Our fat is stored as triglycerides. When we need it for energy, enzymes in the blood break it down into fatty acid chains and glycerol. The fatty acids are absorbed by cells and broken down into even smaller molecules and ‘fed’ to our mitochondria (the ‘power plants’ of our cells). The ultimate waste products of …
Yes. They don’t have eyelids, so they don’t close their eyes like we do. Cockroaches, however, will fold down their antennae when they sleep, which has the similar purpose of protecting delicate sensory organs. When asleep, insects aren’t just resting -sleeping praying mantises will droop downwards and sleeping bees are harder to startle than those …
When psychologists ask people around the world what they find most disgusting, the same things usually crop up. Mostly these are bodily fluids that have the potential to spread disease, such as vomit, mucus, excrement and blood. The implication, which makes a lot of intuitive sense, is that we’ve evolved the disgust reaction as a …
Video footage requires much higher data transmission rates than still images, and it can take several hours for NASA to receive just one high-resolution colour image from Mars. Engineers are looking at switching from radio to infrared communication, because the much shorter wavelength offers far higher data rates. The next generation of Mars landers may …
IT DEPENDS ON THE GUN – Experiments using ballistic gelatine to mimic the human body suggest that a 9mm bullet from a handgun will penetrate about 60cm through human fat tissue. A fully jacketed bullet from an assault rifle, such as an AK-47, will go much further and can easily shoot through a brick wall. …
Garlic contains a chemical called allyl cysteine sulphoxide or ‘alliin’. When a raw garlic clove is crushed or chopped, an enzyme in the garlic cells is released that reacts in a matter of seconds with the alliin to produce a chemical called allicin. This breaks down into lots of other chemicals, most of them stinky. …
There is virtually none there to begin with. Only the white blood cells have a nucleus, so they are the only that carry any of the donor’s DNA. Red blood cells and platelets lose their nucleus during production in the bone marrow. Donated blood is spun in a centrifuge to separate it into plasma, platelets, …
What Happens To The Donor’s DNA In A Blood Transfusion? Read More »
It’s all to do with the shape of the pelvis. Dinosaurs are divided into two groups: the Saurischia, or lizard-hipped’ dinosaurs, have a pubis bone that points forward; the Ornithischia (‘bird-hipped’) have a backwards-pointing pubis. Any fossil with either of these pelvis types is classified as a dinosaur. Ironically, birds are actually descended from the …
Hair growth in humans is complicated and influenced by several different genes and hormones. The prevailing theory is that we evolved to have less hair than primates because our ancestors evolved sweating as a strategy to keep cool on the African Savannah, and too much hair gets in the way of sweating. But the evolutionary …
Most commercial fruit isn’t grown from seed. Even fruits that still have seeds, like apples and cherries, are grown from cuttings because this guarantees that the plant will be genetically identical to the parent plant from which they are cloned. Seedless grapes were originally a natural mutation that prevented the young seeds from maturing and …
When we are sleeping, there is a brain mechanism that stops the neural activity associated with dreaming from triggering speech or body movements. But this system isn’t perfect, and sometimes signals can get through. This can lead to mumbling and groaning and sometimes even proper speech (and sleep walking). The content of sleep talking can …
One hypothesis is that the iron sulphide spewing from deep-sea volcanic vents precipitated into a solid mass with lots of tiny chambers where simple biological molecules could become concentrated and assemble, using energy from iron redox reactions. The ‘panspermia hypothesis’, on the other hand, suggests that living cells or spores may have arrived fully formed …
Justviral.eu is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
*Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates. Additionally, Justviral.eu participates in various other affiliate programs, and we sometimes get a commission through purchases made through our links.
