Question of the Week

How does your pet dog's intelligence compare to other animals?

Why do our clothes dry even though the boiling point of water is 100 degrees Celsius?

If we could get energy from the sun, like plants, how big would our skin need to be?

Are the residues from common manual dish washing significantly toxic to humans in the short or long term?

Is it possible to create noise-cancelling headphones, but for an apartment?

Does being hot help to warm up your muscles quicker?

Like with physical exercise, if we practice difficult mental tasks, does our endurance at those tasks improve over time?

Why does a piano's A sharp sound different to a trumpet's A sharp?

In fairy lights the blue ones can be harder to resolve: why?

Why do missiles in films make a descending sound as they fall?

Does one or two steps at a time require more energy, and which is better for a work-out?

Can HIV be transferred through a mosquito bite?

Is it better to throw your old bulbs out immediately, or only as they break?

When we drink a cup of tea, how much of it comes straight back out?

If we put a giant mirror in space, could see Earth a million years ago?

How did birds survive the dinosaur mass extinction?

Listener Tim got in touch to ask: Why do the poles go north-south as opposed to east-west?

Do ants or other insects feel pain in the same way as humans do? And what does it have to do with robots?

What would happen if one could somehow pee standing on the moon?

Water is hydrogen and oxygen, both of which are used in combustion...

Why is it when we break a magnet in half, we get two new magnets?

Why don't you get thrown backwards when you switch on your torch? Kerstin Göpfrich made he

Could a jaunt to Jupiter be the physics-version of anti-wrinkle cream?

Is soap really all it's cracked up to be?