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Curious Questions from Curious Minds!
Welcome to Curiopedia, where imagination and discovery take shape! Discover something new today with these curious questions from children. Click on the ‘View Answer’ button to find out the answer! If you want your (child’s) curious question answered and featured here, submit it now.
Month Year
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Tiny navigation experts
Why do ants always walk in a queue?
Darakhshan Parveen , Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh
View AnswerAnts are social insects. They generally travel long distances in search of food. In the absence of navigation aids, they have to rely on other mechanisms to find their way around. As they walk, the ants leave behind a scent that they use to trace their way back to their nests. The scent that the ants leave behind is called pheromone. They walk in a line because they follow the scent left behind by the leader. If you want to test this fact, use an eraser and rub it across the path that the ants are taking. The ants will stop precisely at the point where you have rubbed off the smell with the eraser. Directionless, they run helter skelter.
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Gesundheit!
Why do our elders say ‘God bless you’, when we sneeze?
L. Srujathi , Bengaluru, Karnataka
View AnswerThe practice of blessing someone when they sneeze dates back as far as at least AD 77, though it is probably far older than one can account for. Some have offered an explanation suggesting that people once believed that a person’s soul could be thrown from their bodies when they sneezed, and that sneezing otherwise opened the body to invasion by the Devil or evil spirits, or that sneezing was the body’s attempt to force out an invading evil presence. Hence, “God bless you” was used as a shield against evil. Moreover, t was believed that the heart stopped beating when one sneezed.
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Let them drip…
Why are human tears salty?
Anjali Kumari , Begusarai, Bihar
View AnswerTears are classified into basal, reflex and psychic tears. The salinity and chemical composition in each of these types differ. Basal tears are responsible to keep the cornea of the eye moist; reflex tears are produced eye irritation; psychic tears are produced during weeping. Tears contain greater quantities of water along with other organic and inorganic chemical components such as mucin, lipids, lysozyme, lactoferrin, lipocalin, lactritin, sodium and potassium. Of these, sodium and potassium attribute to salinity.
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Flagging off culture
Why do we need a national flag?
Pallavi , Bengaluru, Karnataka
View AnswerLong, long ago, people had decorated spears or staffs that showed their cultural symbols. Later, people used ribbons, leather or silk decorations on their spears to distinguish one group from another. Over time, people started using flags to show that they belong to one particular community, organisation, or nation. A flag is symbolic of the fact that we adhere to a belief, goal, rules, and so on. A flag is a national symbol. It also shows possession over land and people- proclaiming sovereignty.