Pasta was developed independently in Italy and possibly influenced by other cultures. What percentage of cooked pasta (by composition) is carbohydrates?

Science & Nature

Which disease is caused by a deficiency of vitamin C?

British sailors earned the nickname 'limeys' after discovering limes cured scurvy during long sea voyages.

Science & Nature

In Linus Pauling's flawed 1953 DNA model, where did he place the sugar-phosphate backbone?

Linus Pauling, a Nobel laureate, proposed an entirely wrong triple-helix DNA model with phosphates inside—partly because he lacked access to Franklin's crucial X-ray data.

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Which scientist created the first injectable polio vaccine in 1955 and refused to patent it, forgoing what could have been billions in royalties?

The polio vaccine's creator Jonas Salk refused to patent it, potentially forgoing billions in royalties to maximize global access and production.

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Which scientist's unpublished X-ray diffraction images, shared by Maurice Wilkins, proved crucial to Watson and Crick's DNA model but sparked decades of controversy over credit?

Maurice Wilkins, who shared the Nobel Prize, initially resented Watson and Crick's credit, and his role in providing Franklin's data remained contentious for decades afterward.

Science & Nature

According to a landmark 2014 study published in the journal Science, which human sense has by far the greatest capacity to distinguish unique stimuli?

Your nose can remember and distinguish over 1 trillion different scents, far surpassing your ability to see or hear distinct variations.

Science & Nature

Unlike Marie Curie, whose two Nobel Prizes were awarded in different scientific fields, Frederick Sanger's two Nobel wins were both in which single category?

Frederick Sanger won two separate Nobel Prizes in Chemistry for determining protein and DNA sequences—one of only four people ever.