Why do we get déjà vu? There is a dysfunction in the part of your brain that processes familiarity and a correction by the part that processes memory. Déjà vu comes from French, and it means “already seen”. It is the feeling that you have already seen or experienced something you are seeing or experiencing […]
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How do our hearts and lungs work automatically? We have an autonomic nervous system that makes organs like the heart and the lungs function automatically. If you want to pick up a cup of tea, your brain has to go through several steps to accomplish the act. It has to make the decision to pick
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Why can owls turn their heads so far? Because their heads are only connected by one socket, which can rotate. Owls are renowned for several things. One of them is their ability to swivel their heads completely around so they can keep an eye out for prey or predators. Being able to turn their heads
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What is Lou Gehrig’s disease? It is a disease that causes progressive degeneration of the nerve cells in the spine and brain. The disease is called Lou Gehrig’s disease after a famous baseball player who died of it, but the disease’s actual name is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). “Amyotrophic” comes from Greek. “A” means “no”.
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What is acid reflux? The acid from the stomach comes back up the esophagus, causing a lot of pain and sometimes even damage. Most animals that have a stomach that digests their food produce stomach acid. The acid in our stomachs is very strong. It has a pH of roughly 2, which makes it a
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How can a baseball player possibly hit the ball? They have to swing at where they think the ball will be because they cannot actually see it. There are different types of baseball pitches, and they travel at different speeds, so let’s just look at the fastball, which is a simple and straight pitch. The
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Do bulls really hate red? No, they don’t. It is the movement that they don’t like. The fact that bulls hate red has become common knowledge. It is even in sayings, such as, “like a red rag to a bull” meaning a trigger to anger someone, and “seeing red”, meaning in such a blind rage
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What is a bookworm? A bookworm is any number of insects, or the larvae of insects, that eat books. They are not actually worms. Why would an insect eat a book? What food is there in a book? Some insects don’t actually eat the books, but fungi and mold that grow on the pages of
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What is a hernia? There are different types of hernia in different parts of the body, but they are all caused by something pushing through a tear in a muscle. The hint to what it is is in the name. The word hernia comes from the Latin “hernia”, which means “rupture”. There are technically 9
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Are elephants the only source of ivory? No. Ivory comes from many other animals, besides elephants. It is also possible to make synthetic ivory. Ivory is a hard, white substance that forms the teeth and tusks of a lot of animals. It is made of dentine, which is a form of bone. The inside of
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