 - Deep Depression How do you stay upbeat when you're trapped underground?
Aug. 30, 2010 - Head Case The art and science of carrying things on your head.
Aug. 27, 2010 - This Call May Be Recorded (and Distributed) Can you stop someone from posting your 911 tape?
Aug. 25, 2010 - Eggsplainer! A roundup of questions on the salmonella outbreak.
Aug. 24, 2010 - When I'm 65 … Why do people retire when they do?
Aug. 23, 2010 - Why Do the Roma Wander? Because in the old days, they had to.
Aug. 20, 2010 - Slaps on a Plane Can a flight attendant take a child from an abusive parent?
Aug. 19, 2010 - Do Nazis Have the Right To Put Up a Sign Next to the Holocaust Museum? Fact-checking Newt Gingrich's take on the Ground Zero mosque.
Aug. 18, 2010 - Can You Keep a Zebra as a Pet? The Explainer's runaway-zebra roundup.
Aug. 17, 2010 - The $8,000 Pill Why are some pharmaceuticals so expensive?
Aug. 16, 2010 - Is Food Aid Culturally Specific? Do Pakistani flood victims get emergency roti and pulao?
Aug. 13, 2010 - Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty Is it legal to eat your cat?
Aug. 12, 2010 - In the Line of Ire Can you shoot an Obama target?
Aug. 11, 2010 - No-Fly Zone Why do so many planes crash in Alaska?
Aug. 10, 2010 - How Much Does an Army General Cost Taxpayers? Will getting rid of 50 of them really save that much?
Aug. 10, 2010 - E Is for Fail How come schools assign grades of A, B, C, D, and F—but not E?
Aug. 9, 2010 - Will Elena Kagan Have To Wear a Frilly Neckpiece? Plus, what kind of orientation do Supreme Court justices get?
Aug. 6, 2010 - Why Do Foreigners Like Fanta So Much? A brief global history of sweet fizz.
Aug. 5, 2010 - How Many Americans Can't Swim? The demographics of land-lubbing.
Aug. 4, 2010 - A Ballsy Explainer When did testicles become courageous?
Aug. 3, 2010 - Mosqued Crusaders Can anyone stop construction of the mosque near Ground Zero?
Aug. 3, 2010 - How Does Stoning Work in Iran? From the size of the stones to who gets first throw.
Aug. 2, 2010 - You Can Go Home Again Why there's no need for "safe departure" border checkpoints for illegal immigrants.
July 29, 2010 - Does My Dog Look Fat? How they know when a pet is overweight.
July 28, 2010 - Post-Mortem Prayer Can praying for a dead person help get him into heaven?
July 27, 2010 - How Communist Is China? They sure buy a lot of cars for a society built on collective ownership.
July 26, 2010 - Rules of Engagement Can CIA agents marry foreigners like they do in Salt?
July 23, 2010 - Mad in China Can Chinese fishermen sue over an oil spill?
July 22, 2010 - How Do You Treat Rabbit Phobia? With rabbits.
July 21, 2010 - Suitcase-o-Monkeys How many endangered animals can fit into your carry-on luggage?
July 20, 2010 - Rich Doc, Poor Doc Do cheaper doctors provide inferior care?
July 19, 2010 - If Mars Attacks … Do we have an alien-contact contingency plan?
July 16, 2010 - $ £ ¥ € Where do currency symbols come from?
July 15, 2010 - Why Do We Call Financial Instruments "Exotic"? Because some of them are from Japan.
July 14, 2010 - Kindergarten Fashion Did children always wear gender-specific clothing?
July 13, 2010 - And This Little Piggy Went to Jail Can police identify the "barefoot bandit" by his toe prints?
July 12, 2010 - Whence the Mullet? The history of Iran's forbidden haircut.
July 10, 2010 - Fair Trade The U.S. gave Russia 10 spies in exchange for four prisoners. Was that a good deal?
July 9, 2010 - Is an Oil Spill Ever Good for Animals? Worms love it.
July 8, 2010 - Animals in Heat Do squirrels and pigeons get all sweaty in hot weather?
July 7, 2010 - No Teacher Left Behind When did it get to be so hard to fire a teacher?
July 6, 2010 - Oncle Jacques? Onkel Friedrich? Tio José? Do other countries have their own Uncle Sams?
July 2, 2010 - Ghost Writers Were the Russian spies using the same invisible ink you can buy at toy stores?
July 1, 2010 - What Does an Exalted Cyclops Do? He reports to the Dragon and coordinates the Centaurs.
June 30, 2010 - Adam Gadahn, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X Why do some Muslim converts change their whole names and others only part?
June 29, 2010 - Confirm or Deny Does the Senate really need to approve David Petraeus?
