How would a cure for cancer work? It would teach the immune system to attack the cancer cells. All of the cells in our bodies reproduce to make more copies of themselves and they are all programmed to last for a certain length of time. Cells have a preprogrammed signal that causes them to die […]
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Why are organ transplants so difficult? Because the organs are usually harvested from people who have died, there is a very short time window to perform the transplant, and the immune system tries to destroy the new organ. There are very few organs that can be taken from a living donor. You can obviously take
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Why is there so much gold in Fort Knox? Because it is far enough away from any coast and is protected by the Appalachian Mountains. Fort Knox is famous worldwide for being the place where the United States keeps most of its gold. The building isn’t actually called Fort Knox. It is called the US
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Why are flowers different colors? Because they have evolved to attract different types of animals and insects. Flowers need insects and animals for two reasons: to pollinate them and to spread their seeds. Most plants need to be pollinated so that they can reproduce. Plants have a male part, called the stamen, that produces pollen.
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How much space junk is there? There are over 128 million pieces of space junk in orbit around Earth at the moment. There are 5,465 satellites orbiting in space at the moment. 84% of those are in a low Earth orbit. There is also the International Space Station circling the Earth. Over the last decade,
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How do fireflies glow? They combine a chemical called luciferin, an enzyme called luciferases, oxygen, and fuel. Fireflies are not actually flies; they are beetles. They are also not one single type of beetle. They come from a family of beetle called Lampyridae, which contains about 2,000 different types of beetles and nearly all of
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How is the Internet connected between countries? Countries are connected by over 500 underwater communications cables. Many people (myself included), think that international Internet connections are made by satellite, but 95% of them go by undersea cable. Satellites are too expensive and too slow. It takes a long time to transmit a signal to a
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How does a cochlear implant work? It uses a microphone to turn sound into electrical signals that are transmitted directly to the cochlear nerve, bypassing the non-working part of the ear. Ears work by turning sound waves into electrical signals. The outer ear is shaped like a dish so that it directs sound waves into
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When did April Fools’ Day start? No one knows. Although, most theories have it connected to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian. The expression “April Fools’ Day” was first used in English in 1686. A British historian called John Aubrey first used it in his book “Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme”. This
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Was Ferdinand Magellan really the first person to circumnavigate the world? No, because he died about two-thirds into the journey. Ferdinand Magellan’s name was actually Magellan. He was born Fernão de Magalhães in Portugal, I n1480. He was born into nobility and he was a page of Queen Eleanor, the consort of King John II,
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