Apples are old delicacy

Answer: Ancestral "neo-apples" (the size of a grape) go back 60 million to 70 million years, then by 10 million to 12 million years ago, a recognizable apple appeared in what is now central China. The pips, or seeds, were likely transported by birds and flourished in the fruit forests of the Tian Shan Mountains, says Barrie Juniper in American Scientist. Then along came sweet-tooth bears, who unconsciously selected the larger specimens and were in effect an evolutionary force toward BIG. Since bears' jaws and guts do little damage to the hard-coated apple pips, germinating "loads" were spread all over the mountain range. Wild horses, too, played their part, ranging farther and more widely than the bear. Later, apple pips moved west in the guts of domesticated horses and donkeys, whose sharp hooves unwittingly planted the seeds at every oasis. Finally, from Europe the apple moved across the seven seas, rounding out the sweet apple (pie) saga.

Question: Oh no, rats have invaded your dwelling! What might the varmints discover about your family that you don't know?

Answer: That the genetically related bunch of you all have rather similar body odors. When the University of Chicago's Erin Ables presented rats with novel smells, they investigated longer than for familiar smells. Moveover, they investigated longer when presented with the smells of novel nonrelatives than with related family members, supporting the idea that body odors have a genetic basis. Previous research had also suggested that we humans, when pressed, can distinguish between odors of our relatives vs. nonrelatives, a capacity that may help steer our species away from inbreeding.

Question: What's the secret to a basketball player's soaring hang time in going for the basket, making him seem to defy gravity? Three secrets really.

Answer: 1. During the jump, gravity slows the player more and more toward the top so that he spends about 70 percent of the time in the upper half of the leap, says John J. Fontanella in "The Physics of Basketball."

2. Spending longer near hoop level, he also travels farther horizontally there, seeming to float.