How can a person control a bionic limb? There are generally four ways a person can control a bionic limb. They can use a special harness that can open or close hooks. They can have sensors that read electrical signals through the skin. They can attach directly to the nerves. They can have sensors that […]
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Why can’t the immune system kill all bacteria or viruses? The immune system can’t destroy all of the bacteria and viruses it comes across because some of them can deflect our immune system and some of them are able to hide. Others multiply far too quickly for the immune system to get on top of
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What is vegetable oil? Most vegetable oil is oil extracted from the seeds of plants, and sometimes from the plants themselves. Vegetable oil is an accurate name for the product in that the oil comes from plants, but they are not all technically vegetables. The name was chosen partly because the word “vegetable” conjures up
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Who was Typhoid Mary? She was a chef in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who was a carrier of typhoid and responsible for the deaths of several people. Someone who spreads diseases is often referred to as a “Typhoid Mary”, but many people probably don’t realize that Typhoid Mary was actually a real
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What causes a peanut allergy? A peanut allergy happens because the immune system attacks the proteins that are present in the peanuts. Peanut allergies are surprisingly common. It is estimated that roughly 2% of people have a peanut allergy. The reaction can range from mild to life-threatening, depending on the person. Many people in the
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Why do Monarch butterflies migrate so far? Monarch butterflies migrate for thousands of kilometers because they can’t survive the cold winters. We know that many species of birds navigate when the weather gets too cold. We are familiar with seeing different bird species in the summer and the winter where we live and we know
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How can we 3D print organs? Organs can be 3D printed using an ink made of the patient’s own cells that are laid on a scaffold. One of the problems we have as humans is that our organs sometimes fail. There are many reasons for this, from disease to accidents. Some organs we can live
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Why does a memory palace work? A memory palace works because our brains are better at remembering images and locations than we are at remembering random information. Nobody really invented the memory palace. It is a technique that has been used for as long as there have been people. Before writing, people had no choice
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What happened to the dodo? The dodo went extinct in 1662 because of hunting and the introduction of invasive species. We all know the saying, “as dead as a dodo,” but where does it come from? Well, interestingly, “dead as a dodo” doesn’t appear until 1904 and is probably an adaption of “dead as a
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What is snuff? Snuff is a form of powdered tobacco that you can inhale, giving you a quick nicotine hit. Snuff has been around for a long time. Native people living in the area that is now Brazil used powdered tobacco leaves as snuff. They ground the leaves using a rosewood pestle and mortar, which
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