Do you know why dark chocolates are beneficial?

Prof. Know Why answers:

Chocolates are always yummy, delicious and irresistible, especially with girls and kids. And now, they also seem to be beneficial for your health because a daily dose of yummy dark chocolate may help patients suffering from the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Serotonin (a brain chemical related to CFS) is believed to play an important role in the regulation of anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep, vomiting, appetite and fatigue. According to scientists from Hull York Medical School, dark chocolates have been found to lower levels of serotonin. The research team said that patients with CFS, found that their symptoms were reduced when they consumed dark chocolate, much more so when they consumed milk chocolate that had brown dye added to it. The researchers noted that patients taking dark chocolate reported significantly less fatigue when they started eating the sweet. They also reported more fatigue when they stopped eating it. The scientists, however, stressed that the quantity of dark chocolate consumed should be moderate.

Endocrinologists say, dark chocolate is high in polyphenols, which have been associated with health benefits, like reduction in blood pressure. Also, high polyphenols appear to improve levels of serotonin in the brain , which has been linked with CFS.

According to doctors and nutritionists, cocoa is rich in antioxidant properties and so consuming dark chocolate can over stimulate the nervous system, helping reducing fatigue.

So cheer up all you girls and chocolate lovers – now you have reasons to gorge on your favorite dark chocolates.

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Do you know why siestas are good?

Prof. Know Why answers:

Usually it is said by doctors that six to eight hours of sleep at night is ideal for most people, though what is more important is the quality of sleep. But recent studies say that, also 40 winks, better known as catnap or siesta in the middle of the day is good to health and can protect you from a heart attack.

A recent large UK study of around 23,000 people in Greece reported that those who catnapped for at least 30 minutes in the afternoon, three times or more a week had a 37 percent lower risk of death due to heart attacks compared to those who did not.

People who occasionally took a siesta had a 12 percent lower risk. In the study, a siesta was defined as “typically short naps or rest periods of no more than an hour that are taken in the afternoon”. Cardiologists say siestas help people relax, reduce their stress levels and benefit heart function by lowering blood pressure. Blood pressure and heart rate decrease while sleeping. Lowered blood pressure reduces strain on the heart and decreases the risk of a fatal heart attack.

While earlier studies on siestas have linked it to a slight increase in heart attack risk, newer and more controlled studies have shown that afternoon naps or siestas reduce the risk of fatal heart attacks. Taking a long afternoon nap, however, can lead to heightened heart risk by making people inactive and overweight, - warn cardiologists. Care should also be taken that, siestas do not lead to reduced overall physical activities.

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• Do you know why daydreaming is good?

Do you know why Eiffel Tower was built?

Prof. Know Why answers:

Eiffel Tower or “La Tour Eiffel” in French, situated in the city of Paris in France is one of the few greatest engineering amazements that the world has seen till date. It’s a beauty to watch the Eiffel Tower at night when it’s all illuminated with its lighting effects.

With a height of 324.00m (height with antenna) from the ground and 125m x 125m at the base, Eiffel Tower weighs about 10,000 tons (metal framework weight: 7,300 tons) in total. So what is this Eiffel Tower made up of and how was the foundation laid? Well, the foundation was constituted in stonework and is made of puddle iron. And, how much did it cost to build the Eiffel Tower? – A whopping 7,800,000 gold francs, way back in 1889. The tower was built by Gustave Eiffel, -the man behind the company “Gustave Eiffel & Cie” that got the contract.

Now let’s see, why was this huge structure which is one of the most desired tourist-spot in the world, was created! Eiffel Tower was built as the “theme structure” of the Universal Exposition of 1889, which was held in Paris. It was a huge international fair intended to show off France’s achievements to the world. There were dozens of other sculptures and buildings created also, but the Eiffel Tower was the only one to remain because the military discovered that it was a great antenna for the newly (then) invented technology of radio.

Today, the Eiffel Tower is one of the world's most recognized landmark and stands as an important symbol of Paris, of France, and of travel and exotic destinations in general.

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Do you know why daydreaming is good?

