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How Lasers Work and Who Invented Them
On May 16, 1960, Theodore Maiman shined a high-powered light at a ruby partially coated with silver and the result was the world’s first laser. This groundbreaking device, however, was not created by a
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Why Does Aspirin Prevent Heart Attacks?
Karla asks: Why does aspirin prevent heart attacks? The wonder drug once gleaned from the bark of a willow tree is today used to help prevent heart attacks and strokes. But not everyone benefits
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Why Toenails Turn Yellow
Our resident medical expert, Scott, and a buddy of his recently started The Medicine Journal, where you can learn all sorts of interesting facts about all things medical related. Below is a sample article
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Why Do We Cry?
Joel asks: Why do humans cry? Anti-bacterial, nutrient-rich, usually involuntary and often stress relieving, crying benefits more than just our eyes. Physiology of Tears Tears are a product of the lacrimal system, which: Has
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The Eleven Thousand Year Old Contagious Cancer Still Multiplying Today
Eleven thousand years ago, one saucy canine got busy and, as can happen with unprotected sex, gave its partner a venereal disease, although uniquely, this VD was cancerous. Over the course of the intervening
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Frogs and Milk- How to Keep Milk from Spoiling Without Refrigeration
For centuries, before refrigeration, an old Russian practice was to drop a frog into a bucket of milk to keep the milk from spoiling. In modern times, many believed that this was nothing more
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Why Doesn’t the Heart Get Tired and Need to Rest Like Other Muscles?
Mindy N. asks: After a long run my leg muscles are tired, but my heart is not. Why doesn’t the heart need any rest? Anywhere from 60 to 100 times every minute of every
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Why Some Plants Are Weeds and Others Aren’t
Today I found out why some plants are considered weeds and others are not. Weeds can be defined in a variety of ways: a plant growing where it isn’t wanted, a plant that interferes
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Why So Many Health Issues Stem from Problems in the Thyroid
Our resident medical expert, Scott, and a buddy of his recently started The Medicine Journal, where you can learn all sorts of interesting facts about all things medical related. Below is a sample article
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What Will Happen When the Earth’s Magnetic Field Switches or Collapses
Jesse asks: What will happen when the earth’s magnetic field switches? The Earth’s magnetic field protects life on Earth, shielding it from damaging radiation and moderating our climate. So the idea that it could
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Can Eating Poppy Seeds Really Cause You to Fail a Drug Test?
Mark asks: Will eating poppy seed muffins cause you to fail a drug test? When Elaine on Seinfeld failed a drug test after eating a poppy seed muffin back in the 1996 episode “The
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Everyone Has Hemorrhoids, and What Causes The Inflamed Version
Our resident medical expert, Scott, and a buddy of his recently started The Medicine Journal, where you can learn all sorts of interesting facts about all things medical related. Below is a sample article
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What Causes St. Elmo’s Fire
Andrew M. asks: What causes Saint Elmo’s Fire? For those not familiar, “St. Elmo’s Fire” is a name for the glow that looks like blue/violet fire surrounding the top of pointed metal objects during
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The Good and the Bad of Vaporizing and Inhaling Alcohol
Our resident medical expert, Scott, and a buddy of his recently started The Medicine Journal, where you can learn all sorts of interesting facts about all things medical related. Below is a sample article
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Can Color Blind People See More Colors When They Take Hallucinogenic Drugs?
Sam asks: If you gave a color blind person something like LSD or some other sort of hallucinogenic drug, would they see colors they couldn’t before? First a little primer on colour blindness from
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The Cause of Muscle Cramps When You Exercise
This is an article from TheMedicineJournal’s Dr. B. Green. Check out more from TheMedicineJournal.com here. Cramps come in four categories: True cramps, Rest cramps, Tetanic cramps, and Dystonic cramps. The most common of these
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In a Transplant/Transfusion, Does the Donor’s DNA Get Integrated Into the New Host?
Matt asks: In an organ or blood transplant/transfusion, does the donor’s DNA get kept and integrated into the new host? Depending on the type of donation, the DNA stays for a short time, a
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Exploding Head Syndrome
Jarred awakes from a sound sleep by a “shotgun blast, a thunderclap . . . the clash of symbols, a lightning strike or the sound of every door in the house slamming.” As with
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