How can I do Bruce Lee's one-inch punch? (Frankie Galnad, Baldwin, MO)

1. Make a fist.

Be sure not to wrap your fingers around your thumb. Use your three bottom knuckles to make contact. The bones of those fingers extend into the forearm, making them much less likely to break when making contact.

2. Stand perpendicular to the target.

Your legs should be slightly more than shoulder width apart. While the movement is small, you put your whole body into it, so make certain you're balanced for the strike.

3. Move your outstretched arm to within an inch of a soft pad.

You're going to be repeating this about a billion times to build control and wrist strength, so there's no need to destroy your hand just yet.

4. The key motion is a flick of the wrist.

Pop your hand forward while making sure your elbow is centered. Take your time with each hit. Eventually, have a friend hold a target to assess your power. If you shatter his sternum, things are going well.

What's the most poisonous plant in the world? (TJ Wood, Raleigh, NC)

Despite what they tell you in after-school specials, it's actually not marijuana. "There are many plants that can be lethal if ingested in enough quantity," explains Dr. James W. Hardin of North Carolina State University's department of plant biology-for instance, the dumb cane houseplant, toadstool mushrooms, water hemlock, Brazilian pepper, and yellow allamanda. But the most life-ending leaf on the planet? That's the rosary pea. "Just three mature seeds, when chewed up, can be fatal," Hardin says. Sounds like a dare to us, TJ!

What's the hardest artificial flavor to make? (George Bruster, Kansas City, KS)

"Coffee," says Dr. Gary Reineccius, the department head of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota. "There are over 900 compounds that give coffee its flavor, but artificial coffee flavorings typically only have 20 to 30." He also points out that most artificial coffee flavors aren't even recognizable in blind taste tests: "We make it brown and put a label on it. That's how consumers can tell it's coffee, but otherwise people have no idea." We'll never trust Starbucks again. Or scientists.

Can athletes really deduct fines? (Chuck Henly, Boston, MA)

NBA legend Charles Barkley once responded to a $20,000 fine by noting, "They're all tax-deductible." He was right. The tax code's Sec. 162 on trade and business expenses states "all the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business" are deductible, and the courts have found this includes when the ref calls you for traveling and you call his sister a man and the commissioner calls your bank. Sadly, there's one big exception: You're not allowed to deduct money spent on activities violating the law, meaning even B-ball's finest can't write off hookers. Yet.