Prof. Know Why answers:

Call it woolgathering, but we all love to steal away from real life to indulge in roving thoughts or daydreaming. But what is daydreaming or rather, how do we define daydreaming? Daydreaming or mind-wandering - familiar to one and all, is more precisely defined as a state of mind where thoughts that are experienced by an individual are unrelated to what is going on in the environment around them.

Let’s see why and when we daydream? In the recent studies, researchers found that our minds often wander fancifully while we are engaged in familiar tasks, such as making a sandwich or doing a regular household work, because we don't need to concentrate on it. They observed that daydreaming could be the result of the brain mulling over important - but not immediately relevant - issues when the external environment ceases to pose interesting and engaging.

Scientists now have identified the regions of the brain responsible for our ability to daydream. A default network of cortical regions, including parts of the medial prefrontal cortex (involved in executive functions), the premotor cortex (which coordinates body movements), and the cingulate (part of the limbic system that is implicated in memory and learning) are said to be active when we daydream.

The studies claim that daydreaming relieves stress and those who daydream, can often be great problem-solvers as daydreaming improves thinking. History says it all – while Sir Isaac Newton sat under the apple tree daydreaming, gravity did its work! Therefore, it could be concluded, daydreaming is good as it is a look at the positive side-effects of the wandering mind. And the best part is, it can be done anywhere and at any hour.

So what are you waiting for?

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Do you know why you should drink?

Prof. Know Why answers:

Drinking had been always associated with forgetfulness until recently, as a new research has overruled this age old theory. A glass or two of wine can boost our ability to remember, says a new study. Scientists have found that moderate amounts of alcohol challenge the brain and it responds by improving the memory.

The findings rubbished the notion of drinking to forget, as they also show drinking enough to exceed the limit for driving means you are more likely to remember the embarrassment of an unrestrained spell – from making an indecent proposal to dancing without your trousers on. Contrary to popular belief, it has also been found that excessive levels of alcohol even enhanced memories of highly emotional stimuli. In fact, heavy drinking actually reinforces negative memories.

But moderate levels of alcohol consumption, equivalent to one or two of wine a day, enhance memory on the whole. Researchers suggest - just like the best way to build strength in a muscle is to challenge the muscle, moderate levels of alcohol challenge the brain and it responds by improving memory.

So alcoholics, you get yet another excuse to rejoice and celebrate! Cheers!

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Do you know why we have eyebrows?

Prof. Know Why answers:

People have always wondered why humans have eyebrows! They definitely played an important role in our culture though, in terms of beauty, since long time. We pluck, pierce, color or tattoo our eyebrows to make fashion statements. However, they don't seem to serve any other logical function apart from enhancing beauty - or do they? Well! The answer is yes, though their purpose has lost significance over time as humans evolved.

Eyebrows act as umbrellas for the eyes. The arch-shaped eyebrows help keep our vision clear by diverting rain and sweat away from the eyes to the sides of the face - leaving our eyes fairly dry. By doing so, our eyebrows not only allow us to see more clearly, but also keep salty sweat from burning or irritating our eyes.

Eyebrows have other roles too. Recent researches support these theories of the fact - why we did not lose our eyebrows with evolution. As one of our most expressive facial features, eyebrows help us determine how people are feeling without ever really asking them. In fact, eyebrows help with human communications. Often, you can tell how a person is reacting to something just by looking at the way he moves his eyebrows. High eyebrows usually denote emotions like surprise or happiness, whereas low furled brows usually denote anger or unhappiness. In short, eyebrows are a form of non-verbal communication.

Eyebrows also play a major part in identification. Eyebrows help us to identify and recognize individuals. You can test this theory yourself, by hiding the brows from a known person’s picture of the face – you will notice how difficult it becomes in recognizing the person.

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Do you know why we have heartburn?

Prof. Know Why answers:

Before you start thinking something else, let me clarify what is heartburn! Heartburn has nothing to do with ‘heart’. Also known as pyrosis, heartburn is a form of indigestion. It is a painful burning sensation in the esophagus below the breastbone, caused by regurgitation of gastric acid.

