221 Facts Tell Me Why

A space shuttle is made up of four parts – the orbiter, the external fuel tank, and the two white boosters. Only the orbiter has wings and can fly like a plane. But its engines are not powerful enough on their own to get it up to orbital velocity. Without wings, launching horizontally doesn’t work

Paper is mostly manufactured with an even distribution of cellulose fibres with small pores. When we write in ink, it moves down into the pores of the paper, where it will remain to dry. To erase off ink-marks, it is difficult for the rubber to separate the intermolecular forces. Therefore, it has to be physically

Menthol, an organic chemical which is found in mint oils and peppermint, is able to activate a protein in our nerve cells known as TRPM8. It is the Transient Receptor Potential cation channel subfamily M member 8. This protein is activated in cold temperatures. It allows in the sodium and calcium ions and sends a

The 365 days of the calendar year represent the Earth’s movement around the Sun every 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. Therefore, the leap day exists to correct the difference between the calendar year and the astronomical year. The calendar is adjusted to compensate for the extra time by adding an extra

When wounds start to heal, a scab generally covers the wound in a short time. It is around this time that we feel the need to itch around our wounds. This is due to ‘paresthesia’. As our wounds heal, the cells around it grow. Like an electric current, they all grow in numbers and migrate

While one is asleep, one’s body-muscles become relaxed and lose all stiffness. When a sleeping body is picked up, its muscles do not assist in the lifting and we feel the entire weight, almost like ‘dead-weight’. ‘Dead-weight’ refers to the placement of the weight. When an awakened person is picked up, he adjusts his weight

Some airports are placed in locations with high altitudes/elevation with high ambient temperatures around. In these kinds of airports, take-offs become difficult because the low air density negatively affects the lift generated by the wings or the rotors of the airplane. This also affects and hampers with the performance of the aircraft engines, jeopardizing the

Much like hands, lips are almost always exposed to the external elements. Since our lips don’t have oil glands, they are unable to get a buffer from extreme temperature. Winter air is dry, so it dries our lips even more. Another reason is the close proximity of the lips to the tongue, which, unknowingly to

The most important reason that differentiates safety of buses from that of other modes of transport is called ‘compartmentalization’. It is also the reason why there are no seatbelts on buses. In compartmentalization, the seats are placed very close to one another and covered with energy-absorbing pads. This makes the movement very minimal in case

Cats can sleep for long hours. They can also take short naps, also known as ‘cat naps’ which give them enough rest to keep them alert if they were to face any excitement or danger. Their genes are designed in such a way that they sleep so that they may be ready to hunt at

Air is mostly transparent, rather than invisible. It is very sparse as compared to liquids and solids, so there’s less material to block light. The nitrogen and oxygen molecules that comprise the most part in the air are spread unevenly and thinly. This fails to make a significant change in the colour or intensity of

Opening our mouths is the best and foremost method for drawing in a huge breath filled with oxygen. We need oxygen because it prepares our muscles to either fight or run away in a ‘flight or fight’ response. We have this response when we come across some trigger that invoke fear or surprise. When faced

When we boil the water in the pan, first the bottom part of the water becomes hot and becomes steam. The top layer gets hot later. The steam at the bottom does not make it to the surface of the water and cools down. The upper cooler part of the water cools it and condenses

When we smell a perfume or odour, the molecules are sent to the back of our throat through our nostrils. The smell receptors in our nose transmit a signal to our brain’s limbic system. That decides how we are going to perceive it – like it as a fragrance or dislike it as stench. However,

With passing years, batteries are getting faster, efficient and more powerful than before. However, these tend to degrade or lose their power over time and use. They have positive and negative electrodes and electrolytes in them. Whenever the ions are moving between these positive and negatively charged electrodes, a chemical reaction takes place and current