There are many theories regarding why we grunt when we lift heavy objects. The most popular is that when we grunt, we activate the autonomic nervous system. It is responsible for controlling the body’s flight or fight response. It also releases the adrenaline rush in these scenarios. This helps the muscle contractions be more complete […]

The sun-rays play a big role in tanning our skin. They have two types of ultraviolet radiation that reach our skin – UVA and UVB. The UVB rays burn the upper layer of the skin, epidermis, and lead to sunburns. The UVA radiation, on the other hand, reaches under the lower layers of epidermis and

Venom is harmful only when it gets beyond the gut and gets circulated in the body. It is actually a mixture of proteins and if we were to eat the snake and the poison sack, it would just get broken down by the stomach’s enzymes. Snake-venom is actually stored in the snake’s glands and does

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