Matt: I always wonder when I see bulletproof glass if that stuff actually works. I don’t think I’d feel safe with just a piece of glass between me and a guy with a gun. — …

Matt: If our temperature is 98.6, why do we feel hot when it’s 85 or 90 outside? — WS, San Diego That 98.6 business isn’t what it appears to be. That’s an average core body …

Hey, Matt: There must be an end to the earth’s supply of oil. Has anyone predicted when that will happen? — Just Wondering, via email By now you must recognize the background music to this …

Hey Matt: Why are there so many more right-handers than left-handers? — Bicoastal, via email Aw, phooey. Actually, when it comes to handedness, everything you know is wrong — old-wives’-tale division. Anyway, that’s what’s been …

Hey Matt: Do different mammals have the same or different blood types as humans? I’m thinking dogs, cats, whales, deer, bears, etc. Could I give a blood transfusion to Fido if he needed it? — …

Dear Matthew: I just had my second baby. During the few times I could actually think straight during labor, I began wondering why something as basic to the survival of the species as childbirth is …

Hey Matt: I have a great idea to send coffins into Outer Space so they can travel for 1 million to 100 billion years. This way we will donate our bodies to science and let …

Hey Matthew: When my cat had kittens two of them looked exactly like each other. Are they twins? Is this common? I don’t remember seeing identical twin cats before. — Crazy Cat Lady, El Cajon …

Heymatt: This summer I’ve done a lot of just sitting around not doing much. I don’t want to go back to school with a fat butt, so I was wondering how much energy I burn …

Heymatt: My dog lifts his leg to pee. My cats don’t. I don’t know about other animals. Why does my dog do that, or why don’t my cats do that? Do any other animals lift …

Hey, Matthew: Why can’t we have blue or green hair? We can have blue or green eyes, and isn’t melanin responsible for coloring our hair and our eyes? So why no blue hair? — Anonymous, …

Matthew Alice: Why do people see bright lights and funny things when they hit their head? — Wesley, Fourth Grade Hi, Wesley. Matthew Alice’s friends just get younger and younger. Anyway, when we “see stars,” …

Hey, Matthew: Is there any practical limit to how big passenger planes can get? They seem so huge now, I was just wondering if there’s some top size that they can get to before they …

Hello, Matt: My friend in Florida was recently in an accident and she reported to me that her normal doctor would not see her for her accident-related injuries, that she had to see special “accident …

Hey, Matt: When we watch scary movies, my mom screams a lot but my dad doesn’t. When we go out to a movie, ladies scream but the men don’t. I think scary movies are pretty …

Hey: Why are underwear and pants always referred to as a pair? Yes, there are two pant legs, but a shirt has two sleeves and nobody calls it a pair of shirts. — Apparelly Challenged, …

Please: Please, please. Why do we celebrate Cinco de Mayo? And don’t give me that same-old same-old description of what it is. I know it’s not Mexican Independence Day. It happened so long ago, and …

So, Matt: I love popcorn, so, of course, I’m lazy enough to prefer microwave popcorn, since all you have to do is close the door and punch the “Popcorn” button. I have friends who flip …

Matthew Alice: Every day on my way to work I pass a dairy farm. All the cows in the herd are always facing the same direction. Is there a reason for this? — Anonymous, via …

Heymatt: Is the military working on a laser gun — a weapon that uses a laser to kill people? Maybe a laser tank or laser cannon? I was just wondering how much science fiction has …

Heymatt: Everybody in my family hates cabbage. And my dad and sister won’t eat broccoli. That got us wondering if taste is genetic. Did I inherit my cabbage hate from my parents? Broccoli’s not my …

Dear Matthew Alice: I’ve heard that after you die your hair and fingernails keep growing. How is that possible? Or maybe it’s not true. Straighten me out. — Daniel S., San Diego I couldn’t find …

Matt: Can a person who reads lips, like a deaf person, tell if you have an accent, like Southern or French or something? — Windsor Lakes, via email This should round out our lip-reading essays. …

Matt: I have this friend who decided that burglars should learn to use their feet instead of their hands when they steal things so they won’t leave any fingerprints behind. I think he was kidding …

Hey Matt: I burned toast. Pretty soon the whole house smelled like burned toast. Stronger than anything I can remember. Tell me why. — Great Gregg Cook, via email Hey, Grandma. Hey. Yo, Grandma. Here’s …

