The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that California’s Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional. For most of human history, marriage was more akin to a business deal between men, and the bride in question had very few rights or other options. So how did marriage become associated with love?

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, attraction is in the air. Which lovesick symptoms should you look out for if you're on the hunt?

Lyme disease is one of the most rapidly emerging infectious diseases in the U.S., with nearly 30,000 confirmed cases in 2009, according to the CDC. Ticks are the culprit. What can you do to keep them at bay?

It's the ultimate rip-off as a kid -- having a birthday fall on a day that occurs once every four years. On behalf of cheated leapers everywhere, why are such years necessary?

Distracted drivers: We're not trying to scold you or bring on the dawn of a vehicular nanny state. We're just pointing out some of the most dangerous habits behind the wheel.

If at first you don't succeed, launch a new online social network. Google's Orkut failed to hit the big time on the world stage, but could Google Plus challenge Facebook for the title of King of Social Media?

Febraury 7 was the 200th birthday of Mr. Dickens. You likely won't come across names like Mr. Sloppy, Wopsle, Sweedlepipe, Bumble and Scrooge in real life. These names were the product of Charles Dickens' unique imagination – any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

During Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show, British singer M.I.A. extended the middle finger to the whole world. Will the FCC fine NBC, as they did CBS for Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction? Learn about the FCC's obscenity criteria.

On Feb. 7, 1964, The Beatles made their first visit to the United States. The band’s name alone conjures up images of mop tops, yellow submarines, meter maids and walruses. Test your knowledge of history’s most famous rock band.

Researchers in Japan have developed a new method of auto theft deterrent that verifies the driver's identity. Are you comfortable with your car seat knowing this much about your backside?

It was announced last week that hackers intercepted a conference call between the FBI and Scotland Yard. Hackers have gotten a bad reputation as criminals of the computer age, but are they all foes?

An iceberg the size of New York City is poised to break away from a glacier in Antarctica that’s melting quickly as the region’s climate warms. Are we past the point of no return when it comes to global warming, or can our efforts still make a difference?

Iran is threatening to retaliate as the U.S. and Europe continue imposing sanctions against the Middle Eastern country. As concerns grow over Iran developing a nuclear weapon, find out how uranium centrifuge machines are at the core of it all.

Many folks in the Northern Hemisphere are still waiting for their full-blown snowman invasion to hit. Is Frosty ever going to come this winter?

An unverified image of the new BlackBerry smartphone has leaked to the Web, and there’s no keyboard in sight. With so many phones on the market, here are some tips to figure out what you want and what you can do without.

Hundreds of people were rescued on Thursday after a ferry off the coast of Papua New Guinea sank, and the search continues for additional survivors. Do you know what to do when a ship goes down?

Last week, claims for initial unemployment benefits dropped. According to some economists, the most recent U.S. recession ended in June 2009, but not everyone can see the difference. It may surprise you to learn that the economy is showing signs of life, and here are 10 of the most vital.

Recently, two British citizens were detained upon arriving in the United States and sent back home after tweeting about destroying America. Bad idea. See what else you shouldn't share online.

Researchers have just determined that volcanic eruptions caused the Little Ice Age approximately 500 years ago. A lot has changed since then. What might be in store for us 500 years from now?

On Jan. 26, 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton denied having sexual relations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, only to later admit to the affair. Lots of us lie, but what are the biggest fibs ever told?

Changing a tire can be tricky if you don't know what you're doing. How knowledgeable are you when it comes to changing a tire? Take this quiz and find out!

Fiery explosions, boiling lava, hot ash spewing everywhere -- total disaster is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think "volcano." And, yes, that is certainly a possibility. But do you know what’s really going on when a volcano erupts?

Computers can make life easier, but they also can put your private information at risk. Find out how much you know -- or don't know -- about computer security by taking our quiz.

Stuff You Should Know's mafia episode was so rich with movie references we decided to cook up a quiz. Test your knowledge of cement shoes and tommy guns.

Frankenstein's monster is all up in your pop culture, fighting werewolves and letting you know what he thinks about fire (it's bad). So grab a torch, storm the walls of this quiz, and see if you have what it takes to come out the victor.

How much RAM is in your computer? Do you need more? And if you do, how do you know? Take the quiz to learn everything there is to know about RAM.

