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What animals have gone from laying eggs to giving birth?

Lizards and snakes have been discovered to give birth to live young about 175 million years ago. Further studies uncovered that many reptiles developed a pattern of switching from egg laying to live births. While most reptiles transition to reproducing by laying eggs, about 20 percent of modern scaled reptiles still give birth to live hatchlings. Scientists explain that switching from laying eggs to giving birth may be a form of adaptation to varying ecological conditions. Female frogs living in harsher climates may hold on to their eggs a little longer, until the embryos thin dramatically, gi..

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Why is Earth like a big magnet?

According to Nasa, the Earth's magnetic field is as a result of the Earth's rotating molten nickel-iron core. Like a magnet, the Earth has a north pole and a south pole. However, the position of these switches every 250,000 years. Even though it may not be immediately apparent, the Earth's magnetic field affects daily life in various ways. Interference from the magnetic field may cause disturbances in radio signals. It is also what powers compasses. Some birds and animals use the Earth's magnetic field as migratory guides.The magnetosphere is vital to life. It helps to act ..

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What are some names of American cliffs?

The Palisades line the west bank of Hudson River for a 20-mile stretch between Jersey City, N.J., and the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York. The basalt cliffs rise to 540 feet above sea level at their peak, and the sill from which they form is approximately 1,000 feet thick at it's widest point. This sill formed 186 to 192 million years ago during the Early Jurassic period.\nThe Book Cliffs extend for 200 miles from De Beque Canyon in Colorado to Price Canyon in Utah. The mountain range contains both cliffs and buttes and rises in height from 4,500 to 8,000 feet above sea level. In areas of t..

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How is a rainbow formed?

The ray of light might undergo several internal reflections within the water droplet. Secondary rainbows form when the light reflects twice inside the droplet before exiting. Light can reflect as many as six times inside the droplet.\n\nThe size of the water droplets does not affect the rainbow's geometry. However, very small droplets, such as those in mist or fog, reduce the effect. The scattering effect overpowers the effect of dispersion of light into its component colors due to refraction. A "fogbow" thus formed has the same arc as a rainbow, but it lacks the spectral colors and appea..

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What is the significance of the "Hertzsprung-Russell diagram"?

The absolute magnitude or luminosity of the stars shows an upward increase on the vertical axis as the temperature of the same decreases to the right side on the horizontal axis. It is believed that a good majority of the stars lie on a diagonal band extending from the hot stars to cool stars found in the lower left corner.\nThe various forms of this diagram come from the different manners in which stars can be studied and understood. Theoreticians prefer to do a direct graphing of the numerical quantities derived from calculations. Observational astronomers, on the other hand, prefer to use t..

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What does red algae eat?

Photoautotrophs produce energy from carbon dioxide and water, using sunlight as a catalyst for the reaction. Algae and plants have complex cellular structures that allow them to convert light energy into chemical energy and then store it as sugar. The photosynthetic reaction occurs in small organelles within the algae's cells, which are called chloroplasts.

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What are facts about halogens?

Halogens have different physical properties, which further refines them into subgroups and categories. All halogens have melting points and boiling points, which are the temperatures at which they transform into liquids and vapors or gases, respectively. Melting points and boiling points are common characteristics among all non-metals and vary among halogens. In this group, fluorine has the lowest melting point as well as the highest boiling points. Halogens vary in physical state at room temperature, too. Some, such as fluorine and chlorine, exist in gaseous states at room temperature while b..

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What is an African cucumber?

The African cucumber originated from a semi-arid part of Africa near the Kalahari Desert. Besides being edible, the fruit is also commonly used for decoration purposes because of the golden patches splotching the cucumbers. The fruit is highly nutritious, containing a high amount of vitamin C, as well as fair amounts of potassium, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamin A, calcium, vitamin B-6 and magnesium.

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Is the brain made of fat?

The brain is located near the primary sensory organs for vision, hearing, balance, smell and taste. For this reason, it can integrate all types of sensory information very quickly and allow vertebrates to function properly. The cells inside of the brain are known as neurons. These cells are electrically excitable, and they transmit signals and information to neurons throughout the entire vertebral nervous system through action potentials. Damage to the vertebral brain can result in severe loss of function or death.

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What does the axial skeleton protect?

The axial skeleton is supported by the appendicular skeleton. Included in the appendicular skeleton are the bones of both the upper and lower extremities, the hip bones and the shoulder girdle. All of these bones in both skeletons combine to form a human skeleton that supports and protects every major part of the body.Besides providing support and protection for the body, the bones also serve as a storage facility for minerals and blood cells made within the bone marrow.

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