Belching is the release of gas from the digestive system through the mouth. Every time a person swallows food or liquid, a small amount of air goes into the stomach. This air forms gas bubbles in the stomach. The muscles in the food pipe relax to allow these bubbles to escape as burps. In space, …
The proboscis of a mosquito needs to be inserted into the skin to draw blood. However, the proboscis cannot do it without any tool, and so it is equipped with 47 cutting tools, similar to incisors in animals, which help the mosquito pierce the proboscis into the skin.
The word ‘arachibutyrophobia’ is derived from arachis, meaning ‘peanuts’. The full meaning of the word is fear of peanut oil sticking to the roof of the mouth. Arachis is a kind of oil found in many nuts and peanuts which stick to the roof of the mouth. In many cases, the saliva fails to dissolve this. A person is …
Humans have a set of 24 ribs, 12 on each side, which surrounds the chest and enables breathing. Ribs protect the heart and the lungs. The lungs inflate during breathing and the ribs move to accommodate the inflated lungs. This movement happens about five million times a year, corresponding to the number of times we breathe …
The red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the different parts of the body. One trip takes the cell from the heart through the various blood vessels to the different parts of the body and back to the heart in 20 seconds. A red blood cell is estimated to live in the body for …
A virtual model of the brain which is capable of daydreaming just like human beings has been developed by scientists. The computer has been modelled on the dynamics of brain cells and the many connections these cells make with the cells in the brain. This is expected to be useful as a diagnostic tool for …
