I learned this today. Venus flytraps know when to close on an insect because of tiny hairs inside them. Venus flytraps are carnivorous plants that grow in the subtropical wetlands of the United States. They live in nutrient-poor soil, specifically nitrogen-poor soil, which is the main reason they have evolved to eat insects. The plants […]
#30 How does a Venus flytrap know when to close? Read More »
I learned this today. We can’t see colors in the dark because our eyes detect light waves in two different ways. In our eyes, we have rods and cones that are both used to detect light. The cones are sensitive to light wavelengths, and we use them to see color. The rods are sensitive to
#28 Why can’t we see color at night? Read More »
I learned this today. Why would we evolve with a throat and windpipe that are so close together we can choke? In 2019, 5228 people choked to death in the United States. As a cause of death, it was the fourth highest. Chocking happens when an object, typically food, blocks the throat or windpipe cutting
I learned this today. What causes water mirages and heat hazes? Water mirages and heat hazes are caused because light travels at different speeds through warm air and cold air. Light travels at 299792458 m / s in a vacuum. When the light from the sun hits our atmosphere, the density of the air causes
#24 What causes water mirages and heat hazes? Read More »
I learned this today. An electric eel produces electricity in the same way that a battery does. Electric eels usually grow to be about 2m long and they have three organs that they use to make electricity. These are called the main organ, Hunter’s organ, and Sach’s organ. These three organs take up most of
#23 How do electric eels make electricity Read More »
I learned this today. Most TV remote controls operate by sending binary signals to the TV using infrared light. The remote controller in your house has an LED fitted to the end of it. This LED emits a wavelength of 940 nm, which is infrared. The human eye can only detect wavelengths between 380 and
#21 How do TV remote controllers work? Read More »
I learned this today. Canning preserves food by killing all of the bacteria present through heat and then keeping the food in a bacteria-free, airtight can. For food to rot, bacteria need water, oxygen, a neutral pH level, and a warm temperature. The different ways of preserving food each deal with one of these. Freezing
#15 How is food canned? Read More »
I learned this today. Leather is strong because the collagen fibers in the animal skin are strengthened and bolstered by other chemicals. It can take up to ten weeks to make leather. Making leather is a complicated process. The first thing is to remove the hide. The skin of any animal can be used to
#14 How is leather made? Why is it so strong? Read More »
I learned this today. A gun silencer works by reducing the speed of the gases that push the bullet out of the barrel, but it cannot silence the sound of the sonic boom from the bullet. A gun fires a bullet that comes from a cartridge. The cartridge that you load into a gun has
#13 How does a gun silencer work? Read More »
I learned this today. Alcohol gets people drunk because it is a depressant and slows down the speed at which the brain can send signals. Most alcoholic drinks contain ethanol which is produced when sugars are fermented. It naturally occurs in nature. Humans have drunk alcoholic drinks for thousands of years. They probably started by
#12 How does alcohol make us drunk? Read More »
