Human Body
Exploring "Why" questions about Human Body
481 articles
Why don’t seizures cause the heart to spasm erratically like other muscles?
Seizures start in the brain and send electrical signals to the muscles. But the heart has its own separate electrical system.
Why was the concept of the month developed/accepted? Why don’t we count the date as “Day 275” of the year, for example?
The concept of the month was based on the cycles of the moon, which last about 29 days. The English word "month" comes from the word "moon".
Why do we forget dreams so fast?
They're not stored in long term memory. The reason for this is probably because there's no advantage to remembering them and remembering them would clog your memory up with crap.
Why in Boxing/MMA, does the timer disappear in the last 10 seconds.
That's because the clock on screen is not the "official" clock. There is a timekeeper on-site that is tracking the actual time left in a round. The one on screen is more of a close guess.
why is it that flies seem to appear out of thin air so quickly (even indoors) when rotten things or feces are nearby?
Fun fact, up until recently in modern history people simply believed that things like garbage and feces spontaneously generated life because like you said, it seems like there are no flies, then trash
Why do some belly pains only go away after using the toilet/restroom?
The pain in those cases are caused by pressure. Like a blocked pipe, enough pressure can cause issues(for us, intense pain, for pipes, expanding and potential rupture), and also like the pipe, if we u
Why is alcohol and tobacco regulated by the same agency as firearms? Why aren’t liquor and cigarettes regulated by the FDA?
The ATF was formed to deal with gun running & smuggling of alcohol & tobacco. They were originally part of the Department of the Treasury and concerned with securing tax revenue, not safety or
Why don’t animals react the same way to bad smells like humans do?
Dogs are particularly attracted to very strong smells because they can use it to hide their own smell. It's a form of camouflage: remember that dogs are predators, and anything that makes it harder fo
Why when we are sick/have an infection does our body temperature go up, as in a fever?
Many infections grow best at particularly precise temperatures. Your body raises your temperature as a defense mechanism, slowing down the reproduction of the infectious agent and giving your own defe
Why do our mouths salivate right before throwing up?
Since stomach contents are highly acidic, vomiting can be quite harmful for the throat, mouth and teeth and salivating helps to reduce this by diluting and rinsing. Saliva is also weakly alkaline, whi