If you've already taken radon mitigation steps, you're good. The big danger from radon is inhalation, you really don't want any radioactive decay to occur inside your body. The radioactive dust can likely be removed through simple cleaning activities, and isn't that dangerous if it remains outside your body. Radon's decay chain exclusively produces alpha and beta particles, which your skin can easily block.

What do you think incandescence is? It's essentially combustion without the oxygen, so the filament has to emit photons rather than undergo a chemical reaction. The spectral lines are essentially the same

Taste and smell have some pretty insane under-the-hood processing that occurs in the brain. There are only about 400 different receptors in the human nose, but the different responses of those 400 receptors to odorants allows humans to detect over one trillion distinct scents. And that's just for humans, who have a relatively poor sense of smell compared to other mammals

The "acid" in amino acids refers to the carboxylic acid on the C-terminal side of the backbone, but doesn't actually mean the amino acid has acidic properties, it's just a naming convention. Most amino acids balance out around 7 because in water, the carboxylic acid will give up a proton while the N-terminus snags a proton. The net change in pH is thus largely negligible.

Interestingly, the only group of animals where monogamy is widespread and common are birds.

Ugh, I remember this one. Thought it was pretty good at the time, until you realize that there's a lot of embellishment and poor logic that goes into the conclusions.

Plus, if any culture would have "discovered" the New World between Leif Erikson and Columbus, it would have been the Polynesians. They were cultivating the sweet potato as early as the 13th century, a crop that previously only existed in South America.

Stephen King's writing has always given me the impression that he moved on to his next idea 3/4ths of the way through his book. He does an incredible job of building up to a climax, but never seems to stick the landing. His endings often feel half-baked and lazy.

It also happens more in obligate aerobes who need those mitochondria for respiration. Facultative anerobes (like most yeasts) have some pretty chunky mitochondrial DNA, especially compared to the highly slimmed-down versions found in mammals.