Why do old books smell so good?

The smell of the old books is mainly because of paper and inks. Paper is mainly made up of wood. Wood is primarily made up of cellulose and lignin. Over the years, these compounds react with moisture, air and heat and begin to release Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs). These compounds easily vaporize and mix in the air and thus forming the smell of old books.There are different type of VOCs. A Volatile Organic Compound called Vanillin gives vanilla like smell. Benzaldehyde gives almond like smell. Ethyl benzene gives a sweet smell. The combination of these various compounds makes books smell so good.

What is Migraine? - Knudge Factory

Migraine:

Migraine is actually a multi symptom disorder. Migraine can last from 4 hours to 72 hours.  However, duration varies from person to person. Usually symptoms from food cravings, neck stiffness, yawning, constipation etc., may begin before the actual headache. This period is called prodrome phase. After this phase, the person may experience blurred vision, slurred speech, pins and senseless etc., This phase is called Aura phase. Then begins the attack phase, the pain is often only one side of the head which is accompanied by nausea, vomiting etc., After the attack phase, when the headache subsides, the individual may experience fatigue, confusion etc., This phase is called postdrome phase.

Why do Mothballs disappear over time?

Sublimation:

The moth balls are mainly disappeared because of the process called sublimation. During sublimation, a solid on heating, converts directly into a vapor without passing through a intermediate liquid state. Moth balls are made up of naphthalene. Naphthalene has very weak intermolecular forces. Because of these forces the naphthalene sublimates and converts into vapor. Now this vapor is either absorbed by clothes or it escapes into atmosphere causing the mothballs disappear over time.

Sublimation

43 Awesome psychological facts

1. The people who give the best relationship advice are usually the ones who are singles.
2. If you ask someone a question and they only partially answer, just wait and stay silent, they will usually continue talking.
3. If you don't move for 15 minutes, you will fall asleep.
4. The people who prefer window seats on public transportation like to be alone during travel.
5. Marrying your best friend eliminates the risk of divorce by over 95%, and this marriage is more likely to last a lifetime.
6. Our brain automatically associates smiling with happiness. If we force ourselves to smile, our brain will assume we are happy.
7. People can recognize smiles from up to 300 feet away, making it the most recognizable facial expression.
8. People are more likely to return a lost wallet if they find a baby picture inside of it.
9. Your mind can sense someone staring at you, even when you are asleep!
10. Your memory works best between 8am -12 pm and after 9 pm. It is the worst right after dinner.
11. Intelligent people are more likely to avoid conflicts, which explains why some people notice everything but choose to say nothing.
12. The best way to appreciate someone is to imagine your life without them.
13. If a person sleeps a lot, then that person is sad.
14. Having conversation with a woman improves a man’s mental strength.
15.People who easily get distracted are more creative and tend to have higher IQs.
16. The larger your signature, the larger your self esteem.
17. If you have a crush on someone that lasts more than 4 months, it is considered to be love.
18. Wearing red makes you desirable to the opposite sex.
19. Creative people tend to get bored easily.
20. People with low self-esteem tend to humiliate others. Subjects who were told that the results of their IQ test were poor expressed more national and religious prejudices than those who reported higher results.
21. We're happier when we're busy with something.
22. Lying requires a lot of mental effort. A person who is lying has to keep in mind, at the same time, the lie – that is to say, and the truth – in order to hide it. As a result, he or she uses simple sentences and finds it more difficult to cope with mental tasks.
23. Our brains are just as active during sleep as they are when we're awake.
24. Behavior affects morality. People who have lied, betrayed someone, or committed other immoral acts begin to perceive what is good or bad in another way.
25. Attractive and honest appearances can easily be misleading. People tend to trust appearances more than sincerity.
26. On average, a habit takes around 66 days to form, not 21.
27. Appearance plays an important role, even when voting during elections. Maturity and physical attractiveness of politicians were mostly important for voters’ choices (unconsciously, of course).
28. We can only concentrate properly on something for around 10 minutes.
29. We cannot avoid paying attention to food, sex, and danger.
30. Humans are, by default, not rational.
31. Boredom has a bright side. Bored people are often looking for ways to do good things, as entertainment bores them and does not bring meaning to their lives.
32. Research has found that good relationships are more important to a long life than exercise.
33. Your brain does more creative work when you’re tired.
34. Falling in love has a similar neurological effect as getting high on cocaine.
35. Holding hands with someone you love can alleviate physical pain as well as stress and fear.
36. Volunteers are significantly more satisfied with their lives than non-volunteers.
37. Opposites don’t attract. You’re more likely to be attracted someone who looks and thinks the same as you do.
38. Around 80% of humans that talk in groups are complaining.
39. We seem to ignore the ones who adore us and pay more attention to those who ignore us.
40. Depression is the result of over-thinking. The mind creates problems that didn't even exist.
41. You tend to fall in love with the person who is more like your parents.
42. Getting someone to do a favor for you makes them like you more.
43. The secret of good sleep is to convince your brain that you had a good sleep (Now, all you need to know is how to convince your brain :P).

