Today I found out that the astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station witness around 15 sunrises and 15 sunsets every day. The International Space Station orbits about 354 kilometers (220 miles) above the Earth and travels at approximately 27,700 km/hr (17,211 mph), so it takes about 92 minutes to circle the Earth once. For this reason, every 45 […]
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Today I found out the difference between an asteroid and a comet. A comet is simply a relatively small astronomical object that has a “tail”, known as a coma, which makes up a temporary atmosphere for the comet. Asteroids, on the other hand, do not exhibit this tail and are classically defined as simply an astronomical object that orbits around […]
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Today I found out why you get goose bumps when it’s cold or as result of a strong emotion. It turns out, goose bumps are an involuntary reflex of mammals called piloerection, usually triggered by a hormone released on certain situations that causes their body hair to stand. With time, humans have evolved to have less body hair, so what […]
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Yar me maties, today I found out what be causing scurvy. Like most people, I already knew that scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C and that it was a major problem aboard ships out to sea for a good length of time and is still somewhat of a problem in places where people are malnourished. But I […]
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Today I found out why asparagus makes pee smell. The smell comes from the way certain chemical compounds in asparagus break down inside people’s bodies. This is why cooking asparagus in various ways does not result in the same smelly byproduct; the specific digestive enzymes that break down the compounds in the asparagus to produce the smell aren’t present until […]
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Today I found out that the “Pull and Pray” method statistically is just about as effective as condoms for preventing pregnancy. Indeed, according to Dr. John Guillebaud in his book Contraception: Your Questions Answered, some of the lowest birth rates in history pop up around cultures whose primary method of contraception is the pull and pray method. This method, also […]
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Today I found out why golf balls have dimples. It turns out, somewhat counter intuitively, those dimples significantly decrease the drag on the golf ball as it flies through the air, compared to a smooth ball. Not only that, but they also increases the lift somewhat. These two things combined can make the golf ball go as much as three […]
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Today I found out what causes the Northern and Southern Lights (aurora borealis and aurora australis respectively). Simply put, these lights are caused by very fast moving electrons striking atoms in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, primarily oxygen and nitrogen atoms which make up most of our atmosphere. When this happens, it can put these atoms in an excited state. During […]
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Today I found out why poop is brown. Poop is brown due to bile from your gall bladder being metabolized by the bacteria in your intestines. This results in a byproduct called stercobilin, which, in turn, makes poop look brown-ish. Without this stercobilin, your poop would typically look grey-ish/white. Because of this, a sure sign you are having problems with […]
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Today I found out domestic cats fall from any height with a remarkable survival rate. This is, of course, assuming they don’t suffocate- say, if you dropped them from 40,000 feet- and that they land on relatively flat ground (nothing pointy or the like). This one seems like it shouldn’t be true. However, it turns out, a typical domestic cat’s […]
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Today I found out why fingers wrinkle in water. For the quick answer, water washes away an oily substance that protects your skin. When that happens, a certain type of dead cell on your skin will absorb the water causing the cells to swell up, but the layer underneath does not. So the swelling, combined with the places the skin […]
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Today I found out why onions make you cry. Onions, along with many other plants in the Allium species (garlic is another popular one), absorb sulfur from the soil. When onions are chopped, it ends up breaking cells within the onion, which releases certain enzymes. These enzymes then react with the sulfur, creating amino acid sulfoxides. These, in turn, create […]
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Today I found out why getting kicked in the balls hurts in the abdomen, not just the region that was actually impacted. Testes originally form in the abdomen near the stomach and kidneys. The nerves and blood vessels remain attached in that region, even after the balls drop. So when a guy gets kicked in the balls or otherwise has […]
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Today I found out what causes a hangover. There are several things that contribute to hangovers, but one of the principal factors is simple dehydration. Alcohol has a dehydrating effect by inhibiting the release of vasopressin, which is an anti-diuretic hormone. So, in layman’s terms, the result of alcohol inhibiting the vasopressin is that your body produces a lot more […]
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Today I found out the first known robot was created around 400-350 BC by the mathematician Archytas and was an artificial bird. Archytas, who is known as the “father of mechanical engineering,” constructed his bird out of wood and used steam to power the movements of the robot. This bird was then suspended from a pivot bar. In its best […]
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Today I found out why the Moon looks bigger on the horizon than when it is higher in the sky. This is a question that has been debated for several thousand years. One popular myth, dating all the way back to Aristotle in the 4th century BC and which still endures somewhat today, is that it is simply a case […]
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Today I found out why you used to have to use #2 pencils when using scantron forms. Now, you might be saying, “Used to? Don’t you still have to?” It turns out, despite what pretty much all teachers will tell you, not really. Modern scantron systems are quite high-tech, using image sensors and sophisticated image processing algorithms. These algorithms can […]
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Today I found out what causes ice cream headaches. While many theories on what exactly causes ice cream headaches or “brain freezes” have existed for some time, it has only been very recently that it was discovered exactly what is going on here. It turns out, ice cream headaches are a result of a rapid change in the size of […]
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