Biology
Exploring "Why" questions about Biology
483 articles
Why there isn’t a species of mammal anywhere near as smart as homo sapiens left?
We'll get back to you on this one. It isn't known why the Neanderthals went extinct (other previous species of humans were our ancestors and thus became us). We may have out competed them for resource
Why do health/protein bars have so much saturated fat and still be considered healthy?
I think you're confusing healthy and "useful for active people." Fat is extraordinarily energy dense and if you're the kind of person who works all day and also hits the gym or whatever you can get a
Why can’t you make emergency calls with communication apps like Skype? Having WLAN access in areas with no cellphone reception or landline isn’t exactly an unlikely scenario.
When you're on something connected to the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), every entry point has a distinct 911 call center it is supposed to go to. Landline in your house? They know where to route
Why would having a baby with a cousin or a sibling mess up the child genetically?
if there is some sort of malign, recessive condition that runs in the family, there is a greater chance of being present in the offspring. this happened with the royal families of europe around the tu
Why do babies probingly scream and make loud noises around others, while for other species it’d probably mean death?
We are a social species and our ancestors were too. Our babies were never left alone. In many other species, it is important that the babies stay quiet because they are sometimes left unattended and m
why isn’t there a simple, safe cure for acne? Isn’t acne essentially just a bacterial infection?
Antibiotics are routinely prescribed for acne, both topical stuff applied to the face and oral antibiotics. They help, but are reserved for more severe cases to prevent the spread of antibiotic resist
Why are people right-handed or left-handed? Is it a genetic thing or something you pick up on your own?
It is entirely evolutionary. Some evidence is coming to light that handedness used to be split exactly 50/50, but when the speech center of the brain started to enlarge a few hundred thousand years ag
Why do boobs vary so much in size, many being 4x larger than others, but no other body part , like hands and feet, can be 4x larger than others, generally speaking.
Hands and feet size is determined by bone growth. Unless there is a medical issue like giantism, bones are only going to get so big. Boobs don't have bones in them, they're full of fat and mammary gla
Why does a 4 oz (112 g) chicken breast have only 110 calories when protein is 4 cal/g and fat is 9 cal/g?
A chicken breast isn't 100% protein. Usually, meat has around 20% protein content. Like human tissue, chicken meat also consists of a large amount of water, and water doesn't contain any calories.
Why are porn sites more likely to infect the user’s computer with viruses than other sites?
Impulse clicking. People are more likely to ignore warnings to see a naked chick than to read an insurance quote. The are also more likely to be embarrassed about what they were doing and not report i