Archives

How often should I reboot/shut my computer down?

JAMES MOORE, VIA EMAIL It depends on the computer. A Windows computer should be shut down, or even better, restarted, once a week or so with ‘fast startup’ turned off to ensure it properly shuts down all processes and cleans up. Mac computers tend to be a little more stable and may only need to […]

How do the chambers of the heart work?

A heart has four chambers in total – two upper, and two lower. The upper chambers, called the right and left atria, receive incoming blood. The lower chambers, the more muscular right and left ventricles, pump blood out of the heart. About five litres (eight pints) of blood is being pumped around the body all […]

Nature’s weirdest animals: Buffy-tufted marmoset

NATURE’S WEIRDEST ANIMALS… Buffy-tufted marmoset If you know your marmosets, then the buffy-tufted marmoset is weird. Even if you don’t know your marmosets, it’s still pretty kooky. With its protuberant ear tufts and pallid grey face, it looks like a cross between Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons and Robert Smith from The Cure. Some […]

How do tearless onions work?

SARAH HARRIS, VIA EMAIL Slicing through an onion damages cells, causing enzymes and other substances that are normally kept apart to spill out and react together. In standard onions the result is a sulphur-containing chemical called syn-propanethial-S-oxide, which resembles tear gas. This forms an irritating acid when it comes into contact with water in your […]

Crowdscience: Are we too selfish to save the planet?

CROWDSCIENCE:ARE WE TOO SELFISH TO SAVE THE PLANET? Every week on BBC World Service, CrowdScience answers listeners’ questions on life, Earth and the Universe. Tune in every Friday evening on BBC World Service, or catch up online at bbcworldservice.com/crowdscience It’s true we have some selfish tendencies – we’re highly motivated to seek out personal pleasure, […]

How is chocolate made?

Chocolate is made from the beans of Theobroma cacao, a small evergreen tree from the rainforests of South America. Translating as ‘food of the Gods’ in Greek, its elongated pods grow up to 35cm, and vary in colour from bright yellow to deep purple. Archaeological evidence suggests we’ve been indulging in cacao products since around […]

Can a vasectomy be reversed?

JOSHUA HIGGINS, VIA EMAIL In a vasectomy, the tubes that carry sperm from the testes to the penis are blocked or cut. Reversing a vasectomy involves rejoining these tubes, which isn’t always successful. Moreover, it is not usually available on the NHS, and can cost several thousand pounds privately. The success rates of a reversal […]

Do dogs know when they fart?

CARYS EVANS, CARDIFF Best! Question! Ever! Some dogs clearly react to their own farts, by acting surprised or by moving away. Perhaps surprisingly, scientists take canine flatulence seriously. Twenty years ago, researchers at the WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute designed a dog jacket that can be used to harvest rectal gases, and subsequently determined that the […]