How can sunflowers clean up radiation? They take the radioactive isotopes out of the soil and combine them into their stems and flowers.
There is radiation all around us, all of the time… Read More
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I learn one thing every day. There is no reason why I can't find out the answers to the questions that I have, so I do. I write about them on my blog. From when was sliced bread invented to what is the Fermi Paradox? Come and learn with me. You won't regret it.
Why are more plane crashes survivable? Because of technology, training, the way the planes are laid out, and the materials the planes are made of.
Many people have a fear of flying and a… Read More
What are the doldrums? They are an area of windless ocean where sailing ships used to get stuck.
The doldrums are not a problem for modern shipping because they don’t rely on wind p… Read More
Why is a duck-billed platypus so odd? It has a beak, no teeth, lays eggs, sweats milk, has 10 sex chromosomes, has webbed feet, has fur that glows, they have no stomachs, and has venomous sp… Read More
How is a mongoose immune to snake venom? They are not immune to all snake venom, just the snakes they live around. Even then, they have resistance rather than immunity.
There are differen… Read More
Why do we get déjà vu? There is a dysfunction in the part of your brain that processes familiarity and a correction by the part that processes memory.
Déjà vu… Read More
How do planes refuel in the air? Either by using a long hose or a rigid tube to connect the fuel tanker with the plane being refueled. There are two systems of refueling a plane in the air… Read More
Why are the Secret Service in charge of protecting the president of the USA? They were the only agency capable of doing it at the time.
The Secret Service was tasked with protecting the p… Read More
How do rats find landmines? They can sniff them out and the rats are light enough that they don’t set the landmines off.
It is estimated that there are 110 million landmines still b… Read More
What is Zipf’s Law? It is a statistical distribution in a data set where the first item is twice as big as the second item, three times as big as the third item, four times as big as t… Read More
How do our hearts and lungs work automatically? We have an autonomic nervous system that makes organs like the heart and the lungs function automatically.
If you want to pick up a cup of… Read More
Who were Sotheby and Christie? Sotheby was John Sotheby, the nephew of Samuel Baker. Christie was James Christie.
If you want to sell anything rare or valuable at auction, the best places… Read More
Why can owls turn their heads so far? Because their heads are only connected by one socket, which can rotate.
Owls are renowned for several things. One of them is their ability to swivel… Read More
Why are Adidas and Puma rivals? Either because the brother’s wives didn’t like each other or because one brother thought the other brother was the reason he was conscripted into… Read More
What is talcum powder? It is a mineral found in clay.
When we think of talcum powder, most of us think of the powder we put on a baby’s bottom after they have been changed to preven… Read More
What is Lou Gehrig’s disease? It is a disease that causes progressive degeneration of the nerve cells in the spine and brain.
The disease is called Lou Gehrig’s disease after… Read More
Does a tugboat tug? They do pull, but they also push, too.
In the very early days of sea travel, boats were not big enough to need something like a tugboat. They could usually be sailed r… Read More
What is acid reflux? The acid from the stomach comes back up the esophagus, causing a lot of pain and sometimes even damage.
Most animals that have a stomach that digests their food produ… Read More
How quickly does a river cut through rock? It depends on the type of rock, the material the water is carrying, the amount of water, the speed of the water, and the acidity of the water.
T… Read More
How can a baseball player possibly hit the ball? They have to swing at where they think the ball will be because they cannot actually see it.
There are different types of baseball pitches… Read More
Do bulls really hate red? No, they don’t. It is the movement that they don’t like.
The fact that bulls hate red has become common knowledge. It is even in sayings, such as, &l… Read More
Are plexiglass and fiberglass actually glass? Plexiglass is a type of plastic and not real glass, but fiberglass has glass fibers in it.
Let’s look at plexiglass first. Plexiglass i… Read More
What is a bookworm? A bookworm is any number of insects, or the larvae of insects, that eat books. They are not actually worms.
Why would an insect eat a book? What food is there in a boo… Read More
What is the difference between AM and FM radio? The radio waves are moderated differently. AM radio waves are Amplitude Modulated and FM radio waves are Frequency Modulated.
