Free Uncle John’s Impossible Questions & Astounding Answers by Bathroom Readers’ Institute Page A

a map of the entire United States, each of these state names is too long to fit inside its designated area, so each one must be abbreviated, or printed off the map with an indicator line pointing to it.
Next-Door Neighbors
    The longest border between two countries is the U.S.- Canada border, at 5,525 miles (including Canada’s border with Alaska). The busiest is the U.S.-Mexico border. Although it’s much shorter than the U.S.-Canada border (1,969 miles), there are about 350 million crossings between Mexico and the U.S. each year. (The U.S.-Canadian border has fewer than half that amount.)
     
Bottoms Up
    It’s a nationwide battle for bragging rights! In terms of elevation, which U.S. state is considered the lowest of the low?

     
Bottoms Up
    Three U.S. states vie for the title of the lowest, but the answer remains elusive because each state uses different criteria to measure its low-itude. Should the title go to the state with the lowest point, the lowest highest point, or the lowest average elevation?
    • Californians lay claim to the title because they have the lowest point in the nation: Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, which lies 282 feet below sea level.
    • Delawareans counter that California’s multitude of mountains elevate that state to a much higher average elevation. They claim that they deserve the title based on the fact that Delaware has the lowest average elevation of all the states—60 feet above sea level.
    • Floridians cry foul! Delaware’s highest point—the Ebright Azimuth near Wilmington—is 451 feet above sea level, whereas Florida’s highest point—Britton Hill in the Panhandle—is only 345 feet above sea level. (It’s the state’s highest “natural” point; some of its skyscrapers are higher.) For this reason, Florida claims that it’s tops in the lowest because it has the lowest top in the lower 48.
    One reason for the confusion: the board game Trivial Pursuit. In original edition of the game, one of the questions was, “Which U.S. state has the lowest elevation of 60 feet?” The answer was supposed to be Delaware, but the question was poorly worded. It should have said “lowest average elevation.”
     
Split Personality
    What’s so special about the water in Yellowstone’s Isa Lake?

Small and Smaller
    What’s the smallest nation in Africa? What’s the smallest African nation not in Africa?

Range Finder
    Where would you have to go to find the longest mountain range on Earth?

     
Split Personality
    The water in Isa Lake flows in two directions at the same time. How? The lake sits directly on top of North America’s Continental Divide. All the rivers and streams east of this dividing line eventually flow into the Atlantic Ocean, much of them by way of the Gulf of Mexico. Rivers and streams to the west of the Continental Divide eventually flow into the Pacific Ocean. Because of Isa Lake’s unique position (no other lake in North America does this), its water drains into two creeks—one that ends up in the Atlantic, the other in the Pacific.
Small and Smaller
    Africa’s smallest mainland nation is Gambia, at 4,363 square miles. However, at 174 square miles, the smallest African nation is the Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 tiny islands in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.
Range Finder
    Underwater. Technically, the longest mountain range on Earth is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which lies almost entirely below the surface of the sea. It’s 10,000 miles long, stretching from the South Atlantic to Iceland, which contains the only part of the mountain chain above water. The longest above-ground, or primarily “exposed,” mountain range is the Andes Mountains in South America, at a comparatively paltry 4,350 miles.

FLORA & FAUNA
    Test your knowledge on the finer points (and quills and teeth and leaves and roots) of growing things, both great and small .
Unhappy Feet
    What does a spider do when it gets stuck in its own web?

Humpty Dumpty
    What does it mean if a