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Why Do Cats Like Catnip?
Why Do Cats Like Catnip? Read online
WHY DO CATS
LIKE CATNIP
WHY DO CATS
LIKE CATNIP
324
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
TO ASTOUND & AMAZE
MARTIN M. GOLDWYN
I dedicate this book to
STEVEN
LANI
and
STACI
with love
Copyright © 1979, 2012 by Martin M. Goldwyn. Originally published as How a Fly Walks Upside Down. Reprinted by arrangement of Citadel Press/ Kensington Publishing Corp.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN: 978-1-61608-575-9
Printed in China
CONTENTS
Preface
Are there any animals that cannot reproduce?
How does a camel go without water for days?
How does a chameleon change its color?
How do owls sense their prey?
How do fìsh survive the sub freezing cold of Antarctic seas?
What is the oldest known surgical operation?
What animal makes the strongest glue?
How fast does pain travel?
Can animals talk?
How does a fly walk upside down?
Do some people have more bones than others?
Why do voices of men and women differ?
Of what use is garbage to mankind?
How do you explain nonflying birds?
What makes bird songs differ?
How do we remember?
What do the most beautiful frogs conceal?
Are there any useless structures in our bodies?
Can one tree grow more than one kind of fruit?
How do birds find their way during migration?
How did those forest trees get petrified?
How does nature make a cave?
What makes a wound stop bleeding?
How does a pelican use its pouch?
Do tears always mean sadness?
What good do earthworms do?
Are there any bacteria that help mankind?
What is the oldest living thing on earth?
How was coal formed?
What makes the duckbills different?
How has Nature helped birds to fly?
What’s invisible yet can pass through concrete walls?
What are the spawning habits of the salmon?
How can we tell what mineral a plant likes?
What is tempered glass?
How do spiders make a web?
Do any males ever give birth to young?
What gives the firefly its light?
How are metals electroplated?
What are parasol ants?
How do animals help mankind fight disease?
How does plant life survive in the desert?
What is the pressure at the bottom of the ocean?
Why is the ocean salty?
Does a hummingbird really hum?
Are there any blind fish?
Is the sun a solid or a gas?
How fast does a whale grow?
How does life get to a newly formed island?
What are the sutures in our skulls?
How does a bee make wax?
Which body cells do not regenerate?
How does a bird locate a worm in the ground?
Why does a mosquito bite itch .and swell?
Must people be tone deaf?
Why are miner bees like condominium dwellers?
How does a bee know where to make a “beeline” to nectar?
What else besides fish does the sea give us?
How many senses do we really have?
Why can animals survive in the desert?
Why does fur bristle on a frightened cat?
Do some plants eat insects?
What is meant by 20/20 vision?
How do fruits and vegetables get their color?
How old is the orange soil brought from the moon?
Do stars really twinkle?
How important is the process of osmosis?
Can an electric eel really shock?
Do people ea t sea weeds?
Do fishes ever go to sleep?
Would you believe a fish has lanterns?
Can a fish build a nest?
What fruits were unknown to our forefathers?
Who has been here longer, the cockroach or the dragonfly?
How do termites digest the wood they eat?
Are there any dragons still around?
How does a liver pill find the liver?
Does water defy gravity to reach the treetop?
How does our nose know?
What produces annual rings in trees?
How does yeast make the dough rise?
Why does a siphon defy gravity?
How do we see?
How can a man with a pulley raise a piano?
How does science explain magnetism?
How does the footbrake stop a car in motion?
What are first-, second-and third-degree burns?
What are simple and compound fractures?
How old is topsoil?
How has the electron microscope helped science?
Why is the sky blue?
How do pilots know how high they are?
How does liquor affect a driver?
What is the international date line?
Could the world exist without chlorophyll?
How did medieval people tell time?
How do scientists date the fossils?
How fast can you stop your car?
When do two plus two not equal four?
How do jets fly without propellers?
What are longitude and latitude?
How do we taste food?
Why doesn’t ice sink instead of float?
When does the first heartbeat occur?
What is epilepsy?
How does a soda-acid extinguisher put out fires?
What is a brain wave?
