 Interesting Facts |
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1. Why do you close your eyes when you sneeze?
Fact
2. Why do Kangaroos have pouches?
Fact
3. Why does a mosquito bite itch?
Fact
4. Why can you hear the roar of the ocean in a seashell?
Fact
5. Why isn't there air on the moon?
Fact
6. Why do some dogs turn in circle before lying down?
Fact
7. Why do people sweat?
Fact
8. What makes the bubbles in bubble gum?
Fact
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Why do you close your eyes when you sneeze?
You don't have a choice! Your eyes close automatically when you
sneeze.
When you're about to sneeze, a nerve in your nose sends a message to your
brain. Your brain makes your lids shut, forming an airtight
shield over the eyes.
It's a good thing your eyes close. When you sneeze, you push air out of your body with great force:
up to 100 mph. If you kept your eyes open, you could strain the
muscles holding your eyes in place. Closing your eyes also keeps
them safe from germs your sneeze sprays out. AH-CHOOO!
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Why do kangaroos have pouches?
They'd look silly carrying pocketbooks! Kangaroos have pouches to help
their babies grow and develop. Although an adult kangaroo is about six feet tall,
a newborn kangaroo is about the size of a peanut. The little
'roo needs a hiding place. So, it crawls along its mother's
fur and into her pouch.
For a while, the baby stays inside, drinks its mother's milk
and grows. After five months, the baby, now called a joey, is big enough to hop out
and play. It will hop back in if it gets scared, tired or hungry.
After eight months, joey comes out for good. And Mom jumps for joy!
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Why does a mosquito bite itch?
Actually, only female mosquitoes bite-males don't. The female
need the blood to help develop eggs inside their bodies.
A mosquito pokes through your skin with six straw-like parts of her
mouth, called stylets. Since the blood thickens quickly, the
mosquito needs a way to keep it moving through her stylets. So
she injects saliva into the tiny wound. It thins the blood and
makes it easy for her to sip it out.
Unfortunately, most people are allergic to that saliva. Your
skin swells up and you can't stop scratching. It's enough to
drive you buggy.
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Why can you hear the roar of the ocean in a seashell?
When you hold a shell to your ear, suddenly, there's the ocean! But
the sound you hear in a shell have nothing to do with the ocean.
They are simply the stray sounds around you and inside your ear.
The noise around you is made louder by the vibration of the air in the shell.
Because the noise around you comes and goes, so does the sound
from the shell. What you hear just sounds like the waves of the
ocean.
You don't need a shell to hear the sounds. You can hear them in an
empty coffee can or even a cup. But it's a lot more fun hearing
the ocean while you're at the beach.
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Why isn't there air on the moon?
Blame gravity-or the lack of it.
Gravity is the force that pulls everything toward the center of a
planet, including gases. The pull of gravity causes Earth's
gases to form a layer of atmoshpere around the planet.
On the moon, gravity isn't strong enough to do this job. Moon
gravity is only about one-sixth as strong as Earth gravity. The
moon once may have had an atmosphere. But its weak gravity would
have allowed the gases to slowly escape into space.
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Why do some dogs turn in circles before lying down?
Some dogs just plop down without circling. But other dogs may
turn around as many as 20 times before lying down.
One possible reason is to trample down grass to make a bed.
But why would dog do this inside a house?
Dr. Erik Klinghammer has another explanation. He studies dog
and wolves. Dr. Klinghammer says "Dogs walk in circle to help
themselves get into a curled position. Curling up is how dogs keep
their stomachs warm and protected. Walking in a circle gives
them momentum. As its hind legs plop down, the front of the
dog naturally curls around.
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Why do people sweat?
It's a hot day. You're playing ball and sweat is pouring from you. The
harder you play, the more you sweat. What's going on?
Sweating is one way your body controls its temperature. If you
get too hot, that's not good for your body. So sweating helps keep you cool.
Inside your skin are millions of tiny sweat glands. These
curly sweat glands draw water, salt and chemicals from your blood.
The liquid flows through sweat-gland tubes and out onto the surface of the skin.
And you're sweating.
On your skin, sweat evaporates. When water evaporates, it takes
away heat from the surrounding area. So your skin cools down-and you
chill out!
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What makes the bubbles in bubble gum?
The big difference between bubble gum and chewing gum is in
their gum base, a rubber-like material. Bubble gum's base
stretches more and is stronger for bubble blowing.
The gum base used for bubble gum becomes elastic when it mixes
with saliva-so you can blow big bubbles.
Gum base was first made from chicle(say: CHICK-el). Chicle,
which comes from a tree that grows in Mexico, is being replaced
by artificial ingredients, such as non-poisonous plastics and
rubbers.
Sugarless gum makes smaller bubbles. But it has a BIG plus: You can
blow away and not worry about tooth decay!
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