Now let’s see how we have heartburn! Heartburn happens when acid from your stomach gets forced upwards into the oesophagus (gullet). This is called acid reflux. The stomach wall is coated with a layer of mucus that protects it from digestive acid. The oesophagus does not have this protection, so any acid that leaks up, irritates and damages its lining. This causes the burning pain associated with heartburn.

But why do we have heartburn? Heartburn is becoming the single most important factor behind the rise in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) that nowadays largely affects the urban population, mostly due to their long working hours, erratic lifestyle, bad posture (the way you sit and stand) and bad eating habits.

Foods that may cause heartburn are:

• Alcohol (especially red wine) and Tobacco (in any form).
• Caffeinated and carbonated beverages like Coffee, tea, cola and soda.
• Chocolates and ice creams.
• Citrus fruits and juices; tomatoes and sauces.
• Spicy foods; fatty foods; dry foods like peanuts.
• Red pepper; peppermint and spearmint.

Remedies: Drink lots of water and maintain a proper diet. If heartburn occurs when lying down, raising the head with pillows or sitting up frequently may provide some relief. Doctors treat heartburn with antacids or H2-receptor antagonists and proton pump inhibitors (in that order).

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Do you know why we blush?

Prof. Know Why answers:

We all experience that deep rush of pink to the face known as blushing, sometime or the other. It happens when we are embarrassed, anxious, angry, ashamed, guilty or receiving unwanted attention. Blushing means we are uncomfortable. Along with that normally goes an avoidance of eye contact with others and a glowing or tingling sensation over the entire body.

But why do we blush when we are embarrassed? Well, blushing is a nervous reaction that triggers tiny blood vessels in the skin to widen. This allows more blood to flow to the skin, causing the reddening.

Scientifically, blushing begins with an emotion - usually one associated with self-consciousness. A confused state of mind then acts upon the sympathetic nervous system. From there, the vasodilators (parasympathetic nerve fibers) are stimulated which causes the peripheral capillaries to expand. As a result, more blood flows to the surface of the face and neck, resulting in the reddening of the face and neck.

Sometimes people may not blush visibly, but may react differently, like tapping their fingers noisily or clearing their throat. Blushing is associated more with the young and inexperienced, rather than the aged. And, it has also been observed that women blush more readily than men do.

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Do you know why mosquitoes bite certain people?

Prof. Know Why answers:

It’s strange, but amazingly true that mosquitoes may not bite all the people in the same place. And only a selective set of people may fall prey to these tiny blood suckers that put millions of lives at stake by spreading malaria - the most prevalent life-threatening disease in the world. Scientists have worked out the answers why and how mosquitoes make a beeline for certain people and leave others almost untouched.

Specific cells in one of the three organs that make up the mosquito’s nose are tuned to identify the different chemicals that make up human body odor. To the mosquito, some people’s sweat simply smells better than others because of the proportions of the carbon dioxide, octenol and other compounds that make up body odor. It’s those people who are most likely to be bitten.

Mosquitoes use three organs to smell and taste – a feathery antenna which can identify a wide range of different chemicals, a proboscis used for short range detection and the maxillary palp for longer range smelling.

Scientists have found that maxillary palp contains a series of highly specialized receptor cells used to detect the different components of human body odor. Professors of biological sciences believe, mosquitoes are good transmitters of malaria because they are extremely good at finding people to bite, and maxillary palps serve as the malaria mosquito’s long range detection system.

So, if you think you are the mosquito’s delight, better take care!

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Do you know why does hair turn grey?

Prof. Know Why answers:

Generally with age, our hair turns grey, although people can get grey hair at any age! Some people go grey at a very young age, whereas others may be in their forties before the first grey strand is seen. And in most of the cases, our genes determine how early we get grey hair.

But what is grey hair? How does our hair turn grey? And why at all does our hair turn grey? Lets find out the answers! Melanin is the pigment that is responsible for producing color. To put it simple, - when the cells present at the base of the hair root, stop producing this melanin, the hair shafts turn grey.

