It's AumSum Time
How were French Fries invented?
Don’t know.
But let us give that inventor a dab.
Yes surely.
French fries are loved all across the globe.
But who exactly introduced these golden strips to the world?
One popular theory traces the origins of French fries to Belgium.
It is said that in Belgium, poor villagers living near Meuse river.
Often ate fried fish caught from the river.
However, winters caused the river to freeze.
Forcing villages to find alternative sources of food, thus turning towards potatoes.
They cut and fried the potatoes in the same way as they used to fry the fish.
Then, during World War I. American soldiers stationed at Belgium were given these fried potatoes to eat.
They absolutely loved the taste.
Since the dominant language of Belgium was French.
The soldiers named the fried potatoes as French Fries.
And voila French Fries were invented.
Comets.
Why do comets have tails?
Maybe because, like monkeys, they can hang themselves on trees.
No.
Let me explain.
A comet is a mixture of rocks, dust and ice.
This ice is basically frozen water and frozen gases.
When a comet approaches the sun, it starts to heat up.
Converting ice directly into gas and releasing trapped dust particles in space.
So, you mean a comet has two tails.
Absolutely.
Stop bluffing.
No.
It is true.
The ultraviolet radiations from the sun ionize the gas.
And the solar wind carries this ionized gas away from the sun, forming an ion tail.
Whereas, the light from the sun exerts pressure on the dust particles.
And pushes them away, creating a dust tail.
Friction.
Why is it difficult to pull a boat on the beach than on the sea?
Hey.
You will find it difficult to pull the boat on the beach.
Pull it on the sea.
There it will be quite easy.
Indeed.
Why not?
Fine.
Don't listen.
I am so tired.
At least now try to pull the boat on the sea.
It is quite easy, right?
Do you know why?
This is because of friction.
Friction is the force which opposes the motion of an object.
It always acts in the direction opposite to the direction of motion.
The amount of friction depends upon the texture of an object.
And the surface on which it is being moved.
Rough textures or surfaces offer greater friction.
As compared to smooth textures or surfaces.
Do you want to say that my brand new boat has a rough texture?
No.
Even though the texture of the boat is almost smooth.
The small particles of sand present on beach form a rough surface.
Hence, when we pull the boat on beach, the sand particles offer greater friction.
And oppose the motion of the boat.
Thus, making it difficult to move the boat on beach.
However, the sea being a liquid, forms a smooth surface.
Hence, when we pull the boat on sea, it offers less friction.
Thus, making it comparatively less difficult to pull the boat on sea.
Red eye effect.
Why do my eyes glow red in photos?
Because there is a devil hidden in you.
Stop bluffing.
Alright.
I will explain.
It happens because of blood vessels in our eyes and pupil.
Pupil is a small opening whose size is adjusted by circular muscle called iris.
In bright light, the iris contracts making the pupil smaller.
Thus, allowing less light to enter into our eyes.
In dark, iris relaxes making pupil larger, thus, allowing more light to enter.
And also exposing the blood vessels in our eyes.
Hence, when we take a photo in such a dark environment.
The flash of light from the camera floods into our eyes at once.
Some of this light gets reflected from the blood vessels onto the camera.
Before our iris can contract, making our eyes glow red in photos.
Air pressure.
How do straws work?
They work very hard.
No.
Straws work because of air pressure.
Is it similar to acupressure?
No.
Air pressure is weight of air pressing down on earth and all other objects present on it.
Now, when a straw is in a liquid.
The air pressure upon liquid in glass and air pressure upon liquid in straw is similar.
Causing the levels of liquid to be almost equal.
However, when we drink the liquid through straw.
We first inhale causing the air from the straw to flow into our lungs.
Now due to absence of air, the air pressure in the straw decreases.
Hence, air pressure present on the liquid of glass pushes the liquid into the straw.
Causing it to move upwards and thus, helping us drink.
Pneumonia.
What causes pneumonia?
The letter P.
No.
Pneumonia is a lung infection caused by microorganisms.
Which generally leads to difficulty in breathing.
Normally, we inhale oxygen rich air which reaches our alveoli.
Alveoli are surrounded by blood capillaries.
Here, the oxygen through the walls of alveoli diffuses into our blood.
However, sometimes we also inhale harmful microorganisms.
Mostly, the cilia and mucous in our respiratory tract trap these microorganisms.
Which are then expelled while coughing.
But sometimes, the microorganisms do not get trapped and reach the alveoli.
There they start to multiply, causing lung infection, i.e., pneumonia.
Oh no.
Now what to do?
Now, to protect ourselves, the immune cells start attacking the microorganisms.
Causing inflammation and accumulation of fluid in the alveoli.
As a result, the inhaled oxygen cannot get easily diffused into blood.
Thus, causing difficulty in breathing.
Bad breath.
Why do we get bad breath?
It is not bad breath.
It is perfume.
Gross.
Bad breath is generally caused by bacteria that live in our mouth.
These bacteria feed on food particles which get stuck in our teeth, gums and tongue.
They breakdown the food particles into simpler forms.
Releasing foul smelling compounds such as hydrogen sulfide, methanethiol.
And cadaverine.
These gases form the bad breath.
But why is morning breath so bad?
Usually during the day.
Saliva carries the food particles and bacteria from the mouth into our stomach.
Thus, controlling the bad breath.
However, when we sleep, we produce less saliva, making our mouth dry.
This increases the growth of bacteria, thus increasing the breakdown food.
And producing bad breath in the morning.
Why does sunlight make you sneeze?
Because sun teases our nose.
No.
Wait, I will explain.
Sneezing caused by sunlight or bright light is called photic sneezing.
