WHY DO WE GET FEVER?

FEVER - Fever is one of the most common health disorders that afflict humans. Have you given a thought to why this ailment is so common? The normal body temperature of a healthy person is 98.4F (37 deg.C). Fever is a condition in which the body temperature rises above the normal. It is a common symptom of some diseases. The heat energy produced by the chemical reactions taking place inside the body is controlled by brain and skin. As long...

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WHY ARE HEAD INJURIES DANGEROUS? Understanding the Risks and Consequences.

HEAD INJURIES - The Importance of Protection Against Head Injuries : In today’s society, safeguarding the most vital part of our body—our head—has become a critical priority. Whether it’s a soldier wearing an advanced helmet in war or a motorcyclist adhering to safety standards with protective gear, the emphasis on head protection highlights its essential role. Governments worldwide have implemented measures to minimize the risk of head injuries...

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WHEN DID PEOPLE FIRST USE MONEY?

MONEY - Money has always fascinated man ever since ancient times. Money has come to become the most important thing in the world. Aristotle observed that man is a social being who establishes certain norms and regulations for his social interaction. The man employed money as a mode of exchange to facilitate such social dealings for his economical aspect. In primitive societies, when people wanted to buy anything, they...

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WHY DOES THE BLOOD GROUP VARY FROM PERSON TO PERSON?

BLOOD GROUP - Even though the blood of all the human beings looks alike, in reality, it is not so. Our blood is mainly composed of red blood corpuscles, white blood corpuscles, platelets, and plasma. It has been observed from microscopic investigations that molecules of antigens found on the surface of red blood corpuscles are different in different people. Antigen molecules are a kind of proteins that stimulate the production of...

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WHEN DID THE FIRST ALPHABET APPEAR?

ALPHABET - The origin and development of any language can be traced back to the rudimentary symbols the primitive people used in their verbal interaction. These symbols, when used over a long period, take an established pattern thus giving rise to a new language, But the growth of a language does not stop at oral communication a script for writing is also to be developed. But when did the first alphabet that enabled man to express himself...

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WHY IS CUTTING OF NAILS AND HAIR PAINLESS?

NAILS AND HAIR - You may have noticed that whenever any part of our body is cut, we experience tremendous pain but when we cut out our hair or nails, we do not feel any pain. Do you know why is it so? We have, in all, twenty nails on our hands and feet. We do not experience any pain in cutting them because they are composed of dead cells. Nails are special structures of the body formes from the outer layer of the skin....

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WHY DO SOME PEOPLE SNORE DURING SLEEP?

SNORING - You must have definitely come across people who snore during sleep. Their mouth remains open and a peculiar sound comes out while breathing. Do you know why this happens? Normally, people breath through the nose. But some people's nose remains blocked due to some reason. And thus they breathe through the mouth. Sleeping on the back can also make a person snore. When we are asleep and breath through the mouth, the...

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WHO WAS MICHAEL FARADAY?

MICHAEL FARADAY - The great scientist Sir Humphry Davy was once asked by a friend to name his greatest discovery to which he replied ' Michael Faraday'. Faraday was then working as his assistant. Later his contributions in the field of electromagnetism and electrochemistry led to the invention of many things including dynamo and motor. Born in 1791 in a poor blacksmith family, Faraday began his career at the age of 13 as an errand boy...

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DOES A BLACK CAT BRING BAD LUCK?

BLACK CAT  - Have you heard someone telling you that a black cat crossing the road is a bad omen and you should not walk on the road if the cat has just passed by? Do you know why a cat in general and a black cat, in particular, is considered inauspicious? Superstitions have taken various forms over the centuries but one of the most common superstitions that still prevails is that of the 'black cat'. Many people all over the...

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WHY DOESN'T FROZEN FOOD GET SPOILED?

