Science & Mathematics Questions & Answers

Why are Cancer and AIDS so feared? Cancer and AIDS are two of the most dreaded diseases. They are not highly infectious diseases like the plagues of centuries past, so that people who are with sufferers are not necessarily at risk. But they can be difficult to treat, and there is little hope for patients who have either disease in …

The human heart is a remarkable organ. Although it is only about the size of a clenched first, the heart is perhaps the strongest organ in the body, and is certainly one of the hardest workers. How does the heart work? The heart is made up of four chambers, the left and right auricles and the left and right ventricles. …

Why is a holiday in the mountains generally good for the health? The pure air at high altitudes is less rich in oxygen than air at sea level. Because the air gets lighter the higher you climb, you quickly get out of breath when you go mountain-climbing if you not used to it. Why is a holiday in the mountains …

Where does tobacco come from? The name given to the plant and cured leaves of Nicotiana, and it can be used in various ways – for smoking, chewing and snuffing. It was first cultivated by the Indians of North and South America. Accounts of Christopher Columbus’s first voyage in 1492 speak of the natives of Cuba using ‘smoking reeds’ – …

What is the law of parsimony? This principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory. The principle is often expressed in Latin as the Lex Parsimoniae (law of parsimony or law of succinctness). This is often paraphrased …

Who were the Pilgrim Fathers? In Tudor times a number of Puritans lived in Lincolnshire in England, where they were often badly treated because of their faith. At last they could stand the situation no longer. They decided to sail for Holland where other Puritans had already settled. Living in Amsterdam to start with, they moved to Leyden where they …

Why do we eat turkey for Thanksgiving? Although juicy and tender butterball turkeys are the main cuisine of today’s Thanksgiving celebrations, these birds were NOT the most popular centerpieces on the first Thanksgiving tables. In 1621 when the Plymouth* colonists and Wampanoag Indians celebrated the first Thanksgiving, they were gobbling up many more foods than just turkey. Since lobster, goose, …

What is the pasteurized milk? Milk is pasteurized by heating it to a temperature of about 62 Centigrade (about 143 Fahrenheit) and maintaining that temperature for half an hour. The treatment kills most of the bacteria, which cause milk to go sour quickly, or many produce disease in human beings. This temperature is chosen it is the lowest temperature that …

Where did east meet west in the United States? One of the great dates in the opening up of the American West was 10 May 1869, for it was then that the transcontinental railway became a reality. In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln took the decision to build the railway despite the civil war between North and South. An Act of …

China has suffered some terrible earthquakes, and it isn’t surprising that China’s scientists want to find ways of forecasting them. In 1975, they were successful. They cleared the city of Haicheng two hours before a devastating quake and saved the city’s population. Earthquake forecasting is, however, still inexact; the Chinese have failed to predict several earthquakes since 1975, but they …