What is activated charcoal?
What chemical properties make this fine black powder so useful? Activated carbon, also known as activated charcoal, is a form of carbon that has been processed to create an extremely porous structure. It is...
Category: Science
What is dry ice?
Image credit: Mikk Mihkel Vaabel How do rock stars and actors get their atmospheric assistance? If you’ve ever been to any kind of stage show, there’s a decent chance you’ll have seen dry ice...
The science of your skin
Lifting the lid on the body’s largest and most sensitive organ Weighing in at 2.7 kilograms, your skin is by far the largest organ in, or rather on, your body. Wrapped around you from...
What are genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?
How and why do scientists manipulate genetic information? Organisms have tens of thousands of proteins, and genetic modification is the process of them being transferred from one organism to another. Nature has done this...
What are our secret superpowers?
Quirks of genetics have made some people everyday superheroes Inside almost every cell in your body are 3 billion letters of genetic code. Hidden among them are around 20,000 genes, which carry the instructions...
10 Amazing facts about sleep
We answer some curious questions about the way we sleep 1. Why do we toss and turn at night? In some cases, the culprits are an uncomfortable bed or it being too hot or...
Why do we lose our voice?
What causes your speech to become croaky? There are a number of reasons why you may lose your voice, but the most common cause is an illness known as laryngitis. This occurs when the...
Human Body: What is chickenpox?
Discover the biology behind the infamous childhood ailment and why it never really goes away… Chickenpox is a strain of the Varicella zoster virus, which many of us have experienced during our youth. Most...
Brain Cells: What’s going on inside your head?
Your brain is an incredible thing. It is one of the most complex structures in the known universe, and for decades, scientists have been teasing it apart to find out what it’s made of...
What are the different stages of sleep?
Not all sleep is the same; there are five separate stages, divided up by brain activity 1 to 7 minutes: Drowsiness During the first stage of sleep you are just drifting off; your eyelids...
