First of all, what are vitamins? They are substances which are necessary to life, and they are produced by various plants and animals. Everybody must have these vitamins in their diet regularly to enable the body cells to grow and repair themselves. Although scientists have long and complicated names for vitamins, we know them best by their simple letters, A, …
Read More »Why do we need salt?
We already know that the body contains a lot of water – in fact over 70% of the body is composed of water. But this isn’t pure water. It is a salt solution, and as we lose a certain amount of our body fluid every day, we also lose salt, which we must replace. We don’t get salt from vegetables …
Read More »Why Do We Have Wrinkly Fingers After Swimming?
You’ve been playing in the pool for almost an hour now, practicing your best underwater somersaults. Now it’s time to get out, and as you look at your hands, it’s . . . it’s . . . it’s the attack of the wrinkly fingered monster! Don’t get frightened or run for cover under your towel yet. After spending lots of …
Read More »Why do we have hiccups?
You’ve probably heard of lots of cures for hiccups, some of which may work once or twice, and some of which may not work at all. For example, giving someone with hiccups a sudden shock, putting something cold down their back, or even drinking a glass of water upside down from the wrong side of the glass have all been …
Read More »Why do we have a Leap Year?
Although we take 365 days to a year, the earth does not revolve around the sun in 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds to do this. The extra time is made up by adding one extra day to the end of February every four years, except in those years which can be divided evenly by 100. Then …
Read More »Why Do We Get Hiccups?
Hic! You’ve just hiccuped for what seems like the tenth time since you finished your big dinner. Wonder where these funny noises are coming from? The part to blame is your diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle at the bottom of your chest, and all hiccups start here. The diaphragm almost always works perfectly. It pulls down when you inhale to help …
Read More »Why do we get electricity in our hair?
When we comb our hair it sometimes happens that we can hear faint crackling. The reason is that combing can create a little electricity. Electrons are taken from the atoms of the comb and are added to other atoms of the hair. It is this passing of the electrons which creates electricity.
Read More »Why do we get cramps mainly in the calf muscles?
A muscle cramp technically occurs when your muscle tightens and shortens causing sudden severe pain. Muscle cramps generally result from overexertion and dehydration. When you don’t have enough fluid in your system, it leads to an electrolyte imbalance that causes your muscles to cramp up. Electrolytes are minerals like sodium, magnesium, calcium and potassium that help cells function normally. An …
Read More »Why do we dream?
Nobody knows exactly why we dream when we sleep. All we know is that everyone dreams, although most dreams aren’t avoid enough for us to remember them when we wake up. Dreams are not messages from other world, or prophecies of what may happen in the future, but very often the result of what we have been thinking about when …
Read More »Why do we cup our hands around our mouth to call someone far away?
When you speak or shout or sing or even whisper, the vibrations of your voice send sound waves through the air. These sound waves travel from your mouth in all directions out straight, to the right to the left and to all the places in between. But when you cup your hands around your mouth, you are pointing the sound …
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