As the saying goes, home is where the heart is. But just how does one go about building a home in the first place? Find out some fun facts about this detailed process by taking the quiz.

If you've ever eaten food, then there's a chance you might have tried Spam. We're not talking about the e-mail version. We're talking canned meat. Take our Spam quiz to see where you rate on canned pork knowledge.

It's pretty clear that a doctor makes more money than a fast food worker. But does a surgeon bring home more bucks than an anesthesiologist? Test your knowledge with the ultimate best- and worst-paying jobs quiz.

From Big Brother security myths to the fabrication of what the Internet actually is, cyberspace is full of fictions of its own. Can you call a myth's bluff? Test your knowledge on what's real and what's not in the globe's largest electronic world.

The topic of murder stirs up fear in almost any context, and serial killing tends to multiply that fear to the tenth degree. Test your knowledge with this serial killer quiz.

Squared off on opposite sides of the Force, it might seem like Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi have nothing in common. One is tall, dark and deadly, and the other's, well, not.

Hydraulic equipment is amazing in its strength and agility. From common backyard machines to the huge machines you see on construction sites, hydraulics make quick work of even the most difficult tasks. How much do you know about hydraulic machines?

Right now, your computer has an array of tiny files that are keeping tabs on you. Test your knowledge of Internet cookies, one the most misunderstood aspects of the Internet.

Being stranded in the wilderness may make for a good movie, but in reality, it's a harrowing experience. Staying alive may require you to build a shelter, start a fire and even eat bugs for nourishment. Do you have what it takes to survive this quiz?

Grab your pigskin: It's time for football trivia. We don't mean winningest coaches, Heisman winners or team mascots, but rather the nitty-gritty of the gridiron. How does the QB make that ball spiral? Wouldn't "handball" make a better name than "football"? Pad up and get on the field ... the football quiz field, that is.

Sure, a bubble bath can make your bathroom feel luxurious. But wouldn't an HDTV make it even nicer? Take a look at some of the most expensive and outrageous bathroom fixtures -- can you tell fact from fiction?

It's time to step into the time machine and travel back through history. Of course, if you hope to survive, you're going to want to separate what you actually learned in history class from all the historical inaccuracies in the movies.

We live in a radioactive world, and we're not just talking about the times when a nuclear plant is melting down and scaring the heck out of us. How much do you know about the ABGs (or alphas, betas and gammas) of nuclear radiation?

If you're an American and you're reading this, then there's about a 30 percent chance you're addicted to nicotine. If you listened to this podcast, then you should have no problem scoring well.

People donate their bodies to science all the time, usually after death. Here, we highlight 10 scientists who experimented on themselves while they were still alive.

These films look like blooper reels when you compare them to history books. From anachronisms to flat-out lies, creative license reigns in this list.

When you think about space travel, you don't usually take time to wonder how astronauts go to the bathroom. However, the annals of aeronautic history abound with tales of space bathroom mishaps. Here are 10 of our favorites.

Food is something we can't live without. But sometimes instead of nourishing our bodies, it can actually kill us. And it's no cheap (or easy) task to get that food off the market.

Some TV shows are lucky to stick around for a season -- these did that and then some. What made them the longest-running dramas and comedies in television history?

Let's say your vacation tour group ditches you in the outback. Or your car slips off an icy road in the middle of nowhere. Will you have the tools to save your life?

Gentlemen, start your checkbooks! These classic cars each have a history all their own and a price tag to blow your mind. The starting point is $6.9 million if you want one of these beauties parked in your garage.

For more than 150 years, automotive engineers have been continually working on ways to improve the internal combustion engine. What are some of the biggest improvements they’ve made?

There are thousands of apps for the iPhone, and they let you do everything from play games to keep up with stock prices. Some of them are real head-scratchers, though. Do you use any of these weird apps?

By the time space shuttle Atlantis touched down after its final voyage in July 2011, a major shift in strategy for space exploration was already under way. What are NASA's newest programs?

These 10 technologies changed war and the course of history as we know it. Some of these battlefield innovations, like adding grooves to gun barrels, are surprisingly simple. So what else made our list?

Maybe you've heard about Kool Aid or the Family Jams -- but what do you really know about some of the world's most infamous cults?

