2011 January

“Brain freeze” occurs when consuming something very cold gives you a headache. Although some people call it “brain freeze”, “nothing is really happening in the brain — it’s all in the blood vessels of the head.” “When something very cold touches the center of the palate (the roof of your mouth), the cold temperature can set off certain nerves that control how much blood flows to your head. The nerves respond by causing the blood vessels in the head to swell up. This quick swelling of the blood vessels is what causes your head to pound and hurt.” Thus, the easy way to avoid “brain freeze” is apparently to keep cold things away from the roof of your mouth.

Sources:

[1] Title: Ice Cream Headaches
Link: http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/ice_cream_headache.html Description: That ice cream cone has quickly given you a bad headache, also known as brain freeze. If you want to know more about the pain, read our article for kids.
[2] Title: HowStuffWorks “What causes an ice cream headache?” Link: http://science.howstuffworks.com/question96.htm Description: “What causes an ice cream headache?.” 01 April 2000. HowStuffWorks.com. 21 November 2009.
All websites last accessed on 07 Jan 2011

Originally answered by January Yeo, Associate Librarian, Adult and Young People’s Services

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Jan 7, 2011 -

..Adults, ..Children, ..Teens, Environment, Myths & Facts

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Why are clouds white in colour?

Clouds may appear to us in various shapes, but most of the time, the clouds we see are white because their water droplets or ice crystals are large enough to scatter the light of the seven wavelengths (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet), which combine to produce white light.

Clouds will appear dark or gray when they are in the shadow of another cloud or when the top of a cloud casts a shadow upon its own base.

The darkness of a cloud also depends on the sky in the background. A cloud will look darker when it is surrounded by a bright sky and lighter when it is in front of darker sky. A dark cloud does not always mean that it will rain.

More often, the reason why we experience dark rainy days is because clouds are blocking the sunlight. Some of the brightest and purest light can be observed when dark clouds “break apart” and sunlight filters through.

Source:http://sci.odu.edu/sci

For more information on clouds, you can refer to these books!

All Rights Reserved, Tarrytown, N.Y. : Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, c2010
Cloudy Days by Trudi Strain Trueit
Call Number: JP English 551.57 TRU
Publisher: Tarrytown, N.Y. : Marshall Cavendish Benchmark
View item availability here

All Rights Reserved, Minneapolis, Minn. : Lerner Publications Co., c2010
It’s Cloudy Today by Kristin Sterling
Call Number: JP English 551.57 STE
Publisher: Minneapolis, Minn. : Lerner Publications Co
View item availability here

Posted By:

Ms Chen Wanying
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services