Melanin is made up of specialized pigment cells called melanocytes. These are found at the openings on the skin’s surface (follicles) through which hair grows. As the hair is being formed, melanocytes inject melanin pigments into cells containing keratin (a protein that makes up our hair, skin and nails). Throughout the years, melanocytes continue this process, giving the hair their colorful hue of black, brown, blond, etc. But with age comes the reduction in the amount of melanin and the hair gradually turns grey.

Well, people who get grey hair in their twenties might not like it, but grey streaks or salt-and-pepper hair at a matured age surely gives one - a ‘distinguished look’ or so they say!

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Do you know why broken heart can be fatal?

Prof. Know Why answers:

You feel great when you are in love and it shows, because your health glows. But why and how does your health react in case of an undesired break-up? Scientists say, intense stress caused by bereavement can make someone ‘die of a broken heart’.

While it has always been suspected that emotional problems can put the heart under pressure, this was believed to have been caused by ‘primitive’ brain regions, such as the brain stem sending messages to heart tissue. Bereavement has been one such unexplained problem.

Researchers say, that in such a situation, the regions of the brain responsible for learning, memory and emotion can destabilize the cardiac muscle of someone who already has heart disease. So, when we are under stress like this, the ‘higher regions’ of the brain take part in a vicious circle of activity which can trigger harmful rhythms in the heart.

Doctors say, the activity in ‘higher level’ regions, such as the cortex make the heart to stress, often worsening the situation. And thus, the brain areas responsible for regulating heart function can be unbalanced, which in turn can increase the risk of sudden death through cardiac arrest.

So now, do you know why broken heart can be fatal? Just take care and take things easy, if and when you are going through such a situation in life!

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Do you know why we fall in love?

Prof. Know Why answers:

When you are young, passion is so strong that it’s almost impossible to stop loving someone! But ever thought why this happens? Well, it’s all in the brain. First comes initial attraction, the spark. Then comes the wild dizzying infatuation of romance – a unique magic between two people who can’t stop thinking about each other. The brain uses its chemical arsenal to focus our attention on one person, forsaking all others - say research scientists.

The brain in its first phase of love is much like a brain on drugs, i.e. the cravings and pleasure unleashed are as strong as any drug. And certain regions in the brain are deactivated, such as within the ‘amygdala’, associated with fear. That’s why you can do many insane things, when in love.

All these ‘falling for’ episodes are actually the effects of conflicting reactions of the front brain and the middle brain. The front brain is believed to be the logical thinker, with reasoning and experience. So while the front brain is lecturing you about the flirtatious nature of the girl and telling you that she is the wrong person for a long time steady relationship, the middle brain is awed by her sexy thighs, deep cleavage and her come-hither stare.

And alas, when it comes to choosing mates, even smart neurons in the brain can make dumb choices. So if the owner of the brain is in 20s, all bets are off. But if the brain’s owner is in his 40s he might think twice about that cleavage baring temptress, and might listen to his front brain.

So who would you like to listen to – the middle or the front brain?

Post your experiences – how you feel when you are in love?

Do you know why we see a mirage?

Prof. Know Why explains:

A mirage is an optical illusion that occurs due to atmospheric conditions by which reflected images of distant objects are seen. In other words, it’s a refraction phenomena in which the image of some objects appear displaced from its true position.

Mirages form when light rays emitted from a source or reflected off an object are bent, as the path of the light ray crosses air layers of different densities.

Common examples of a mirage are the appearance of water some distance down the highway on a hot summer day and seeing a lake in the desert.

Oasis or viewing a lake in the desert happens when light passes through two layers of air with different temperatures. The desert sun heats up the sand, which in turn heats up the air just above it. The hot air then bends light rays and reflects the sky. So when you see it from a distance, the different air masses colliding with each other act like a mirror. And the desert ahead seems to have become a lake which is actually a reflection of the sky above.

