Martin Fone

Curious Questions: Why are wine bottles all pretty much the same shape and colour?

We drink 36 billion bottles of wine a year — and almost all of them come in wine bottles that share essentially the same design. Martin Fone wonders why.

Curious Questions: How did a stork with a spear through its neck solve the mystery of the migration of birds?

For thousands of years, most people were convinced that birds hibernated in the winter — until a staggeringly resilient stork proved otherwise. Martin Fone explains.

Curious Questions: Why are banana skins so slippery?

The deadly slipperiness of the discarded banana skin — substantially more slippery than ice — is a staple of comic sketches across the world, but what is it that makes our favourite tropical fruit such a hazard? Martin Fone investigates.

Curious Questions: Which bird's song is loudest?

We tend to think of bird song as endearing and delicate — but there are birds out there who would put the average foghorn to shame. Martin Fone finds out which is the loudest.

Curious Questions: How likely are you to be killed by a falling coconut?

Our resident curious questioner Martin Fone poses (and answers) another head scratcher - or should we say, head banger?

Curious Questions: Should animals wear clothes?

Martin Fone, decidedly not an animal person, ponders whether animals should wear clothes and, indeed, what a stylish pet would wear in the case that they do.

Curious Questions: Dirty cash, filthy lucre... but how mucky is our money?

Martin Fone ponders another Curious Question, and comes away thinking that perhaps it's time for us to start money laundering in a very literal sense.

Curious Questions: Why do we talk about the '$64,000 question' — even in a country where we don't use dollars?

A question about a question? Absolutely. Martin Fone gets to the bottom of where this curious phrase originates — and how it even found its way across the Atlantic.

Curious Questions: What's the world's largest totem pole?

Martin Fone finds himself intrigued by the totem pole, and wonders which is the biggest ever made.

Curious Questions: Does Amsterdam really have the most bridges in the world?

Everywhere you look in Amsterdam there seems to be a way of traversing the waterways of the city. But are there really more bridges here than anywhere else in the world? Martin Fone investigates.

Curious Questions: Why do Australians call the British 'Poms'?

With England about to take on Australia in The Ashes, Martin Fone ponders the derivation of the Aussies nickname for us: Poms.

Curious Questions: Were the Wright Brothers actually beaten to it by a farmer from New Zealand?

How cruising went from your grandparents' favourite holiday to an escape for explorers, foodies and music lovers

The idea of going on a cruise once conjured up images of old boys snoozing in armchairs while elderly guests play deck quoits around him — but times have changed. We sent Martin Fone, a cruise virgin, on a long weekend to Amsterdam to discover what all the fuss is about.

Curious Questions: Why do cricketers call it a 'duck' when they get bowled out for 0?

Martin Fone, author of 50 Curious Questions, explains how a duck egg led to the popularisation of a term in one of the world's great sports.

Curious Questions: How are hailstones formed? And how big can they get?

Inspired by the recent wacky weather, Martin Fone — author of 50 Curious Questions — turns his gaze to what is undoubtedly the strangest form of precipitation: hail.

Bressingham Hall review: A splash of Georgian luxury and a stroll in stupendous, award-winning gardens

In the heart of Norfolk the beautiful Georgian pile that is Bressingham Hall makes a wonderful spot for a break, says Martin Fone.

Curious Questions: Are flamenco's finest the fastest dancers in the world?

Curious Questions: Why does nobody know where Christopher Columbus is buried?

He's one of the most famous human beings ever to walk the planet, but the final resting place of the Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus remains shrouded in mystery. Martin Fone, author of 50 Curious Questions, investigates.

Curious Questions: Do delicious hams from little acorns grow?

Jamón Iberico is undeniably delicious – and undeniably pricey. Martin Fone took a trip to Spain to find out how it gets that way.

Curious Questions: Why is walking down the middle of the road called 'jaywalking'?