Why carry out bugs always seem to die on their backs?Leslie YatesRiverside, California
This is a matter of physics. Together the bug nears death, typical blood flow ceases, leading to the legs to contract inwardly. There is no the support of the legs, the body becomes top-heavy, and also usually falls upside-down.
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Gary F. Hevelentomologist, Natural background Museum
What is the origin of applause? Franklyn GubitzEast Nassau, new York
We don’t know precisely when and why applause, or at the very least making noise through the hand to refer approval or enjoyment, became practically universal among humans. Chimpanzees additionally clap your hands to express excitement and other emotions, suggesting that the may have been component of the behavioral repertoire the the typical ancestor of modern-day humans and chimpanzees.Briana Pobinerpaleoanthropologist, person Origins Program, Natural history Museum
Do radiotelescopes hear to the universe or view the universe? Lawrence BrickerSilver Spring, Maryland
Radiotelescopes focus and also detect radio waves, which are a kind of light, no sound. The only difference between visible light and radio waves is wavelength—about 0.00005 centimeters because that the former and about 1 centimeter because that the latter. For this reason radiotelescopes “see” what your eyes could see if lock were perceptible to the longer wavelength and also much larger, provided that radiotelescopes variety up to 100 meters in diameter.Mark ReidHarvard-Smithsonian facility for Astrophysics
If the Titanic had actually dropped the anchor prior to hitting the iceberg, would certainly that have mitigated the disaster? D. R. CardinaleAvondale, Louisiana
Not at all. The water at the collision site was 12,500 feet deep—far too deep for the anchor chain. Once the chain was completely played out, the finish likely would have flown out of the chain locker and plummeted come the bottom. And even if the finish of the chain hosted fast, the anchor would have actually hung uselessly in the deep, with nothing to grasp nearby.
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Paul F. Johnstoncurator of marine history, American history Museum
Do mammals besides human beings gray with age? Margaret KraghtGlendora, California
Some do. Domestic animals, significantly dogs and horses, can become quite grizzled on your muzzles. Some wild animals additionally turn gray, and it frequently seems to suggest not just maturity, but additionally power in the males of some species, such as the silverback in a band of gorillas or a California sea lion bull through his platinum-colored sagittal crest.Marie Magnusongreat cats animal keeper, nationwide Zoo