I didn't argue with you when you called me an Oviraptor before, but what should you call me now?｜BoLan Daily

If you had called me an egg-stealing dragon before, I would not have argued with you.

What should you call me now?

In 1923, an American expedition team discovered a theropod dinosaur fossil in Mongolia. After research, paleontologists named the dinosaur Oviraptor. Coincidentally, the Oviraptor was nailed to the "pillar of shame" from a nest of eggs, and its "vindication" was also related to another nest of eggs.

In 1994, Norell et al. reported an egg fossil containing embryonic bones also found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. The morphological characteristics of the egg body showed that it was of the same type as the eggs in the 1923 nest mentioned above, and the embryonic bones in it could be clearly identified as Oviraptorosaurs rather than Protoceratopssus as previously speculated through the characteristics of the skull, proving that the Oviraptorosaur lying on the nest was actually more likely to be the caretaker of the nest of eggs.

The following year, Norell et al. reported a specimen in the region that preserved both an egg nest and a partial skeleton of an adult Oviraptorosaur, further supporting this view.

After Norell et al. published their article, Dong Zhiming and Currie also published an article in 1996 that clarified the parent-offspring relationship between this Oviraptorosaur and the egg nest preserved with it. Since then, similar egg fossils containing Oviraptorosaur embryos and egg nests preserved with adult Oviraptorosaur skeletons have been discovered one after another.

Today, the century-long injustice that the Oviraptorosaur had to bear has finally been "vindicated", and almost all natural history museum guides are happy to share this "case" with the audience as an interesting story.

What made these physicists become medical device developers?

The Lanzhou Heavy Ion Accelerator, which contributed to the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" project, is China's first large-scale heavy ion research facility. Heavy ions have a magical property: when they pass through an object, their energy is relatively small, but they are released in a concentrated manner at the end of their range. This made scientists realize that heavy ions may be used to treat cancer. As a result, a group of physicists turned into medical device developers.

What is the little piece of paper you wipe off when you go through security on an airplane?

When we go through security at the airport, the security personnel wipe your hand luggage, electronic devices, and even your clothes with a small white paper, and then put the test paper into the instrument next to it. What is this step for?

This small white piece of paper is actually a specially designed explosive trace detection paper, which is used to detect whether there are traces of explosives remaining on the surface of luggage or items.

Traditional security inspection methods, such as metal detectors and X-ray machines, are mainly used to detect metal objects, while some new explosives (such as plastic explosives) may not contain metal components and are difficult to detect by traditional methods.

The core concept of trace detection technology is "wherever you touch, you leave a trace." When you touch an object, the secretions on your hands will leave fingerprints on the surface of the object, and the particles of the object will also adhere to your hands.

Explosives usually contain certain specific chemical components, such as nitrates, nitro compounds, etc. Trace detection paper is coated with reagents that can react with these chemical components. When the paper is wiped over the surface of the object, if there are traces of explosives on the object, these chemical components will adhere to the paper. The paper will then be placed in a special detection device, which can determine whether there are traces of explosives by analyzing the chemical reactions on the paper.

Modern trace detection equipment is so sensitive that it can identify even explosive particles as small as a few hundred millionths of a gram on the surface of luggage.

The little mustard is too rampant, and the liquor becomes cold as soon as it smells it~

Why can a sniff of liquor eliminate the spiciness after the mustard spiciness stings your nose? Because the spiciness of mustard and the spiciness of peppers are two different mechanisms of spiciness. The former is a short-term, intense irritation to the nose, while the latter is a long-lasting, high-energy spiciness to the mouth.

This is because the attack from mustard is caused by the isothiocyanate compounds generated after hydrolysis. These highly volatile "little devils" will irritate the mucous membranes of the nasal and oral cavity, giving us a "spicy nose" feeling.

The source of the spiciness in pepper fruits is capsaicin, which stimulates nerve endings, reacts with certain molecules at the nerve endings to produce bioelectric pulses, activates the capsaicin receptor channels in human nerves, and then transmits the signals to the brain, producing a spicy sensation.

After understanding the mechanism of the spicy effect of mustard, we know that when we smell white wine after being choked by mustard, the volatilization of alcohol will to a certain extent interfere with or divert the nasal cavity's perception of the spicy ingredients in mustard, thereby alleviating the spicy feeling.

In addition, the spicy taste of white wine also masks the spiciness of mustard to a certain extent, making us feel less spicy, which is the legendary "fighting poison with poison". However, it should be noted that this relief may only be temporary, and the effect varies from person to person.

Small fruit flies hide in large numbers, causing excessive mortality

Fruit flies can safely tolerate up to 4% alcohol, but once this concentration is exceeded, the mortality rate will increase.

But fruit flies behave like unrestrained alcoholics and can drink much more than that: they can drink up to 15% alcohol, equivalent to half their body volume, every day, and even adding bitter quinine to the wine does not slow down their drinking speed.

Fruit flies have an extremely fast metabolism, which helps them burn off the alcohol better, but they can still get pretty drunk.

In addition, fruit flies can also be trained to drink: their alcohol tolerance is affected by their genetic makeup, and different individuals improve their tolerance at different rates, which means that they need to drink more and more to achieve the same tolerance. This is quite similar to humans.

Image source: freepik

The content is compiled from China Science Popularization Expo Weibo, Mechanics Popularization, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, CCTV Records

This article was first published on China Science Expo (kepubolan). Please indicate the source of the public account for reprinting