According to a prevailing theory.
It happens because of a thick nerve bundle called the trigeminal nerve.
The trigeminal nerve detects or senses irritants in our nose.
And thus, triggers sneezing to expel them out.
The trigeminal nerve lies quite close to the optic nerve.
Which sends visual information from our eyes to the brain.
Now, in some people this optic nerve is over sensitive.
Just like me, right?
Just listen.
When bright light suddenly stimulates the optic nerve.
The optic nerve mistakenly transmits some signals to the nearby trigeminal nerve.
Hence, the trigeminal nerve misinterprets this signal as an irritant in the nose.
And thus, triggers sneezing.
Why do mosquitoes bite only some people?
Because they are lazy.
No.
There are a number of reasons why some people are more prone to mosquito bites.
One of them is body odor.
Millions of bacteria which live on our skin produce various gases.
These gases form our body odor.
Some of these body odors attract the mosquitoes.
So, this is the reason why mosquitoes prefer me.
Besides this, a popular research found that.
Mosquitoes tend to bite people with Type O blood.
Nearly twice as often as those with Type A. Exercising can also entice mosquitoes.
This is because when we exercise, we release more carbon dioxide, heat and sweat.
Mosquitoes can detect this carbon dioxide and heat.
They can also sense various substances in our sweat such as lactic acid.
Thus, making us more likely to get bitten.
Why are flamingos pink?
Wait, I will explain.
A baby flamingo is not pink.
It is actually born with grey feathers.
So, does it spray paint itself with pink color?
No.
Flamingos get their pink or orange color from their food.
Which is mainly algae and shrimps.
These organisms contain carotenoids.
Carotenoids are reddish orange colored pigments.
When a flamingo eats algae and shrimps, its liver extracts the colored pigments.
The pigments are then absorbed by fats.
These fats start depositing in the flamingo's growing feathers.
Which eventually cause the flamingo to turn pink or orange.
Now, an interesting fact is that we also eat fruits that contain carotenoids.
Such as carrots, apricots, mangoes, etc.
But we do not eat enough of these fruits for them to affect our skin color.
Why do dogs wag their tails?
Because they are happy.
A dog's wagging tail does not always mean that it is happy or excited.
So, what does it mean?
Popular researches and studies over the years suggest that.
The tail position and wagging direction represent different feelings or moods of dogs.
When the tail is hung down in its natural position.
It means that the dog is calm and is not worried.
If the tail is curled in between its legs, it indicates that the dog is scared or anxious.
When the tail is straight up, it indicates that the dog is curious.
Or wants to show other smaller dogs that it is bigger and dominant.
Moreover, if the tail wags towards right.
The dog is expressing positive emotions such as joy, excitement, etc.
However, if it wags towards left.
It conveys negative emotions such as anxiety, stress, etc.
Why is yawning contagious?
Because everybody wants to sleep.
No.
There are a couple of theories which explain why yawning is contagious.
One of them suggests that it is a sign of empathy.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share others feelings.
For example, when people around us are happy and smiling.
They make a positive impact on us.
Hence, we also feel good and begin to smile.
Moreover, the closer we are to someone such as our parents or friends.
The more likely we are to catch their yawn.
That is awesome.
Another theory suggests that mirror neurons present in brain make us copy.
Or mimic actions performed by someone else.
Hence, when we see people around us yawn, our mirror neurons get activated.
Thus, making us mimic their yawn.
We may have evolved such characteristic to promote social bonding.
Why do elephants have big ears?
To fly.
Not at all.
Ears basically help to hear.
Besides this, big ears of the elephants also help it to regulate its body temperature.
But how can ears help to regulate body temperature?
In living beings like elephants, blood supplies heat to all parts of the body.
Thus, helping it to maintain the body temperature.
However, due to metabolic activities or hot climate.
Sometimes heat in blood can increase, thus increasing body temperature of elephant.
Now an elephant's big ears are filled with blood vessels.
Which are very close to the surface of the skin.
Hence, when blood having more amount of heat flows through ears of elephant.
The heat from the blood escapes into the atmosphere.
Cooling the blood and in turn cooling the elephant.
How do glasses work?
They work very hard to make us look intelligent and studious.
No.
When light from an object reaches our eyes, the cornea and lens refract the light.
In a person having perfect vision, the refracted light is accurately focused on retina.
The retina then sends information to the brain, informing it about the object.
However, in some people, the light does not get properly focused on the retina.
Causing blurry vision.
When light gets focused before the retina, the defect is called myopia.
Myopia can be corrected using glasses having concave lenses.
Whereas, when light gets focused behind the retina.
The defect is called Hyperopia or hypermetropia.
Hypermetropia can be corrected using glasses having convex lenses.
Apart from these, there are other defects also like presbyopia and astigmatism.
Which can also be corrected using glasses having appropriate lenses.
Can pure oxygen kill you?
No idea.
The air we breathe has many gases out of which 21% is oxygen.
When we inhale.
Much of the oxygen present in air binds to hemoglobin in red blood cells.
And is transported to various cells where it helps to produce energy.
However, some inhaled oxygen also turns into free radicals.
Free radicals are highly unstable and can be harmful.
Hence, our body produces antioxidants that neutralize the free radicals.
But if we inhale pure oxygen for a long time.
Then the number of free radicals increases.
It becomes difficult for the antioxidants to neutralize them.
Hence, the unstable free radicals begin to bind with proteins in red blood cells.
And change their chemical structure.
As a result, our immune system does not recognize the red blood cells.
And begins to kill them.
Besides this, free radicals even damage the DNA which can lead to cancer.