While making a cup of coffee, I spilt some milk and it made an interesting pattern. There were approximately 18 small droplets surrounding a larger central droplet (see photo, left). It reminded me of a photograph I saw in a textbook during my childhood, where a drop had just fallen into a glass of milk, resulting in a splash like a king's crown.Why did my pattern and the one from the book form? Presumably they are related. Do other liquids make similar patterns?Stephen Broderick, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
In January I dropped some bricks into my pond, which is a metre deep. In March the pond froze over and an image of the bricks appeared like a hologram in the ice (see photo). What caused this?
While cycling in Ireland I had ample opportunity to observe rain and puddles. I took a photo (left) of muddy water running across a road. Why has it separated into bands, and what determines their spacing?Robert Johnstone, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
When the weather turns cooler in early autumn, I notice an unusual smell in the air, my hair falls out more than usual and my thoughts turn to travel and memories of places that I have visited in the past. This coincides with my friend’s hens moulting and ceasing to lay eggs. Is this phenomenon biologically based, and has it been scientifically investigated or named?Margaret Ellis, Attadale, Western Australia
From this ocean-bound city I recently glanced up at late afternoon sunlight on the underside of a continuous then sheet of altostratus cloud, to see a strange light. A solitary huge ripple, looped in cross section like the Greek letter omega or the ruck in a disturbed carpet, stretching almost from one horizon to the other, rolled slowly across the cloud sheet. The rest of the cloud, in front of and behind the feature, remained calm. I estimated its front-to-back width to be roughly 100 metres, and its speed to be between 5 and 10 kilometres per hour. What was this?George Farrant, Auckland, New Zealand
During the BBC broadcast of the total eclipse, the astronomer Patrick Moore remarked that when it was overcast, the clouds often cleared at the time of totality. I observed this at the Lizard in south Cornwall – breaks in the clouds appeared just as the Sun disappeared behind the Moon. What is the explanation?G. C. Shephard, Norwich, Norfolk
Why does a water tap, when adjusted to a trickle, reduce to a drip after a couple of minutes? I have noticed a gas flame also becomes smaller during this period.Keith French, Hornsby, New South Wales
How much of the world’s carbon is locked up in paper in magazines, library collections, bureaucratic archives and the like?Donald Ingham, Freiburg, Germany
What happens to messages sent using instant messaging programs? Is all data lost forever when a conversation is terminated or is stored somewhere and retrievable – and if so by whom?G. B. Lyons, Newcastle-upon-Tyne