Instead of playing games or browsing social media on your smartphone, why not try to learn a few things? These fascinating apps blend science, math, history and pop culture to give you fast answers to almost any of your most pressing questions:

WolframAlpha
Like a supercomputer for your iPhone, WolframAlpha is a knowledge and computation app that will answer just about any question. If you type in a complex math equation the app will solve it and show you a step-by-step solution, and if you’d like to see facts about the economy in your city, it will provide graphs, charts and statistics to keep you up to date.

Wikipedia
The app version of the wildly popular website beloved by everyone from college students to the ever-curious knowledge seekers of the world, Wikipedia provides encyclopedia-style articles about just about anything you can imagine. The app version even offers features like saved articles, nearby, and offline browsing to make your quest for knowledge even more convenient.

Math Ref
Math Ref is like a virtual tutor for just about any math-related subject you can think of. With over 1,400 formulas, figures, and examples of math, physics and chemistry problems, this app is a reliable resource for both students and those with math-related professions.

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/John Ward