What is a shooting star?
Why do we mix metals?
How do we hear?
In what ways is the camera like the human eye?
What is an albino?
Where did the planets come from?
Can we predict earthquakes?
What is the water cycle?
What is the nitrogen cycle?
Why does penicillin make some people sick?
Is there life on other planets?
What are the northern lights?
Is astrology a science?
Is a comet a large meteor?
What causes a hurricane?
What causes our earth to quake?
What are some important oceanic discoveries?
Why does a salty ocean give sweet rainwater?
What gives the ocean its different colors?
What is lightning and thunder?
Who built the White Cliffs of Dover?
What brings on the hailstones?
Through what element does sound travel fastest?
How do glaciers form?
How much energy is there in a wave?
How does the electric-eye door work?
How strong is a permanent magnet?
Can man’s life span be extended?
What decides the sex of the unborn baby?
Does the telephone wire carry your voice?
How did the colored seas get their names?
Why does a car battery go dead?
Can fish live in the ocean depths?
What is asbestos and how is it important?
Can the sea be mined for gold or diamonds?
What part of your body informs you of thirst?
If we can make lightning, why can’t we use it?
How can you make a magnet?
What is the continental shelf?
How do joint bones function?
Can humans adapt to rarer and higher altitudes?
What has amber contributed to science?
Could acid in food be harmful to us?
What is so interesting about the Gulf Stream?
Why are some people color blind?
How do geneticists explain mongolism (Down’s Syndrome)?
How do some living things give their age away?
What happens when a diver gets the bends?
How does baking powder make the dough rise?
Can science duplicate a human chemical?
What purpose do tears serve?
Which plants restore the earth’s minerals?
How long can bacteria live?
What are some examples of protective coloration?
Why aren’t birds electrocuted on electric wires?
Where does the rainbow get its seven basic colors?
Is there a better way to fight bugs than pesticides?
What do we mean by regeneration?
Who are the army ants?
How does the shape of the wings help a plane?
Can you prove molecules are always in motion?
Do underwater creatures communicate?
Why do most trees shed their leaves in the fall?
What happens when you make hard water soft?
What is hibernation and how do the animals survive?
Why do some people snore?
Why does sand come in different colors?
Why can’t ashes bum?
Why does paint peel?
Are sponges plants or animals?
When heating a rod, why docs the other end get hot?
What causes baldness?
Why does water boil at lower temperatures on a mountain?
How many types of energy are there?
Where do seashells get their pretty colors?
What’s the difference between a solar and a lunar eclipse?
What was mankind’s greatest development?
How does a rattlesnake sense its prey?
Why is our blood salty?
How many blood colors are there?
How does the X-ray machine work?
How can you detect a poisonous mushroom?
Is “leadpencil” a misnomer?
How do bees build a honeycomb?
What vegetables were unknown to our forefathers?
What would happen if all the ice in the world melted?
Why is the pituitary gland so important?
Why was Cape Hatteras the graveyard of ships?
What causes nightmares?
Who are the midget monsters of the sea?
How does a bee make honey?
How long can vegetables be stored?
Is the story of Atlantis a myth?
Why does a kite need a tail?
Why do some people tan while others bum?
Where does a peanut get its oil?
How do honey ants get their name?
How much help can a lever give?
What is molting and who does it?
Why do cats like catnip so much?
What makes a jumping bean jump?
Can chickens be induced to lay more eggs?
Why do life spans of animals differ?
Why doesn’t a spinning gyroscope fall?
Ho hum. Why do we yawn?
What are sunspots?
When does boiling water make a glass crack?
Where did the butterfly come from?
Why will a nickel sink in water and float in mercury?
Do the features of the moon’s surface ever change?
How does an oyster make a pearl?
Why do blimps use helium instead of hydrogen?
Why do frozen pop bottles explode?
How do birds learn to build their nests?
What do we mean by streamlining?
What is a “blue baby”?
What makes plants lean towards the sun?
How strong are the growing roots of trees?
Why can a headless ant survive?
Why is porcelain more expensive than other pottery?
Why do camphor balls disappear when exposed?
