Thom Osborne, Granada, Spain

(Image: The North American Indian by Edward S Curtis / Wikimedia Commons)

As part of Christmas dinner this year I cooked a tasty goose. I was astounded at the amount of fat that poured off it during cooking. Why do geese need so much fat?

Debora MacKenzie, Brussels, Belgium

(Image: markmiller, stock.xchng)

I wanted to chill a mug of water so placed it in the freezer, but then forgot about it and it froze solid.

When I removed the block of ice from the mug it contained the most amazing thistle-like pattern of what seemed like canals of air (pictured). None of these canals extended to any outside surfaces. What happened?

Brian Barnes, Somerset West, South Africa

I have just read the label on my shampoo bottle. The list of ingredients is mind-boggling. How on earth did anyone come up with such a complex concoction and what exactly are chemicals such as sodium diethylene-triamine pentamethylene phosphonate and hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde doing to my hair?

Haydn Ford, Hexham, Northumberland, UK

(Image: LotusHead, stock.xchng)

The Last Word has told us why garlic makes your breath and body smell, but I want to know why the spice methi, or fresh fenugreek, has a similar, possibly stronger, effect.

Nikki Bedi, BBC Radio Asian Network, UK

(Image: Wikimedia Commons)

When my family returned from a two-week holiday during the summer, we found a cluster of dead flies stuck to our porch window. Each was surrounded by a hazy mist on the glass.

We have lived in our house for 20 years and we have never seen this before. Even after two weeks, when the photograph was taken, nothing had changed. The flies hadn't moved and no predator had come to eat them.Can anyone explain what has happened?

Stephen Ryder, UK

What is the purpose of the small hole halfway down the outside shell of a Bic ballpoint pen?

Frank Horseman, Derby, UK

At breakfast one day, my 4-year-old son was peeling his boiled egg when he noticed something unusual. On the side of the egg was an almost perfect white square with sides about 1 centimetre long. This was enclosed in an oval patch of yellow matter (see photo, left).

Although the yellow patch looked like egg yolk, the egg appeared normal when I cut it in half, and I could not see any connection between the egg yolk in the centre and the yellow patch on the outside.

Does anyone know how this formation was created?

Johan Forsberg, Linköping, Sweden

In Australia, the loud, shrill call of "Cooee!" is often used over long distances in rural and mountainous areas to draw attention to oneself. What is it about this word that makes it more audible over distance and is there a word more suited to drawing attention to myself should I be lost in the outback?

Tom Langford, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

(Image: stock.xchng, sciucaness)

Plenty of speculation on this one so we're keeping the file open for a while. Thanks to those who point out that "Gooweet" was devised by Australian Aborigines for gaining long-distance attention, while a few hundred years back "hoooooha" was popular in Sri Lanka - Ed