Young children are naturally curious. Everything is new to them and the world is a big new adventure full of unknowns.

They ask lots of questions. Lots of ‘Why?’ questions. Luckily, confused parents have Google to help them. We can ask Google anything and always get an answer.

I haven’t lost this childlike curiosity. I often find myself saying ‘Hey, Google…’

For example, I was having some mixed nuts the other day and I started wondering about where they came from.

“Hey, Google. Where do peanuts (arachidi) grow?”

Try it. You can ask Siri if you prefer, she’ll tell you as well.

Prepare to be surprised, they don’t grow where you think they grow.

What about cashews (anacardi)? How do they grow?

Again, you’ll probably be surprised. I started finding out more about nuts from the various ‘Nut Facts’ websites that exist.

Almonds (mandorle) need honeybees to pollinate them so they can grow. No bees – no almonds.

Most nuts aren’t actually nuts. They’re actually seeds or fruit.

That evening, I was cooking some potatoes for dinner. So I started to think about them too.

“Hey Google, tell me something amazing about potatoes…”.

Potatoes have almost all nutrients humans need to survive. The Executive Director of the Washington State Potato Commission ate nothing but potatoes for 60 days in order to prove this!

Potatoes are still alive when you buy them!

There are more than 100 different types of potatoes!

While I was boiling my potatoes, I noticed they sink to the bottom of the pan. So I started thinking about that.

Potatoes sink. What about other fruits and vegetables?

“Hey Google…”

The results were incredible! Lemons float but limes sink! Apples float but pears sink! Grapes sink but cherries float!

Amazing!

Being curious is brilliant. Almost anything you’re doing can turn into a world of (useless) knowledge and amazing facts. Asking questions, wondering ‘Why’?

Sir Isaac Newton was curious. As Bernard Baruch said, “Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the only one who asked why”.

Sir Isaac Newton’s curiosity made our entire world change. Seeing the apple fall to the ground inspired him to eventually develop his law of universal gravitation.

Want to find out more about him?

“Hey, Google…”