How does your body process medicine?
Adults ScienceHave you ever wondered what happens to a painkiller, like ibuprofen, after you swallow it? Medicine that slides down your throat can help treat a headache, a sore back, or a throbbing sprained ankle. But how does it get where it needs to go in the first place?
How does asthma work? - Christopher E. Gaw
Adults ScienceMore than 300 million people around the world suffer from asthma, and around 250,000 people die from it each year. But why do people get asthma, and how can this disease be deadly? Christopher E. Gaw describes the main symptoms and treatments of asthma.
Why Do We Cook?
Adults ScienceWhy do humans cook? Holidays are celebrated in many ways, but chances are they involve eating, and eating a LOT. Ever wonder why we cook our food? We do it because it tastes good, of course, and because our customs and traditions are built around it. But we also cook our food for some basic biological reasons, because of evolution. Some scientists think that figuring out how to cook actually MADE us human! If conversation gets a little dry around your holiday table, now you'll have some awesome science to share with everyone!
What humans will look like in 1,000 years
Adults ScienceThere will eventually be a day where prosthetics are no longer just for the disabled. However, it's not just our outside appearance that will change - our genes will also evolve on microscopic levels to aid our survival. For example, an Oxford-led study discovered a group of HIV-infected children in South Africa living healthy lives. It turns out, they have a built-in defense against HIV that prevents the virus from advancing to AIDS.
Oxygen's surprisingly complex journey through your body - Enda Butler
Adults ScienceOxygen forms about 21% of the air around us. In your body, oxygen forms a vital role in the production of energy in most cells. But if gases can only efficiently diffuse across tiny distances, how does oxygen reach the cells deep inside your body? Enda Butler tracks the surprisingly complex journey of oxygen through your body.
What is entropy? - Jeff Phillips
Adults ScienceThere's a concept that's crucial to chemistry and physics. It helps explain why physical processes go one way and not the other: why ice melts, why cream spreads in coffee, why air leaks out of a punctured tire. It's entropy, and it's notoriously difficult to wrap our heads around. Jeff Phillips gives a crash course on entropy.
9 Signs You're Not Drinking Enough Water
Adults ScienceWe've heard it. We get it. We know! Drink more water! But it's not just overplayed advice from fitness magazines and your mother. When we get dehydrated our bodies send out clear warning signs that we need to check our fluid levels. If that happens, it's important to do everything to get your hydration level back on track. Here are some of the symptoms associated with not drinking enough water...
Why do animals have such different lifespans? - Joao Pedro de Magalhaes
Adults ScienceFor the microscopic lab worm C. elegans, life equates to just a few short weeks on Earth. The bowhead whale, on the other hand, can live over two hundred years. Why are these lifespans so different? And what does it really mean to 'age' anyway? Joao Pedro de Magalhaes explains why the pace of aging varies greatly across animals.