FROZEN FOOD - Have you ever wondered why we store perishable foodstuff in the freezer compartment of our fridge? It is because frozen food does not decompose for a long time and can be preserved for many months. There is an interesting fact about the discovery of the method of preserving food through low temperatures. In 1798, some explorers from Norway camped at the mouth of the river Lena in Northern Siberia. All...

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WHAT IS THE BLACK MAGIC OF WITCH DOCTORS?

BLACK MAGIC - In the recent times, witches and magic have become very popular due to the books of Harry Potter . The phenomenon of magic and witch doctors is a very old one. In primitive societies, people had little control over supernatural forces, diseases, or natural calamities, etc. due to limited knowledge and lack of a scientific temper. They were afraid of natural elements because they could not control them. Occultism and mysticism dominated...

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WHO WAS MOZART?

MOZART - Mozart is one of the greatest musicians ever born in the world. Whenever the word music is mentioned, his name is the first to come up. Music has been the main component of our culture since times immemorial. Generation after generation, people have enjoyed and experienced different forms and varieties of music. As a result, every period of history has produced its own breed of musicians, but only a few have been able to make a lasting impact...

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WHO WAS COLUMBUS?

COLUMBUS - A man has always had a burning desire to explore the world around him. This natural urge within him to discover and see what lies beyond his limited horizon has always led him to explore outside his own land. The explorers of ancient times often undertook perilous journeys across the seas as well as by land for trading, conquest and other purposes. But events were somewhat different in the 14th and 15th centuries. It...

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WHO WAS PICASSO?

PICASSO - Every art lover in the world has heard of the name Picasso. The famous Spanish painter and sculptor, Pablo Picasso, holds the honor of being one of the greatest and the most celebrated and the most celebrated artist of the 20th century as well as one of the most productive artists in the world history. During his 78 years of continuous artistic work, Pablo Picasso produced 13,500 paintings, 1,00,000 prints and engravings,...

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WHO WAS PLATO?

PLATO - Plato was a great philosopher of ancient Greece whose writings and teachings still carry great importance. The works of this great thinker are read all over the world even now. He was a student of a Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. In fact, the ideas of Socrates were translated into writing by his great disciple Plato. He is also credited with implanting the seeds of Aristotle's thought...

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WHO WAS CHARLES DARWIN?

CHARLES DARWIN - For a long time, people believed that each form of life on the Earth appeared separately and that these forms of life have remained unchanged. Charles Darwin was the first scientist who condemned this belief and laid the foundation of the modern theory of evolution. According to his theory, evolution is the process by which all living things on Earth today descended from common ancestors that lived millions of years...

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HOW DOES MICROPHONE WORK?

MICROPHONE - Radio and television stations make use of microphones. They are also used in public address systems and in motion pictures and phonograph records. The mouthpiece of a telephone is the simple type of microphone. Let us see what exactly a microphone is. A microphone is a device which converts sound waves into electrical signals. These signals can then be broadcast through the air or sent over to distant points, where they can again...

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HOW DO TRAFFIC LIGHTS WORK?

TRAFFIC LIGHTS - The growing urbanization is a direct outcome of rapid industrialization owing to which a large population gest concentrated in the cities. This consequently, results in a heavy rush of vehicular traffic, which necessitates effective control and efficient management to avoid chaos and accidents. Regulation of traffic is done either by uniformed men who use different hand gestures to send different signals...

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WHY DOES A SHIP FLOAT ON WATER?

SHIP FLOAT ON WATER - It is a well-known fact that a solid block of iron which may be as small as needle readily sinks in the water but something as big as a ship floats on water. It is interesting to know how it happens. According to Archimedes principle, the apparent loss in weight of a body totally or partially immersed in a liquid is equal to the weight of liquid displaced. The center of gravity of the body and that of the...

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HOW WAS WHEEL INVENTED?

WHEEL INVENTED - One of the greatest inventions of man was the invention of wheels. Imagine the world without wheels; There would be no cars, buses, motorcycles, and trucks, literally no means of transport other than by foot or horseback. Today we have different kinds of wheels made from different material. Wheels are used in almost all modes of transportation - trains, buses, trucks, cars, aeroplanes, scooters, cycles, rickshaws, bullock carts,...

