askscience

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I always hear that I'm supposed to wash my fruit and vegetables before eating, but does holding them under a faucet for a few seconds really do anything worthwhile? What am I risking by not washing them at all?	1456
Before modern dental hygiene, did everyone have terrible breath all the time, or do our mouths stay pretty clean when not eating so many refined carbs?	415
How close are we to being able to make our bodies grow hair where we want it and not grow hair where we don't, without physically transplanting or destroying hair follicles?	338
Life generates a lot of odorous particles that float around for us to smell. Where do they all go? Why doesn't the world get progressively stinkier over time?	29
How does water fluoridation protect our teeth when it's highly diluted and much of it doesn't even touch our teeth at all? Is it at all harmful once ingested?	28
Before Darwin, were there any other secular theories on the origin of life?	23
I get that microwaves cook unevenly because of the static wave structure (a problem which turntables help mitigate), but why can't the microwave "gun" physically oscillate somehow to fix the problem entirely?	14
How do portable electronic devices measure the battery charge level? Why do some electronic toys emit slower and lower-pitched noises when the battery runs low, while others just stop working?	11
Do species with a shorter time between birth and reproduction age (shorter generation span) evolve faster?	11
Do animals that hibernate make significant preparations for their hibernation other than eating a lot (similar to a bird making a nest to prepare for young), or do they just look for a spot at the end of summer and move in?	11

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