13 Answers to Intriguing Questions You’re Too Lazy to Google

Adults, as well as children, often have moments of doubt, in which they ask, “what, where and why?” for several things. But sometimes we don’t have time to find the answer right away, and then we forget about them. Or, every now and then, we’re just too lazy to search the Internet. Because of this, we are deprived of the opportunity to discover something new about our world and expand our horizons.

O awesome.club decided to take on this responsibility and, to the delight of readers, understand and explain in detail some of the most curious and exciting issues.

In the time of Columbus, many things really surprised people. The fact of the existence of something incomprehensible was actively completed by the imagination, and the ability to discredit or refute any story, even the most absurd, was very limited. Currently, the most convincing option for the emergence of myths about mermaids is their certain similarity to belugas (known as “white whales”), as they are beautiful, slender, very intelligent and sociable creatures, who like to “dress up ” with algae and are able to mimic human speech. These creatures mainly live in the Arctic Ocean and can also be found in Irish and Scottish waters. Probably in the past, belugas interacted with superstitious sailors, who could have confused their “sociability” and their algae that looked like mermaid hair.

In theory, this is possible, if we train for a long time. This type of breathing is partly practiced by musicians and is common, for example, among yogis. But the body’s natural reaction when we breathe through the nose is to block the mouth channel that leads to the lungs, and vice versa. However, breathing in and out at the same time is really impossible, as these movements are, above all, a job of the lungs, not the mouth and nose, and the lungs cannot compress and expand at the same time. Also, we only have one windpipe and cannot pass air in two directions at the same time.

It is known that our ear is most sensitive in the frequency range from 2000 to 4000 Hz. The sound of fingernails scratching a blackboard, which is traditionally one of the most unpleasant for many people, falls within this range, as does a baby’s cry. But for now, the truth is that we still don’t know what causes such negative emotions. In a study that won the Nobel Prize in 2006, researchers claimed that these frequencies are very similar to those chimpanzees use to transmit an alarm signal. They suppose that this feeling of annoyance we feel when we hear these types of sounds is due to our instincts, to the protection mechanism against predators. However, to date, the most convincing version is the assumption of neurobiologists, who claim that irritating sounds activate the amygdala – it’s the same name as the organs of the throat – a region of the brain that is often associated with the feeling of fear. .

Saliva is a natural protection of the mouth. Its job is to kill and clean bacteria and their waste, as well as dissolve and neutralize bad-smelling sulfur compounds. So it’s easy to guess that when we swallow saliva from our mouths, we’re cleaning out millions of bacteria and food particles that these bacteria eat. Bad breath in the morning is due to the fact that at night we have less saliva in our mouth, and we swallow it many times less. Thus, bacteria are not destroyed, but multiply and accumulate.

Theoretically, memory can exceed its limit, but to date, no such cases have been recorded. In our brain there are about 2 trillion bytes of memory. If we compare it to a video camera that records all day in high quality, there will be enough room for a period of 300 years. Therefore, if we talk about the amount of languages, sciences, theoretical and practical knowledge that a human being can master throughout his life, this will be determined not by the number of years, but by diligence and perseverance. By uttering the phrase “the brain is overflowing with information”, we only admit that we don’t know how to use it correctly. To prevent this from happening, we need to learn to distribute everything across sectors, create vivid associations, and try to build our own “halls of ideas”.

Some of the energy would return to the feet upon landing. But the rest would spread through the air and the Earth, which would result in some negative consequences. Let’s consider some of them. First, it would be possible to hear a thud with incredible volume. For example, the loudest sound ever created on Earth was 200 dB, the sound of a jet engine reaches 150 dB on takeoff, and our pain threshold is 120 dB. That is, it would be difficult to prevent our eardrums from bursting. Secondly, the Earth would shake, and if that jump happened close to a coast, it could cause a tsunami with waves 30 meters high (the ones like in the movies about the end of the world). Third, the tremor could cause an earthquake of 4 to 8 on the Richter scale, that is, it could be light or powerful enough to destroy bridges, buildings and power lines. In other words, it wouldn’t be a good idea.

We are talking, for example, about an unexpected or expected fall of someone, as we see in movies and cartoons, when a character slips on a banana peel. In fact, everything is quite simple: the reaction in the form of uncontrolled laughter is a frequent psychological defense, a mechanism that is usually formed in childhood, when we encounter something unpleasant. The main characteristics of this defense are the denial/distortion of reality and a reaction at an unconscious level. When we see another person get hurt, we involuntarily feel the pain in ourselves, we get scared and, in order not to panic, we show the opposite reaction. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the more “fun” a situation like this seems to you, the stronger you feel the pain of another person in yourself.

There are several characteristics that make a melody very likely to be remembered and unintentionally played in our head. The music should be simple, and the text should contain many repetitions and consist of short, easy rhymes. Another important condition is the rhythm that makes a person want to dance. The most intrusive melodies don’t just involve memory, but also motor skills. And the last aspect is the psychological. A song can get stuck in our memory if we listen to it when we are experiencing strong emotions (related to the passage or not), and when experiencing the same emotions a little later, the subconscious plays that song by association.

Our four-legged friends are able to read signs and simple changes in facial expressions, body language and voice very well. So when we scold our pets for chewing shoes or ask them cheerfully if they want to go for a walk, they will tilt their heads if they don’t hear us very well and want to be sure of the tone of our voice, of the words what we say or the expression on our face.
This is why empathy in our animals is so developed and when there is a high level of mutual trust, love and understanding between the owner and the dog, furry friends are so sensitive that they are able to determine our mood and even become sad when we are afflicted.

According to information in the book Cats, by Dr. Ellen Whitley, this harmful behavior from our point of view is really just a manifestation of predatory instincts. Looking at how cats play with trapped prey, it’s easy to see that this is a common behavior in cats. When your pet pushes an object off the table, it’s simply following its instinct that one of these things might actually be a live mouse. Another explanation could be that the cat doesn’t pay enough attention, and when it notices that its owner always reacts to a dropped object (going to pick it up, talking in parallel with the furry one and even petting it along the way), the animal concludes that it is a good way to get their attention.

In an article in the journal Nature Neuroscience, there is an explanation: in the brain, the somatosensory cortex of the large hemispheres is responsible for the perception of tactile information. Scientists carried out a study in which they showed that when we try to tickle ourselves, we also activate the cerebellum, which, in turn, participates in the prediction of actions, that is, a signal will appear at a given moment on the surface of our skin. . Later, this prediction is used by the brain to not respond to touch, so we don’t feel anything. In other brain systems, similar mechanisms exist. For example, researchers can explain why the world before our eyes remains motionless despite eye and head movement.

On the leaves and stem of the nettle are tiny hairs that, when examined closely, look like thorns and are called “stinging cells”. At the end of each of these thorns there is a small pouch with a liquid, which contains a mixture of 3 chemical elements: formic acid, histamine and vitamin B4. The stinging and burning sensation occurs when these hairs come in contact with the skin: the pouches break and their contents get under and in the skin and the formic acid causes irritation and redness. A tip: it is possible to eliminate unpleasant symptoms by neutralizing the acid, for example, with an alkaloid (sodium bicarbonate).

Neuroscience answers with certainty: in the morning. During sleep, many important processes take place, and one of them is the consolidation in our memory of the information received during the day. At night, the nervous system works in a different way, there are no distractions, so it…