Did anyone invent ice cream?

        Ice cream debuted in China 4000 years ago among the nobility in the form of a milk and rice concoction packed in snow. Fruit ices and a form of sherbet followed. In the Middle Ages travelers brought these treats back to Italy, where it was still a dessert reserved for the upper crust. Improved [...]

Do fish drink water?

The answer is yes, they drink it. Saltwater fish do so under duress. Gulp! The greater concentration of salt in the water outside their bodies is constantly drawing the less salty fluid inside them out through their skin, a porous membrane, through the process of osmosis. Therefore they have to be drinking constantly to replace [...]

Do dolphins really save people from drowning and shark attacks?

Yes, sometimes, but even then it’s only an accident if they do. Dolphins don’t help people because the creature feels warm and fuzzy about us. Dolphins attack sharks in self-defense. If a person is helped in the process, that’s just a coincidence. As for drowning people pushed to the surface by dolphins, that happens sometimes, [...]

How does bulletproof glass stop a bullet?

“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks” Don’t believe it. With bulletproof glass you can throw rocks, have a professional wrestler head-butt it, or go for your gun and plug a pane or two. The glass may crack but it probably won’t break. They most often make this glass by bonding alternate layers [...]

Is it true that animals are colorblind?

You may have heard that a bull never literally “sees red” when the bullfighter waves a cape in his face. It’s the movement of the cape that provokes. Animals, after all, are colorblind. Hold on, not so fast. Birds, for instance, have a marked ability to distinguish colors. They need it to spot food, such [...]