I Wonder #10 How Can I Fool A Lie Detector?

The polygraph test, still used widely in the US, measures your heart rate, breathing and blood pressure as a way to tell how stressed you are feeling. The idea is that the interrogator asks you questions and when you lie, you get more stressed than when you tell the truth, and the difference is revealed in the physiological measures. A simple way to cheat the polygraph is to deliberately distort your physiological readings when telling the truth, such as by biting your tongue, or imagining an embarrassing incident in the past. Similar problems afflict brain scan lie detectors, which follow the same principle of needing a reliable baseline against which to compare signs of lying.

[By Dr. Christian Jarrett, BBC Earth. Asia Edition/Vol.9 Issue 1]

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I Wonder #9 Why Do Introverts Find Social Situations So Tiring?

Apart from the simple fact that introverts prefer to have plenty of time to themselves, and that being denied this can be draining, there’s also evidence that, at a physiological level, introverts response more strongly to stimulation, such as loud noises, than extroverts do. This means socialising is more likely to leave them exhausted and needing a rest afterwards. On the introvert, Dear blog, contributor Shawna Courter even argues that there’s such a thing as an “introvert hangover,” which she describes as “an actual physical reaction to [social] stimulation. Your ears might ring, your eyes start to blur, and you feel like you’re going to hyperventilate.”*

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*Taken from BBC Earth Vol 9, Issue 1. Page 82 by Dr Christian Jarrett

I Wonder #8 How Do People Age?

Ageing is a result of the gradual failure of the body’s cells and organs to replace and repair themselves. This is because there is a limit to the number of times that each cell can divide. As the body’s cells begin to near this limit, the rate at which they divide slows down. Sometimes the new cells that are produced have defects or do not carry out their usual task effectively. Organs can then begin to fail, tissues change in structure, and the chemical reactions that power the body become less efficient. Sometime the blood supply to the brain is not effective. The brain cells become starved of oxygen and nutrients, leading to forgetfulness. For most old people memories bring great pleasure. Strangely, even though recent events may be forgotten, old people often clearly remember events that took place in their childhood.

Fact: The skin becomes looser as people age. As skin sags it forms into wrinkles and creases because the fibres of collagen that normally provide support to the skin became weaker.

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I Wonder #7 How Does Our Body Grow?

The most important forces that cause growth lie inside a living thing from the beginning. These forces are called its heredity. The human body has stages of growth: embryo and foetus, infant, child, youth, mature adult and old age. People’s bodies grow faster in the early weeks of life than at any other time. Even before the end of the first year, they are growing less rapidly. Through the whole period of childhood, they grow at a moderate rate. Then growth starts to speed up again. All human beings are much alike in their growth. But there are important differences. Boys and girls all follow the same general pathway of growth, but each one follows it in his own way.

Fact: [From the Internet] The bones of a baby’s head are not fully fused at birth, making the skull flexible enough to pass through the mother’s birth canal. The bones eventually join, but a gap in the skull, called the fontanelle, may not close up for several months.

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I Wonder #6 How Fast Does the Earth Move?

The Earth orbits the Sun every 365¼ days. The Earth’s orbit is not quite circular but ellipse and when it is closest to the Sun, it revolves or moves at 18.2 miles per second and when it is farthest away from the Sun it travels at 18.8 miles per second (on average 30 km/h. As for the case of SuperMoon recently, Moon looked larger because it orbiting in ellipse nearer to the Earth and moves at 3,683 km/h on average).

The Earth also rotates about its own axis once every 23 hours 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds. This means that the stars rise just under 4 minutes earlier each day. In four years this adds up to a whole day, which is why is added to the calendar at the end of February every fourth year or what is called the “leap year.”

In addition to the Earth’s own movement, our solar system is orbiting the Milky Way galaxy at 160 miles per second and the galaxy is travelling through space at about 390 miles per second. We all are moving even when we’re not moving. Get it?

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I Wonder #5 How Does Time Differ Around the World?

The earth gets light and dark at approximately the same time all over the world, so it is necessary to adjust the clocks. If we did not do this, you might find that dawn was at 10pm. In the year 1884 time zones were set up around the world, measured from Greenwich in London. Each time zone on the east or west of Greenwich has a different time.

Each zone is either one hour ahead or one hour behind its neighbouring zone – it is one hour earlier to the west of each zone, and one hour later to the east. One example of the time difference is, when it is 12 noon in Malaysia it is 1pm in Seoul, Korea.

Fact: When people travel long distances by fast jet plane they often get a feeling of confusion which is known as jet lag. The reason for this is because modern aircraft travel so fast that they may cross several time zones in a short time during a flight. It may take a couple of days for your brain to adjust.

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I Wonder #4 How Mirror Works?

Listen to Mirror Mirror by M2M and Mirrors by Justin Timberlake, I wonder about… mirror. Mirrors are pieces of glass that have been coated with a reflective material on the back, so that when a beam of light strikes the surface none of it is absorbed. The beam of light is actually reflected away again.

The beam of light is reflected at exactly the same angle as it struck the mirror, but in the opposite direction. This can be visualised if you imagine a snooker ball striking the cushion of the table and bouncing back at an angle. Mirrors are used in many ways for example in telescopes, flashlights, headlights of cars and lamps in lighthouse.

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I Wonder #3 How Was Glass Discovered?

It was discovered that glass forms when melted solid materials are cooled quickly, so that they do not produce crystals. The main ingredients for making glass are sand, soda ash, or potash and lime, melted together at a very high temperature. Since these materials are found in abundance in many parts of the world, the secret of glassmaking could have been discovered in many countries.

The Romans were great glassmakers and used glass as a coating for walls. By the time of the Christian era glass was already being used for windowpanes.

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I Wonder #2 How Do Kidney Machines Work?

If the kidneys become diseased and stop working, it is necessary to use a kidney machine to remove waste from the blood. This machine process is called dialysis. It involves pumping blood from a tube in the person’s arm into thin tubing that runs through a tank of sterile liquid. Waste passes from the blood through the walls of the tubing, and the cleaned blood is returned to the blood. This process must be carried out regularly if it is to be successful.

FACT The adrenal glands are attached to the kidneys. They help create energy which stimulates the body to prepare it for instant action. Any extreme sport or violent activity, such as playing skateboard, causes a sudden rush of adrenalin.

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I Wonder #1 How Do the Kidneys Work?

The kidneys work by effectively removing the majority of waste products from our blood, and are vital to our health (or I may called it as blood-cleansing system). We each have two kidneys, which lie on the back of the abdomen. From the inner side of each kidney a tube called the ureter runs down the abdominal cavity entering the bladder.

Blood is pumped through groups of tiny tubes inside the kidneys, and harmful waste material passes out through the walls of these vessels and down the ureter into the bladder. Here it is ready to be discharged from the body as urine. The kidneys also work by producing certain hormones which help to regulate blood pressure.

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