During his career, Maurice Hilleman developed over 40 vaccinations. It is thought that his vaccinations save over 8 million lives every year. However, he was not interested in making a name for himself, only that his vaccines helped people. For this reason, despite having received his vaccines, very few people have ever heard of him. […]
#859 Maurice Hilleman – microbiologist specializing in vaccinology. Read More »
Is palm oil bad? It depends. It is bad in terms of health and environmental costs, but it is good because it has more oil than other crops and provides an income for people who would otherwise be living in poverty. What is palm oil? It is made from the fruit of the African oil
#858 Is palm oil bad? Read More »
What is survivorship bias? It is when researchers focus on the individuals that have passed a selection process, while forgetting those that have not. It is an error in logic. Survivorship bias doesn’t have to be about people who have survived, it can reference people or things that have survived a selection process. There are
#857 What is survivorship bias? Read More »
How do deep sea creatures see? They don’t see color, they have very large eyes, they use other senses, or they produce their own light. Light doesn’t penetrate very far into the ocean. It starts to get absorbed about 200 meters down and by about 1,000 m it has pretty much all gone. Because of
#856 How do deep sea creatures see? Read More »
What is asthma? It is a lung disease where the airflow through the throat becomes restricted. It can be fatal if left untreated. To look at this question we need to look at how the lungs work and we need to look at how our body’s immune systems deal with attacks. We have two lungs
#855 What is asthma? Read More »
What is VO2 max? The V stands for volume, the O2 for oxygen, and the max for maximum. So, it is the maximum volume of oxygen your body is able to use during exercise. We need oxygen all the time, obviously. If our oxygen supply is cut off, we will develop brain damage after a
#854 What is VO2 max? Read More »
Why are there ten pins in bowling? Because nine pin bowling was outlawed. Bowling is a very old game because it is a very simple concept. As long as people have a ball and something to throw it at, they can bowl. Balls and pins have been found in a children’s tomb from 5,200 years
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Henry Dunant was born in Geneva on 8 May 1828. Have you heard of the Red Cross? I expect most people have. But you may never have heard of Henry Dunant, who was the force behind the founding of the Red Cross in 1863, the Geneva Conventions, and won the first ever Nobel Peace Prize
#852 Henry Dunant – the founder of the Red Cross Read More »
What is St. Elmo’s fire? It is a glowing region that appears around tall structures, the masts of old ships, or the wings of aircraft. It is a plasma made by a corona discharge from the structure. St. Elmo’s fire looks like a blue or violet fire that has engulfed the tip of whatever structure
#851 What is St. Elmo’s fire? Read More »
What is the Fields Medal? It is a four-yearly prize given to mathematicians under the age of 40. It is the mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize. It is named after a Canadian mathematician called John Charles Fields. The prize is a medal, similar-looking to the Nobel Prize medal, and 15,000 Canadian dollars, which, as
#850 What is the Fields Medal? Read More »
