Today I Learn

Sony's PlayStation was never meant to be an actual product. Instead, it was intended to be a CD-ROM console that would support Nintendo games. However, when Nintendo backed out of the deal at the last minute, Sony went ahead and launched what soon became one of the most successful gaming consoles of…

An egg looks like a crazy jellyfish underwater A cracked egg on land might make a big mess, but 18 metres (60 feet) below the surface of the ocean, the pressure on the egg is 2.8 times atmospheric pressure, and it holds it all together like an invisible egg shell.

What keeps the sun spinning? Nothing keeps the sun spinning. The sun spins under its own inertia and does not need any help to keep it going. Isaac Newton observed that objects in motion tend to stay in motion. This is called the Law of Inertia. It means that if an object is already moving and noth…

Galaxies look stationary, so why do scientists say that they rotate? Galaxies do indeed rotate. This rotation is what gives typical galaxies a flattened round shape, a bit like how throwing and spinning pizza dough makes it round and flat. In terms of the tangential speed of its parts, galaxies rot…

Why does a magnetic compass point to the Geographic North Pole? A magnetic compass does not point to the geographic north pole. A magnetic compass points to the earth's magnetic poles, which are not the same as earth's geographic poles. Furthermore, the magnetic pole near earth's geographic north…

How do icebergs lose their salt? Icebergs do not have any salt to begin with. Icebergs are not pieces of frozen ocean water. Rather, icebergs are frozen chunks of fresh water that began their life on land. It all starts when snow falls in a region of land that is too cold for the snow to melt. Ov…

Why does evolution always lead to more advanced species? Evolution does not always lead to more advanced species. Evolution is simply a description of the way change occurs in biological creatures over many generations in order to better exploit a certain environment. Evolution sometimes leads to…

How do flies walk on the ceiling? Flies can walk upside down! They can do this because of their sticky feet. A fly has foot pads that are covered in tacky glue. To unstick their feet so they can walk anywhere, the fly uses tiny foot claws to push or twist themselves away.

How much water can a camel store in its hump? Camels do not store water in their humps. Instead, camels use the humps to store energy-rich fat deposits. Many animals, including humans, use body fat as an energy storage. Unique to a camel, however, is the fact that it stores the fat in a hump up o…

Do blind people dream in visual images? Yes, blind people do indeed dream in visual images. For people who were born with eyesight and then later went blind, it is not surprising that they experience visual sensations while dreaming. Dreams are drawn from memories that are stored in the brain as …

Can a fire have a shadow? Yes, you can form the shadow of a fire, but perhaps not for the reason that you are thinking. A shadow is formed any time part of a light beam is blocked or redirected. The shadow region is the region in the light beam where there is less light than in the rest of the beam…

Why Babies have around 100 more bones than adults? Babies have about 300 bones at birth, with cartilage between many of them. This extra flexibility helps them pass through the birth canal and also allows for rapid growth. With age, many of the bones fuse, leaving 206 bones that make up an average…

Why do we use a fuse in an electric circuit? A fuse is used in an electric circuit because when excess current flows through the circuit the fuse melts and breaks the circuit and prevents the damage to any of the electrical goods used.

Why do we get headache when hungry? Calories in food are a measurement of energy. Your body needs a consistent energy source in the form of food as fuel. If you haven’t had anything to eat in a while, your blood sugar levels can drop. In response, your body releases hormones that signal your bra…

Why do humans have an appendix even though it is unnecessary? The human cecal appendix is not completely unnecessary. In humans, the appendix is a small, dead-end tube that connects to the colon near where the small intestines feeds into the large intestines. Being a dead-end tube, the appendix c…