How do grasshoppers and crickets make so much noise?
Are there bullies among animal groups?
Why do we sneeze?
How tricky can a spider get?
How well can we see in the dark?
How do birds know when to migrate?
What fish has a built-in time clock?
Are any living things immortal?
What bird is the migration champ of the world?
What makes a cat purr?
What is dry ice?
What do we mean by the Rh factor?
Does the sea grow cucumbers?
What type of blood have you?
How does a thermostat work?
How deep can divers go?
What is an antibiotic and how does it work?
What are algae and why are they important?
If the sun blacks out, how soon will the earth?
Why does an upright stick look broken in water?
Are you sure you know a plant from an animal?
What causes a tidal wave?
How do you explain dreams?
What supplies most of the oxygen in our air?
Can fresh water be made cheaply from salt water?
How do heart valves work?
What is a magnet?
How does a skunk defend itself?
Who are the solitary bees?
How was penicillin discovered?
What is an Artesian well?
What happens when we blush?
How does a farmer fight erosion?
How important are minerals to our bodies?
What is sonar and how is it used?
Is mercury defying gravity in a thermometer?
How high can a wave get?
How come we always see the same side of the moon?
What is ambergris?
How does exposed film become a picture?
What is a chemical indicator?
If water has oxygen in it? why do people drown?
How does an electrical transformer work?
What is a geyser?
How does a pregnant alcoholic affect her future child?
How do taste buds work?
What sets off our change to maturity?
Are there any seas without tides?
Why does paper burn faster than coal?
What can a speechless skeleton tell us?
What is the greatest multiple birth on record?
What is a catalyst?
Why do some algae puzzle scientists?
How do you explain the birth of twins?
Why do we turn white with fright?
Did the refrigerator handle give you a shock?
Why is salt water easier to swim in than fresh?
Why is the hypothalamus so important?
What
happens when body temperature rises and falls?
Why avoid trees during a lightning storm?
What is strip mining?
What is rain?
How are coral reefs formed?
What causes snow?
What is a tantrum?
How important is the thymus?
What is the story of the electric light bulb?
How does a starfish eat a clam?
What force makes the earth rotate?
How is dew formed?
What are freckles?
Do we have to sleep?
What gives fluorescent lights their color?
What regulates body temperature?
What is hair and why is it straight or curly?
Can the supersonic transport be dangerous to us?
How does a mountain become a grain of sand?
Why are heaters placed low and coolers high?
What causes a tornado?
Why do we hiccup?
What are pulsars?
How far is home for the homing pigeon?
What is a laser beam?
What is multiple sclerosis?
What insect is the world’s greatest athlete?
How do smoke detectors work?
Do doctors ever give a phony pill?
Are you worrying about cholesterol?
Why is the ocean blue?
What is India ink?
How did a three-inch fish get into the Supreme Court?
How does a fuse prevent a fire?
Have chromosomes and genes been seen by man?
Why is adrenaline important?
Is there anything beneficial about a volcano?
What is the difference between DC and AC current?
PREFACE
Science, reflected in everything around us, comes from a Latin root that means knowledge. We are all born with inquisitive minds and can enjoy the fascination of scientific information if it is presented simply. But somehow science often makes people cower—enough to make students drop a course because they feel it is too technical. As a teacher, I have always been concerned with how scientific principles could be taught in a matter-of-fact, appealing manner. I do not mean that basic laws and principles should be compromised, but that they could be made more accessible to those who show an interest but who do not wish to delve into the more intricate aspects.
Having taught science in high school for some years, I have heard students ask hundreds of questions that ranged far afield from the work at hand, like “Why does sand come in different colors?” “Why does paint peel?” “Why can’t ashes burn?” “Where do seashells get their colors?” “Why do mosquito bites itch and swell?” “Why don’t birds get electrocuted?” and “Is there anything that is immortal?”
To determine which questions were most frequently asked, I began to collect and record the most thoughtful and serious ones that arose over the years. By making these part of the course, and setting aside time for informal discussion, I hoped to let the students see the relevancy of science to their lives. In time I was able to gather a variety of questions covering a broad range of topics.