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HOW WAS GEOMETRY INVENTED?

GEOMETRY INVENTED - Geometry, the supreme branch of mathematics, studies different kinds of figures and their properties, and also how shapes, angles, and distances are related. Elementary geometry is divided into two parts - plane geometry and solid geometry. Plain geometry deals with two-dimensional figures whereas, solid geometry deals with three-dimensional figures. The word 'geometry' comes from two Greek words - geo meaning 'Earth'...

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HOW DID LIFE BEGIN ON EARTH

LIFE - Today we see innumerable varieties of insects., birds and animals besides human beings on Earth.; there are various kinds of trees, plants, and bushes, too. All of them come under the category of living beings. Do you know how life started on the Earth? To study the origin of life on the Earth, the scientists study the fossils of those animals, trees, and plants, which lived millions of years ago. Excavations carried out at various...

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HOW DO ICE COLUMNS GROW INSIDE CAVES?

ICE COLUMNS - Ice columns appear in many caves or caverns. They are called stalactites and stalagmites. Stalactites are stony deposits hanging like icicles from roofs of the caves. Stalagmites are similar deposits rising in columns and cones from floors of the caves. Do you know how are they formed? Most of the caves occur chiefly in limestone and chalk formations. Limestone is a fairly soft rock mainly made of calcium carbonate...

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WHY DOES THUNDER FOLLOW LIGHTNINJG?

THUNDER FOLLOW LIGHTNING? During the rainy season, we often see lightning in the sky. It is almost always followed by the sound of thunder. Do you know, what this lightning is and why does thunder follow it? In ancient times, whenever man saw lightning in the sky and heard thunder he believed that gods were angry and punishing him for some sin. Benjamin Franklin was the first person who, in 1872, scientifically explained the occurrence of...

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HOW IS ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE MEASURED?

ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE - The blanket of air, dust, and moisture that surrounds our planet is called the 'atmosphere'. The air has weight and it exerts pressure. The instrument used to measure the atmospheric pressure is called a 'barometer'. The various changes in the atmospheric pressure are used to forecast the weather. For example, a sudden fall in the pressure indicates a storm. It is also used to measure the altitude or height...

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HOW DO WE MEASURE THE MASS OF THE EARTH?

MASS OF THE EARTH - When we wish to know the mass of an object, we weigh it in a balance. The size of the balance varies with the size of the object to be weighed. The earth is a giant body and to think of a balance for weighing it, is almost impossible. Then, what is the way of measuring the mass of the Earth? Scientists use Newton's law of gravitation to determine earth's mass. According to this law, there exists a force of attraction...

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HOW DOSE THE INTAKE OF SALT HELP OUR BODY?

INTAKE OF SALT - The human body contains about 65% of water. Some body parts have very high water content, for instance, muscles contain 75% water, while liver 70%, brain 79%, and kidneys have 83% water content. The water present in the body has common salt dissolved in it. To maintain the required level of salt in the body, we eat salt. Now the question arises-why should we maintain a certain level of salt...

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HOW DO URINE TESTS HELP IN DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASES?

URINE TESTS -  Diagnosis of different diseases by urine examination has been a common practice for a long time. But the traditional methods were not very scientific as the modern methods. Although special urine tests in the laboratory can reveal many diseases, even a casual examination can indicate certain diseases. Let us see how different urine tests help in diagnosing some diseases. Normal urine is straw...

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HOW LONG CAN MAN SURVIVE WITHOUT FOOD?

WITHOUT FOOD - Like air and water, food is also an essential part for all leaving beings. From the smallest insects to the biggest animals-all need food for their survival. So much so that even plants cannot live for long without food. Each person requires a certain amount of food daily, depending on his size, weight, age and amount of activity. Most of us feel uncomfortable if we skip just one meal. Also, if we go without food for 12...

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