Talofa, Matt: As a tattoo aficionado, I recall reading that before it was destroyed during WWII, there existed a collection of preserved dermagraphics from Japanese yakuza members, and supposedly due to the atrocities in Germany, …

Heymatt: A bunch of us were wondering what’s the most common birthday. Is there a day that a lot more people were born? We have two friends who were born on September 30, so is …

Matt: My mom says I’m turning her hair gray from stress. Is that possible? — Bad Boy?, via email Well, ya know, she might be right. Science guys aren’t quite sure if stress hurries up …

Hello, Matt: Every time I go to text somebody, I look at the keyboard and wonder why the letters are so mixed up. If they were in alphabetical order, it would be easier to find …

Heymatt: I’ve been a proud knuckle-cracker for most of my life. My family hates it, but I love to torment them with it. They’ve tried all kinds of things to get me to stop, but …

Hey Matt: I’ve been looking at those “energy-saving” lightbulbs and they look pretty complicated to me. A regular lightbulb looks like it’s much easier to make. Just a glass bubble with a filament in it. …

Dear Matthew: I just lost about 100 pounds. Where exactly did all that fat go? -- Skinny Sheree, via email Wow! Good thing you didn’t have to haul it all out in garbage bags. Lucky …

Heymatt: Another cold, gloomy day here at the beach. Winter sucks. I’ve been trying to think of a cure short of moving to the Equator. It occurred to me that I could sleep all winter …

Heymatt: How did gold become the “metal of choice”? Even back in the ancient days it was revered. Why not lead, tin, copper or...? Who or what made gold the precious metal? — Doug Blackstock, …

Hi, Matt: I’m a former San Diegan who now lives in China. The bed here is provided by my employer, and it is a bit more firm than the average bed in America. Strangely, every …

Hello, Matt: My neighbors have a horse, and they told me that the horse sleeps standing up. After that I tried to see if I could see the horse do that, and I think I …

Heymatt: I’ve been watching my crazy cat and was wondering if animals have mental illnesses like people do. We get schizophrenia and paranoia and other things. Are animals vulnerable to them too? Sometimes I wonder …

Heymatt: I’ve gotten to wondering, how does 3D TV work? I’ve never seen it, but I’m having a hard time figuring out how it would work. — Bob S., Tierrasanta Bob S. has been bathing …

Howdy, Matt: My mom says that when she was a teenager she worked as a carhop. She said she wore roller skates for her job, but she couldn’t tell me why she was called a …

Hey, Matt: I want some information on multitasking. Everybody seems to be able to do it. Sometimes I’m on my computer and texting and doing my homework at the same time. How does my brain …

Matthew: You’d better help me or I’m in bad shape. My dad absolutely loves old-time country-western music, and he blasts it all over the house all day long. I don’t even know their names, but …

Howdy, Matt: The other day I had a couple of brews that I’d left out and they were warm, so I put them in the freezer to hurry up the cold. These were beers in …

Heymatt: My kids like nothing more than sleeping. They can sleep maybe 12 hours a night. On school days they have to go to bed really early, and it’s almost impossible for me to get …

Dear Matt: What’s happening with the birth-control pill for men? I keep hearing about it every once in a while, but then nothing happens. Why is it so difficult to make one? It didn’t take …

Heymatt: If most people are right-handed, I was wondering why. I couldn’t think of a good reason for that, so is there one? I’m sure your science guys can let me know. I’m a leftie, …

Mattzilla: I’ve looked at a lot of career choices, and it seems to me that being a vampire would suit me pretty well. One thing has me a little confused, though. Could I survive as …

Heymatt: This is a really hard thing for me to believe. My friend says she remembers being born. She says she has dreams about being in a real dark place and then being pushed along …

Hey, Matt: I do a lot of running, and while I was jogging through Balboa Park the other day, I started to wonder about my speed. I think I was running east, and since the …

Dear Matt: When we went to the desert once, there was a ranger who told us that there were lots of things that could live there, even though it mostly looked like rocks and sand. …

Heymatt: When we went to the moon and planted the American flag there, did we claim the moon for us? Who owns the moon, or maybe Mars? We’re messing around there, too. Can I buy …