Mirages can be seen almost anywhere – those shimmering heat hazes that appear on the road ahead of you on sunny days, but disappear as you approach are mirages. Again, in the countryside you may seem to see a small lake or a pond near trees or in a field, which is also created by the same concept, i.e. differences in temperature between the ground temperature and the air just above the ground level.

Do you know why we see a rainbow?

Prof. Know Why explains:

Witnessing the history, throughout the ages, mankind has always been fascinated by rainbows. And their arched splashes of color have been the subject of numerous songs and poems, stories and mythology. Even, in the Bible, the rainbow is seen as a sign of God's promises.

What makes rainbows so mysterious is the simple but often puzzling fact that rainbows are light and they exist only in the eyes of the beholder! To unlock this amazing secret of the nature and explore how water and light work together to produce the magnificent colorful work of art, we have to understand a little bit of physics, because that’s what it is – pure science!

You need three factors to work together to see a rainbow. Firstly, the sun must be shining. Secondly, the sun must be behind you, and thirdly, the air in front of you must have water drops in it. When the sunlight enters a water drop, it is refracted, or bent, and reflected out from the drop in such a way that the light appears as a spectrum of colors. Actually, the rays of light bend twice. As they enter the drops, the rays of light bend, then reflect off the back of the drops. Then they bend again, this time while exiting the drops. That's when the light appears before our eyes. Each drop reflects only one color of light, so there must be many water drops to make a full rainbow. You'll see the brightest rainbows when the water drops are large, usually right after a rain shower.

When a raindrop bends light, the light exits the raindrop at an angle of 40 to 42 degrees away from the angle it entered the raindrop. As a result, the only beams of light you see are from raindrops that are 40 to 42 degrees away from the shadow of your head. This gives the rainbow its curved appearance.

Do you know why lightning happens?

Prof. Know Why explains:

In one line, lightning is a bright flash of electricity that is produced by a thunderstorm.

Within a thundercloud way up in the sky, many small bits of ice (frozen raindrops) bump into each other as they move around in the air. All of these collisions create an electric charge. After a while, the whole cloud fills up with electrical charges. The positive charges or protons form at the top of the cloud and the negative charges or electrons form at the bottom of the cloud. Lightning results from the buildup and discharge of this electrical energy between positively and negatively charged areas. Lightning can occur within the cloud or between the cloud and the ground as well. In the second case, this electrical charge strikes around anything that sticks up, such as mountains, people, or single trees.

When a lightning bolt travels from the cloud to the ground it actually opens up a little hole in the air, called a channel. Once the light is gone, the air collapses back in and creates a sound wave that we hear as thunder. The reason we see lightning before we hear thunder is because light travels faster than sound!

Remember, lightning is approximately six times hotter than the surface of the sun! So, don’t play around during lightning and always look for a safer place or stay indoors.

Do you know why does it rain?

Prof. Know Why explains:

Let me simplify it first - warm air turns the water from rivers, lakes, and oceans into water vapor that rises into the air. That water vapor forms clouds, which contain small drops of water or ice crystals. When the water vapor in the cloud becomes too heavy, it falls back to the ground as rain or snow.

Now let’s get into a detailed explanation. When warm, wet air rises, it cools, and water vapor condenses out to form clouds. As said above, cloud is made up of small drops of water or ice crystals, depending on its height and how cold is the surrounding air. Height and temperature also determine whether any ‘precipitation’ (Latin for 'to fall from') will be rain or the hail associated with thunderstorms, or the snow, or the sleet and freezing rain.

To form rain, water vapor needs a ‘condensation nucleus’, which can be tiny particles of dust, or pollen, swept up high into the atmosphere. When the condensing droplets that form the cloud get large and heavy enough to overcome the upward pressure of convection, they begin to fall. If the temperature all the way to the ground is above freezing, then, it ‘rains’! And when ice crystals form high up in the cloud, and it's below the freezing point of water all the way down, then you get snow.

Thus, rain and snow are the two sides of the same coin!

Do you know why people go bald?

Prof. Know Why explains:

Normally, there are about 100,000 to 150,000 hair strands on the human scalp. However many people cannot retain them and eventually go bald.

