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  • It's AumSum Time

  • Hi guys.

  • Can you guess the title of my next video?

  • Oh.

  • A grasshopper hears through its belly?

  • Hurry up.

  • Write your guess in the comments section below.

  • What happened?

  • AumSum to the rescue.

  • The Eiffel Tower is mostly made of iron and its average height is about 324 meters.

  • But surprisingly during summer, its height increases by about 17 centimeters.

  • Why?

  • Because of thermal expansion.

  • As iron heats up, the kinetic energy of its particles increases.

  • Hence, they vibrate faster and occupy more space, causing the iron to expand.

  • Thus, making the tower taller.

  • Why are fish eating plastic?

  • Every year, about 8 million metric tons of plastic waste is dumped into our oceans.

  • Hence, in some parts of the oceans, there is more plastic than planktons.

  • And krills which are a source of food for many fish.

  • Now, according to a research, fish eat plastic because it breaks down into smaller fragments.

  • Which are similar to the size of planktons.

  • In addition to this, the plastic fragments present in salty seas or oceans.

  • Release odor similar to that given off by planktons.

  • Hence, fish mistakenly assume the plastic fragments to be planktons and thus, eat them.

  • As a result, many of them die.

  • Besides this, some of these fish, even reach our table as seafood.

  • If we eat such fish, it can cause severe health problems.

  • Hence, it is very important to recycle plastic and use eco-friendly products like paper bags.

  • Topic: Caffeine.

  • How does coffee keep you awake?

  • By throwing an overnight party.

  • No.

  • When we perform our daily activities like thinking and playing, a by-product called adenosine is produced.

  • Adenosine slows down the brain activity.

  • But how?

  • In our brain, there are adenosine receptors which are perfectly moulded for this adenosine.

  • When the adenosine binds to these receptors, it activates them.

  • Causing to slow down the brain activity and thus making us feel sleepy.

  • However, drinking coffee keeps us awake and we don't feel sleepy.

  • This is because coffee contains a drug called caffeine which after digestion reaches our brain.

  • Caffeine is structurally similar to adenosine.

  • Being similar, caffeine binds to the adenosine receptors and thus blocks the adenosine from binding.

  • Hence, as adenosine does not bind, our receptors don't slow the brain activity.

  • As a result, we remain awake.

  • Topic: Human tears.

  • Why do onions make you cry?

  • Because they cannot crack a joke.

  • No.

  • Onions consist of amino acid sulfoxides.

  • When we cut an onion, millions of onions cells rupture.

  • Releasing the amino acid sulfoxides along with some special enzymes.

  • These special enzymes react with amino acid sulfoxides.

  • To form a chemical called Syn-propanethial-S-oxide.

  • This chemical is volatile, that is, it easily evaporates at normal temperature, forming a gas.

  • When this gas reaches our eyes.

  • It reacts with the substance that keeps our eyes lubricated and forms mild sulfuric acid.

  • What?

  • An acid in my eyes.

  • Absolutely.

  • This sulfuric acid gives us a burning sensation.

  • Now, in order to wash off this acid, our lacrimal glands produce a disinfecting liquid.

  • But when our eyes cannot hold any extra amount of disinfecting liquid.

  • It starts to fall down, making us cry.

  • How do we know that our stomach is full?

  • Usually,

  • Our stomach and brain are constantly communicating with each other with the help of hormones and nerves.

  • So, when our stomach is empty and the glucose level in our blood is low.

  • The stomach produces a hormone called ghrelin.

  • Ghrelin generally travels to the brain through blood.

  • And informs the brain that we need to eat and thus, we feel hungry.

  • Now, when we eat food to satisfy our hunger, the food enters our stomach.

  • Causing its walls to stretch and expand.

  • When this happens,

  • The nerves on the stomach walls detect the expansion.

  • And tell the brain that our stomach is full and our hunger is satisfied.

  • However, our stomach also expands when we drink a lot of water.

  • But in this case, our hunger is not satisfied.

  • Do you know why?

  • This is because there is one more method by which our brain can identify whether we are eating food.

  • Or just drinking water.

  • Can you guess what that method is?

  • Alright.

  • I'll tell you.

  • As mentioned earlier,

  • Our stomach and brain constantly communicate with each other with the help of hormones.

  • One of these hormones is cholecystokinin.

  • When we begin to eat,

  • Nutrients in food stimulate the release of cholecystokinin which eventually enters the bloodstream.

  • It is the presence of this cholecystokinin in the blood which informs the brain.

  • That we are eating food and not just drinking water.

  • Now, as we eat more food,

  • More cholecystokinin is released, informing our brain that our stomach is getting full with food.

  • Thus, the brain needs to suppress the desire to eat.

  • Last but not least, did you know that boiled potatoes are the most hunger satisfying foods?

  • So, next time if you are hungry try them and find out the truth.

It's AumSum Time

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