General

#438 Why are katana blades curved?

Why are katana blades curved? They are curved to make them more efficient at cutting. Katana are long, curved swords from Japan. Their name “katana” means one-sided blade. “Kata” means “side” and “na” means blade. Many swords are double-sided because it allows them to be more effective when thrust. They can also be used to […]

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#435 What makes rain smell?

What makes rain smell? A combination of plant oils, bacterial spores, and ozone. Everything always smells very fresh after a rainfall and there is a word for it. Merriam-Webster defines petrichor as, “a distinctive, earthy, usually pleasant odor that is associated with rainfall especially when following a warm, dry period”. The word was invented by

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#432 How does dry cleaning work?

How does dry cleaning work? Clothes are soaked in a water-free liquid solvent. Dry cleaning is a way of washing clothes without water. At home, all of us wash our clothes in the washing machine using some kind of detergent and water. Inside the washing machine is something called an agitator. This is a drum

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#420 What is in toothpaste?

What is in toothpaste? It usually has fluoride, abrasives, flavors, humectants, and detergents. So, what do all of these things do? Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral. It can be found in most places on Earth, and it is also present in our bodies. Our bodies use it to strengthen our bones and teeth. Fluoride

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#401 What exactly is cubism?

By Pablo Picasso – wordpress, PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38782663 What is cubism? Cubism is an art form where the artist tries to show an object from multiple viewpoints at the same time. Pablo Picasso is credited with inventing cubism in about 1907, but he wasn’t the only artist experimenting with shapes, he was only the most well-known

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#386 How does body armor work?

How does body armor work? By breaking up the bullet and removing its kinetic energy. Armor has been around for a long time, but it has always had to adapt to the technology of weapons. In the Bronze Age, they had bronze armor because it was enough to stop a bronze sword blade. Then the

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#378 What is & called and why?

What is & called and why? The symbol “&” is called the ampersand, which actually means “and, by itself, and”. It is also a shorthand version of the Latin word “et”. These days, we use the ampersand as a symbol for “and”. It is also used in programming language. It is not generally acceptable to

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