1. Just how dead is the Dead Sea?
The Dead Sea is so called because of the high salt content of its waters. That spells instant death for fish that happen to wander in, as they occasionally do from the Jordan River. In fact it kills most animal and plant life--with the exception of tourists, who love the property of the salt water that makes it so easy to float on.
Bacteria survive in the Dead Sea, though, as do brine shrimp and a class of plants called halophytes that love salt water. So it's not entirely dead, although not exactly a wild and crazy place, either.
(Sources: The Handy Science Answer Book)
The Dead Sea is so called because of the high salt content of its waters. That spells instant death for fish that happen to wander in, as they occasionally do from the Jordan River. In fact it kills most animal and plant life--with the exception of tourists, who love the property of the salt water that makes it so easy to float on.
Bacteria survive in the Dead Sea, though, as do brine shrimp and a class of plants called halophytes that love salt water. So it's not entirely dead, although not exactly a wild and crazy place, either.
(Sources: The Handy Science Answer Book)
2. Do fish drink water?
The answer is yes, they drink it. Saltwater fish do so under duress. Gulp! The greater concentration of salt in the water outside their bodies is constantly drawing the less salty fluid inside them out through their skin, a porous membrane, through the process of osmosis. Therefore they have to be drinking constantly to replace that lost fluid. Freshwater fish don't have this problem and don't need to drink, but they take in some water anyway when they open their mouths to eat.
(Source: "Do fish drink water?" by Bill McLain)
The answer is yes, they drink it. Saltwater fish do so under duress. Gulp! The greater concentration of salt in the water outside their bodies is constantly drawing the less salty fluid inside them out through their skin, a porous membrane, through the process of osmosis. Therefore they have to be drinking constantly to replace that lost fluid. Freshwater fish don't have this problem and don't need to drink, but they take in some water anyway when they open their mouths to eat.
(Source: "Do fish drink water?" by Bill McLain)
3. Does a person's life really flash before them when they're dying?
So many people have described this phenomenon -- which makes it real enough -- that scientists have been compelled to try to explain it. Two theories have been proposed. The first holds that a threat as traumatic as that of imminent demise from any cause, not just drowning, automatically triggers the release of memories that one always retains but usually doesn't recall. The other explanation points to hardware breakdown. Cutting the flow of oxygen to the brain makes its electrical impulses go haywire, catapulting long-stored memories into one's consciousness helter skelter.
(Source: "Reader's Digest Did you know?")
So many people have described this phenomenon -- which makes it real enough -- that scientists have been compelled to try to explain it. Two theories have been proposed. The first holds that a threat as traumatic as that of imminent demise from any cause, not just drowning, automatically triggers the release of memories that one always retains but usually doesn't recall. The other explanation points to hardware breakdown. Cutting the flow of oxygen to the brain makes its electrical impulses go haywire, catapulting long-stored memories into one's consciousness helter skelter.
(Source: "Reader's Digest Did you know?")
4. What causes jet lag?
The funny thing is that the cause most people would point to, a change in time zones with the accompanying confusion with meal and bed times is apparently not the only answer. Many people flying North to South, without changing time zones, also suffer from jet lag. So what else could be the cause? Most likely it's the pressurized cabin with its low humidity, the plane's vibration, engine noise, and radiation from the high altitude. In other words, your body is being assaulted while you sit there with your seat belt fastened. The solution? Drink plenty of water, move around the cabin, and take vitamin supplements.
(Source: "Reader's Digest Did you know?")
The funny thing is that the cause most people would point to, a change in time zones with the accompanying confusion with meal and bed times is apparently not the only answer. Many people flying North to South, without changing time zones, also suffer from jet lag. So what else could be the cause? Most likely it's the pressurized cabin with its low humidity, the plane's vibration, engine noise, and radiation from the high altitude. In other words, your body is being assaulted while you sit there with your seat belt fastened. The solution? Drink plenty of water, move around the cabin, and take vitamin supplements.
(Source: "Reader's Digest Did you know?")
5. How do snake charmers do it?
Snake charming is so old that it's mentioned in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. (I can't think of a more likely profession that would get you into that book!) Westerners have always had a morbid fascination with the practice, witness how often the image of the guy with the flute, basket and (ech!) cobra appears in paintings, films and novels.
So how do they do it? Who said "carefully?" You're right. Only a moron would get too casual with a cobra. We can eliminate the flute as a factor. It's a prop: cobras don't have ears. Instead the charmer, who has been trained for the job since childhood, simply knows how to annoy the reptile enough--say, by waving his hand in its face--to make it rear up, but not so much that it will strike. It's show biz. That's all.
(Source: How do they do that? by Caroline Sutton)
Snake charming is so old that it's mentioned in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. (I can't think of a more likely profession that would get you into that book!) Westerners have always had a morbid fascination with the practice, witness how often the image of the guy with the flute, basket and (ech!) cobra appears in paintings, films and novels.
So how do they do it? Who said "carefully?" You're right. Only a moron would get too casual with a cobra. We can eliminate the flute as a factor. It's a prop: cobras don't have ears. Instead the charmer, who has been trained for the job since childhood, simply knows how to annoy the reptile enough--say, by waving his hand in its face--to make it rear up, but not so much that it will strike. It's show biz. That's all.
(Source: How do they do that? by Caroline Sutton)
6. Why don't people go zebra-back riding?
The reason people don't go cantering around on zebras is that zebras are critters that would just as soon kick you in the teeth as transport you from here to there. It's a matter of how they evolved. You wouldn't try to pet an ocelot just because you live with a house cat, would you? Accept that this is a horse of another color--and another temperament. Admire it from a distance.
The reason people don't go cantering around on zebras is that zebras are critters that would just as soon kick you in the teeth as transport you from here to there. It's a matter of how they evolved. You wouldn't try to pet an ocelot just because you live with a house cat, would you? Accept that this is a horse of another color--and another temperament. Admire it from a distance.
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