Glues like the ones used at school are made up of long chains called polymers, which are a bit like spaghetti strands. When you glue 2 pieces of paper together the polymers get into all the microscopic cracks and crevices in the paper, (a bit like ink soaking into the porous surface of paper). As it dries and the water evaporates the polymer molecules are left in the cracks to hold the paper together. But not all glues work like this. Sometimes the glue contains a substance that temporarily melts the 2 surfaces you're trying to stick together, effectively welding them together when the glue dries. Superglue contains cyanoacrylate. When this substance comes into contact with water it forms chains which bond to the ends of the 2 things you're trying to stick together. As the glue dries the chains harden until they can't move.

 

When the rocket motors ignite, huge amounts of hot gas are forced from the back of the rocket. As the famous Cambridge physicist Isaac Newton observed in his 3rd law of motion, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, meaning that in the context of the rocket, the hot gas coming out of the back exerts the same force on the rocket, but in the opposite direction, pushing it forwards. The rocket isn't actually pushing on the ground to make it go along and although it doesn't produce big holes in the ground, things can get a bit scorched !

It's True An Australian gardener who chopped the head off a deadly brown snake with a spade got more than he bargained for when he bent down to pick up the severed head - which promptly bit him. Luckily, prompt medical action saved his life after he collapsed, moments later, in front of his wife.

It's False She actually had 2 little fingers on one hand, not 2 thumbs.

It's True Scientists studying tadpoles have suggested that we hiccup because we are descended from fish and hiccupping is a throw back to the way that our ancient ancestors breathed through gills. So why do we still do it ? The purpose in humans might be to stop milk entering the lungs when the baby suckles, and babies inside mum are 'practising'. Researchers in Paris made the claims after finding similarities between hiccups and the way tadpoles breathe.