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The explainer: hormones

THE EXPLAINER: HORMONES The chemical regulators that keep bodily processes in balance What are hormones? Hormones are chemical messengers that travel throughout the body, telling our cells and organs what to do. They regulate nearly all bodily processes and affect every aspect of our daily lives, influencing how we feel, what we look like and […]

Could we make robotic companions for kids?

COULD WE MAKE ROBOTIC COMPANIONS FOR KIDS? January sees the release of M3GAN, a movie about a doll with artificial intelligence and killer dance moves by STEPHEN KELLY N ew horror movie M3GAN is essentially Chucky meets the Terminator. Its titular star is posited as the future of mass-market robots: a lifelike doll that has […]

Can animals be allergic to humans?

CAN ANIMALS BE ALLERGIC TO HUMANS? PATRICK RYAN, BELFAST You probably know someone with a cat or dog allergy, but can pets also be allergic to us? Allergies are caused by an overreaction of the immune system to a substance, such as pollen, peanuts, or pet saliva. Just like humans, animals can have allergies to […]

Nature’s weirdest creatures: Fried egg jellyfish

NATURE’S WEIRDEST CREATURES FRIED EGG JELLYFISH How do you like your eggs? If the answer is, ‘fried, salty, and weirdly pulsing with life’ then read on. With its yellow dome sitting on top of a smooth translucent bell, the fried egg jellyfish, Cotylorhiza tuberculata, bears an uncanny resemblance to the popular breakfast item. Beneath this […]

Why do I feel better after I’ve cracked my neck?

WHY DO I FEEL BETTER AFTER I’VE CRACKED MY NECK? KEVIN HARDING, BEDFORD It’s thought that one of the most common causes of neck ‘cracking’ is gas bubbles in the synovial fluid escaping a tight space. This synovial fluid is a lubricant between the joints, formed by a combination of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and oxygen. […]

Why does my mouth open when I’m applying mascara?

WHY DOES MY MOUTH OPEN WHEN I’M APPLYING MASCARA? AMY MILLS, VIA EMAIL ‘Mascara face’, as it’s sometimes called, is thought to be a result of nerves in our brains cross-firing. The two nerves controlling our eyeball and eyelid movements are rooted in a very similar part of the brain to another nerve that controls […]

Do we really need to accept cookies on a website?

DO WE REALLY NEED TO ACCEPT COOKIES ON A WEBSITE? STEVEN CHURCH, VIA EMAIL Website cookies are little files of information that a webpage tells your computer to store, and then access later. They’re named after fortune cookies, an object with an embedded message. They tend to be the same size: 4,096 bytes. Not so […]