WHY doesn't a lizard cherish its tail?
The process of tail dropping is completely regulated by the brain, not a reflex. When threatened, the muscles and ligaments in the immediate area contract, tear, and the tail separates.
However, this is stressful for the lizard. Without the tail, it is no longer as fast, may lose the ability to reproduce, runs and climbs poorly due to the lack of a "rudder".
Indeed, most importantly, many lizards tail serves to store fat and nutrients, which means that all their energy is concentrated in the tail. Therefore, after its detachment, the animal may die of exhaustion.
The process of tail dropping is completely regulated by the brain, not a reflex. When threatened, the muscles and ligaments in the immediate area contract, tear, and the tail separates.
However, this is stressful for the lizard. Without the tail, it is no longer as fast, may lose the ability to reproduce, runs and climbs poorly due to the lack of a "rudder".
Indeed, most importantly, many lizards tail serves to store fat and nutrients, which means that all their energy is concentrated in the tail. Therefore, after its detachment, the animal may die of exhaustion.
WHY are Detroit Red Wings hockey fans throwing octopuses on the ice?
It all began in April 1952, when Detroit once again entered the Stanley Cup. In those years, all it took to win the trophy was two four-game winning streaks, meaning eight games.
Brothers Peter and Gerald Cusimano, who owned fish stores, decided to support the Wings in some original way. The idea was put into action on April 15, 1952, at the old Olympia Stadium.
Since then matches in Detroit have been repeatedly interrupted by a rain of gutted clams 🐙
It all began in April 1952, when Detroit once again entered the Stanley Cup. In those years, all it took to win the trophy was two four-game winning streaks, meaning eight games.
Brothers Peter and Gerald Cusimano, who owned fish stores, decided to support the Wings in some original way. The idea was put into action on April 15, 1952, at the old Olympia Stadium.
Since then matches in Detroit have been repeatedly interrupted by a rain of gutted clams 🐙
WHY does the orchestra conductor shake hands with the first violinist in concerts?
He does so primarily for the reason that the first violinist is the orchestra's tuning fork, the realization of the conductor's intent.
Interesting fact: Beethoven, recognizing the talent of Ludwig Spohr, invited him to be first violin in the famous musical ensemble in which he himself conducted. It was a tribute that endures to this day.
He does so primarily for the reason that the first violinist is the orchestra's tuning fork, the realization of the conductor's intent.
Interesting fact: Beethoven, recognizing the talent of Ludwig Spohr, invited him to be first violin in the famous musical ensemble in which he himself conducted. It was a tribute that endures to this day.
WHY are artificial satellites launched?
Artificial satellites are man-made spacecraft launched into earth orbit, and they do a wide variety of work.
There are a great number of such satellites flying around the Earth: communications, navigation, meteo-satellites, reconnaissance, research, biosatellites, astronomical satellites 🛰
For example, it is impossible to imagine the modern world without communications satellites. They help to watch TV programs, make phone calls, and link computers with each other.
Artificial satellites are man-made spacecraft launched into earth orbit, and they do a wide variety of work.
There are a great number of such satellites flying around the Earth: communications, navigation, meteo-satellites, reconnaissance, research, biosatellites, astronomical satellites 🛰
For example, it is impossible to imagine the modern world without communications satellites. They help to watch TV programs, make phone calls, and link computers with each other.
WHY are horses shod?
Horseshoes protect hooves from wear and tear and from the traumatic effects of solid ground.
Horses cope with hard physical work, such as carrying people, dragging loads, and running for time. They also have to constantly run on hard ground and asphalt. All this leads to hoof wear and tear: they wear out faster than they grow back.
Horseshoes protect hooves from wear and tear and from the traumatic effects of solid ground.
Horses cope with hard physical work, such as carrying people, dragging loads, and running for time. They also have to constantly run on hard ground and asphalt. All this leads to hoof wear and tear: they wear out faster than they grow back.
WHY do birds migrate?
For a long time, there was only one explanation for birds' migrations: they are cold in winter and need a change of climate. Yet feathers can do a pretty good job of protecting birds from the cold. For example, a canary capable of surviving the cold up to -45 degrees Celsius if it has enough food.
Now it is believed that birds fly away to warmer areas in winter from the winter lack of food. Birds use up the energy they get from food very quickly, which means they need to eat often and a lot.
So when the ground freezes and food is hard to find, especially for insectivorous birds, many of them head south.
For a long time, there was only one explanation for birds' migrations: they are cold in winter and need a change of climate. Yet feathers can do a pretty good job of protecting birds from the cold. For example, a canary capable of surviving the cold up to -45 degrees Celsius if it has enough food.
Now it is believed that birds fly away to warmer areas in winter from the winter lack of food. Birds use up the energy they get from food very quickly, which means they need to eat often and a lot.
