Kristen Hall-Geisler is a freelance writer and book editor living in Oregon. As an automotive journalist since 2006, she's honed her research and interviewing skills with HowStuffWorks, The New York Times, TechCrunch, Popular Science, US News & World Report and more. She loves falling down the rabbit hole of research and emerging with a book or article that others find useful and — she hopes — entertaining while still being based on solid sources. She is the author of the historical novel "Skull and Sidecar" as well as the nonfiction books "Take the Wheel: A Woman’s Guide to Buying a Car Her Own Damn Self" and "Lightning in a Throttle: Three Early Electric Vehicle Victories."
Recent Contributions
There are a lot of theories about why wine bottles have dents (or punts) on the bottoms. Do they still serve a purpose?
These days, people are looking for ways to find and share more joy instead of feeling happy about someone else's misfortune. That feeling of shared joy is called freudenfreude.
We all grew up playing 'Ring Around the Rosie.' But what does it even mean?
Advertisement
We have to get our car's regular oil changes and replace our car's tires. But how do we have to do routine maintenance on our car's transmissions?
Is 'Jim Wilson' really a code name airlines use to refer to a corpse being transported on a plane? Or just an urban myth?
The science is pretty simple. It's all about oxidation (the chemical reaction that makes rust). It's just sped up super fast.
There are tons of squirrel species around the world. Do they all have the same life span?
Advertisement
There's nothing quite like the smell of a new car interior. It's not exactly a fresh scent, but it's definitely an unused scent. So what really causes that "new car smell"?
The two passengers might not be human, but they have a job to do. They're manning Artemis I to be zero gravity indicators.
Nobody wants a tailor up in their crotch taking personal measurements. But why would you when you can learn how to measure your inseam instead?
You've surely heard it in the movies even if you've never used it. So who came up with the phonetic alphabet and why is it used?
Advertisement
Smudged eyeglasses are the worst. So how do you clean them without leaving loads of scratches? Hint: It's not with Windex.
While compensation for the U.S. president is very generous, most people who run for the job don't do it to get rich. So how much does the position pay?
Typos and misspelled words run rampant on Twitter. But that could all soon change because, finally — FINALLY — Twitter is testing an edit button.
How did blue collar, white collar (and pink collar!) end up in our lexicon, and what are the origins of their meanings?
Advertisement
The next time your car won't start and you're cursing the battery, you might want to blame the alternator, too. This coconut-sized car part works with the battery to generate power for your vehicle.
It's after midnight. Do you know where your cat is?
The Dyson Air Multiplier works like a fan, but it has no blades. Can it be as effective as a traditional fan? What's so different about it?
When people talk about race cars or high-performance cars, turbochargers usually come up, too. That's because turbochargers can boost a car's horsepower significantly without much effort.
By Karim Nice & Kristen Hall-Geisler
Advertisement
A cold air intake is an inexpensive modification you can add to your engine that will give it more power. But what does it actually do?
To be "on the lam" means to be on the loose or on the run, but what does "lam" mean and where does this colorful phrase come from?
NASCAR unveiled its three Next Gen cars for the 2022 Cup Series and they better represent the look and feel of their counterpart street cars. But just how close are they?
If a device has a motor, engine or spring, it probably has gears! But what do gears do, exactly, and how do they do it?
By Karim Nice & Kristen Hall-Geisler
Advertisement
The U.S. and Soviet Union fought the Cold War for 45 years via proxy wars and a near-complete polarization of the rest of the world. But did either side really win?
The pronunciation of "Kyiv" goes far beyond personal preference. It actually has geopolitical significance.