In the 1960s, during the earliest space flights, no one knew exactly how weightlessness would affect eating and drinking. Would food fly off a plate? Would astronauts have digestive problems, with no gravity to help things along the digestive system?...
It may sound silly, but its really a good question, because weightlessness does make a visit to the latrine a tricky proposition. Weightlessness poses two main problems in the bathroom. The first is that an astronaut could drift away from the bowl at...
According to data posted on McDonalds famous Golden Arches , the fast food giant has served billions of customers around the world . It s safe to assume that other fast food purveyor s such as Burger King , Kentucky Fried Chicken , and others have di...
In The Past, Insects Were Huge! Once upon a time, hundreds of millions of years ago, many insects were much larger than they are today. Scientists have found fossilized remains of dragonflies with wingspans several feet in diameter. Other insects wer...
Fear Smells Like Sugar Scientists have suspected for many years that fish might give off a chemical signal to warn other fish about the presence of predators. When a fish in a school is injured, for example, the rest of the school will panic and swim...
Why Did Cleopatra Wear Makeup? Over five thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians used eye shadow, not only for cosmetic but practical purposes as well. Dark pigment painted around the eye helped protect the eye from the bright midday sun glaring of...
What Happens When You Lose Neurons? When you were born, almost all of the one trillion neurons, or nerve cells, in your brain had already formed. But those neurons still had a lot of growing to do. As kids grow, neurons in the brain branch out and ma...
Keeping Time With Quartz Most people know that wrist watches commonly contain quartz. In fact, if you wear a watch, chances are its a quartz watch, since most watches is made today use quartz. But, you may not know what quartz has to do with keeping...
Keeping Time With Quartz Most people know that wrist watches commonly contain quartz. In fact, if you wear a watch, chances are its a quartz watch, since most watches is made today use quartz. But, you may not know what quartz has to do with keeping...
Why Doesnt Honey Spoil? If you havent cleaned out your refrigerator in a while, there might be a nasty surprise waiting for you. There, in a forgotten piece of Tupperware, lurks the ravioli you didnt finish three weeks ago. Opening the lid with curio...
The Nightlife Of Plants Most plants grow buds, flower, or lie dormant at specific times of year. What Triggers These Seasonal Changes? Temperature and rainfall often play a role, but the most important factor to many plants is the length of the day....
What Makes Windshield Glass So Tough? We tend to think of glass as fragilebut in fact, glass is pretty strong stuff. A flawless fiber of glass pulled lengthwise is five times stronger than steel! Although glass is quite strong, its also very brittlea...
The Bare Necessities Of Bears In the movie The Jungle Book, Balloo the bear spends his days singing and dancing and munching paw-paws. Actually, this is a pretty accurate picture of real bears, except for the singing and dancing. North American bears...
What Do Octane Numbers Mean? At the gas pump, you have a choice of octane numbers. 87? 93? Whats the difference? To explain octane numbers, lets take an imaginative leap into the internal combustion engine of a car. Inside the cylinders are combustio...
For A Stress Free Life, Get A Dog! As most dog owners will attest, having a dog is great for several reasons. For one, dogs are typically loyal, steady companions. Many studies have shown that caring for a dog is a great way to get more exercise, rel...