First, we nee… Read More
What is a hernia? There are different types of hernia in different parts of the body, but they are all caused by something pushing through a tear in a muscle. The hint to what it is is in th… Read More
Are elephants the only source of ivory? No. Ivory comes from many other animals, besides elephants. It is also possible to make synthetic ivory.
Ivory is a hard, white substance that form… Read More
Why does walking become harder as we get older? It is a combination of age-related factors, such as stiff joints, brittle bones, lack of balance, deteriorating muscles, shortening ligaments… Read More
Why is the black market called the “black” market? This type of market has existed for as long as there has been trade, but the name “black market” appears to have be… Read More
Is there a land speed record limit? Because of physics and current technology there is, but no one knows exactly what that limit is.
The current land speed record was achieved in 1997 and… Read More
What are kosher and halal food? Kosher food is food that has been prepared according to Jewish law and Halal food is food that has been prepared according to Islamic law.
The word “… Read More
What was Antarctica like before the snow? Before it froze, Antarctica was a tropical forest with large trees and a lot of wildlife.
First, we need to settle the difference between the Ant… Read More
How does braille work? It is a system of writing where you can feel the dots that make up letters and read with your fingers. It is for people who are blind or visually impaired.
It is es… Read More
What is a guard llama? It is a llama that lives with sheep or goats and protects them from predators, such as coyotes.
Llamas are animals that are native to South America, although they h… Read More
Why did Mozart die so young? No one knows what killed him. However, it was most likely not poison.
Mozart died at the age of 35 on the 5th of December 1791. He was at home in Vienna, Aust… Read More
How is a Formula 1 pit stop so fast? It is a combination of practice, teamwork, and technology. The fastest ever pit stop recorded during a race was 1.8 seconds and it was achieved by the Mc… Read More
Why does wine improve as it ages? It doesn’t always, and some old bottles might not be that good. However, the wine that does improve has smoother tannins. It is probably accurate to s… Read More
How can you tell if a planet has life? The light coming to us from the planet’s star would show signs of oxygen, water, or some other chemical that we associate with life.
The first… Read More
Why did knights start wearing armor? Technological advances in metallurgy and changes in society made it possible.
Soldiers have always used some type of protection, be it a shield or a h… Read More
What caused the Great Vowel Shift? It was a very large change in pronunciation that happened in England between 1400 and 1700. Nobody knows exactly what caused it.
If you try to read Chau… Read More
Why do we die so quickly without water? Our bodies need water for so many processes and that means it needs a steady supply of water going in to balance the water going out.
There is a sa… Read More
Can we eat insects? Yes. In fact, not only can we eat insects, but we should eat insects. They are nutritious, easy to grow, and not bad for the environment.
The average human needs betwe… Read More
Why do salmon swim upstream? They return to the place they were born to lay their eggs.
Salmon are born in freshwater streams. The adult salmon lay eggs in the sand and gravel at the bott… Read More
Why is an Academy Award called an Oscar? There are many theories, but no one knows the actual reason why.
The Academy Awards are awarded once a year, usually in February or March. They ar… Read More
What did the peppered moth do? It changed from a light color to a dark color during the Industrial Revolution.
The peppered moth is native to most places in the northern hemisphere… Read More
How many different eye colors do people have? There are only 6 different eye colors. They are amber, blue, brown, gray, green, and hazel.
There are many different colored eyes in the anim… Read More
Why was the Great Wall of China built? It was built to protect the territory of the new Chinese empire, to protect the silk road, because the labor was available, the emperor wanted to be re… Read More
What is DDT? It stands for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane and was the first synthetic pesticide. It was banned in 1972.
DDT didn’t start being used in large quantities until afte… Read More
How does a cheetah run so fast? It is a combination of their body weight, their claws, their spine, their joints, the type of muscles they have, their tail, their organs, and the size of the… Read More
President William J. ClintonWhat does it mean to impeach a president? Impeachment is the process by which any federal official can be charged for doing something wrong and then removed from… Read More
What is the immortal jellyfish? It is a jellyfish called Turritopsis dohrnii that can revert to a sexually immature stage in its life and theoretically live forever.
