Human Body
Exploring "Why" questions about Human Body
481 articles
Why if our body temperature is 98.6* do we sweat and feel hot if it is 90* outside?
Your body is constantly producing heat, but it needs to stay at around 98.6* (or whatever your default temperature is! Mine's 97.9*!) to maintain homeostasis. That means that everything is most likely
Why do so many types of pills result in dry-mouth?
A lot of medications have anticholinergic effects, that is, they block the receptors for acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that induces salivation. Anything that stimulates adrenalin receptors might
Why do military planes like the AC-130 have their wings attached at the top of the fuselage, whereas most other civilian planes have their wings attached near the bottom?
Few key reasons: High wing aircraft are easier for ground support vehicles to maneuver around, and engine clearance over the ground is greater making their overall fuselage profile closer to the groun
Why, after a certain point of being tired, do we switch and get energized instead?
The longer you stay awake the more stressed your body gets. Now to counter the effects of sleep deprevation your body is flooded with adrennaline to keep you awake. At some point you are practically s
Why are so many health issues worse in the early morning?
The side effects from the medicine that I take before bed are at their worst in the morning. I would imagine that for some people, waking up after a night of not having your medicine and it being time
Why are scars clearly a different pigment color than the rest of our skin?
Your normal skin was made slowly and precisely like a professional carpenter. Scar tissues was made in a hurry to plug a leak like an amateur DIY emergency bodger.
Why do I not smell perfume I’ve sprayed on me but other people do?
Why don't you see your nose? It's within your vision. Your brain filters out your nose, because it's always there, and likewise, it filters out smells that are "always there".
Why does hearing a song lots make us dislike it?
I think you can relate this in a similar way to drugs. When you take a dose of drugs or listen to pleasant music, your brain is simulated and releases signals that it is happy with whatever you consum
Why can you hear an initial “poof” the instant a firework explodes, even before the boom comes a second later?
It's not instantaneous, it just happened a couple seconds earlier. There's a small explosion- the *whoompf*- that's the mortar launching the firework (if you're paying attention, you can see the shell
Why do i have to cough when i’m cleaning my ears?
Its because the two areas associated with the sensations are so so close together in the brain that ower-sensation can trigger the other. It will take a few seconds of cleaning before the cough is sti