10 answers you've always wondered about

When you breathe through the nose, the channel from the mouth to the lungs is blocked. It's a natural reaction. That explains why it is difficult to breathe using your mouth and nose at the same time. Actually, you can do it, but only after a long untiring training.

At the time of Columbus, people believed in the existence of different creatures. Mermaids were thought to be beautiful women with fish tails. They were blamed for storms, shipwrecks, sailors' deaths. Today scientists suggest that people confused mermaids with manatees or similar aquatic mammals.

Do you remember your feelings when you hear the sound of a fingernail on a blackboard? Or when somebody scratches a window? Scientists defined these sensations as the most annoying ones and not without a reason. There were several kinds of research in which people defined these sounds as “unpleasant”, “shivering” and “repulsive”. These sounds stimulate the amygdala. It is a small part of the brain that controls our emotions including fears and survival instincts.

There are some limits for information that can be stored in our brain. However, it will be enough for more than 300 years! So, don't worry and keep on learning new things.

We know that dogs are very smart animals and their reaction to our words or emotions will not be long in coming. By tilting their head they are trying to get all we are saying correctly. It is the way to adjust their ears to the sounds they hear. Another explanation for it states that it is the way to show their empathy to the owner.

This behavior is explained by their predatory instincts. Your cat is simply checking whether this or that thing is alive. Another reason is the lack of attention. Cats are very smart and can easily figure out that humans come very fast when something is broken and use it to draw attention.

It also has an explanation. There's no feeling of surprise while your brain knows that it is you who wants to tickle!

It is a kind of leaf adaptation. The leaves have developed stinging cells to prevent the plant from being eaten. These cells contain a lot of chemicals and histamine which is responsible for the reaction. You can use a dock leaf to ease the pain.

With age, our hair loses its natural color, while keratin receives less pigment. Our hair becomes grey. Later no pigment comes at all and our hair turns white.

If music is simple, the text is repetitive and short and the rhythm makes you move, this song will certainly fill your brain. Another reason is that some songs are frequently heard and our brain easily detects them.