Quarelia

All the whys, in one place.

One why, well told, every Sunday.

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A school playground in September, edged by a low wall and a large tree with lavender foliage. A group of child silhouettes stands there, long shadows stretching behind them. At the centre, two children in the palest lavender; the colour deepens figure by figure to the navy of those at the edge, and fine ripples spread outward from them.

Lumera · Science · Body · Tech

Why does everyone get sick when school starts?

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Quaé Luméra, hovering above the line

One question, in depth
No jargon
Backed by sources

For example: Why do we hear an inner voice when we read? Why did the Vikings reach America nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus? Why is the sea salty? Why do clouds stay up?

Watch52seconds

CosmiraWhy isn't the equinox exactly twelve hours of daylight?0:52 · Quarelia

Seen from the lunar surface: Earth as a perfectly black disc, ringed by a thin band of copper light, the only source lighting the ground in the foreground.

CosmiraSpace · Cosmos

Why does the Moon turn red during an eclipse?

Overhead view on a cream paper background showing a horizontal row of twelve rounded rectangular plates outlined in dark navy. The eight on the left are pale, with the two at the far left overlapping, and slanted hatching above them. The four on the right are weathered terracotta bearing engraved notch marks grouped in fives of seven, eight, nine, and ten strokes.

ChroneveHistory · Time

Why does September mean seven when it's the ninth month?

Fresh whys

Just arrived

Olbers' paradox: the universe has an age, light from the most distant stars hasn't had time to reach us, and the light that does is stretched into the invisible.

Why is the sky dark at night?

Because the universe has an age: light from the farthest stars hasn't had time to reach us yet. And the light that does arrive has been stretched so far by cosmic expansion that it has slipped out of the visible range.

A child's brain builds the world one brick at a time: every 'why' is a brick looking for its place.

Why do kids ask so many questions?

Because their brains are building the world in real time, and every "why" is a brick looking for where it fits. Answer straight and they ask fewer; dodge and they dig.

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Eight universes for a thousand whys

They gather the questions that belong together. Pick a climate, stay a while.

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Every answer is checked before publication, and its sources are listed at the end of the article.