Ask a science teacher, how everyday stuff really works : why don't we feel the Earth spin? How do airplanes stay in the air? What makes blood red? and 247 other things you've always wondered about

2013·7.56 MB·English

This book is dedicated to my wife, Ann, for her suggestions,
constant encouragement, joy, and inspiration.
And to my deceased parents, Alvin and Martha Scheckel, who
made me what I am today.
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: The Magnificent Human Body
1 How many cells are in your body?
2 Why do the young and the elderly get sick more easily?
3 What are birthmarks?
4 Why is blood red?
5 Why are we attracted to unhealthy foods?
6 Why do we have nightmares?
7 How do braces make your teeth straight?
8 Why does the human body reject all other blood types except type O?
9 Why do we cry?
10 What is juvenile diabetes, and how can you get it?
11 Can you drown from drinking too much water?
12 Why does your heart stop when you sneeze?
13 Why does a spinning motion cause nausea?
14 What makes people’s bones break, and how do they eventually
heal?
15 Why do we get goose bumps when we are cold?
16 Why do we have fingernails and toenails?
17 What are people made of?
18 How does your heart pump?
19 Why does blood in our veins look blue?
20 Why is chicken pox so much worse for adults than it is for kids?
21 Why do some people find it hard to remember things after they have
had a head injury?
22 How many organs are there in a person’s body?
23 How do you get hiccups?
24 How did different skin colors come to be?
25 What makes someone tone-deaf?
26 What is human hair made of?
27 Why do we age?
28 What makes our eyes twitch?
29 How does our body prepare for cold weather?
30 Why does an extra chromosome cause Down syndrome?
31 How do we grow?
32 How do our brains work?
33 Is there anything we can take to stop a heart attack?
34 How does anesthesia work?
35 What makes us right-handed or left-handed?
36 Why does our hair go gray or white when we get old?
37 How do we see color?
38 Will we ever find a cure for cancer?
39 How tall can people grow?
40 Sometimes when I fall asleep, I awake with a muscle spasm. What
causes this?
41 How fast can a person run?
42 When you look at something for a long time and then look away, why
is the image still in your head but in a different color?
43 Why do people’s past injuries hurt when a storm is coming?
44 Why can’t we keep our eyes open when we sneeze?
45 Are tanning booths safe?
46 What is the doctor or nurse listening for through a stethoscope while
taking your blood pressure?
47 Why does liquid come out of some people’s noses when they laugh?
48 How many muscles are in the human body?
49 Why do we blink?
50 Why do people turn red when they get embarrassed?
51 How am I the only one in my family with blond hair?
52 What makes our eyes go bad?
53 Why does helium make your voice go really high?
54 Why are the pupils of our eyes black?
55 Do identical twins have the same fingerprints?
56 Why do they give iodine tablets to people who have been exposed to
radiation?
57 What is an autopsy?
Chapter 2: Wonders of Our Sea and Land
58 Why does it seem that most thunderstorms happen later in the day?
59 Why is snow white, and where does its color go when the snow
melts?
60 Why does the Great Salt Lake have salt?
61 What is the lowest temperature known in nature?
62 Why does the horizon look like it touches the ground?
63 How do you cut diamonds?
64 Which way does the Earth rotate?
65 What is the Bermuda Triangle, and why have people disappeared in
it, never to be seen again?
66 Why do rivers meander?
67 Do lightning rods protect houses, or are they drawing in the
lightning?
68 If heat rises, why is a mountaintop colder than the bottom?
69 Why are the oceans salty?
70 Why is the Earth round?
71 If there is no air in space, how is there air on our planet?
72 What prevents skyscrapers from sinking into the ground?
73 Why does it rain?
74 What is the hardest material on Earth?
75 How far is it to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean?
76 What keeps the Earth in its orbit?
77 What are the special conditions on Earth that allow it to support life?
78 How do we know the Earth’s age?
79 How is dirt made?
80 Why does the Earth have gravity?
81 What creates the wind?
Chapter 3: Science in the Sky
82 Why do we sometimes see the Moon in the daytime?
83 What will happen to the Earth if the ozone layer keeps ripping?
84 What are the white lines that you often see behind airplanes?
85 Why does the Moon have craters?
86 How were the Moon’s phases named?
87 What is the big red spot on Jupiter?
88 Why does the Moon change color and size?
89 How do clouds form, and how do they get their color?
90 Early in the morning, I saw a bright light moving across the sky. What
was it?
91 Is it possible for a human to go to Mars?
92 What are Saturn’s rings made of?
93 How close can you get to the Sun without burning up?
94 How long would it take to travel from Earth to Venus in a rocket ship?
95 If the Moon is so heavy, why doesn’t it fall?
96 How big is our galaxy?
97 How does the Moon affect the ocean tides?
98 When is Halley’s Comet going to come around again?
99 How do planets move?
100 What are the chances of an asteroid hitting the United States?
101 How many constellations are there, and how are constellations and
stars named?
102 If fire needs oxygen to burn, how can the Sun burn in space, where
there’s no oxygen?
103 Why, when there is a clear sky and a full Moon, do you sometimes
see a ring around the Moon?
104 How do satellites always stay in the same place in the sky?
105 What is a black hole?
106 What is a shooting star, or falling star?
107 Why do we bother to send people into space?
Chapter 4: Technology
108 How was the Internet invented?
109 How do helicopters steer?
110 Is it possible for a car to run on vegetable oil?
111 How do airplanes stay up in the air?
112 How can a laser perform eye surgery without hurting the eye?
113 What is horsepower?
114 Why don’t we use more wind power to generate electricity?
115 How do remote controls work?
116 How fast is one Mach in mph?
117 How does Bluetooth work?
118 Why have humans technologically progressed while all other
animals have not?
119 Why do magnets pull together?
120 How do Legos connect together?
121 How do rockets work?
122 How is Styrofoam made?
123 What types of fuel besides gasoline can be used to run cars?
124 Why do train tracks buckle during hot weather and cause
derailments?
125 How do they decide how long airplane runways should be?
126 What were the first guns like?
127 What are halogen lights?
128 Why can’t we create a perpetual motion device?
129 How do stitches dissolve?
130 How do huge ships float?
131 What happens when an airplane gets struck by lightning?
132 How does a prism work?
133 How do radar detectors work?
134 How do cell phones work?
135 How does a lightbulb work?
136 How do lasers cut things?
137 How do oxygen generators work?
138 How do plasma television sets work?
139 What makes a refrigerator so cold?
140 How do counterfeit detector pens work?
141 How does the metal wiring in a toaster heat up and stay hot?
142 Why don’t we build more nuclear power plants?
143 How do glow sticks or light sticks work?
144 How do touch lamps work?
Chapter 5: Stuff I Always Wondered About
145 What exactly is science?
146 Why are some people smarter than others?