June 25, 2010 - Hall of Shame Can Lawrence Taylor be kicked out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
June 24, 2010 - Fire at Will? President Obama removed Gen. McChrystal from his job as top commander in Afghanistan. Can he fire him altogether?
June 23, 2010 - Irrational Confessions Did Faisal Shahzad have anything to gain from pleading guilty?
June 22, 2010 - 100 Million Barrels of Oil in the Well, 100 Million Barrels of Oil If one of those barrels should happen to spill ...
June 21, 2010 - Why Do So Many Drugs Make Us Dizzy and Nauseated? Serotonin, for one thing.
June 17, 2010 - Can Someone Be "Talked Through" Landing a Jumbo Jet? Learning to fly, on the fly.
June 16, 2010 - Why Does the United Kingdom Get To Have Four National Soccer Teams? Could we field a team for California or Texas?
June 15, 2010 - Why Can't Kyrgyz and Uzbeks Get Along? Money.
June 14, 2010 - Senate Expense Report Why did Alvin Greene have to pay so much just to get his name on the ballot?
June 11, 2010 - Pomp and Circumstance Why do graduating students wear academic robes?
June 11, 2010 - Musical Chairs How the White House Correspondents' Association will fill Helen Thomas' seat.
June 10, 2010 - Why Do We Call It Soccer? Most countries think of the World Cup as a football tournament. What's our problem?
June 10, 2010 - Getting Stoned How many police officers have been killed by rocks?
June 9, 2010 - Why Do Brazilian Soccer Players Have No Last Names? And other World Cup questions, answered by the Explainer.
June 9, 2010 - The Art of War Why do commandos use paintball guns?
June 8, 2010 - Mein Data Did any useful science come out of the Nazi concentration camps?
June 7, 2010 - How To Fix a Giant Sinkhole The cement method vs. the graded-filter technique.
June 4, 2010 - Collateral Damage Is there such thing as economic sanctions that don't hurt ordinary people?
June 3, 2010 - Wait, It Was a Perfect Game! Can Major League Baseball go back and change an umpire's ruling?
June 3, 2010 - Tit for Tat What's a "proportionate" response?
June 2, 2010 - Is the Israeli Blockade of Gaza Against the Law? More or less.
June 1, 2010 - What's Happening Under the Gulf of Mexico? Your gushing oil well questions, answered.
May 28, 2010 - The Stalker Next Door Can Sarah Palin get a restraining order against Joe McGinniss?
May 27, 2010 - Cow Whipping How violent can a farmer get with his livestock?
May 26, 2010 - Nuclear Redaction Why won't Israel admit it has nukes?
May 25, 2010 - What Can You Buy From North Korea? Not much.
May 24, 2010 - Hurricane vs. Oil Slick What would happen if a tropical storm hit the oil floating in the Gulf?
May 21, 2010 - True or False Is Adam Wheeler a pathological liar?
May 20, 2010 - What Do Thailand's Protesters Want? And why are they wearing red shirts?
May 19, 2010 - Water Hazard Why is BP trying to stop the Gulf of Mexico oil leak with golf balls?
May 18, 2010 - How Do You Transport Enriched Uranium? In a truck.
May 17, 2010 - Survival of the Youngest Are children more likely to survive plane crashes than adults?
May 13, 2010 - Moving Out from 10 Downing Street David Cameron showed up 90 minutes after Gordon Brown resigned. How did the former PM pack his bags so quickly?
May 12, 2010 - Why Is the Oil Spill Orange? Plus: If oil has to be pumped out of the ground, why is it spewing into the Gulf on its own?
May 11, 2010 - What Happens When Your Miranda Rights Are Revoked? Do you lose the right to remain silent? Or do you still have that right, but no one reminds you?
May 10, 2010 - How Do You Measure a Flood? Try a bubbler gauge.
May 10, 2010 - No Relation: The Kagans Is the new Supreme Court nominee related to Donald, Robert, or Frederick Kagan?
May 10, 2010 - Pizzly Bears When polar bears and grizzlies breed, they can produce fertile offspring. Why can't other species?
May 7, 2010 - Oil Spill FAQ How will the BP disaster affect the U.S. economy?
May 6, 2010 - Houston, We Have an Oil Spill When did the Gulf oil spill become visible from space?
May 5, 2010 - Can You Still Pay Cash for a Plane Ticket? Yes.
May 4, 2010 - Big Apple Is Watching You How many surveillance cameras are there in Manhattan?
May 3, 2010 - The Mane Event How did central Kentucky become horse country?
April 30, 2010 - ¡Fuera de Aquí! Mexico's president criticized the new Arizona immigration law for being discriminatory. How tough are Mexican immigration laws?
