Heymatt: Why are bathroom doorknobs silver on the inside and brass on the outside? Jeff, Tierrasanta I'm not sure what this says about the research elves, but they spent an awful lot of time dissecting …

Dear Matt: If my wife bumps me off here in San Diego, it's homicide and the county D.A. will prosecute. But what if we're off shore in her private dinghy? Who has jurisdiction? Suppose we're …

Matt: Where did the @ symbol come from? -- Lance, Chula Vista We have some late-breaking news on the "at" symbol, or "commercial a" symbol, whichever you choose to call it. Time was that linguists …

Heymatt: Alongside the 5 freeway heading north somewhere around the airport there is a pink building with a huge white rendition of Michelangelo's "David" painted on the side. I want to know why. -- Susie …

Heymatt: What can you do to get rid of hiccups? Must be something.... -- Mary, via e-mail They've made headlines lately. Too bad for Florida teenager Jennifer Mee; her 15 minutes of fame were wasted …

Dear Matthew Alice: Now that my wife is pregnant with our first child, I have the responsibility of doing the dishes a little more often while she naps. One thing I keep noticing is no …

Matt: I know this [M.A. web archive] page is almost ten years old, but in the last several years, since the FCC was basically dismantled by Bush and the younger Powell, all commercials are louder …

Heymatt: If you strike a safety match on the approved, official strip on the side of the box, the match burns just fine. So why can't you generate a spark when you strike a safety …

Matt: Why can't I buy black olives in glass jars, just in cans? -- Olivia, San Diego You can't buy them in jars because they don't sell them in jars. Ha-ha, hum� Well, its all …

Matt: Who are Fig Newtons named after? Isaac? Huey? Juice? Wayne? -- JW, San Diego It's a what, not a who. In the late 1890s, a Philadelphia inventor devised a machine that could produce a …

Hey, Matt: I'm an avid barefooter, and I go out as much as possible barefoot because it is healthier than it is to wear shoes. I enjoy being able to feel something with my feet …

Hey, Matt: What's up with Grape Nuts? There are no nuts or grapes in the entire box. Not even raisins. Who named this cereal, and why did they think it was a good idea to …

Matt: I was recently looking on-line at the Yahoo Maps map of the intersection of I-5 and Highway 52 and found the single word "Elvira." Then I was on a jog under this very intersection, …

Heymatt: Being right-handed it seems natural that I write from left to right on the page. This way I can see what I've written. And since most people (at least in the Western world) are …

How old is Cal Worthington? I'm 65, and I remember watching him sell cars on TV ads when I was a kid. As seen on TV lately, he looks pretty good. Or has he been …

Heymatt: Why does Rx mean prescription? -- Wendy, San Diego Rx is shorthand for recipe, the Latin imperative meaning, "Take it!" What passed for doctors in medieval times wrote Recipe at the top of a …

Hi, Matthew: Concerning those heart-wrenching lost dog or cat flyers distraught humans post advertising a reward for the returned pet: do they create a contract? If you were to find and return the beloved pet, …

Dear Matt: I'm moving into a new gated community. What I want to know is, how will the fire department get in if there's a fire? Do they have keys to every gated community? To …

Hey, Matt: Has there ever been any version of a urinal for women? If so, maybe the Spanos family can cut down on the lines at any future Chargers stadium by installing some of these. …

Hey, Matt!! What's up with the Hotel San Diego sign? I saw it today, relatively intact but slowly rusting away, put to pasture on the grass near the corner of Rosecrans and Dewey, inside the …

Matt: Is there a difference in the chemical composition of sweat produced by nervousness and dread and that of sweat produced by good honest exercise? My friend says he can smell the difference. I think …

Dear Matt: How high up over a country is international air space considered to begin? Sea-bound countries claim a certain distance from their shores as their property. Many countries also consider the air over their …

Matt: I can understand why we have two eyes (judge distance) and two ears (locate sound), but why two nostrils? -- J.R., Cardiff Stereolfaction doesn't make much sense, unless it has something to do with …

Matt: How did swap meets a flea markets get named? I've ever seen any swapping at a swap meet, and I've never seem fleas at a flea market. -- Nola from North Park Well, for …

Your Mattness: Who decides what are continents? Why is Greenland not a continent? It is bigger than the island/continent of Australia and has more people than Antarctica. How can Europe and Asia be one continent? …

