Why are people left-handed or right-handed? Because of genetics and environment. There are four types of handedness. People can be right-handed, left-handed, right-handed for some tasks and left-handed for other tasks, and ambidextrous. The majority of the people in the world are right-handed. The number varies from country to country, but it is generally between […]
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Why can humans throw so fast? Because of several biological changes. To be able to throw, it is necessary to be able to grip the projectile, and then have the elasticity in the muscles to fire it. This rules out all animals that can’t grip a projectile. Some primates have the ability to throw, but
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Why are Quakers the reason we have fixed prices? Because Quakers believe in fairness. The Quaker religion began in Lancashire, England in the 1650s. George Fox, the son of a weaver, was fed up with the Church of England and the society that was going through large changes after the English Civil War. He started
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Why is the Gutenberg Bible special? Because it was the first mass-produced book made with movable type. The Gutenberg Bible is named for Johannes Gutenberg, who famously perfected movable type printing using interchangeable metal letters. Movable type means that all of the characters can be moved. Gutenberg used a set of about 290 characters. These
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When were pencils invented? The first pencil was invented in 1565. It is easy to think that something as simple as the pencil has been around for eons, but that is not actually true. Graphite was discovered in 1565, and the very first pencil was made very shortly after. Before pencils were invented, people used
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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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How does a caterpillar become a butterfly? By dissolving itself and regrowing. Caterpillars start life as an egg. Female butterflies lay eggs on leaves. It varies by species, but a Monarch butterfly lays about 300 to 400 eggs over a two to five week period. Not all of these eggs will survive. Many of them
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Who made the first English dictionary? Robert Cawdrey in 1604. There was no need for a dictionary throughout most of the history of the English language. Up until the invention of the printing press, in about 1436, words were spelled in several different ways, and often as they sounded. For example, egg could be spelled
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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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Why do we have a coccyx? The coccyx is a series of three, four or five vertebrae at the base of the spine. A coccyx is something we have evolved not to need, but it is a great reminder of our origins. The coccyx is also called the tail bone because that is what it
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