NewScientist The Last Word - Tag 'human' details

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Eye tones I have different coloured eyes. When I look through my green eye the scene is yellower than that viewed through the brown eye which gives a more golden hue. Do we see colours differently depending on our eye colour?J. Hodgkinson, Devizes, Wiltshire
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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-16 16:14:43

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Press the button Why, when I push my finger into my navel, do I feel referred pain in another part of my body? It's not just me - I've asked a few friends and most of them experience the same thing.Antony David, Aberdeen, UK
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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-16 16:11:48

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A pox on you Why does removing chickenpox scabs before they heal leave a scar, while removing normal scabs does not?Thomas Oxhey, Hull, East Yorkshire, UK
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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-16 16:07:53

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A pox on us Why aren't we concerned about a mild virus such as chickenpox mutating into something far worse, when there is such a fuss about the possibility of bird flu virus doing so? What is it about chickenpox that means it has remained stable down the centuries, while flu viruses have mutated almost yearly?Jane Richards, St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK
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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-16 16:04:43

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Dance your life away Why do humans feel compelled to dance to music and are we the only species that does so?Orly Danon, London, UK
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Asked by damian
on 2007-10-09 16:21:28

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Organic Lingerie

I am a midwife and a mother, and recommend using cabbage leaves for swollen, painful breastfeeding breasts, milk suppression and mastitis. I tell affected women to line their bras with the cold leaves. It seems to work, but does anybody know why? Could the same treatment work for breast cysts?Cate Turner, Kendall, New South Wales, AustraliaThe following answers were selected and edited by New Scientist staff. You can add your replies in the comments section below.Cabbage is part of European folk medicine and has been described as a poor man's poultice (see www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7412/451-c). If there are controlled trials of the healing power of cabbages, they are not easy to find - EdCold cabbage leaves will have the simple effect of a cold compress, and reduce heat in the same way as a cold flannel might (but without the drips). However, the beneficial effects of the cabbage are increased if you heat the leaves, by running a hot iron over them or by blanching in boiling water, before applying. The heat releases various anti-inflammatory chemicals as well as phytohormones. Leaving the leaves in the bra will have a slow-release effect as the body warms them and draws out beneficial chemicals.Hot cabbage poultices have also been used for sprains and strains and to draw out splinters. I used the above remedy to treat a breast abscess (a side-effect of mastitis) resistant to antibiotics. Greek women used vine leaves for the same purpose. It would be interesting to find out if the leaves have the same chemicals in them.Vivienne Tuffnell, Lowestoft, Suffolk, UKCabbages are members of the Brassicaceae, a large and diverse plant family. Among many other chemicals, brassicas produce glucosinolate compounds, one of which, sinigrin (potassium myronate), gives rise to the pungent smell associated with cooking cabbage.In the presence of water and the brassica enzyme myrosinase, sinigrin forms "mustard oils", which are noted throughout history for their healing properties when applied as a poultice. Crushed or chopped leaves are applied externally as a counter-irritant to ease swellings and painful joints and to cleanse infections, and a warming sensation can be experienced in the skin. Mustard oils can lead to blistering, however, so must be used with caution.Richard Eden, Consultant botanist, Southampton, Hampshire, UK

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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2007-10-09 15:29:43

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Life After Death

Why do hair and fingernails grow after death? Surely dead means dead. How can our bodies continue to produce more cells?Shannon Smith, BermudaThe following answers were selected and edited by New Scientist staff. You can add your replies in the comments section below.This is something that we noticed as fresh-faced first-year medical students when confronted with the cadavers we were going to dissect over the next two years. All had slightly long fingernails, and all of the men had neatly cropped stubble. We assumed that these had grown while the cadaver was being prepared. However, an anatomy demonstrator assured us that nails and hair do not grow after death and that this phenomenon was actually the result of the surrounding tissue drying out and shrinking away from the nail folds and hair shafts, giving the impression of growth.David Pothier, Bristol, UKThis is a myth possibly spawned by Enrich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front in which Paul BÃ¤umer, the 19-year-old narrator, considers the death of his friend Kemmerich from gangrene. He writes: "It strikes me that these nails will continue to grow like lean fantastic cellar-plants long after Kemmerich breathes no more. I see the picture before me. They twist themselves into corkscrews and grow and grow, and with them the hair on the decaying skull, just like grass in a good soil, just like grass..."Sorry to disappoint anybody, but hair and fingernails don't grow after death. Instead, our bodies dehydrate and our skin shrinks and tightens, pulling away from the hair and nails, creating the illusion of growth. Interestingly, funeral parlours put moisturiser on corpses to help reduce this effect.Richard Siddall, Harrow, Middlesex, UKIt is quite a common error to believe that fingernails and hair continue growing after death. Some time ago a person convicted of murder asked my library's information service for literature relating to the effect. He wanted to prove his innocence by relying on the post-mortem growth of hair and fingernails which would throw doubt on the timing of the killing. Unfortunately for the individual, no scientific verification for this growth exists.Baerbel Schaefer, Marburg University Library, Germany

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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2007-10-09 15:05:54

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Eyes of the world I am a general practitioner with an interest in eyes. I would like to know why green eyes are so rare in the UK. And is there anywhere in the world where they are common?D. R. Piechowski, Kettering, Northamptonshire, UK
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2007-10-09 15:00:57

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Keep focused I am short-sighted. However, if I remove my glasses and peer through a tiny hole made between my fingers, or a pinhole in a piece of card, I can read signs from an even greater distance than with my glasses on. Why is that?Rodney McManaman, Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK
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Asked by Emily
on 2007-09-26 17:50:41

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Face book How many human faces will I, an average person, see in my lifetime? What proportion of all the people that have ever lived am I likely to have seen?Henry Lacey, Bath, Wiltshire, UK
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