So when the ground freezes and food is hard to find, especially for insectivorous birds, many of them head south.
WHY do bees make honey?
Honey is vital to bee nutrition, especially in the winter.
To make honey, bees collect nectar from flowers. Since nectar contains a lot of water, bees have to work hard to dry it out. Also, bees add enzymes from their own bodies to the honey to turn the nectar into food and keep it from spoiling.
Honey is stored in the honeycomb for maturation. During ripening, the young bees transfer nectar from one cell to another several times, each time adding their own saliva. This honey is used as food by the bees as needed.
Honey is vital to bee nutrition, especially in the winter.
To make honey, bees collect nectar from flowers. Since nectar contains a lot of water, bees have to work hard to dry it out. Also, bees add enzymes from their own bodies to the honey to turn the nectar into food and keep it from spoiling.
Honey is stored in the honeycomb for maturation. During ripening, the young bees transfer nectar from one cell to another several times, each time adding their own saliva. This honey is used as food by the bees as needed.
WHY does a toucan have a big beak?
Despite its impressive size, the beak is not much of a burden for the bird, as it is very light due to the air cavities inside it: its structure resembles that of frozen foam.
Ornithologists agree that the toucan needs its long beak to get berries from the ends of thin twigs, which can't bear the bird's half-kilogram weight.
Despite its impressive size, the beak is not much of a burden for the bird, as it is very light due to the air cavities inside it: its structure resembles that of frozen foam.
Ornithologists agree that the toucan needs its long beak to get berries from the ends of thin twigs, which can't bear the bird's half-kilogram weight.
WHY are lightning rods used?
Lightning is a highly strong electrical spark that travels several kilometers in the sky in a matter of seconds. This spark makes the air hot and causes an explosion.
A single stroke of lightning can incinerate a tree and start a fire. But long ago people thought of a way to protect themselves and their homes from this danger. They invented the lightning rod — a metal rod, one end of which rises above the roofs of houses and the other end of which is connected to the ground with a wire.
Lightning finds the shortest route: it strikes the rod and, without hurting anyone, escapes through the wire into the ground.
Lightning is a highly strong electrical spark that travels several kilometers in the sky in a matter of seconds. This spark makes the air hot and causes an explosion.
A single stroke of lightning can incinerate a tree and start a fire. But long ago people thought of a way to protect themselves and their homes from this danger. They invented the lightning rod — a metal rod, one end of which rises above the roofs of houses and the other end of which is connected to the ground with a wire.
Lightning finds the shortest route: it strikes the rod and, without hurting anyone, escapes through the wire into the ground.
WHY are sea currents affecting the weather?
The World Ocean plays a special role in creating the climate. Huge amounts of water accumulate here. Evaporation, heating and cooling have a permanent effect on cloudiness and winds.
Another important fact to consider is that the water of the oceans and seas is in constant motion: the upper and lower layers mix, strong currents move cold or warm water over vast distances, affecting the nature of the weather.
The World Ocean plays a special role in creating the climate. Huge amounts of water accumulate here. Evaporation, heating and cooling have a permanent effect on cloudiness and winds.
Another important fact to consider is that the water of the oceans and seas is in constant motion: the upper and lower layers mix, strong currents move cold or warm water over vast distances, affecting the nature of the weather.
WHY do amphibians not live in salt water?
Since amphibians' lungs do not fully supply them with oxygen, skin respiration, which requires a moist, thin skin, plays a major role.
Amphibians are highly sensitive to the absence of table salt in soil and water, which is specifically detrimental to the development of their eggs and larvae.
The concentration of salt in the skin cells of amphibians is less than in seawater.
And if an amphibian gets into seawater, then water from the skin cells will begin to flow out freely, as their skin is extremely permeable to water.
Since amphibians' lungs do not fully supply them with oxygen, skin respiration, which requires a moist, thin skin, plays a major role.
Amphibians are highly sensitive to the absence of table salt in soil and water, which is specifically detrimental to the development of their eggs and larvae.
The concentration of salt in the skin cells of amphibians is less than in seawater.
And if an amphibian gets into seawater, then water from the skin cells will begin to flow out freely, as their skin is extremely permeable to water.
WHY do ozone holes appear?
The ozone layer is located in the stratosphere about 25 kilometers above the Earth's surface. It protects our planet from the most active cosmic rays, which would kill all life on the planet without it.
Ozone holes are places where the layer is depleted. Nevertheless, more intense ultraviolet rays reach the planet through these gaps.
Again, humans are to blame for the ozone holes. By producing large quantities of chemicals, primarily chlorinated and fluorinated hydrocarbons that can slowly destroy ozone as they rise into the atmosphere.