Why does we float on a dead sea?

Buoyancy:

When the object is fully or partially immersed in water, there exists a upward force called Upthrust or Buoyant force. For example, if we place a wood in water, it floats rather than sunks. This may be due to the buoyant force exerted by the water on the wood. The tendency of the water to exert such a buoyant force is called buoyancy. As we know, dead sea has a huge amount of salts dissolved in it as compared to any other sea or ocean. The presence of this salt increases the density of water present in the dead sea. Higher density leads to greater buoyant force. As the dead sea is very high density, it exerts a enough amount of buoyant force to make us float on it. So, if we can float on the dead sea, we are definitely not going to drown in it.

Why we celebrate Valentine's day?

 Emperor Claudius two of Rome, who reigned from the year 268 AD to 270 AD banned marriage because he thought unmarried men made better soldiers. Valentine thought that it was unfair and break the rules and perform marriages anyway. He kept the cermonies quiet but eventually he was caught and killed on Feb 14 of the year 270 for defying the emperor. Right before he died, Valentine supposedly wrote the letter to his jailer's daughter with whom he had fallen in love. Later in 5th century Pope Gelasius declared the day of his death as St. Valentine's day. 

Can pure oxygen kill you?

The air, we breath have many types of gases out of which 21% is oxygen. When we inhale, much of the oxygen present in the air binds with the haemoglobin in the 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 instable and harmful to us. Hence our body produces antioxidants that neutralizes the free radicals. But, if we inhale more pure oxygen for a long time, it produces more free radicals and hence it is difficult for the antioxidants to neutralize all the free radicals. Hence, these unstable free radicals begin to bind with proteins in the red blood cells and the change the chemical structure. As a result, our immune system doesn't recognize the free radicals and begins to kill them. Besides this, free radicals begin to damage the DNA which can lead to cancer.

Why is a bag of chips half full?

It's mainly because of the concept called rancidity. When foods become rancid, it may develop some unpleasant smell and taste and becomes unsafe for consumption. Rancidity is a condition in which the fats and oils present in the foods gets oxidised, resulting in the food spoilage. Since, the chips contain fats and oils, they are likely to get rancid. In order to prevent this, the nitrogen gases are flushed over the bags of chips by the manufacturers. They use nitrogen because nitrogen does not reacts with fats and oils and as a result rancidity does not takes place. Moreover the gas in the chips packet serves as cushioning agent and prevents chips from crumbling. That is why the reason the bag of chips are only filled half.

Why does a flame always point upward?

Swirling effect:

Because of the air around the flame gets heated, it becomes lighter and rise up. Now, the cold air rushing into the flame and it also gets heated and rises again. This continuous cycle of hot air rising  up and cold air rushing in is known as swirling effect. This makes the flame points upward.

What happens immediately after death?

When we die, our heart stops pumping the blood. This deprives our cell of oxygen. Cell need oxygen to stay alive and when they don't get it, they begin to broke down and die at varying rates depending upon the type of cells. For example, our brain cells die within few minutes while skin cells survive 24 hours after death. In the absence of oxygen, excess carbon di oxide builds inside the body and causes acidic environment. This acidic environment causes the membranes in our cells to rupture. The membrane releases the cells from the inside out. This is the first stage of human decomposition, known as autolysis or self-digestion which begins immediately after death. If you have ever seen the dead person, you may noticed that the skin looks ashen. Blood circulation helps the skin getting color. When it stops circulating, the skin will get a grayish tint. Immediately after death, our body temperature about 1.5 degree fahrenheit per hour until it reaches room temperature. This phase is known as death chill. After that the stiffness sets in the limbs, eyelids, jaw, neck muscles.
                                                     
                                                     Our body hosts several micro organisms. While our cells die relatively short after death but the bacteria in our intestines do not. These micro organisms eat up the body. As the microbes work away, gases begin to accumulate in the intestine and the surrounding tissues expand. Internal organs develop into gas and liquids. In this stage, the liquid pour out all orifices and gases can cause the skin to rupture. A week after death, our body's skin will blister so much that the slightest touch will cause it to fall off. Insects and animals certainly notice all of these and they feed on the body, helping it to break down even further. The skin blackens and along with the breakdown comes the rancid smell. This stage occurs anywhere from 10 to 25 days after the death. After 25 to 50 days, the insects complete the breaking down of soft tissues, skin and hairs as well as the muscles and connective tissues inside the body. And finally there is absolutely nothing left but skeleton. After that our body is slowly broken down over thousands of years. Our body is used as fuel by micro organisms and their body will do the same. While life for the individual may be over, the cycle of life goes on.