There's a lot more out there than our measly solar system, and astronomers are becoming more adept at finding those worlds all the time. Here are 10 of their coolest discoveries.

Who can forget all of the famous pitch lines, gizmos and unintentional hilarity packed into late-night paid programming? Infomercials are showy, earnest and often outright deceptive. What are 10 of the best?

Some of the best strategy games -- those that require thinking rather than luck or physical ability -- have been around for centuries, while others have been released in the past decade. Which ones stand out from the pack?

These jobs probably weren't on your list of what you wanted to be when you grew up. But now that you're in the rat race, you may wonder if a dirty job is more profitable than your desk jockey career.

You have a big expense coming up. You need a better car or home, or you want to go back to college. What do you do? Borrow, borrow, borrow -- right? Well, maybe not. Working off of a budget just may save your sanity -- and credit.

Unemployment can cause stress, but some jobs are stressful, too. The next time you find yourself sweating over some deadline, remember that some people get paid to risk their lives -- or save the lives of others -- every single day.

In a pinch, you could probably do without most of the appliances in your home -- but would you want to? Life would certainly be different without these 10.

When a bunch of Twitter geeks get excited about the same thing at the same time, their chatter can crash the whole service. And that's when the dreaded Fail Whale appears.

The Word Bubbles Game will challenge your verbal agility and put your vocabulary and memory to the test. How many words can you come up with? Exercise your mind and play Word Bubbles today!

In this version of the classic solitaire game, you play through a mountain of cards, eliminating them as you go.

Other sudoku games will let you use cheats, either with or without a penalty. But this game is a different story: one with no cheats!

Play this classic game in 3-D! Just when you think you're stuck, you can rotate the cube to reveal more matches to clear. Mahjongg Dimensions is all about creativity, speed and 3-D memory.

Link letters together to make words. Longer words are worth more points! How high can you score?

If you've ever wanted to build a bike from scratch, you're not alone. Try your hand at piecing together this motorcycle in the Bike Build Game. Once you have everything in place, you can see the real thing!

Are you the ultimate HowStuffWorks podcast fan? Prove it in this word search game with 10 exciting levels, numerous categories and backgrounds inspired by the podcasts.

BenBen the monkey needs your help! It looks like he got himself in some trouble with the local snakes by stealing their rattles. Help him fend off the colorful reptiles one by one in this fun and exciting match-making adventure! With three fantastic chapters, gorgeous visuals and engaging sound, Monkey Gems is one game you'll want to play over and over again!

Watch out for puns, twists, turns, jokes and general trickery as you try to score as many points as you can in this word game.

Alu's Revenge serves up solid gameplay, where stacked stones continue to fall as you use your quick wits and speedy strategy to open the tomb and reveal the jewels inside.

Do you consider yourself a master wordsmith? A superior speller? A vocabulary virtuoso? If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, then Word Grid is the game for you.

Take a shot at the all-new excitement of Zuma's Revenge!™, the smashing sequel to one of the biggest hits of all time!

An amusement park classic comes to your desktop. Get some ball-tossing target practice without leaving your chair.

If you're in the mood for a grid-filling game, look no further. You'll find yourself running from mechanical monstrosities as you try to fill in as much of the game board as you can. Keep an eye out for power-ups while you're playing to give yourself a nice boost of speed to help you clear the board even faster!

Visit an old cemetery, a provincial town and other unlikely locations to discover more of these strange letters. With puzzling mini-games, four special help tools and an extra quest to unlock a second mode, you'll be thrilled for hours playing Letters from Nowhere.

Travel through strange new environments, overcome natural disasters, and help appease the gods and their demands. If you succeed, Caesar will be grateful and the gods are sure to smile down on the citizens of Rome.

Find out why this speedy variant of a classic card game is called "Addiction Solitaire."

Numerous hours of challenging discoveries await you in 34 beautiful scenes, 30 mini-games and a host of tricky puzzles.

Figure out the combination with the most letters and move to the next level. A classic word scramble for a digital world. Take a break and exercise your brain all at once!

Are you ready to master a classic crossword challenge? Our online crossword puzzle game is an excellent way to spend some free time building your vocabulary and problem-solving skills, as well as a great way to keep your mind quick and flexible.