Mr Rayon

Why do countries like China have so many people with high IQs relative to Western countries? I mean I know that China is the most populated country in the world but as a they also have a higher percentage of people with higher IQs. What are the psychological explanations for this? Is it because Chinese people are brought up in a more strict academic environment? Or has it got something to do with their genes?

What percentage of people in Western society die from natural causes as opposed to by disease? If you live longer, will you just end up developing more illnesses/diseases until one eventually kills you? Who is the oldest person to have ever lived without developing any chronic illness and dying naturally? How old were they? Any thoughts?

Are there any explanations for this phenomena?

Don't watch that much anime, but my favourite so far (in no particular order) would probably be: -Bleach -Naruto Shippuden -Highschool of the Dead -Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin -Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood -Death Note -Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion -Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 -Clannad -Clannad After Story What are everyone elses?

Just something I heard somewhere and am curious about.

I've been told by many wine manufacturers that consuming alcoholic drinks regularly from time-to-time can in fact be beneficial to one's health, providing some essential needed antioxidants to combat the effects of ageing. However, at the same time many health officials are warning consumers of the long term impact alcohol can have on one's life. I'm sure we've all been told at some stage in our lives that alcohol can in fact destroy brain cells and I'm wondering whether this destruction at the cellular level comes about through any consumption of alcohol (as arguably it's a poison) or whether brain cells are destroyed only when one goes on a binge drink. So, does moderate alcohol consumption destroy brain cells? Or is it just excessive consumption?

So, the phosphoric acid in soft drinks is healthy? How does it cause de-calcification of bones?

What are the health benefits of drinking soft drinks? I've heard that soft drinks are high in phosphorus and because of this many farmers have given their hens carbonated soft drinks as some claim that it makes the egg shells harder and hence more resistant to cracking during transportation when being sold in a market. But are there any other health benefits? I'm also confused whether the phosphorus in soft drinks is actually a good think. I've done a bit of research and according to some sites it causes de-calcification of bones. How is this possible? I thought phosphorus was good! What are the health benefits of drinking soft drinks?

Wow, looks like a pretty good site. Bookmarked!

I heard there was a statistic saying that 1 in 20 individuals have an extra pair of ribs or more. I'm wondering whether anybody knows why different people have different numbers of ribs? Could this be because of mutations (e.g. from exposures to radioactivity, excessive mobile phone use etc) through a changed more modern way of living? Why do some people have extra ribs?

So by solving for x in: 63.5g/0.27g = x/900 C we get the answer? Does this fraction thing only work for things that are directly proportional (i.e. produces a linear graph when plotted/sketched)?

I heard reading somewhere saying that if you live in a planet with a weaker gravitational force, you'll live longer. So, say you lived in space your whole life, with no gravity, would this extent your life expectancy significantly assuming health clinics and other necessities and lifes little pleasures were all readily accessible and available and identical in every nature to those we have in planet Earth. If all that's different is that there's no gravity, how long would one live for, in space? This is just another hypothetical question, if humans ever do live in space, in the future.

I heard that masturbating also reduces prostate cancer.

Why do children learn languages faster than adults? What's the biological difference to account for these phenomena observed in young children but not adults? For example, are there any specific types of brain cells that are present during the critical learning period for learning languages in young children that gradually disappear as one approaches teenagehood. Unfortunately, I've missed the critical learning period for learning languages most efficiently. During that time I was only given the opportunity to learn one language and partially learn another. Now I feel retarded because many of my friends speak 3-4 languages however this was mainly because they were exposed to more languages during childhood and never really had to work hard to learn them. They probably put effort in one language to become fluent but I still feel bad. In the future, does anybody think that it will be possible to extend this learning period where your brain acts rather like a sponge to absorb all information and put everything together and get used to it? I feel really bad for only being able to speak 2 languages, I think if I were to have children I will give them more exposures to different cultures/languages so as to protect them from feeling the pain/jealousy that I have of more educationally advantanged students.

Why does everybody in this forum write in such an expressive and sophisticated manner? We are in the internet after all, and hence isn't it the social norm to type in 'lol' or 'gr8' and 'omg' from time-to-time? WhY NoT wRiTe likE thIs?

Mr Skeptic, have you ever considered a career in dentistry?

Hold on, first of all, what exactly is agar? If it's any use to you, I know that agarose gel is used in gel electrophoresis (at least sometimes).

Is it true that if you are excellent at chess, you must also have a natural talent for maths? Somebody has told me that these abilities go hand-in-hand and was just curious.

What are the scientific benefits of watching anime? Are there any uncovered scientific pros for watching anime?

I suppose that's possible. You know what I'll try snipping a strand of one of these grey/whitish hair from a colleague and seeing whether it really is from any reflection which makes it appear that way or whether it's the natural colour of the strand (i.e. still being grey in the absence of light). Hopefully, I won't get caught. I know people who's hair colour change, for example brown when a strand is placed upon sunlight however becomes a dull grey colour when many strands are looked at. Some Indians/Arabs also tend to have darker black hair after they have just wet it with water.

okay, yesterday we did an experiment involving oxidation and reduction. It was one of those experiments where you make a circuit and with time notice a build up of metal in one of the two electrodes. Anyway, we used copper for the electrodes. here are the results: Current: 1.0 A Time: 900 secs Charge: 900 coloumbs Initial mass of cathode: 2.58 g Final mass of cathode: 2.85 g Mass gain: 0.27 g 1) Calculate the quantity of charge, measured in coulombs, required to deposit 63.5 g (1.0 mol) of copper metal. pretty standard question, anyway any help would be appreciated. both electrodes (anode and cathode) were made of copper. this was dunked into copper sulfate solution for 15 mins.

Why do asians have grey hair? I've seen people in my workplace who are only 18-22 years old of Indian/Chinese origin having grey hair and I'm wondering why this is. Whenever I look at their hair I often seen these having little specks of grey hair. They mostly have black hair of course but they also have a minor amount of whitish/grey hair, just wondering if there are any scientific explanations for this? I thought people were supposed to have this colour of hair when they're older?

Does caffeine consumption increase short term memory? What are the benefits of having good short term memory?

Why is there no psychology subforum at SFN? I mean there are for biology, chemistry and physics. What's wrong with psychology?

How many kilojoules does your body burn from studying?