What are Garbage Patches?

Every year, we dump around 8 million tonnes of plastic waste in the oceans. As plastics doesn't degrade easily, they keep floating in the oceans for hundreds of years. Overtime, strong winds and ocean currents brought this plastic together in a five massive garbage patches. The biggest garbage patch of all is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). It is in the pacific ocean between Hawaii and California. According to estimations, nearly 1.8 trillion plastic pieces floating on GPGP. It weighs about 90,000 tonnes and also it is twice the city of Texas. Environmentalists are trying to develop the alternatives for plastic. We should also contribute and reduce the plastic use to make our environment clean and pure.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Why does we have five fingers?

Normally, most of us have 5 fingers. There are various theories that suggest the reason for this case. And some of them are,

A theory suggests that we have 5 fingers because together they make a perfect strong grip. Using them, we can operate small objects with great control and precision. 

Second theory suggests that there is a 3 molecules called Bmp, Wnt, Sox9 are responsible for our 5 fingers since embryonic stage.

Third one called, Limb law, based on the length of the fingers, this law helps us to calculate the number of fingers we should have. Limbs law using it's mathematical model comes out with a number 9.42 per hand. But, the one side of the hand is attached to the arm and other side is held loosely. Therefore, the final answer comes out to be 4.78. That's 5 fingers.

How does the bones heal?

Bones are the very important structural parts of our body. Besides giving us support, bones also produce red blood cells of our body. When the bones broke, it took some time to heal. During healing process, cells called chondrocytes produce collagen which forms cartilage. This cartilage bridges the gap between broken bones and forms soft callus. Then, the special cells called osteoblasts create a hard bony callus using collagen. However, the bone formed is irregular in shape, hence the special cells called Osteoclasts are released, that gives our bone a shape.

Why does the airplane food taste bad?

Our ability to perceive taste is affected by few factors such as humidity, air pressure etc., In an airplane, the humidity is less as compared to the ground. This makes the air in the airplane quite dry. And also, to maintain the air pressure inside and outside the airplane, the air pressure inside the plane is decreased. Therefore the decreased air pressure and dry air dries our nose and mouth. Dry nose cannot properly smell the odors. Dry mouth reduces the sensitivity of our taste buds. As a result, we cannot perceive the taste of the food properly.

Why do we vomit?

Vomiting is the forcible emptying of stomach contents through our mouth. It is actually our body's protective mechanism to get rid of toxic foods that we might have ingested. Vomiting is generally controlled by the part of our brain called postrema. When it instructs our stomach to vomit, several things happen in our body. First of all, the teeth gets coated with excess saliva to prevent them from stomach acid. Second, our heart rate and breathing increases as we make sound (retch). Finally, the stomach and other abdominal muscles forcefully push the contents upward and we vomit. 

Reasons for puking(vomiting):

• Food poisoning
• Motion sickness
• Stomach flu
• Pregnancy
• Over eating
• Stress
• Head injury
• Ear problems
• Excess consumption of alcohols and drugs. 

What causes dark circles?

There are number of reasons which causes dark circles. Some of them are stress and lack of sleep. Our body produces a hormone called cortisol. Over time the cortisol constricts the blood vessels. As a result, the blood vessels become bigger. Now, when sunlight or any other light falls around our eyes, it becomes interacts with the skin and blood vessels. They reflect bluish light. Now, as the skin aroun our eyes are thinner as compared to other parts of the body, the big blood vessels which reflect bluish light are prominent. This makes area around our eyes appear darker, thus causing dark circles.

Why do some people get dimples?

Cheek dimples are caused by the facial muscles called zygomaticus major. It connects the corners of our mouth to the face. When we are happy, the zygomatic muscles contracts and pulls the skin. However, in some cases, this long continuous muscle divides into two bundles. One is connected to the upper lips and other end is connected to our lower jaw and when we laugh, these bundles contracts and causes dimple on our cheeks. However the Chin dimples are occur because the two jaw bones in the chin failed to fuse during the embryonic development.