The ozone layer is located in the stratosphere about 25 kilometers above the Earth's surface. It protects our planet from the most active cosmic rays, which would kill all life on the planet without it.
Ozone holes are places where the layer is depleted. Nevertheless, more intense ultraviolet rays reach the planet through these gaps.
Again, humans are to blame for the ozone holes. By producing large quantities of chemicals, primarily chlorinated and fluorinated hydrocarbons that can slowly destroy ozone as they rise into the atmosphere.
WHY do frogs squawk?
Only male frogs make squawking sounds. Quacking is a way to attract females during the mating season.
In order to make a squawking sound, a frog takes a deep breath, closes its nostrils and mouth, and presses air from its lungs to its mouth and back again. Passing through the vocal cords, the air stream touches them, they begin to vibrate, and a quacking sound is heard.
Only male frogs make squawking sounds. Quacking is a way to attract females during the mating season.
In order to make a squawking sound, a frog takes a deep breath, closes its nostrils and mouth, and presses air from its lungs to its mouth and back again. Passing through the vocal cords, the air stream touches them, they begin to vibrate, and a quacking sound is heard.
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WHY would a person not recognize their own voice on a recording?
Due to the superimposition of the two timbres.
A person's own voice normally reaches the ear in two ways: through the air and through the tissues of the body, primarily the bones. Owing to the different speed of sound in these media, the same original sound takes on a differing timbre.
In this case we hear a superposition of the "air" and "bone" timbres of the voice. And when listening to a recording, we hear only the "airy" component.
Due to the superimposition of the two timbres.
A person's own voice normally reaches the ear in two ways: through the air and through the tissues of the body, primarily the bones. Owing to the different speed of sound in these media, the same original sound takes on a differing timbre.
In this case we hear a superposition of the "air" and "bone" timbres of the voice. And when listening to a recording, we hear only the "airy" component.
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WHY amnesiacs do not forget their language and can speak?
The formation of speech occurs in a person up to 6 years old. Thus, the speech skill constitutes the core of the personality and reliably protected: The areas responsible for it are located deep, at the base of the parietal lobe of the brain.
Moreover, when it comes to speech, the two hemispheres are capable of duplicating each other in severe trauma. If one hemisphere suffers, the other takes over vital functions, including speech. In contrast, the area responsible for memory is located almost on the very surface of the cortex, it is less protected, so it is disconnected in case of amnesia.
The formation of speech occurs in a person up to 6 years old. Thus, the speech skill constitutes the core of the personality and reliably protected: The areas responsible for it are located deep, at the base of the parietal lobe of the brain.
Moreover, when it comes to speech, the two hemispheres are capable of duplicating each other in severe trauma. If one hemisphere suffers, the other takes over vital functions, including speech. In contrast, the area responsible for memory is located almost on the very surface of the cortex, it is less protected, so it is disconnected in case of amnesia.
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WHY is one of the proteins in the human eye named after Pikachu?
In 2008, Japanese scientists from the Osaka Institute of Biological Sciences discovered a protein playing a crucial role in transmitting signals between the ribbon synapses of the human eye's photoreceptors and dendrites.
They named the protein Pikachurin, after the lightning-speed movement and electrical abilities of the Pokémon Pikachu.
In 2008, Japanese scientists from the Osaka Institute of Biological Sciences discovered a protein playing a crucial role in transmitting signals between the ribbon synapses of the human eye's photoreceptors and dendrites.
They named the protein Pikachurin, after the lightning-speed movement and electrical abilities of the Pokémon Pikachu.
WHY does an LED bulb glow in the dark?
It is due to the fact that the lighting element, which is installed in the switching device, closes the circuit, accordingly passing a small current. It charges and allows the light bulb to glow when it is off.
Is this glow dangerous? No danger of this problem for wiring, but the life of the LED light bulbs will be markedly reduced if they are constantly flashing or glow dimly.
It is due to the fact that the lighting element, which is installed in the switching device, closes the circuit, accordingly passing a small current. It charges and allows the light bulb to glow when it is off.
Is this glow dangerous? No danger of this problem for wiring, but the life of the LED light bulbs will be markedly reduced if they are constantly flashing or glow dimly.
WHY do fireflies glow?
Bioluminescence for fireflies is a means of intersex communication.
Not only do the insects signal their location, but they also distinguish their partner by a specific flicker frequency.
Tropical and North American firefly species sometimes perform entire choral serenades for their mates, simultaneously flaring up and fading out as a flock. A pack of females responds to them with the same light music.
Bioluminescence for fireflies is a means of intersex communication.
Not only do the insects signal their location, but they also distinguish their partner by a specific flicker frequency.
Tropical and North American firefly species sometimes perform entire choral serenades for their mates, simultaneously flaring up and fading out as a flock. A pack of females responds to them with the same light music.