Why Do My Fingernails Split Down the Middle?

Chemistry, Health
Even something as insignificant as fingernails can experience problems. For example, Nails Magazine discusses "longitudinal ridging", exacerbated by placing the hands in alcohol or water for long periods or by stress from typing or playing piano. Another difficulty is vertical splitting of the nails. An inconvenience, it is not overly serious. Sometimes fingernails split because the sufferer also has eczema or nail psoriasis. Why, hypothyroid can be a reason fingernails split! That’s How. Why? Imagine you have an 8-1/2” x 11” piece of paper used to print a check with a stub above the check. You must "tear along the dotted line". The perforation weakens the paper so it is easily tears along it. Similarly for some varieties of heavily grained wood. The wood splits along its grain, rather than…
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Are Leaves Alive?

Biology
[caption id="attachment_9521" align="alignright" width="380"] Kalanchoe daigremontiana - Image CC SA 3.0 by Abrahami[/caption] Simple questions can be the most intriguing. We will ponder the answer to the question: Are leaves alive? In so doing, we will discover leaves were not created equal. Trees Consider deciduous trees (trees that seasonally lose their leaves). In autumn their leaves change color as their petioles detach. The leaves then fall to the ground. The tree does not die with the loss of its leaves. Like Fingers? A first impression might be that leaves are alive in the same sense that fingers are. However, fingers are not discarded seasonally. So could it be leaves more closely resemble fingernails, which humans clip regularly? Like Fingernails? Or Are Leaves Alive? No. Fingernails, devoid of internal structure, are…
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Callus Skin is Different

Biology
[caption id="attachment_21280" align="alignright" width="440"] Rhino Horn[/caption] You work hard  when you dig with a shovel or chop wood. The result of rubbing and friction on the hands is callus skin. Calluses may result due to poorly fitting footwear. Carpenters, mechanics, and plumbers have calluses on fingers and palms. What exactly is a callus? Keratinocytes The skin of the palms is about 0.8 to 1.4 millimeters thick. That is some ten times the thickness of other skin. Plantar skin (the skin of the soles of the feet) also can be thick and keratinized. In this process ordinary skin changes into keratinocytes—a horny layer that protects underlying layers. Keratin - Elsewhere in Nature Repeat friction and rubbing stimulate production of tough, fibrous protein called keratin, which toughens skin. Keratin is strengthened by…
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Why Some Boiled Eggs Don’t Peel Right

Food
[caption id="attachment_3204" align="alignright" width="440"] Eggs: Microsoft Clipart[/caption] What's the matter with boiled eggs? It looks like one egg should be as good as another, right? So what makes them different? You put a pot of water on to boil. When it finally reaches a boil, you add some ordinary chicken eggs to make egg custard, deviled eggs, egg salad, or just individual "hen fruits" to munch on with a free sprinkling of sea salt and a little cracked pepper. But... Problem Peeling Boiled Eggs? You experience a problem when you go to peel them. Why don't your boiled eggs peel right? In fact, sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. Why not every time? Anatomy of an Egg Within the eggshell lies more than just a white and a yolk.…
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