ScienceIQ.com

What's The Difference Between A Sweet Potato And A Yam?

What's in a name? Although supermarkets offer both 'yams' and 'sweet potatoes,' in fact they are all sweet potatoes. True yams are rarely seen in the United States, and are actually quite different from the familiar sweet potato. Their skin is rough and they are sometimes enormous, weighing up to 30 pounds. Yams are native to Africa and are ...

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SweetPotatoYam
Biology

Neurons

Until recently, most neuroscientists thought we were born with all the neurons we were ever going to have. As children we might produce some new neurons to help build the pathways - called neural ... Continue reading

Neurons
Astronomy

Galaxy Cluster RDCS 1252.9-2927

A color composite image of the galaxy cluster RDCS 1252.9-2927 shows the X-ray (purple) light from 70-million-degree Celsius gas in the cluster, and the optical (red, yellow and green) light from the ... Continue reading

GalaxyClusterRDCS125292927
Geology

A Big, Big Wave

A tsunami (pronounced 'soo-nah-mee') is a series of waves of extremely long wave length and long period generated in a body of water by an impulsive disturbance that vertically displaces the water. ... Continue reading

ABigBigWave
Physics

The World's Largest Laser

In a rural community in Northern California, in a building spanning the length of two football fields scientists are creating the world's largest laser. The National Ignition Facility project, know as ... Continue reading

LargestLaser

Vitreous Humor, Sclera and Other Yukky Eye Stuff

HumanEyeEyes are one of the most complex organs humans have. In fact the optic nerve connection to the brain is so complex and delicate that no one has ever succeeded in transplanting the whole eye (the cornea, the clear covering on the front part of the eye, has been successfully transplanted).

The front of the eye consists of a 'pupil' – an opening in the middle of the eyeball which is surrounded by the 'iris' – the muscle-like part that adjusts the size of the pupil opening depending on the amount of incident light (it also defines the color of the eye), and the white 'sclera' on the periphery. Behind the pupil is the 'lens', which focuses the image of the outside world onto the retina at the back of the eye. Light intensity and the color of the picture is then converted into electric signals and sent to the brain via the optic nerve. The eyeball is filled with a transparent, slimy, gel-like substance called 'vitreous humor'.

Ah, and let's not forget the eye-lids, which blink 10 to 15 times a minute to wash away dust and keep our eyes moist. The blink rate actually depends on our emotional state too. It increases when we like someone, or when we feel uncomfortable, stressed or frightened.