April 29, 2010 - Why Are Windmills Always White? And why do they always have three blades?
April 28, 2010 - Oil and Water What's going to happen to all that oil in the Gulf of Mexico?
April 27, 2010 - Is Your Veggie Burger Killing You? The risks of hexane in soy products.
April 26, 2010 - Can You Force Yourself To Dream? How to optimize your naps for learning.
April 23, 2010 - Farmers for Banking Reform Why is the bill to regulate financial firms going through the Senate Agriculture Committee?
April 22, 2010 - Do Identical Twins Have Identical Politics? Now that the president of Poland has died in a plane crash, his twin brother may run for the job. Will his platform be the same?
April 21, 2010 - Lost: One iPhone, Thousands of Trade Secrets Can Gizmodo get into trouble for posting photos of the new iPhone?
April 20, 2010 - Newspeak How does the Associated Press update its style guide?
April 19, 2010 - Explainer's Big-Ash Roundup How do you pronounce Eyjafjallajökull? Why can't planes fly beneath an ash cloud? And more.
April 16, 2010 - How Much Is a Coral Reef Worth? Assessing damages to natural resources.
April 14, 2010 - Why Do the Blind Get a Tax Break? And other questions about the IRS, with answers from our archives.
April 14, 2010 - How Do Movie Theaters Decide Which Trailers To Show? By stereotyping their audiences.
April 14, 2010 - Do Obama and Biden Always Fly in Separate Planes? Poland's leading political figures died in a plane crash over the weekend. Could that happen here?
April 13, 2010 - Ex Cathedra Does the Vatican conduct all of its official business in Latin?
April 12, 2010 - Can't Touch This How far does diplomatic immunity go?
April 8, 2010 - And Down the Stretch She Comes How can a female horse like Zenyatta beat all the males at the racetrack?
April 8, 2010 - Why Isn't the App Store Illegal? Microsoft wasn't allowed to bundle Internet Explorer with its operating system. Should Apple get to decide what software goes on the iPad?
April 7, 2010 - First, Do No Harm to Your Political Party Can doctors refuse to treat patients based on their political beliefs?
April 6, 2010 - Your Halo, Please? Can the Pope revoke someone's sainthood?
April 5, 2010 - Who's the Boss? Can governors tell their attorneys general what to do?
April 2, 2010 - Objection, Your Holiness! How do you become a lawyer for the pope?
April 1, 2010 - When Did IEDs Become WMD? After the WTC bombing.
March 31, 2010 - How To Prosecute Your Local Priest What are the laws on mandatory reporting of child abuse around the world?
March 30, 2010 - The Glass Ceiling for Female Terrorists Can women lead an Islamist terror group?
March 29, 2010 - How Do Doctors Treat Pedophiles? With drugs, psychotherapy, or scalpels.
March 26, 2010 - Comb the Desert! How do anthropologists know where to dig for fossils?
March 25, 2010 - Bad Sports Can basketball players simply refuse to play?
March 24, 2010 - Why Are We in Guam? The United States wants to build a Marine Corps base on the tiny Pacific island.
March 23, 2010 - Health Care Reform FAQ Can Republicans really repeal it? Does it violate the 10th Amendment? How, exactly, does it reduce the deficit?
March 22, 2010 - Ink Job Jesse James' alleged mistress is a "tattoo model." What does that mean?
March 19, 2010 - So, You Want To Be a Parliamentarian? How to become the Senate's referee.
March 18, 2010 - You're Defrocked! Can the pope be fired?
March 17, 2010 - How To Get an Apartment in East Jerusalem Who builds settlements, and who moves into them?
March 16, 2010 - Baby Eyewitness Can infants be traumatized by the sight of violence?
March 15, 2010 - Sports and Torts If a NASCAR driver died in a crash, would the racer who caused it be liable?
March 12, 2010 - What Does Whale Taste Like? Plus, are there different cuts of whale, like beef? Or is it all the same, like fish?
March 11, 2010 - Dewey Defeat Truman Do newspapers ever correct a speaker's broken English?
March 10, 2010 - Obama Says Theodore Roosevelt Lobbied for Health Care Reform ... Did health insurance even exist back then?
March 9, 2010 - Can California Declare Bankruptcy? What about Greece?
March 8, 2010 - When Can You Sue a Filmmaker for Defamation? A real-life soldier says The Hurt Locker is based on his life and makes him look bad, too.
March 4, 2010 - Cool Whip What does a congressional "whip" actually do?
March 3, 2010 - Pinochet and Bachelet What's with all the French-sounding names in Chile?
March 2, 2010 - Why Is Chile So Long and Skinny? Natural boundaries and military conquest.
