WHY do Sliced Onions make us Cry?

Onions contain a compound called Amino acid sulfoxides. Every Knife stroke into the onion pops open cells releasing this amino acid sulfoxide and other enzymes which reacts to produce Sulfenic acids. The Sulfenic acid in onions then forms a gas SYN-Propanethial-S-Oxide which reacts with the water in our eyes to form sulphuric acid that causes...

WHY do Chameleons Change Their Color?

Many people believe chameleons change colors to disguise themselves and hide from predators. However, chameleons are very fast, many can run up to 21 miles per hour and can avoid most predators quite easily. Chameleons change their color by manipulating specialized cells called Chromatophores that contain different colors of pigment. For example, when a chameleon wants...

WHY are Bananas Curved?

Bananas go through a unique process known as negative geotropism. Bananas contain a chemical called Auxin that makes them grow towards the sun. Instead of continuing to grow towards the ground, they start to turn towards the sun. Thus, the fruit grows against gravity, giving the banana its familiar curved shape. Over the past 100...

WHY does Oyster make Pearls?

Oysters are bivalves, which means that its shell is made of two parts or valves. The shell's valves are held together by an elastic ligament. This ligament is positioned where the valves come together, and usually keeps the valves open so the oyster can eat. Oyster make pearls as a defensive mechanism to foreign objects such...

WHY do we Blink our eyes?

Blinking is a Protective reflex (something our bodies do automatically without having to think about it) that cleans and moistens the eyeball. Breathing is a reflex too. We breathe all day and night without even thinking about it. The same goes for Blinking, without even thinking about it the brain sends a signal to our eyes...

WHY Fishes don’t Blink?

Fishes don’t blink because fishes don't have eyelids to blink. This is the reason they sleep with their eyes open. Fishes are always in the water. Therefore there is no need to keep the eyes moist. They are soaking their eyes in water all the time. So the risk of exposing their cornea is not...

WHY Passports are in Different Colors?

In general, there are only four types of colors used for passports worldwide: Red, Green, Black, and Blue. Passports do, however, come in different shades of each of the four main color groups and they are different based on each country. Red and Shades of red are the first most commonly used passports. The member countries...

WHY do Sliced Apples turn Brown?

When an apple is cut, oxygen is introduced into the injured plant tissue which causes polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzymes in Chloroplasts to rapidly oxidize phenol molecules naturally present in the apple tissues to o-quinones. The o-quinones themselves have no color, but they further react with oxygen to produce melanin, which is how we get the brown color on the cut...

WHY does Boiling Milk Overflow?

Milk contains 83% Water, 5% Proteins, 5% Sugar and 7 per % Fat. When heated fat being lighter than water floats as a creamy layer on the top and water vapor in the form of steam bubbles are trapped under it As the milk is boiled continuously, the water which boils at 100 degrees Centigrade produces more...

WHY are the letters in keyboard not in Alphabetical Order?

The First "Qwerty" typewriter was introduced to the United States in 1868 by Christopher Lathom Sholes. The original design of the keyboard positioned keys in alphabetical order in two rows which caused the most commonly used letters that were close together to get jammed. This resulted in the rearrangement of the keys which is mixing...