ScienceIQ.com

Is Your Immune System Educated?

When spring comes, do you hide indoors because your eyes and nose water, and you can't stop sneezing? Do cats or dogs cause you the same symptoms? Have you wondered why you have allergies and other people don't? Perhaps your immune system missed out on an education when you were young! ...

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ImmuneSystem
Geology

A Great Sunset Takes A Few Clouds

Although the twilight sky can certainly inspire awe even when it is devoid of clouds, the most memorable sunsets tend to be those with at least a few clouds. Clouds catch the last red-orange rays of ... Continue reading

AGreatSunsetTakesAFewClouds
Engineering

Inkjet Printers

At the heart of every inkjet printer, whether it is a color printer or just B&W, there is an ink cartridge that gets shuttled back and forth across the page, leaving a trail of letters or colors. Upon ... Continue reading

InkjetPrinters
Geology

All That Glitters

Gold is called a 'noble' metal because it does not oxidize under ordinary conditions. Its chemical symbol Au is derived from the Latin word 'aurum.' In pure form gold has a metallic luster and is sun ... Continue reading

AllThatGlitters
Geology

When This Lake 'Burps,' Better Watch Out!

Nearly twenty years ago, two lakes in Cameroon, a country in Africa, 'burped,' killing hundreds of people. What makes a lake burp? Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun are unusual lakes. They each formed in the ... Continue reading

LakeBurps

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

SweetPotatoYamWhat'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 'monocotyledons', like grasses and daffodils - the seedling is a straight pointy shoot.

Sweet potatoes are native to tropical America. They were first cultivated in prehistoric times by the Aztecs in Mexico, and the Spanish conquistadores introduced them to Europe in the 16th Century. Sweet potatoes are 'dicotyledons', like lima beans and oak trees - the seedling has two arms like a little helicopter rotor. They are members of the morning glory family. Sweet potatoes are extremely nutritious, high in vitamin A and beta carotene. (Yams have hardly any beta carotene.) And whether you call it a sweet potato pie or a yam pie, it's delicious!