Androgenetic Alopecia, the most common type of baldness — otherwise known as male pattern baldness — occurs due to a chemical known as Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) that builds up around the follicle and eventually kills the follicle and the hair. In simple terms, the growing cycle becomes shorter. So the hair does not grow as long as it once did. It becomes finer, and eventually the growth cycle is eliminated.

A follicle’s resistance to DHT is genetic – which is why some people go bald and others do not. If you have relatives with thin hair or who are bald, you may well develop the same problem. Doctors say that the gene can be inherited from either the mother’s or the father’s side of the family and skips generations.

In other conditions, such as Alopecia Totalis and Alopecia Universalis, the entire scalp and entire body become completely bald due to a viral condition.

Patch baldness, in which hair falls out of the scalp in patches, is caused by stress or poor nutrition or adverse scalp conditions. In this case, the hair usually grow back once the cause has been rectified.

While the effects of hair loss can be devastating, there are treatment options from non-surgical techniques to hair transplants that can slow or stop hair loss or even gain the appearance of a full head of hair. So just don't worry too much and be happy!

Do you know why trees shed leaves?

Prof. Know Why explains:

Like people, the leaves of trees also age, but do so much more rapidly. Each spring the young leaves develop from buds and then rapidly mature to full size to carry on photosynthesis (the process that provides food needed for the tree to grow and maintain itself). By autumn, the leaves of many hardwood trees reach old age and do not function well. At this time a tree must also prepare for the harsher weather conditions of winter. Signals to the tree indicating it is time to prepare for winter include shorter days, less intense sunlight and cooler temperatures. Prior to the leaves falling, nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus move from the leaf into the adjacent stem to be reused during the next growing season. The following spring a new crop of leaves are produced and the cycle is repeated.

To sum up, in early autumn, in response to the shortening days and declining intensity of sunlight, leaves begin the processes leading up to their fall. The veins that carry fluids into and out of the leaf gradually close off, as a layer of cells forms at the base of each leaf. Once this separation layer is complete and the connecting tissues are sealed off, the leaf is ready to fall.

Thus while trees can live for decades and even centuries, some parts of the tree like the leaves, live for only a few months or years (in certain varieties of trees).

Do you know why lizards lose their tails?

Prof. Know Why explains:

Lizards can lose their tails, but not all lizards can grow them back, though. Lizards that lose their tails also lose an important source of energy because they store fats at the base of their tails.

In lizards, the tail bones have central regions that break away easily when the tail is pulled. The muscles of the tail pull apart and the blood vessels constrict to stop the wounded tail from bleeding. So, if a predator attacks a lizard, the tail is designed such that it separates from the body allowing the lizard to escape while the predator gets the tail. Lizards that lose their tails grow them back but the replacement tail is never as long or as colorful as the original one. Replacement tails grow back in as little as three months or as long as two years.

In short, in order to defend it in a threatening situation, the lizard chooses to detach its tail by contracting a special muscle near a weakness in its vertebrae.

In lizards, especially big ones like Iguanas and Komodo Dragons, the tail bones are not designed to break easily and the tail muscles are also not designed to pull apart smoothly. These lizards however can also lose their tails, but it takes a much stronger pull to make this happen. With these types of lizards, the wound heals like others though, but the tail does not grow back.

Do you know why we cry?

Prof. Know Why explains:

Women cry 64 times a year on average, while men just 17, says a recent study. Actors and politicians do it on demand though! But why does crying happen in the first place?

When we become upset, our brains and bodies overreact and work overtime, producing chemicals and hormones. Crying helps eliminate t,hese extra chemicals that we don't need, in the form of tears. These tears are formed in tiny glands present in the upper eyelids of our eyes, called lachrymal glands.

Scientifically, emotional tears contain high levels of manganese and a chemical called prolactin.

As our tears flow, they sooth our sadness or distress by disposing of these chemical agents. That is why generally, we feel calmer or more refreshed after crying, because the tears get rid of these hormones that are produced when we are sad, happy, or distressed.