Biology
Exploring "Why" questions about Biology
483 articles
Why does amnesia cause people to forget specific things (where they live, their names, relatives) but not more general things (what clothes are, what cars are, how to talk)?
Amnesia sufferer here (retrograde and anterograde). It manifests differently for each person depending on which part of the brain was damaged. It's not like a disease that simply turns on or off.
Why are chips and salsa generally given for free at most Mexican restaurants?
It's like bread and butter at an Italian restaurant. Something to snack on before your meal gets out, cheap and generally likable.
Why are headphone jacks being phased out of cell phones?
The debate is that it takes up valuable space in the phone when the same function could be performed by a more universal port such as USB-C or through Bluetooth wireless communication. It is also a ty
Why is the Bluebottle Jellyfish aka the Portuguese Man-of-War considered a colony of cellular individuals? Why aren’t humans a colony of specialized cells?
Well because of the cnidarian life cycle. Cniderea is the family corals and jellyfish are in. In most members of the family there is the polyp stage and the jellyfish stage.
why “there is no gene for race”
I think it's more accurate to say there's no *single* gene for race. It's possible to determine race, and a lot more about someone's ethnic origin, from genetics - but it's done by comparing thousands
why is it ok to dig up human remains buried long ago, but not ok/acceptable to dig up more recent generations human remains?
Because most people would be concerned if their mother was dug up and moved without very good reason, but wouldn't even know where their great-great-great-great grandmother was buried - or even who sh
Why is keeping a cell phone in your pocket potentially harmful you?
Short Version: It's not Long Version: It's nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot. ELI5 Version: Your cellphone isn't harmful in the same way the skin doesn't melt off your face every time you microwave
Why isn’t all open-source software incredibly vulnerable to hackers and virus makers?
> I'm sure that's wrong, but how is it wrong? No, that's pretty correct. It's just that you've had millions of people over decades looking at the same vault considering the vulnerabilities.
Why does the United States have such a weak mental health care system and a general stigma against it?
In the 1960's we came to realize that our mental institutions were generally terrible places full of misery and torment for the patients. We started closing these places down in an act that was seen a
Why do drug companies release generics of their own product?
Because if they don't, someone else will, and they might as well capture those extra sales themselves.