There are many organi… Read More
What causes malaria? It is caused by a parasite of the Plasmodium group and it is spread through the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito.
The parasite is said to be from a group because t… Read More
Can insects fly in the rain? They pretty much all can, but many of them choose not to. Some do fly during the rain. It depends on their size, the temperature, and their ability to resist wat… Read More
Were gunslingers real? There were people in the Wild West who were employed to shoot people, or who did it for other reasons, but they weren’t called gunslingers. That term didn’… Read More
What happened to the Donner Party? They got stuck on the Sierra Nevada mountain pass while migrating to California and had to resort to cannibalism to survive.
The events that they are fa… Read More
Which came first, the orange fruit of the color orange? The fruit came first. Oranges were first called oranges in the 13th century. The word orange was first used as a color in 1502.
Ora… Read More
What is the biggest plant in the world? The Posidonia australis in Shark Bay, Australia. It is 200 square kilometers, which is 23 square kilometers larger than the city of Washington DC. It… Read More
What do tonsils do? The tonsils contain a lot of white blood cells and they are one of the body’s first lines of defense against infection.
Firstly, do you know where your tonsils a… Read More
What causes dyslexia? It is caused by a difference in the brain parts that process reading, but nobody knows exactly what causes that difference.
As an aside, there is a common joke that… Read More
Why do prices always go up? They go up because the value of our money decreases.
If you go online, you can find inflation calculators for most currencies. For some countries, those curren… Read More
Did dinosaurs really have feathers? A lot did, but, then again, there were a lot that didn’t. And they were more a kind of fluff than feathers like we see on birds today.
The idea t… Read More
Why do we have fingerprints? We have fingerprints to help us grip and to help us feel things.
We all have fingerprints on our fingers that are made up of swirls and creases in the skin of… Read More
Why are cockroaches so strong? They have a very hard exoskeleton, they breathe through different parts of their body, they have a decentralized nervous system, they can eat anything, they ha… Read More
How does a quantum computer work? They use subatomic particles, which can exist in more than one state at the same time.
Regular computers are binary, which means everything they display… Read More
Why was the abacus invented? It was invented because merchants needed to keep an inventory, trade was taking off, and the powers that be wanted their tax..
The English word abacus came fr… Read More
How does a telescope work? They used to use lenses, but modern telescopes use mirrors.
The first telescopes used lenses in the same way that a camera or a magnifying glass does. The first… Read More
Why doesn’t the Autobahn have a speed limit? The Autobahn didn’t have a speed limit when they were introduced in Germany and it was left without one. Trying to apply a speed limi… Read More
Why are Omega-3 fatty acids good for us? They are healthy fats that are supposed to support heart health, lower triglycerides, improve blood vessels, aid the immune system, and do good thing… Read More
Is modern art still modern? It technically applies to the period that lasted from the 1860s to the 1970s, so modern art is not modern art anymore, if that makes any sense. Postmodern art cam… Read More
What is baking soda? Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which is a salt.
Baking soda has a myriad of uses, but it was first used for baking, hence its name. It was discovered in 1801 in B… Read More
Why can animals jump higher and farther than us? They have more muscles, more elastic joints, tails, more speed, and they can impart more power into the ground. Note, I am going to look at m… Read More
Why does champagne have bubbles but wine doesn’t? Champagne goes through a second fermentation that wine doesn’t.
Champagne has bubbles because of the way it is made. Regular… Read More
What is a blood diamond? They are diamonds that are mined in a war zone and used to finance the war. They are called “blood diamonds” because of all the blood that is spilled get… Read More
When does a seed start growing? The vast majority of seeds start growing when they are exposed to enough water, which activates hormones inside them. Some seeds need sunlight or other things… Read More
What are pyramids for? Some pyramids are tombs, some are just monuments, and many are for religious or ceremonial purposes. There are a lot of pyramids, such as the ones in Mexico, that peop… Read More
Do piranhas eat meat? They do, but not very often and they are not the carnivores that we have been led to believe. Many people fear piranhas and they have been used in movies as a plot devi… Read More
Why did the Watergate Hotel cause the downfall of Nixon? It didn’t necessarily cause his downfall, but it was the first domino that fell, and it was his coverup of what happened that s… Read More
What is a megalopolis? There is no specific number of people, but it is an extremely large group of cities that are joined together by their transport, economy, resources, and other things… Read More
How do vending machines check money? They check notes with cameras or photocells. They check coins with electromagnets and light sensors. They are much more able to spot fake notes and coins… Read More
What is a rebreather? It is an underwater device that allows divers to reuse the air that they have breathed out, thereby being able to stay underwater much longer.
