Biology

#1342 What is hemophilia?

What is hemophilia? Hemophilia is a genetic disorder where a person’s blood doesn’t produce enough clotting factors to clot when the person is injured. We have probably heard of hemophilia in relation to the royal families of Europe in the 19th century. Probably, most famously, Prince Alexi of the Romanov family. He was the only […]

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#1333 What was an auroch?

What was an auroch? An auroch is a type of wild cattle that went extinct during the Bronze Age. It is probably the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. There is a lot of talk about trying to bring aurochs back from extinction, but I don’t know if that will happen. The word auroch comes

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#1332 What is Agent Orange?

What is Agent Orange? Agent Orange is a herbicide that is also a defoliant. That means it makes trees lose their leaves. Agent Orange got its name because the 55 gallon barrel it was stored in had an orange band around it. The US military used several different types of herbicides and they all had

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#1316 How does anesthesia work?

How does anesthesia work? Most anesthetics work by blocking the signals to nerves. There are some aesthetics where scientists don’t know how they work. The word “anesthesia” comes from Greek, through Latin. The Greek word was anaisthesia, and it means “lack of feeling, perception, or sensation”. The route “an” means “without”. The word was only

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#1310 Why is a pronghorn so fast?

Why is a pronghorn so fast? The pronghorn evolved to have phenomenal speed so that it could outrun predators that no longer exist. A pronghorn is a hoofed mammal that lives in Western and Central North America. It belongs to the artiodactyl family. This family contains antelopes, hippos, deer, giraffes, camels, and 265 other animals.

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