Heymatt: So, I was digging your column on schizophrenia, but when I read the last paragraph, I heard my own loud voice and it boomed, "Dios mio!" Matt, my buddy, in a town like San …

Hey: My friends and I were talking the other day and the subject came around to the one day of the year that you can balance an egg on its end. My friend says that …

Heymatt: You seem to be a expert on the subject of domestic house cats, so here's another one for you. Why is it they love to sit and lie on newspapers? And why is it …

Heymatt: In radio communication, "Roger" means "message received," the code word for the letter "R." So why "Roger"? Also, I've heard the word "Roger" used with the word "Wilco," as in, "Roger, Wilco, over and …

Hey, Matt!: Why is it that so many schizophrenics hear voices telling them to do something violent? Whenever we read about these poor souls, it's because they've heard a voice (usually God's) telling them to …

Hey, Matt: I was digging through some old (really old) books left over from my junior high school days. As I was flipping through A Star Trek Catalog: The Complete Guide to the Fantastic World …

Heymatt: Why do cats move their paws so much when you're petting them? -- Lisa T., the net It's called kneading, Lisa. Your pampered Fluffy is drifting back to her kittenhood, when kneading helped stimulate …

Heymatt: How can you really tell that a bird is a male or a female? -- Kay, the net How can we really, really tell? Do I detect suspicion? Exasperation? Has someone been trying to …

HY MTTHW LC! Why do radio stations have those consonant-filled names, like KQVO or KFMB? And why is there a disproportionate amount of the letter K? -- VWL-HNGRY IN NRML HGHTS THR R 5 VWLS …

Hey, Matt: I see guys in the gym, usually older, who wear sandals in the shower, presumably to avoid athlete's foot. Now, if I drop my trunks on the gym shower floor and then put …

Hey, Matt!: I was watching President Ford's funeral on C-SPAN and something occurred to me. The cameras kept cutting away to Betty, who was sitting in a huge armored Cadillac. At least I assume it …

Matt: I think I have a wonderful singing voice. But my so-called friends tell me differently. I didn�t believe them until one day I tape-recorded myself and played it back. I couldn't believe that squeaky …

Heymatt: Does anyone cook mung beans, or are they only good for sprouting? Has anyone ever seen a mung bean recipe? GM, the net A bean is a bean is a bean. Those of the …

Matthew Alice: When you smell something, does that mean that little particles of what you smell are going up your nose, or is it gasses given off by the object that we smell? Cindy, Mira …

I think Christmas is over at the Alice house. We're never sure until the tree comes down and we shake all the deadbeat relatives out of the branches. But the gauge shows empty on the …

Heymatt: My girlfriend has a hamster, which I consider to be a stupid animal. He constantly runs on his wheel. Hours and hours and hours. I watch and think, "Does he think he is actually …

Dear Matt: What's the origin of the peace symbol-- the circle with the "bird's foot" in it? -- Peacenick, the net England, 1958. At the request of peace activist Bertrand Russell, an artist was doodling …

Matt: Do species of snakes in the same family ever bite one another and die from the poison? How about between families? Maybe snakes in general don't bite each other. -- Bob and friends, North …

Heymatt: My father always mentioned Rube Goldberg whenever he heard of some odd scheme or idea. Please tell me about ol Rube. Is he fact or fiction? -- JRG, Spring Valley Old Rube is actual …

Hello: The subject came up in a casual conversation. Is there such a thing as spontaneous human combustion? -- A.V., Golden Hill Like, you'll be sitting in your lounge chair, watching the Super Bowl, and …

Heymatt: My sister is having a baby pretty soon and she's terrified that her child might have to go through life with an outie belly button. Is there anything she can do to make sure …

M.A: No matter how tightly I close up my mascara, it always dries up before I use much of it. I suspect this is planned obsolescence. I've tried dribbling water into the little brush hole …

Dear Matthew Alice: How come horses can sleep standing up? Why don�t they fall over? -- Kris, Central Elementary School Well, Kris, horses' legs are not built like yours and mine. The arrangement of bones …

Dear M.A.: Getting personal, I have a small blue dot on my butt, and I'm told my mother and brother do as well. My mother has always said it was a "Mongolian birthmark." She says …

Matt: Something that I've wondered about for years is why people stick the tips of their tongues out of their mouths when they're concentrating on something. I've seen my kids do it and adults do …