Most people, when at r… Read More
Photo by amy chung: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouette-of-bird-flying-672802/How high can birds fly? A Ruppell’s vulture was hit by a plane at 11,300 meters. The bird was identifi… Read More
Photo by MART PRODUCTION: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-powder-on-knife-7230833/Is cocaine natural? The main ingredient in cocaine comes from a natural plant, but it needs to be p… Read More
What happened to Kaiser Wilhelm? He was given asylum in the Netherlands, where he lived until he died in 1941.
Wilhelm became Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia in 1888. Germany was n… Read More
Photo by maadhuri g: https://www.pexels.com/photo/printed-piece-of-fabric-2933636/How is silk made? It is made from the cocoon of the silkworm.
Silk is a natural material that has been ar… Read More
Image By Trailer screenshot, from DVD The Ten Commandments, 50th Anniversary Collection Paramount, 2006 – The Ten Commandments trailer, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/i… Read More
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/macro-photography-of-orange-grass-hopper-59981/Why can grasshoppers jump so high? They can store energy in their exoskeleton and release it lik… Read More
Image Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8641079What is a failed state? It is a state that can no longer control its own security and does not have control over its territo… Read More
By John Hayman – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2315683What is asbestos? Asbestos is a material made of lots of mineral fibers. It can be wove… Read More
Photo by Andre Furtado: https://www.pexels.com/photo/selective-focus-photography-of-woman-holding-dslr-camera-1264210/How does autofocus work? Active autofocus works by calculating the dista… Read More
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-photography-of-white-polar-bear-53425/How do polar bears find enough food? By having an exceptional sense of smell, a lot of patience, an… Read More
Photo by Greg Gulik: https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-grasses-on-sahara-desert-1001435/How deep is the desert? Depending on the desert, the sand is between 1 m and 43 m deep. Although, if… Read More
Photo by Ethan Wilkinson: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-unrecognizable-person-demonstrating-british-passport-5428705/When did people start using passports? The idea for the modern passpo… Read More
Image By Paolo Monti – Available in the BEIC digital library and uploaded in partnership with BEIC Foundation.The image comes from the Fondo Paolo Monti, owned by BEIC and located in t… Read More
Was Robin Hood real? Probably not, but the legend could have been based on a real person.
Robin Hood has been made famous by the many movies that have been made about him. His story is le… Read More
Image By Federal government of the United States – https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/hydrogen-bomb-1950, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12656652How… Read More
Photo by Davide Baraldi: https://www.pexels.com/photo/glass-bottles-on-shelf-1771809/How does anthrax kill? Anthrax is an infection caused by a bacterium called Bacillus anthracis. Because i… Read More
Photo by Justine Lauzon: https://www.pexels.com/photo/fountain-of-the-four-rivers-and-sant-agnese-in-agone-church-in-piazza-navona-in-rome-17182356/Why is there an obelisk in Rome? The… Read More
Image by Claude Monet – wartburg.edu, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5504881What is impressionism? It was a style of art where the artist was trying to… Read More
Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki: https://www.pexels.com/photo/smart-home-motion-sensor-17547230/How does a motion detector work? There are several different methods. They can use infrared light, mi… Read More
Image By Emőke Dénes – kindly granted by the author, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68007888Why are prunes a laxative? They contain a lot of… Read More
Image By NASA / Voyager 2 / PDS / OPUS / Ardenau4 – Own workalso published on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197038812@N04/53446862462/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ind… Read More
