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Question of the Week / 21.06.07 - QotW - What will happen to a soda can dropped in the ocean

« on: 07/06/2021 17:57:29 »

Listener Richard got in touch with this question:

"Will a can of soda dropped in the ocean sink until it implodes, or will it float once the density reaches equilibrium?"

Any thoughts? No pressure.

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Question of the Week / QotW - 21.05.24 - Are all snowflakes really unique?

« on: 24/05/2021 16:14:04 »

Alan sent us this message about snowflakes:

"I have heard it said many times that no two snowflakes are the same. Given the billions and billions of them that have fallen to Earth, this really does seem unlikely. Since nobody has looked at them all, would you agree with me that the only thing to be said with any certainty, is that no researcher has ever found two the same?"

What do you all think?

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Question of the Week / QotW - 21.05.10 - Could dog urine dissolve a tyre?

« on: 10/05/2021 15:12:10 »

We've received this burning question from Trent:

"I just got back from walking my dog. Now, about a block from my house, there's a trailer that's been parked there for a year or two and every time we walk by, the dog pees on the same tyre. It got me thinking: Urine contains uric acid, is that strong enough to eat through the rubber in the tyre? If so, how long would it take?"

Any thoughts?

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Question of the Week / QotW - 21.04.13 - Can an electron ever be between orbitals?

« on: 13/04/2021 14:51:52 »

Mejnun got in touch to ask:

"I have learned at school that when an electron excites it jumps to another orbital around the nucleus. If an electron jumps an orbital you would expect that at that moment it can be found between the two orbitals. My teacher told me that this is never the case. I can not wrap my head around it. Does the particle just disappear in one orbital and appear in the other? Is this instant, is the particle in the other orbital the same? Can you please help me to understand this?"

Any thoughts?

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Question of the Week / QotW: 21.02.22 - Why do my sunglasses make things look 3-D?

« on: 22/02/2021 15:49:39 »

Pavel sent us a message saying:

"Take sunglasses and remove one lens. Watch a normal television film with one eye darkened by a sunglass lens, and the other free. The film will appear in 3-D. Can someone explain to me, how does this work?"

Any insights?

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Question of the Week / QotW: 21.02.15 - What were the health impacts of an aristocrat's diet?

« on: 15/02/2021 17:24:54 »

James got in touch to ask:

What were the health impacts of the vastly difference diets and lifestyles of aristocrats and peasants? Would wealthy Roman patricians be much smarter than plebeians based solely on improved nutrition?"

Any food for thought?

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Question of the Week / QotW 21.01.19 - Could Earth get so big that rockets couldn't go to space?

« on: 19/01/2021 16:02:47 »

Stephen got in touch to ask:

"Is it true that if the mass of the Earth were greater, it would render our chemical rockets incapable of reaching orbit?"

Any astronomical insights?

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Question of the Week / QotW 20.12.21 - Can you get DNA from ashes?

« on: 21/12/2020 18:15:02 »

Paul's been in touch to ask

"I was wondering if it was possible to get DNA out of crematorium ashes. Could you get any information about the person such as weight or height, from their ashes?"

We'll be answering this question on the show, but what do you think?

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COVID-19 / Could COVID beat us?

« on: 17/12/2020 14:14:34 »

Emma got in touch to ask, on behalf of a 9-year old:

"Is there a way coronavirus can beat us?"

Any words of wisdom?

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Question of the Week / QotW - 20.07.30 - Does burying paper sequester carbon?

« on: 30/07/2020 15:14:09 »

Johnny got in touch to ask:

"Does burying paper in a landfill sequester carbon?"

Can anyone dig up an answer?

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Technology / Does coolant velocity matter?

« on: 06/07/2020 17:46:40 »

Rubikron emailed us to ask:

"Does the velocity of a coolant affect its performance when cooling a heated machine, such as a gaming console or nuclear reactor?"

Got any cool ideas?

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Question of the Week / QotW - 20.06.17 - How alike are the children of identical twins?

« on: 17/06/2020 17:48:32 »

Sam sent in this question:

If identical twin brothers marry identical twin sisters, and each of those couples has a child, will those two children be like twins?

What do you all think?

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Technology / What happens to unused electricity?

« on: 17/06/2020 17:44:31 »

Andrew got in touch with this one:

"What happens to 'unused' electricity?

I live in Australia and am fairly used to periodic load-shedding when, for instance, the grid can't supply everyone's air-conditioning on very hot days. But what happens when there is very low demand? There is power when you switch a light on, but when it is switched off again, where does that electricity go. It's being generated and fed into the grid, but if everyone switched off their homes at the same time, what would happen to that electricity fed into the wires at the generator end?"

Any shocking revelations to impart?

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Do magnets weaken?

« on: 15/06/2020 16:44:48 »

Rob got in touch to ask:

"Having bought a camera tripod with some strong rare earth magnets on the feet, I’ve been wondering - do magnets weaken over time?"

What do people reckon?

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COVID-19 / Will coronavirus spread faster if you're warmer?

« on: 09/06/2020 16:56:43 »

We've gotten this question from a listener:

"Apologies if this is a silly question. I imagine that wearing full facial PPE on a covid ward would be quite hot. I was wondering, if a medic contracted coronavirus unknowingly and continued working under full facial PPE, would their intake of breath be warmer into the lungs than normal, and if so could this possibly speed up the incubation of the virus in the respiratory system and intensify the infection?"

Any thoughts?

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COVID-19 / Could UV light combat COVID19?

« on: 21/05/2020 16:41:21 »

Darren sent us a message asking:

"The COVID crisis made me think. Here in NZ we are on tank water (gathered off our roof)  which is sterilised by passing through a tube exposed to a UV light. Could this system be used for the backlight in keypads, touch screen in places like McDonalds, information boards in airports/shopping centres etc? "

Thoughts?

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COVID-19 / Could COVID-19 come back years later?

« on: 18/05/2020 16:45:49 »

Chris sent us a message to ask:

I understand children can catch covid19 and normally do not display symptoms although they are transmitters of the virus.

In a few cases there appears to be an extreme early reaction. My question is:
What confidence level is there that this disease will not remain latent only to arise years later when they are an adult?
What studies are being carried out on the long-term monitoring of known infected children?

Could it come roaring back, what do you think?

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Where does the light go when the switch is turned off?

« on: 12/05/2020 17:46:09 »

Norman got in touch to ask:

"I am sitting in the room with the light on. I switch off the light. Where does the light go?"

Any thoughts?

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Technology / Why are solar panels not curved?

« on: 01/05/2020 15:46:39 »

Paul wonders:

"Why are solar panels not made in a tunnel shape so the sun rises in the morning and lights up the first part of the solar panel and as the sun passes over the top  (I know the Earth is revolving. I am just using the common terminology) , the top of the solar panel is receiving the full sunlight, and as the sun sets on the horizon, it's beams are  landing on the other side of the "tunnel"?"

What do you think, why don't we curve solar panels?

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COVID-19 / Why can't we re-use PPE?

« on: 30/04/2020 14:54:00 »

Paul got in touch to ask:

"There are complaints about lack of PPE. Why cannot gloves be washed in disinfectant and then soap, rinsed, and then be re-used?  There are a variety of masks and I have wondered why most of them cannot be washed and re-used. The same with gowns whether material or plastic."

What do you think?