NewScientist The Last Word - Tag 'human' details

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Mystery mist I took this photograph looking east while in the Drake Passage between Chile and Antarctica. It seems to show a foggy rainbow. What caused it?Annette West, Lincolnshire, UK
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-07-09 18:02:00

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Categories: Planet Earth, Weather .

Tags: human body, technology, weather, planet earth.

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Foil attack

I get two bottles of milk delivered to my house each day. One, containing whole milk, has a silver foil top, whereas the other, containing semi-skimmed milk, has a silver top overprinted with red stripes. Based on observation over several years, the local magpie population will often try to peck at and remove the striped top but hardly ever attack the plain silver foil top. Have other readers observed magpies or other birds being so discerning, and is there a scientific explanation for it?Barry Chambers, University of Sheffield

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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-07-09 17:58:29

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: human body, animals.

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Bags of sleep Why do dark circles appear under your eyes when you are tired?Tammy-Ann Sharp, New Romney, Kent
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Asked by damian
on 2008-07-03 15:03:56

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Categories: Human Body.

Tags: human body, unanswered, weather.

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Count the rings My partner's father was born in Cameroon before proper records were kept. He would like to know how old he really is. Is there any way to determine the exact age of a living human being?Peter White, Cardiff
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Asked by damian
on 2008-07-03 14:44:01

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Categories: Human Body.

Tags: human body, unanswered, weather.

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Eggstraordinary

I found this formation at the bottom of a bowl after beating a couple of eggs in it the day before (see Photo, left). The only additives to the eggs had been a pinch of salt and ground black pepper. The bowl base is 90 millimetres in diameter, and each of the yellow "spokes" is up to 1.5 millimetres wide, arching upward by about 1 millimetre in their mid-portions, leaving those darker clear-glass gaps between the spokes.Besides drying and contraction, what specific eggy or other factors may have determined the formation and proportions of this pattern (which remained unchanged for a week until I needed the bowl again)?John Smaje, Manchester, UK

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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-06-18 19:41:25

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Categories: Domestic Science.

Tags: human body, unanswered, domestic science.

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Dune bug I found this insect, and others like it, in my friend's home near Stamford, Lincolnshire, in eastern England. It looks as if it is covered in sand but this is clearly a form of camouflage. Interestingly, there were no obvious sand deposits nearby. What is it? And why does it look like this?Ian Richardson, London, UK
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-06-18 19:40:41

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: human body, animals, unanswered.

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Kitchen calamity

While reducing red wine and olive oil in a flat frying pan on the stove, the mixture exploded with an audible pop, spraying the wine - but not the oil - up to 2 metres away from the pan. Significantly, the wine was not hot enough to scald me. I hadn't stirred the pan for at least a minute, and the wine and oil had separated. What happened?Alan Gammons, Bradford, West Yorkshire, UKSeveral ideas about what went on here. If anyone feels the urge to find out for themselves which scenario is correct, please exercise extreme caution - Ed

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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-06-11 19:24:02

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Categories: Domestic Science.

Tags: human body, unanswered, domestic science.

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All alone Do polar bears get lonely? I'm not being flippant, just attempting to find out why animals such as humans or penguins are gregarious while others, such as polar bears and eagles, live more solitary lives.Frank Anders, Amsterdam, The Netherlands(Image: stock.xchng, carnaya_00)
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-06-04 19:00:01

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Categories: Animals.

Tags: human body, animals.

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Toilet training Ever wondered how best to relieve yourself in the countryside? Then read Last Word editor Mick O'Hare's guest blog on the Farmers Weekly site, in which he returns to the scatological territory previously covered by this Last Word question.
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Asked by Michael Marshall
on 2008-06-03 15:51:46

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Categories: Human Body.

Tags: human body.

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Shell suit One of my solar-powered garden lights has become home to a colony of snails. Typically about 20 congregate there every day, mainly on the north face of the light (see Photo), but none on the solar panel. Are they adapting to 21st-century technology and using solar power to extend their periods of access to warmth and light?Roger Bloor, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, UK
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