It would be easy to think that a duck’s feathers would soon become waterlogged so that it would sink,
but in fact, ducks, geese and swans, as well as seabirds, have waterproof feathers, which enable them
to swim and dive beneath the surface of the water. Ducks create this waterproofing using the oil from
the preen gland, near the base of the tail, which they spread through their feathers...
Dinosaurs lived for an enormously long time-some 150 million years – before they died out about
64 million years ago. All the dinosaurs disappeared at about the same time. However, whether
this happened over a few days, a few years, one or two centuries, or even a few thousand years is
impossible to say. Many people believe that the dinosaurs became extinct as a result of climate change
after...
Several families of birds can be trained to ‘talk’, but in reality they are simply mimicking noises without
really understanding what they are saying, although they can be taught to associate a given word or
phrase with a given action, for example saying ‘give us a peanut’ to get a reward. The best talkers are
parrots and mynas, and members of the crow family such as crows, jackdaws...
Construction of the famous white marble bell tower (campanile) of Pisa’s cathedral began in 1173 but by
the time three stories were built, it had already begun to lean. Over the centuries, many methods have
been tried to prevent the lean getting worse but as most people did not understand what was causing
the lean, they made it worse. The soil under the tower is very soft and waterlogged...
The simplest way to describe an optical illusion is that it is a ‘trick’ that our eyes play on us. We seem to
see something that isn’t really so. Or we may be able to see the same object in two completely different
ways. If our eyes are working properly, and they are instructions for seeing exactly what is before
us, how can they play such tricks on us? This is because vision is not...
We all dream at night, although we may not remember our dreams in the morning. Although scientists
do not precisely understand how we dream, they have discovered that it is important for us to do so
and people who are prevented from dreaming soon begin to feel unhappy. We are deeply asleep when
we dream, but our brains are active. Scientists think that our brains may be working though...
