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Why Do My Eyes Close When I Sneeze? Ah, the illusive achoo -- there's much mystery surrounding our sternutation reflex, a.k.a. the sneeze.
What Causes a Fever? The brain responds to sickness by knocking the thermostat up a few notches to stimulate production of disease-fighting antibodies.
Why Do Golf Balls Have Dimples? Nearly a century ago, after someone realized that a scuffed-up ball travels farther than a shiny new one, balls gained dimples.
Why Do We Cry? Believed unique to humans, emotional tears carry certain hormones and other proteins, produced during periods of stress, out of the body, which may explain the cathartic effect of a good cry.
Where Do Electrons Get Energy to Spin Around an Atom's Nucleus? Electrons were once thought to orbit a nucleus much as planets orbit the sun. That picture has since been obliterated by modern quantum mechanics.
Why Does My Arm Fall Asleep? An explanation of limb numbness and paresthesia.
How Did the Hawaiian Islands Form? Scientists don't know all the details, but the process begins millions of years ago deep below the Pacific Ocean where the current islands are anchored to one of the rocky slabs that make up Earth's outer crust.
Why is Friday the 13th Considered Unlucky? Folklorists think the dread goes back at least a few centuries, and may well trace its roots all the way to Biblical times, when the 13th guest at the Last Supper betrayed Jesus and caused his Crucifixion, which was held on a Friday.
Why Do Icebergs Float? There are several reasons. The first is due to one of water's many amazing properties.
Why Do We Shiver When Cold? If the surface of your skin gets too chilly, the brain sets into motion a series of warming tricks such as shivering.
Why Does Soda Fizz? The fizz that bubbles up when you crack open a can of soda is carbon dioxide gas.
What Makes My Ears Ring? That ringing or buzzing in the ear is a symptom of hearing loss resulting from excessively loud noises.
Would I Weigh Less at the Equator? Amazingly, you would experience less gravity at Earth's equator. An object's gravitational pull on another object depends upon both objects' masses and their mutual distance.
What Causes Goose Bumps? Like sneezing, goose bumps (also known as the pilomotor reflex) represent one of your body's automatic responses, meant to increase your chances of survival in the harsh world.
Does the Full Moon Make People Crazy? Luna was the wife of Zeus, sister of Helios the sun, and the mother of 50 children. Arguably the first lunatic. A word which, by the way, has its roots in a belief that the Moon made people mad.
Why are Races Run Counterclockwise?
Why Does Slicing Onions Make Me Cry? Onions release a gas that reacts with water in your eyes to form the eye-irritant sulfuric acid.
Why is the Sky Blue? Blue light has a short wavelength, and the particles in the air scatter it around, making the sky appear blue. Red light has a longer wavelength, which acts more strongly and is not scattered as much.
Why Does Hair Turn Gray As you age, pigment cells die. With fewer and fewer color boosters, your hair strands will appear gray, white, or silver.
Why Do We Get Freckles? Those little brown spots adorning your body are merely patches of pigment, called melanin.
What is the Funny Bone?
When Was Beer Invented? Beer likely dates back to the dawn of cereal agriculture.
Why Do Camels Have Humps? A camels hump is made of fat, not water.
How Old is Earth?
Why Do Bright Lights Make Me Sneeze? Allergic to sunbeams? Doubtful. But something physiological is happening to you.
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