Bird on a wire
I saw this kittiwake flying upside down (see photo, left) in Norway's Svalbard archipelago - about 79 north - while we were stuck in the sea ice. This and other kittiwakes were feeding on polar cod (about 13 centimetres long) that had become uncovered as our ship broke through the ice.What is it doing and why? How many other birds can do this?
Pint of the usual?
The first time I had two pints of beer in my late teens I was horribly sick. Now I can drink two pints of beer without feeling any ill effects.What is the mechanism by which our bodies become tolerant to alcohol, or indeed other drugs, all of which have a smaller and smaller effect with regular use?
After all, I am consuming exactly the same amount of poison which made me ill 30 years ago - why doesn't my body just do what it did back then?
Leaf me alone
Why does my dishwasher have such difficulty cleaning spinach from my plates?Frank Schanze, Stuttgart, Germany
(Image: MLON, stock.xchng)
Wet wind
I have been told that the wind has more force on a yacht's sail in conditions of high humidity, such as in the tropics, because the higher water content of the air increases its mass, and therefore the force, on the sail at any given wind speed.Is this true? If so, is there an equation I can use to calculate the increased force?
Mike Stovold, London, UK
Life on Uluru
Some decades ago I was travelling around Australia and was lucky enough to climb Uluru. Pools on top of the rock had been produced by recent rain and, curiously, in many of them strange aquatic invertebrates were present (see photo, left).This specimen is sitting in my camera lens cap, which has a diameter of 62 millimetres. It looks like an ancient trilobite. Why and how was it on top of the famous, massive rock, and what is it? What happens to the creatures when the short-lived puddles dry up?
Gavin Chester, Dwellingup, Western Australia
Taste tribulation
This is a question that my husband, Jon Richfield, cannot answer to my satisfaction. I find the taste of certain common spices quite horrible. The nasty flavour I get from all of them seems, to me, quite similar.The spices that taste this way are aniseed, caraway, cumin, fennel and coriander. Tarragon, cardamom and capers also taste awful in the same way.
I wonder if there is a food scientist who knows what they have in common, or what my aversion might be. I should add that I am not a fussy eater in general.
Bess Richfield, Somerset West, South Africa
Monkey business
My son has a game in which you hang small plastic monkeys and gorillas from a plastic network of tree branches. The branch network is attached to an overhanging trunk by a magnet. As more monkeys are hooked on, the network becomes more unsteady until the magnet can hold it up no more. The player who breaks the bond is declared the loser.The game depends on a magnet of a clearly defined strength. But how is this strength determined so accurately during manufacture that it can hold almost all the monkeys (but not quite)?
Pavel Sypchenko, Kiev, Ukraine
Negative attitude
I have five solar-powered lights in my garden. Something has spun silken masses inside their battery compartments, and in all five lights they are located at the negative terminal of the battery (see photo below).Is there a reason for this, or is it just coincidence?
Allen Lutins, Johnson City, New York, US
It's his hormones
What would happen if a man took the contraceptive pill, either once, accidentally, or daily? Are there any published cases?Arnout Jaspers, Leiden, The Netherlands
(Image: thesaint, stock.xchng)
Aerial glue
I heard that a Formula 1 car travelling at 200 kilometres per hour would generate enough downforce (or suction) to allow it to stick to the ceiling. Is this correct? And if it is, how is the force generated?Robert Webber, Melbourne, Australia
(Image: mzacha, stock.xchng)
Bad soap
I found this forgotten bar of soap after winter at my home in northern Sardinia. It had grown a coat of mould (pictured). What is the mould and how did it grow on soap, which is supposed to keep your hands clean?Patrizia Figoli Turcheteti, Bellaire, Texas, UK
Bee alert
When I was wandering around my garden one evening I noticed a European honeybee hanging strangely from a lillypilli flower.On closer inspection I saw a well-camouflaged spider holding the bee in place and a number of small flies covering its body (see photo, left). I can understand the spider's role in all this, but what are the flies doing?
Robert McKinlay, Balgownie, New South Wales, Australia
Brainy breeding
Dog breeding often gets a bad press, including the apparently unfounded assertion that breeding for looks has an adverse effect on intelligence in dogs. But has anyone ever bred dogs, or any other species, purely for intelligence? Just how intelligent could any species get through selective breeding? And how quickly?John Schofield, London, UK
(Image: bobike, stock.xchng)
Point the way
When the Apollo and other similar space capsules were returning to Earth, it was important for the larger end of their bell-shape to face downwards. This is because the protective shield, that resisted the intense heat created on re-entry by atmospheric friction as the spacecraft slowed, was positioned there.How were the capsules designed so that they would always keep the larger, protective face towards the Earth and not flip over so that the pointed end faced earthwards? It seems to me that this would be likely to happen as this orientation would minimise air resistance. Or is my grasp of space flight a bit flimsy?
Bill France, Leicester, UK
(The photo shows the Apollo 13 Command Module after splashdown (Image: NASA))
Blank at the bank
About half an hour later the number came back to me and I immediately knew that it was correct. What caused this brief memory lapse and what happened later to allow me to remember my PIN?
Tomek Rej, Carlingford, New South Wales, Australia
Jersey of many colours
Thomas O'Hare (aged 6), London, UK
Apple melt
The snow at the base of our small apple trees melts before snow elsewhere has melted. We've seen this under other trees too. Why?Robert Campbell, Uetendorf, Switzerland
(Image: Mattox, stock.xchng)
Pretty in pink
Why are girls, and particularly young girls, drawn to the colour pink? Is it something society has instilled in them? Or is there something attractive about the colour itself? Shops seem to be full of pink clothes for young girls - are they reacting to demand or just forcing their designs upon children who would not otherwise choose this colour?Anna Garrard, London, UK
(Image: kirsche222, stock.xchng)
The birds
In New Zealand one of our radio stations broadcasts native birdsong each morning. It is obvious that seabirds have a much harsher screeching sound than the more melodious bush and land-based birds. In fact, I can usually tell a bird's habitat simply by the sound it makes. Why is there such a difference, and is it the same throughout the world?John Finlayson, Maungaturoto, New Zealand
Flight of the butterfly
My 4-year-old daughter asked me how high butterflies fly. I was stumped. Can anyone tell us?Jacque and Tara Lawlor, Chelmsford, Essex, UK
(Image: alitaylor, stock.xchng)
Super food
Is there a single foodstuff that could provide all the nutrients that a human needs to stay reasonably healthy indefinitely?Andy Taplin, Cambridge, UK
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