Dear Matthew Alice: Of all contemporary U.S. coins, it seems rather curious that the Lincoln penny profile is the only one facing right. Does this have any political significance? Is Lincoln the only one representing …

Dear Matt: I posed this question to a TV meteorologist (not in California), and all I got was a lot of gobbledygook that didn’t answer my question, which follows. Relative to the sun, our earth …

Why does my tube of toothpaste say not to swallow any, and what would happen if I ate a whole tube? — Mr. Chuck Jones, P.B. Smear it on toast, add a shot of Scope …

Dear Matthew: In his novel Galapagos, Kurt Vonnegut describes the dining habits of the iguanas in the region. Basically, he says they make their way down the rocky cliffs to the sea, where they eat …

Dear Matthew Alice: Is there a legal minimum that the fine print in documents, etc., must be? — Mimi Labrucherie, USD Mr. Master of Great Wisdom & Knowledge: You’re always told to read the “fine …

Dear Matthew Alice: Regarding those thin, tissue-like toilet seat liners. Printed on the box that holds them it says, “Provided by the management for your protection.’’ Other than butt grime, what can and do these …

Dear Matthew Alice: Those funky nose clips all the athletes are wearing— wots the deal? Is there a proven medical benefit, or is this good old-fashioned American marketing (i.e., lies) at work? I’ve heard they …

Matt: In all my years of watching football, I’ve never heard anyone explain why a touchdown is worth six points, a field goal three, a point-after one. Who came up with this screwy scoring method, …

Straight to the Hippest: Who would whup in a fight between Old Man Hazard and Old Man Daley? — Chris Raney, [email protected] Choose your weapon. Asphalt and concrete at ten paces? Probably a draw, at …

Dear Matthew Alice: Where I exercise daily, the recreation area east of Crown Point, whole communities of coots cross and recross the cement path, leaving their droppings behind them. Coot turds are a startling shade …

Dear Matthew Alice: I listen to jazz on my radio at work, and in order to get a clear broadcast signal, I have to hold the radio cord in my hand. Is there some scientific …

Dear Matthew Alice: I’ve heard that a woman who is not pregnant can produce breast milk, but it takes many months of preparing the breasts. Is it possible for men to breast-feed as well? If …

Hey, Mattie Alicia: Why does a skin form on top of milk when you heat it up? — Insomniac in U.C. Milk is a pretty unstable liquid. Treat it badly, heat it too high too …

Dear Matthew Alice: I was driving up PCH the other day, just south of Carlsbad State Beach, where a new bridge is being built. Out of idle curiosity, I read the “Your Tax Dollars at …

Dear Matthew Alice: Why is it when a new movie opens, its success (or failure) is measured in dollars, such as “...grossed only $1.9 million in its first weekend” or “...has grossed $100 million to …

Dear Matthew Alice: Who or what is “Catherine Wheel”? I know there’s an English musical group by that name, and I’ve seen a pub in England named Catherine Wheel. Please enlighten me. — Michelle S., …

Matthew: Why don't penguins fly? — Sarah Lopez, Euclid Elementary School Gee, we see penguins on the bus all the time. You’d think one day one of them would hop a plane just to see …

Dear Matthew Alice: Munching on one of my favorite snacks, raisins, I noticed a nutritional difference between white seedless raisins and the regular ones. The white seedless raisins have 0.5gfat, 20mg sodium, 36g carbohydrates, and …

Sefior Mateo: Back in Boy Scouts, we had this ongoing debate about why exactly bugs hated bug repellent. Some claimed it was the smell. Others claimed it was the taste. Still others that it created …

Hello, Straight: I'd like you to find a legal reference to what I think/believe/have been told. When a person is sentenced in the U.S. to be in jail for more than one year, automatically that …

Oh, Great Enlightened One: Who, pray tell, invented the zero? I have heard, through the movie Stand and Deliver, that the Mayans invented it. Several engineers I work with claim that the zero is Arabic. …

Dear Matthew Alice: When I was serving a sentence in the Navy in the ’70s, there was a salty rumor floating around that I accepted as gospel. First: The Coronado bridge is designed to float …

Dear Matthew Alice: If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound? Some say yes. Some say no. What is behind the question? — …

Dear Matthew Alice: How come carnivorous animals can eat raw meat but we humans must cook it or else we get sick? Did we invent fire so long ago that we have biologically come to …

Hey, Matt... Suppose for a moment Earth’s core isn’t composed of molten lava. Now suppose that a tunnel was bored straight through, beginning here in San Diego, and out the other side of the planet. …