March 2, 2010 - Are the Haitian and Chilean Earthquakes Related? They're like brothers.
March 1, 2010 - When Animals Attack ... Twice Can animals really develop "a taste for human blood"?
Feb. 26, 2010 - Can Bariatric Surgery Be Reversed? Yes—but should it be?
Feb. 24, 2010 - Class Warfare Do you qualify for the class-action lawsuit against Google?
Feb. 23, 2010 - Spin, Dance, Jump, Repeat! Why don't figure skaters get dizzy?
Feb. 23, 2010 - Dropping the H-Bomb How dangerous is a "herpes bomb"?
Feb. 22, 2010 - Can Lil Wayne Bring His Teeth to Prison? Grills behind bars, explained.
Feb. 22, 2010 - Why Do All National Anthems Sound the Same? Shouldn't the one for Iraq sound a little more "Arab-y"?
Feb. 19, 2010 - Out, Out Damn'd Residue Can terrorists wash off trace amounts of explosive with soap and water?
Feb. 18, 2010 - Go Go Gadget Beard! Do spies and assassins really wear fake beards?
Feb. 17, 2010 - Does Afghanistan Have Phone Books? Telecommunications after the Taliban.
Feb. 12, 2010 - Why Isn't Tear Gas Illegal? It's a chemical weapon, isn't it?
Feb. 11, 2010 - Death by Driveway Can shoveling snow kill you?
Feb. 9, 2010 - Heads of Lettuce When did we start describing comatose patients as "vegetative"?
Feb. 9, 2010 - How Many Ways Can You Bow in Japan? Plus, why is the head of Toyota named Toyoda?
Feb. 8, 2010 - Is "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Only Half-True? Thousands of soldiers have been fired for telling. What happens to the ones who ask?
Feb. 4, 2010 - Over the Moon What happens when a space program gets canceled?
Feb. 3, 2010 - Burn After Viewing How to destroy a sex tape.
Feb. 2, 2010 - Uncle Sam Wants You ... … to loan him a few bucks.
Feb. 1, 2010 - How Do You Convert a Flat Movie Into 3-D? With a trained artist and a fast computer.
Jan. 30, 2010 - Why Do Late-Night Hosts Always Keep Their Desks on the Right? Because the left is so gauche.
Jan. 28, 2010 - How Would the Pope Self-Flagellate? Mortification and the Catholic Church.
Jan. 27, 2010 - How Long Have Politicians Wanted To "Change the Culture of Washington"? Did George Washington promise to change Philadelphia?
Jan. 26, 2010 - Are These 3-D Glasses Dirty? What happens to your plastic frames when the movie ends.
Jan. 25, 2010 - Cash on Hand What happens when a charity receives too many donations?
Jan. 22, 2010 - Does Haiti Have Enough Can Openers? No, but there are plenty of machetes to go around.
Jan. 21, 2010 - Life or Limb What happens when your leg gets trapped under a building?
Jan. 21, 2010 - Seat Him When? How long will it take for Scott Brown to arrive in the Senate?
Jan. 20, 2010 - Do the Reporters in Haiti Have Their Own Food and Shelter? Plus: Why don't earthquakes get names, like hurricanes do?
Jan. 19, 2010 - Avatar in Spanish, or French, or German How dubbing works.
Jan. 15, 2010 - What's the Best Way To Dig Through Rubble? Hire a robot and a dog.
Jan. 14, 2010 - How Do You Measure an Earthquake From 250 Years Ago? Just use the Mercalli scale.
Jan. 14, 2010 - Are There More Big Earthquakes Than There Used To Be? How human activity affects the tectonic plates.
Jan. 14, 2010 - Haiti Earthquake FAQ Do buildings in Haiti have earthquake codes? Why do some quakes cause tsunamis and others don't? And what's a "hospital ship," anyway?
Jan. 13, 2010 - How Many Iranian Nuclear Physicists Are There? Would assassinating one or two of them stop a weapons program?
Jan. 12, 2010 - When Did the Word Negro Become Taboo? In 1966 or soon thereafter.
Jan. 11, 2010 - This Pint of Ben & Jerry's Is Four Servings? How do food companies determine "serving size"?
Jan. 8, 2010 - Getting the Ax From George Clooney Do firing consultants really exist?
Jan. 7, 2010 - Closed for Jihad What happens to an embassy's staff when the building closes?
Jan. 6, 2010 - If a Siamese Twin Commits Murder, Does His Brother Get Punished, Too? An answer to the Explainer's 2009 question of the year.
Jan. 6, 2010 - Why Is Yemen So Poor? Conflict, corruption, and qat.
Jan. 4, 2010
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