How long do viruses and bacteria live for? It depends on the virus and the bacteria. Also, bacteria are alive, but viruses are not alive. In order for something to be considered alive, it has to meet certain characteristics. It has to have specialized parts that are coordinated. It has to metabolize something to make […]
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What is a sprain? It is when the ligaments around a joint are injured. There are 350 joints in the human body, depending on what you define as a joint. We have joints that actually don’t move. These are called synarthrosis joints and their job is to give structural support. The joints between the pieces
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Why does Australia have so many dangerous animals? It actually doesn’t have as many dangerous animals as people think and there are other countries that have more. However, for a single country it does have a large number of dangerous animals, partly because of its location, its size, and because of evolution. Let’s try and
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How does an octopus’s suction cup work? It reduces the pressure inside the sucker to create an extremely strong seal. Incidentally, I’m going with octopuses as the plural of octopus. Octopi is equally valid, but octopuses is apparently the more common term amongst the scientific community. Octopus comes from a Latin word and when Latin
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Why do shells form in different shapes? The environment and the biology of each living organism has caused their evolution to go in a slightly different direction. Most of the creatures that live in the sea and make shells are mollusks. They are soft-bodied creatures and use their shells as an exoskeleton. It gives them
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How are memories stored? The brain stores them by altering the connections between neurons. The brains of all organisms that have them are made up of neurons, in different amounts. Our brain has approximately 100 billion of them. A neuron is a nerve cell and it is made up of three parts. In the middle
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What is the difference between a frog and a toad? There are many differences between the two, although toads are actually a type of frog, which makes it a bit like asking what the difference between a dog and a Labrador is. So, let’s start from the top. Frogs and toads belong to the order
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What is a jungle? It is generally an area of dense forest in a tropical climate. Many people think a rainforest is a jungle but they are different because a rainforest is a specific ecosystem, and a jungle is a description of an overgrown and tangled forest. The word “jungle” has come into English from
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Is a starfish a fish? No, starfish are not fish. Fish are vertebrate animals that live in the sea, have gills to breathe through, have a two chambered heart, are cold blooded, and have a brain and central nervous system. Starfish live in the sea, but that is where the similarity stops. These days, many
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What is a nerve? They are bundles of nerve fibers called axons that connect neurons. They look like cables. Their job is to transmit electrical impulses. All animals have nerves. They are the only way that living organisms can send signals from their brain to their muscles or parts of their bodies. The only animals
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