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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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Secrets from space
What is dark matter?
Harnish A.K , Chennai, Tamil Nadu
View AnswerIn space, the things we can see like the sun, planets, stars, and other galaxies are known as visible matter. They make up only five per cent of the universe. The rest is made up an invisible substance called dark matter — 25% and dark energy — 70%. Dark matter can neither be seen nor detected by any tool because it does not give off any energy or light. But scientists know it exists because of the gravitational effect it seems to have on visible matter. There are many theories as to what it is made up of, the effects it has, and even the possibility of the existence of a parallel world made up of dark matter. Until these theories are either proved or disproved, dark matter will continue to be one of the great mysteries of science.
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Mystery triangle
What is the history behind Bermuda Triangle?
Animesh , Jaghadri, Haryana
View AnswerThis is a mythical region between Florida in the U.S, Puerto Rico and Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean where several ships and aeroplanes have mysteriously disappeared. Reports of strange happenings in the Bermuda Triangle date all the way back to Christopher Columbus’s first trip to the New World. He reported a ‘great flame of fire’ crashing into the sea and a strange light appearing in the distance. But, it didn’t get a lot of public attention until the March 1918, when Navy cargo ship USS Cyclops sank in the area without a trace. Several other mysterious disappearances have happened since then. The Bermuda Triangle remains an unsolved mystery.
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What’s your age?
How can we find the age of a tree?
S. Shabeeba , Madurai, Tamil Nadu
View AnswerThere are many ways to measure the age of a tree — by measuring the size of the trunk, counting the branch whorls, and counting the rings on a core sample. However, the most common method to determine the age of a tree is counting the rings on the stump or the cambium, a layer found between the root and the bark of the tree. Every cambium produces a new layer of wood, and by counting these layers, the age of the tree may be determined.
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Quick, we’re sinking!
How deadly is quicksand?
S. Sanjuda , Erode, Tamil Nadu
View AnswerQuicksand — sand that behaves as a liquid because it is saturated with water — can be a mucky nuisance, but it is basically impossible to die in the way that is depicted in movies. That’s because quicksand is denser than the human body. People and animals can get stuck in it, but they don’t get sucked down to the bottom — they float on the surface. Our legs are pretty dense, so they may sink, but the torso contains the lungs, and thus is buoyant enough to stay out of trouble. If you do find yourself stuck in quicksand, you have to lean back so that the weight of your body is distributed over a wider area. Moving won’t cause you to sink. In fact, slow back-and-forth movements can actually let water into the cavity around a trapped limb, loosening the quicksand’s hold.