Dear Matt: Where do we get the expression to give someone the raspberries? Or why is that razzing sound called raspberries? — Not My Real Name, San Diego Best I can piece this together, we …

Dear Matthew: When a cloud is getting darker and darker, that’s because it’s filling up with water and getting ready to rain or snow. But if it needs a certain amount of water to make …

Hi, Matthew: Why do drivers exit the 5 freeway going north at Carmel Valley Road just to get back on the freeway going south? I see this every day and cannot figure out what’s up. …

“MISCELLANEOUS ELOQUENCE: University of Washington astrophysicist Dr. Bruce H. Magon, quoted by The New York Times on the continuing inability of science to measure or infer what the ‘blackness’ in space is, even though, by …

Matthew: I was curious to know what percent of Lotto winners win from Quick Picks. — Jim Sharkey, Pacific Beach Last time we profiled the “typical” Lotto winner, the Quick Pickers were really lagging, somewhere …

Dear Matthew Alice: When lightning strikes the ocean, why doesn’t all the sea life get electrocuted? Wouldn’t it be just like a radio falling into someone’s bathtub? — C.B., San Diego Well, if we’re talking …

M.A.: Where did we get the stupid expression “The proof is in the pudding”? It doesn’t seem to mean anything to me. — Wondering, San Diego “Stupid,” like, why the proof s in pudding and …

Dear Matthew Alice: This is a pretty strange question, but I just have to ask it. It’s been driving me crazy. Have you ever noticed that people from other countries sometimes are kind of pushy …

If a 7-Eleven is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks.on the doors? And if you tied buttered toast to the back of a cat and dropped it from …

Dear Matthew Alice: Various AFL teams this past season used “throwback” helmets that were reversed from their original colors. For example, the Buffalo Bills wore a “throwback” white bison on a red helmet, rather than …

Dear Mr. Alice: Does Michael Jackson own Albert Einstein’s eyes? — A.A., San Diego C’mon into the Wild Rumors Wing of the Matthew Alice Museum of Famous Body Parts. Just take a seat on one …

Matt: Vocational titles such as astronomer and seismologist are relatively self-explanatory. But why are weatherpeople called meteorologists? I don't think world weather patterns are affected by near-Earth whizzing chunks of rock, are they? Is it …

Matthew: I've noticed that the Columbia Pictures logo — “Columbia,” the woman in the long robe that they show at the beginning of their movies — seems to have changed. Who was the model for …

Hey, Scumbag! Can't handle the tough questions! Stick with trivia. Names, places, and dates, scumbag. You're not good enough to go for: Why does the San Diego Registrar of Voters SELL OUR NAMES AND ADDRESSES …

Dear Matthew Alice: Lately I have been pondering the question of alternatives for disposing of my earthly remains when the time comes. I have no interest in being stuck in a box in the ground …

Dear M.A.: Whatever happened to Fizzies, those little lozenges that bubbled up into a glass of flavored drinks? I must have some again. Did they disappear as a health hazard? — Brian Schmidtberger, North Park …

Matt: Where did Groundhog Day come from? Who decided that a groundhog could predict the weather? — “Rocky Squirrel,” San Diego Our European ancestors gave us the idea for Punxsutawney Phil, that furry Farmers Almanac. …

Dear M.A.: I seem to recall a few months back you discussed the sagas of the severed heads of Santa Ana, et al. I therefore naturally thought of you when I saw the enclosed, taken …

Dear Matthew Alice:Some 40-plus years ago, when I was a youngster, a major cereal company sponsored a promotion offering one square inch of free land in Alaska with each purchase of a box of their …

Dear Omniscient One: I’ve asked all my buddies. Nobody knows. So you’re my last resort before I just accept it as one of those unknown mysteries that forever go unexplained. Please end my befuddlement. What …

Dear Matthew Alice: I’ve heard recently that the kombucha tea mushroom that everybody’s drinking is supposed to be bad for the sewer system. Is that true — Toni, South Park Pardon my typos. Haven’t quite …

Matt: Is it really possible for contact lenses to slide around to the back of your eye and get lost somewhere in your head forever? My mother tells me this is true. She says it …

Dear Matthew Alice: Where did cigarettes come from? I mean, did somebody invent them or did they just evolve from ancient times or what? — Marlene Walter, Boston, MA Tobacco was originally wrapped in corn …

Dear Matthew Alice: Every time I’m in the grocery store, I always wonder how the machine that reads the UPC bar codes can tell what is front and what is back. They don’t line up …

Dear Matthew Alice: Where does the term “dive,” meaning a sleazy bar, come from? — Maria, El Paso, TX Matt: I know what “egg” is, but what’s “nog”? — Tom G., San Diego Some festive …