Human Body
Exploring "Why" questions about Human Body
481 articles
Why does it feel so good to scratch an itch?
Insects cause itch. Insects are sometimes bad for you. Scratching removes said insects.
Why is it when I have a cold or flu, I sometimes feel really cold and start shivering violently, even though when I feel my skin I’m warm?
This is a side effect of fever. Your body temperature is above normal, but your brain wants you running hot in order to help kill the infection, so encourages you to seek warmth. This is on top of the
Why does inbreeding increase the likelihood of birth defects?
Everybody has bad genes in them - I remember a scientist quipping that there are enough genetic defects in the human genome to kill a person several times over. However, all humans get two sets of gen
Why are nerdiness and eyeglasses synonymous with one another? Is there a tangible link between intelligence and bad eyesight?
The connection is the other way around, glasses, especially very thick framed one, tend to make you the target of bullying, as they are an easy target to ridicule and you are very helpless without the
Why people are so upset that Ford is switching the body material of the F-150 to aluminum from steel
Aluminum doesn't play well into the machismo aspect of truck ownership. Its the stuff your wife uses to cover her egg salad. In contrast steel or iron conjure images of sweaty hammer swinging riveters
Why do abnormal events that occur while dreaming seem perfectly normal in our dreams?
One dream theory states that our upper brains (cerebrum) receive random signals from the lower brain (brain stem, cerebellum etc.) and the upper brain tries to make sense of them. It takes the data, i
Why do I often get calls from random numbers with nobody on the other line?
They're likely scammy telemarketing calls. Outbound call centers typically use a "power dialer" that calls a bunch of numbers at once, and if the line picks up, instantly connects it to an operator. I
Why a wheel turning at high speed appears to be turning the other way round?
If you take a basic wall clock and watch the minute hand, it moves very slowly, doing one rotation every 60 minutes. However, if you take a camera, and leave it to take a picture of the clock every ho
Why does the media spend so much time covering the question of whether or not Jeb Bush can rise in the polls, but doesn’t extend nearly that level of coverage to other non popular contestants?
Jeb Bush is considered (generally) the primary establishment candidate, which means he's expected to have significant political clout with the republican party. Alternatively, he's also a Bush, which
Why do rings make your skin green?
Rings generally do this because because of a chemical reaction between the metal on the ring, and substances on your hands (oil, acid). The reason it happens with some rings and not others is due to t