Q. They are the most intriguing birds, with their Formula 1 wings, Mr Fantastic tongues, and iridescent protein feathers.  Who are some artists who have worked to capture hummingbird beauty on canvas? . A. American painter and naturalist Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904) was one. Heade was utterly taken with these tinkerbirds,

Q. Sometimes we get so busy with the this and the that – the work, the chores, the cleaning – that we forget to eke out time for the stress-releasing hobbies we love. What are your favourite hobbies? What hobbies are most popular in North America? . A. In 2023,

Q. As you walk, bike or drive your eggs home from the grocery store, aren’t you glad they’re not in a basket? Watch out for the… pot hole. Shoppers of yore didn’t ‘put all their eggs in one basket’ for good reason. Who can we thank for inventing the egg

Q. What are some of the stranger foods that people have used to give them speed and power on race day? . A. Let’s lift our olive leaf crowns to cheesecake. Cheesecakes were on the menu for athletes at the first Olympic Games in Greece. Olympians were encouraged to reap energy

Q. We know about kits, cubs, calves, chicks, pups, but what are some less common names for baby animals? . A. Alligator: hatchling Ant: antling Alpaca: cria Baboon: infant Boar: shoat Cicada: nymph Cod: codling Cormorant: shaglet Echidna: puggle Goat or sheep: yeanling Grasshopper: nymph Hare: leveret Hedgehog: piglet .

Q. Prank shows are having another moment. Do you like watching prank videos, or being caught in escalating prank wars? Or do thoughts of indelible ink, fake bosses, exploding patients, and hidden audiences fill you with dread? What insights have people gathered about pranking? . A. First, what is a

Q. The streets around Times Square are jammed with people filing in and out of theatres. Some are finally seeing shows they’ve dreamed of for years. Others are back again to check out the new cast in their long-held favourites – like ‘The Lion King’, which opened in 1997, or

Q. Who or what is ‘the Green Fairy’? Not the spirited tinker Tinker Bell. She is famously buzzing about Pixie Hollow championing faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust. But what of the green fairy – or ‘La Fée Verte – that has been touted as muse and

Q. As we near July 1st and Canada Day: what are some Canadian-born sweets? 🇨🇦 . A. What does it say about our culture that we are the inventors of a gum whose tagline reads: ‘It still tastes like soap’? They may think us mad, but many of us would

Q. The heat is on. What is your favourite ice-cream flavour? How do flavour preferences play out in Canada? . A. In 2022, Narrative Research asked the question of 1, 239 Canadian adults over the age of 18. As you’ll see below, the top 4 came in close, but chocolate