Category: Brain Dump

Question from Gemma Reed When you press a piano key, a hammer inside hits the corresponding strings, just as a device called a damper is lifted. This enables the strings to vibrate, producing a...

Question from Moira Jones The noises made by most birds are hard-wired into their brains, but three types of birds –hummingbirds, songbirds and parrots – are capable of learning new vocalisations.  Scientists believe that...

Question from Jenny Aldridge The internet of things (IOT) is the networking of different sorts of electronic devices through the internet, allowing them to collect data and communicate. For example, at home, Wi-Fi light...

Question from Kelly Evans Around 160 million years ago, Madagascar broke away from Africa. Records of lemur-like primate fossils date back approximately 60 million years have been found in mainland Africa, and further records show thatthey soon made...

Question from Joe McKinley The first recorded use of roller skates was in the 1760s, when Belgian-born John Joseph Merlin decided to demonstrate his new invention at a fancy masquerade party in London. After donning his inline skates...

Question from Phoebe Sims A superfast camera is an electronic device that uses a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor. The sensor is so sensitive to light that...

(Image credit: Maarten Takens) Question from Naomi Isles We’re all familiar with the poles of our planet – the northern and southernmost points according to the spin of the Earth and the position of...

Question from Louise Peacock Weatherproof garments are made by sandwiching together different layers of materials. The outer layer is normally a tightly woven fabric, such as nylon or polyester, combined with a membrane. A...

Question from Cassie Yelverton Ballet dancers perform with perfectly pointed toes using shoes that have solid blocks built into them. While this may look elegant, balancing on the tips of the toes puts enormous...

Question from Kelly Olsen Dark and milk chocolate both contain cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar, but as its name suggests, milk chocolate also contains milk in the form of milk powder, liquid milk...