Category Archives: Health
- September 6, 2007
- Are poinsettia plants really poisonous?
With all that yummy stuff to eat during the Christmas season, like roast goose and baked ham and candied yams, it’s a bit of a mystery to us why anyone would eat poinsettia plants. But people do seem to pass on the fruitcake and reach for the Euphorbia pulcherrima (that’s poinsettia for those of you [...]
- September 4, 2007
- Why do women pee more than men?
Any man who has taken a long car trip with a woman truly believes that women need to pee more than men. As we speed down the highway and begrudgingly pull into another rest stop, we wonder whether this is the result of a genetic difference, obsessive water consumption, or a vicious plan to throw [...]
- September 3, 2007
- Is there any surefire way to determine the sex of the baby?
There is a very long list of mythical methods for determining the sex of your unborn child, such as:
More fetal kicking indicates a boy.
More early pregnancy morning sickness indicates a girl.
Sexual position at conception can affect whether you have a male or female child.
If the fetal heart rate is fast, you will have boy; if [...]
- September 3, 2007
- Why do men fall asleep after sex?
There are many hormonal changes that occur with orgasm and some of these changes may offer an explanation for why men fall asleep.
After orgasm, both men and women release the chemicals oxytocin, prolactin, gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), and endorphins. Each of these contributes to that roll-over-and-snore feeling. They seem to be secreted in equal [...]
- September 2, 2007
- Why do you shiver after you pee?
There are probably many sophisticated and urbane women out there who don’t know that it’s fairly common for men to experience a little shiver just as they finish urinating. And there are probably just as many men out there who shiver after they pee, but don’t have the foggiest notion as to why.
Now we are [...]
- August 15, 2007
- What keeps your heart beating?
Your heart starts to beat before you are born. It keeps on beating your entire life. What keeps this amazing organ going at such a steady pace?
Your heart is a muscle. But it’s a different kind of muscle than the one in your arm or your leg. A healthy heart muscle doesn’t get tired and [...]
- August 13, 2007
- What causes hiccups?
You are sitting quietly in class. Suddenly a loud “hic” bursts from your mouth. You hold your breath but the hiccups keep coming.
They are a common problem, but scientists really don’t know why we get the hiccups. Sometimes they start when we eat too much or drink too fast. Other times they seem to appear [...]
- August 13, 2007
- Why do people sweat?
You are skateboarding down the path. It is a hot summer day. It looks like you have been swimming. But you haven’t. You are just soaking wet with sweat!
You have about two million sweat glands all over you body. These sweat glands have tiny tubes that bring sweat from within you skin to the surface [...]
- August 12, 2007
- What causes motion sickness?
The roller coaster is making lots of turns. You stomach starts to roll. Uh-oh, you think you’re going to …
Just what is it about a moving vehicle that sometimes makes you feel so sick? You may be surprised to learn that the problem doesn’t start in your stomach. It’s in your head!
The trouble begins when [...]
- August 12, 2007
- Why do people blink?
Go ahead. Stare eye-to-eye with a friend. Try not to blink. You may win the contest, but it’s only a matter of time before you blink again!
Blinking spreads tears over your eyes. Tears protect your eyes and keep them from drying out. When you are calm, you may blink about 20 times a minute. If [...]
- August 12, 2007
- Why don’t haircuts hurt?
Snip, snip – the scissors fly around your head. Your hair grows from living cells. But the hair that’s cut is not alive. What is the story here?
Each hair on your head grows form a root that is under your skin. The root produces hair cells in a special tube called a follicle. When new [...]
- August 12, 2007
- Why do baby teeth fall out?
It takes a few years for the baby teeth to grow in. Then it takes a few years for them to fall out. What is the deal with these short-term teeth?
You probably got your first baby tooth when you were around six month old. And all 20 of your primary teeth, or baby teeth, were [...]
- August 12, 2007
- Why do people yawn?
Scientists know that the average yawn lasts six seconds. They also know that people yawn all the time – in the morning, at bedtime, even while they are exercising. The only thing that scientists still don’t know is why we yawn in the first place.
There have been many ideas. We usually yawn more when we [...]
- August 12, 2007
- How do people taste food?
One lick of your tongue and you know if it’s yucky or good. How does this little muscle in your mouth give you so much information?
The surface of your tongue is covered with thousands of tiny bumps. Near the base of these bumps are special cells called taste buds. Taste buds can detect four basic [...]
- August 12, 2007
- How many bones are in the human body?
There are quite a few bones in the human body. But believe it or not, babies have even more than you do!
At birth, you have almost 300 soft bones in your body. But as you get older, some of these bones grow together to make bigger bones. By the time you are an adult, 206 [...]
- August 11, 2007
- Why do people shiver when they are cold?
You jump out of the pool. BRRR… the air feels cold. Even though you wrap up in a towel, you body starts to shake. Why can’t you stop shivering?
Humans need to keep a constant body temperature of about 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit). If you get too cold, nerve signals carry messages to the [...]
- August 11, 2007
- What is saliva and how is it made?
Saliva is produced by structures called salivary glands. There are three pairs of large salivary glands that release saliva into our mouth. But that’s not all. Smaller salivary glands also line our lips, cheeks, and tongue.
So why is saliva so important? First, it helps us digest food. When we taste, smell, or even think about [...]
- August 10, 2007
- Why do people sneeze?
One ACHOO can send air speeding from your nose at 44 meters per second. What could trigger such a big response?
Many things make us sneeze. Dust and the common cold cause lots of sneezes. Some people also suffer from allergies. This means they sneeze when they are around certain things that bother them, such as [...]
- August 10, 2007
- Why do mosquito bites itch?
Believe it or not, not all mosquitoes fee on people. Generally, the ones that go for people are female. In fact, some female mosquitoes need to eat a blood meal before they lay their eggs.
When a mosquito bites, it uses a long mouth tube, called a proboscis, to poke through you skin. Normally when your [...]
- August 9, 2007
- How do fingernails grow?
Fingernails are made of a special kind of hardened skin cell. They are also full of a protein called keratin. They grow from a root that is below your skin at the base of your nail. As new cells are added to the base, your nail is pushed upward toward your fingertip. But by the [...]
- August 9, 2007
- Why do people need to sleep?
Sleeping is part of our natural daily rhythm. Our eyes close, our bodies relax. We do not respond to light or noise. Everything about us seems to slow down.
Everything, that is, except our brains. How do scientists know this? They attach a special machine to sleeping patients. This machine records brain waves.
Scientists found that there [...]
