Why do living things stop growing? Not all living things stop growing, but those that do stop for a number of different reasons. Mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, insects, and plants all follow different growth programs, and those programs reflect different body plans and different trade-offs. Not all living organisms stop growing. Plants and fungi often […]
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Why does an octopus have three hearts? An octopus has three hearts because getting oxygen from gills is hard work, and its copper-based blood does not carry oxygen as efficiently as human blood. Using three pumps keeps oxygen moving through the gills and around the body. The job of a heart is to keep blood
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Do all animals have imprinting? No, not all animals have imprinting, but a lot do. Imprinting is where a newborn animal learns to follow its protector as soon as it is born. When the animal is born, it imprints the closest animal, usually its mother, into its brain and then follows that animal exclusively. The
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What causes cataracts? Cataracts are caused when proteins in the lens break down and clump together, making the lens cloudy. Cataracts form in the lens of the eye. As the lens becomes cloudy, it can look whitish, and vision can become hazy, blurred, or glary. If left untreated, the cloudiness can increase until the lens
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How do ants farm aphids? Ants farm aphids by herding them together, feeding them, and keeping them out of the sight of predators. Aphids are small insects that suck the sap out of plants. They are usually between one and three millimeters long, and they have specialized mouth parts for cutting into plants and drinking
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Why do zebras have stripes? Nobody knows the actual reason, but the main theory is that they deter biting flies. Other theories are that they could also be for camouflage or thermoregulation. There doesn’t have to be one single reason, and it could easily be a combination of all of these. There are three different
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Does vitamin C prevent colds? No, vitamin C doesn’t prevent colds, but it can reduce the length of time people are sick by about 8 to 10%. Many of us believe that taking a lot of vitamin C will help to keep off colds, or cure us if we are sick. Research shows that such
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What is GM food? GM food stands for Genetically Modified food, and it means any food that is produced using some kind of genetic engineering to alter its DNA. Generally, GM food refers to either taking a gene from one plant and inserting it into another or removing a gene that a plant already has.
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Are animals conscious? Yes, many animals are conscious, but they have a different level of consciousness to us, and animals differ in their level of consciousness. Consciousness in animals is usually taken to mean that they show awareness, emotions, sensations like pain, and they can adapt their behavior. They don’t have language like ours, human-style
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Why did we evolve consciousness? We evolved consciousness because it gave us a greater chance of survival. Evolution is a chance machine, and it generally works in three ways. Every time creatures reproduce, there is a chance that a mutation will appear in the genes of their offspring. This change could help them in some
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