Science, Nature and Tech

Why do we get Hiccups?

Everybody gets hiccups (also sometimes spelt ‘hiccoughs’). Even when babies are still in the womb they hiccup, which can feel very odd to their mother! But why do we get them and how can you stop them?

What are Hiccups?

Hiccups are caused by the diaphragm (pronounced DYE-uh-fram). This is a large, dome-shaped muscle that sits at the bottom of your chest cavity, below your lungs. When we breathe in the diaphragm tightens, helping to pull air into the lungs, and when it relaxes it forces the air back out again. Sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated and instead of tightening smoothly it does it in a jerky way, which makes air suddenly rush into your throat. This air is stopped when it hits the voice box and makes the opening between the vocal cords close very suddenly. This is what produces the sound of the hiccup.

Food and Recipes

Yummy Scrummy Autumn Recipes

Dig out your scarves and gloves – it looks like autumn is on its way! As it gets colder and darker outside, it’s a great time to practise your baking skills. Here at Jump, we can always make room for a dessert, and these ones are especially mouthwatering. Read on to find out about the five yummiest scrummiest recipes we have found online… and remember to ask an adult for help!

You can find this recipe on Taste of Home.

Sick of boring old normal trifle? No, we aren’t either… Still, this is an great twist on a classic recipe, and it’s vegetarian. The pumpkin and gingerbread make it a perfect dessert for this time of year – when you’ve scoffed this, you can get on with carving a pumpkin face!

Science, Nature and Tech

SCIENCE NEWS – Discovery of An Underground Ocean

Earth’s Underground Ocean

In 1864 the French author, Jules Verne, published his novel “Journey To The Interior of the Earth”. In this book 3 men explore volcanic tunnels that lead miles beneath the Earth’s surface, and have a number of strange encounters along the way. One of these is the discovery of a massive ocean, deep underground. Now, 150 years later, it seems that Monsieur Verne’s imagination may have been more accurate than he knew.

An enormous reservoir of water, roughly 3 times bigger than all of the Earth’s oceans put together, has been detected 400 miles below the surface. The water is trapped inside a layer of blue rock called ringwoodite, in the layer of hot rock between the Earth’s core and its surface) that is known as the mantle.

Science, Nature and Tech