Why Do Men Have Beard and Women Don’t?

Men and women have many different characteristics. One of the characteristic that defines man is the beard. Beard is all the hair that grows on the chin, upper lip, cheeks and neck.  

 Why do men have beard and women don’t? The answer of this question is hidden deep in the human brain.

There is a part of the brain called hypothalamus that sends signals to the pituitary gland. 

In the puberty age of every human this gland sends more signals to the gland underneath this part of the brain. 

The pituitary gland sends signals to ovaries (girls) and testicles (boys) to produce more sex hormones.

The male reproductive organ produces hormone called testosterone and the female ovaries produce estrogen.

 Then the testosterone sends signals to start the changes and after that changes the human body gets its final shape. 

So testosterone is the reason why men grow beards.

Some females have problem with this appearance. That happens when the testosterone level in females is high. 

Did You Know There Is a Fungus That Bleeds?

Hydnellum peckii is an inedible fungus which is native to Europe, North America and it was also recently discovered in Iran and Korea. 

This fungus reproduces and has a body like the other species of fungus in his family.  But that’s the case with the older fruits. Younger fruits are unique because they can “bleed” a bright red fluid. This fluid contains pigment which has properties like anticoagulant heparin.  

Because of this unusual appearance this fungus has many names including strawberry and cream, bleeding Hydnellum,

 the bleeding tooth fungus and the devil tooth. Hydnelum peckii fruit can be easily recognized when young, but with the age it becomes more brown.

The first person who managed to identify this unique fungus was the American mycologist Howard James Banker in 1913.

The fruits of the fungus are actually reproductive structures. They produce spore which is very small. Bleeding fungus is a mycorrhizal fungus and it can be connected to the roots of certain trees. The fruit of the bleeding Hydnelium is not poisonous, but it has an extremely bitter taste. Substances which are produced from these unique fungus have antibacterial and anticoagulant properties.

Watch the video about Hydnelum peckii below.

Why there is no Grape Ice Cream?

In the summer, when it is very hot, the best way to cool down is having an ice cream. Probably you have already tasted many different types of ice cream, with lots of different flavors. But have you tasted grape ice cream? I bet you haven’t.

Grape is one of most common and healthy foods in world, but we can’t make ice cream of it.  

The reason for that is one compound called anthocyanin.

 This substance is an antioxidant and it is present a lot in the grape. Also, the grape gets the color from this substance.

Anthocyanin has a molecular structure which prevents it from freezing. 

It is like a natural antifreeze and because of it the grape can’t freeze. Also, most of the flavor is contained in the skin and if we take it away all the skin, only sugar will remain in the ice cream.

 Simply, you can’t make ice cream of grape.

In case you have eaten grape ice cream, you should know that you have tasted synthetic aroma of grape. 

Take a Look inside the Human Heart

The heart is the most important organ in our body. Its function is to pump the blood to the veins, arteries and vessels. Would you like to see how does it work? Now you can.

Scientists from the University of Tokyo created this new heart simulation. 

With this new technique you can go inside the chambers of the heart and see how you heart is working. 

In this video you can see the way heart pulses and its contractions.

The researchers hope that such model would help doctors do better treatments and surgeries in the future. Look at the nature’s most incredible machine.

Female Kangaroos have Three Vaginas

The kangaroo might easily be the weirdest animal on the planet. Its characteristics and features like jumping, deer-looking head and caring the youngest in their pouch are very strange. But female kangaroos have one characteristic which is unique in the whole world. Namely, they have three vaginas and two uteri.

Why is that?

The complicate reproductive system can be seen on the picture bellow. The sperm always travels to the side vaginas and the joey travels to the middle vagina.

The little baby kangaroo is born 33 days after the mating. 

Then, it is very small (2cm) and after birth it stays in the pouch and feeds there for three mounts. When the little kangaroo goes to the pouch of the mother she is starting to mate and produces another embryo in the other uterus. This embryo waits and it develops only when the first kangaroo gets out of the pouch.

This process is constant and basically the female kangaroo is forever pregnant. The anatomy of marsupial doesn’t allow for a large fetus to pass through it and that is why the little kangaroo is so tiny and small when is born.

Watch the following British documentary Inside Nature Giants that discusses about the reproductive system of kangaroo.

Why Are Veins Blue and Blood Red?

Blood is very important for the normal function of the human body. Their function is transporting the different substances and gas to each cells or group of cells. Hemoglobin gives the blood its color.

 It is found in the red blood cells and some percent of it dissolves in the blood. Its function is to transport the oxygen to cells and eliminate the carbon dioxide through lungs.
Using the veins, arteries and capillaries blood successfully does its job. Veins always transport blood which has low amount of oxygen (deoxygenated blood) and arteries transport oxygenated blood.







Deoxygenated blood is darker than the oxygenated blood.

 The red colors absorb red wave light more so it is less visible. So this is an optical illusion because the red color is close to blue in the specter and our brain detects this color as blue. Purple blood might absorb much of the red light and the blue light is reflected from the veins and we see the veins as blue.
 Now you know why your veins are blue – it is a simple optic illusion.

Unique heart-shaped watermelon

Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant which is native to southern Africa. This plant is big, very tasty and sweet. The fruit of watermelon contains 6 percent sugar and 91 percent water. Vitamin C and the carotenoid called lycopen are also present in this amazing fruit. Watermelon fruit contains numerous of little seed which can have different colors. In the world there are 1,200 cultivars of watermelon.

Watermelon fruits can grow very large and the biggest watermelon ever had 120 kilograms. Fruit have ovate forms, but one farmer of Japan creates watermelon which have shape of a heart. Hiroichi Kimura created the first heart shaped watermelon.

How did he do it?

First he started by making heart-shaped mould to put the watermelon in. He put the little young watermelon inside the heart mould and waited for the watermelon to grow into the shape. Cubic watermelons was also produced using this simple but tough way.

See the heart shaped watermelon on video bellow this.