Biology
Exploring "Why" questions about Biology
482 articles
why is a lieutenant general Senior to a major general? It seems backwards because a major his senior to a lieutenant.
The rank of Major General is a shortened title. Historically it was Sergeant-Major General. Somewhere along the way in the 18th century, the sergeant part of the name was dropped.
Why are females generally weaker than men?
Testosterone promotes muscle development, so it is easier for most men to build muscle than it is for most women. Women generally have less bone mass than men, particularly in the upper body, so most
Why do never hear of people having two infections (viral or bacterial) at once. Is it simply rare or is there another reason?
It is not rare. In fact a lot of people who die of pneumonia got the pneumonia because they already had some other infection that was weakening them. An extreme case: lots of people with untreated AID
Why are humans utterly helpless at birth, but many species of animal already know what to do.
Because we're born earlier in the gestation process than some animals due to our larger brain/head size and bipedal body shape. If we stayed in long enough to be able to do things, we'd rip our mother
Why do women (and people in general) have 2 breasts instead of 1?
Someone once told me that each species of mammal has a number nipples to accommodate the highest number of offspring the female can safely carry to term without medical intervention. Sorry, big words:
Why Do We Tend To Notice Things in Pairs? Or, why does there seem to be a general consensus that even numbers are more, “attractive”?
I've always looked at it as it has to do with being symmetrical. You can divide even numbers into two equal halves. When you look at someone and find them attractive their face is normally symmetrical
Why do cell service providers charge so much for data?
For two reasons. 1. They can.
Why do people have pairs of chromosomes? What does that do?
You get one chromosome from each parent. It increases genetic diversity by giving you one from each parent, rather than just one chromosome from one parent.
Why can’t two anti-virus protectors work together?
Let's say you hire two security guards to guard your bank - without telling each other. When one of them sees the other enter the bank at night, with a gun, would you be surprised if he just shoots hi
Why can we accidentally make bacteria resistant to antibiotics but we can’t make ourselves bacteria resistant through a similar but opposite approach?
You can. That is exactly what your immune system does. that is why the Native Americans died from European diseases, because they had not developed immunity to the diseases over time.