The 'Science' Behind Birth and Babies - What you need to know!

 

All women love babies. That's a given. But how much do you really know about the 'science' of babies? This special health report gives you all the facts you need to impress your doctor or midwife and go from a baby-dummy to a super-mommy!

 

 

Where did my baby come from?

The first question you will ask yourself when you become pregnant is this: where did my baby come from? The simple answer is that no-one really knows. Babies have been around since the fourth century BC, perhaps longer.

 

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The 'Science' Behind Work - What You Need To Know

 

Hello! It's science time! There's nothing I like more than to sit down and share my love of the world around us. Now read those sentences again. As you can see, I sound happy and fulfilled. Could that be because I'm working? Freud theorized that having fulfilling work is one of the requirements for a happy life.

 

Of course, Freud wasn't a real scientist, so we can safely discard this kind of wild, senseless talk and look for a more scientific understanding of work and its place in our lives. For example, in the case above, I sound happy because I'm drunk and I just found a hot dog down the side of the sofa.

 

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The Science Behind Rest and Relaxation

 

What's better than sleeping? Don't even bother putting on your thought-amplifying science wig to answer that question. Sleep is just about the best thing in the world! Let's do a little thought experiment to prove this point. First of all, imagine your bed. Now, imagine your bed with cotton pillows and a satin quilt. Now imagine it with pillows made of soft, delicious ice cream and hundred dollar bills, and a quilt made of Ryan Reynolds holding a bottle of Kahlua. Ask yourself: is there anything more inviting than this?

 

No. The answer is no. And I think we should just take a moment to do that thought experiment again.

 

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The 'Science' Behind Food And Nutrition - What You Need To Know

 

Hmm, what should I have to eat? Do I need to eat food to survive? How many burgers a day should I consume? Is soil a food or not? Wow. What a lot of questions. All that thinking makes me feel hungry. But what should I eat? Uh-oh: we're back to square one!

 

As you can see from the paragraph above, food is a complicated business. It's easy to get confused, even if you didn't start your day off with a pull on the ol' tequila bottle. So for those of us who did, here's a special HW report on food and nutrition.

 

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The 'Science' Behind Travel-What You Need to Know

 

Sometimes, everybody needs a little 'away time'. It's a natural reaction to today's stressful world. Maybe your relationship is getting you down, or you're worrying about your job. Maybe you're tired of looking at the same old scenery, or need a few days away from the daily grind. Maybe you had a misunderstanding with a breakaway Ukrainian political group over a nuclear reactor, and then spotted some mercenaries camped out in the alley beside your apartment. Maybe you dressed a neighbour up in a white lab coat and asked her to go and collect your mail. Maybe as she was being bundled into the back of an unmarked van, you escaped - terrified - through the kitchen window, with only a spatula and bottle of cherry liqueur for protection.

 

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The 'Science' Behind Fun- What You Need To Know

 

Contrary to popular perception, scientists like fun as much as anyone. Sure, we might not 'paint the town red' or 'hang out', or even go out, really. We might regard sports and pop culture as a waste of time. We might even feel that smiling is best kept for birthdays and successful outcomes in double-blind clinical trials. But the scientific community recognises that leisure time is an important factor in stabilising society's mental health. And what could be more fun than that!

 

That aside, fun is not all fun. Yes, some things sound fun. They make even look fun. For example: would you slide down a broken three storey-high curly slide at night, on roller skates, blindfolded?

 

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The Science Behind Human Anatomy

 

Hello and welcome to part VIII of the 'Science Behind' series. If you're a regular reader of this column, by now you should be thinking like a scientist. So, let's see if you can use the techniques of analysis you've learned to help you identify a mystery object. Here are some clues: It is soft. We might use it to filter grain alcohol. If you did not have one, you would find it difficult to put your shoes on in the morning.

 

The answer, as I'm sure you've guessed, is your body!

 

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 The 'Science' Behind The Mailbag: What You Need To Know

 

The other day, in the marble lobby of HW Towers, I found myself standing next to our illustrious editor, Sharon Grehan, and her bodyguards. Quickly, I covered my face and assumed the safety position, while stating clearly: "I did not try to make eye contact with Ms Grehan." But this day was different. There was no tickle of the taser in my ribs; no "You don't speak to the editor, she speaks to you"; no waking up in a pile of garbage three hours later. Instead, she turned her impeccably coiffed head to me and simply asked, "Who are you, again?" And after the lightest of beatings, I managed to identify myself as the science editor, which is when Sharon let me know that she had set up my very own HW inbox.

 

As you can imagine, since that time, I have had - literally - emails.

 

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The 'Science' Behind Pets And Other Animals - What You Need To Know

 

Welcome to Part III of what the staff here at HW have started to call "The Science Behind" series. Though I don't think they need to point at me when they say it.

 

 

 

Most of the time, science is kept safely inside research laboratories in hollowed-out volcanoes and ocean-floor domes. And this is how we like it. But sometimes it can get into your life - even into your home. Maybe you have a pet. Maybe you are a pet. Maybe when you came home from work today, your partner was missing and there were prints and drag marks by your front door. Was it a rogue bear? Or just a large, angry owl? In these situations, you need fast, reliable answers. Sci-answers!

 

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