Why is the jelly fish transparent? It is rather rare for animals to have transparent or see-through bodies. But the jelly fish is an excellent example of one such creature. Their see-through bodies help them avoid detection as it is hard to see them when...
What is half-life? When we talk of the half-life of a radioactive substance we mean the rate at which the nuclei of its atoms are decaying. It is the time taken for half of the atoms in a sample of the substance to decay. It...
What is the use of the walrus’ tusks? When the breeding season comes, walruses gather on the arctic ice. The males get into fights over the females and the tusks come handy in such battles. But the main use of these tusks is to dig...
Which is the biggest polar mammal? One might think it is the polar bear of the Arctic but it is not. The biggest polar mammal is in fact the blue whale which is an aquatic creature found in the Antarctic Circle. Though it has a...
How do snakes move? Snakes have many pairs of ribs and strong muscles. These help the snake to move by throwing themselves along in a wave-like movement. In the case of North American sidewinders, they throw their coils sideways along the ground.
What is the myth of Romulus and Remus? Roman legend says that a king called Numitor had two baby grandsons called Romulus and Remus. They were dumped in the Tiber River but were rescued by a wolf. The two boys were raised by the wolf...
Are there chimneys under the sea? There are rocky chimneys on the floor of the ocean. These give off clouds of hot water. The chimneys can be found in the depths of the ocean. The hot water feeds many strange creatures. They include sea spiders...
Did dinosaurs eat leaves? Most dinosaurs were herbivores. Psittacosaurus probably snipped leaves off trees with its beak which resembled a bird’s. The leaves were then sliced into smaller pieces with its teeth. Brachiosaurus had a long neck which helped it to eat leaves from treetops.
When was the crossword puzzle invented? In ancient times there was something called a word square in which the letters spelled the same words horizontally and vertically. Arthur Winn was the one who created the first crossword puzzle. It was published in the Sunday supplement...
Why do astronauts float in space? Once they are outside the earth’s gravitational field, astronauts are weightless. Their mass is the same but there is no gravity to lend the mass weight. So, the astronauts have to be tethered to something to prevent them from...
