Question: February 2012 Archives

• January 2013
  • Wed., 9 – Can we be affected by sounds we cannot hear?
     
• December 2012
  • Wed., 19 – Why do our fingers and toes wrinkle up after a long time in water?
     
  • Wed., 12 – Where do butterflies go when it rains?
     
• November 2012
  • Wed., 21 – If an airplane's wings provide the lift that allow it to fly, how can a plane fly upside down?
     
  • Wed., 14 – Why don't fish like tuna and flounder, that spend their whole lives in the ocean, taste salty?
     
  • Wed., 7 – Why would it better to launch a rocket from a site closer to the equator?
     
• October 2012
  • Wed., 24 – Why do turkeys have dark and white meat?
     
  • Wed., 17 – Why do locations that are relatively close have high tide at different times?
     
  • Wed., 10 – If you place a damp paper towel over a dish of salad in the fridge, why does the towel freeze?
     
• September 2012
  • Wed., 26 – Why does lumber rot if you leave it in the ground, but potatoes don't
     
  • Wed., 12 – What would happen if we removed the locks from the Panama Canal?
     
• August 2012
  • Wed., 1 – Why can we tolerate drinking hot liquids when the same liquid would probably scald us if applied directly to our skin?
     
• July 2012
  • Wed., 25 – Can you get sunburn through ordinary glass?
     
  • Wed., 18 – Can fish hear sounds that are made above the water?
     
  • Wed., 11 – Why wouldn't identical twins have identical fingerprints?
     
  • Wed., 4 – How can weeds grow up through 5cm of asphalt in sidewalks?
     
• June 2012
  • Wed., 13 – True or false: The hotter the night, the louder the crickets
     
  • Wed., 6 – Why do bubbles form in a glass of water that's left on the counter?
     
• May 2012
  • Wed., 30 – When you photograph a person with a flash, you might get 'red eye' but if photograph your dog, you might get 'blue eye'. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 9 – Why are eggs egg-shaped?
     
  • Wed., 2 – Do refridgerators use more energy when they are empty or full?
     
• April 2012
  • Wed., 25 – How do seeds know which direction to send up their shoots?
     
  • Wed., 18 – When you take a cake out of the oven, the air inside the oven doesn't burn you, and touching the top of the cake doesn't burn you but touching the metal pan does. If they're all at the same temperature, why is there a difference?
     
  • Wed., 11 – In large lakes, you see can see the water oscillate from side to side. What causes these seiches?
     
  • Wed., 4 – When you pour some liquids such as oil or honey from a distance onto a plate, the stream will start to circle onto the plate. Why does that happen?
     
• March 2012
  • Wed., 28 – When you pump up a bike tire with a bicycle pump, the valve will heat up. Why is that? (If it because of the air passing through the valve, why doesn't the valve heat up when you fill your car tire at the gas station?)
     
  • Wed., 21 – When an orchestra warms up, the pitch of the wind instruments increases and the pitch of the strings instruments decreases. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 14 – Why will a heavily loaded raft drift more quickly with the current in a river?
     
  • Wed., 7 – If you place a block of wood in a glass of water, and put that glass in an elevator, will the block float higher in the water as the elevator descends?
     
• February 2012
  • Wed., 29 – The moon experiences the gravitational pull from the earth and the sun, but the sun's pull is twice as powerful as the the earth's. Why then, doesn't the moon get pulled out of our orbit?
     
  • Wed., 22 – When lightening hits a tree, sometimes it scars it, sometimes it blows the bark off and sometimes it blows it up. What accound for those varying effects?
     
  • Wed., 15 – Why do some candles flicker, even if there is no breeze?
     
  • Wed., 8 – Why do the blood vessels in your eyes become more visible when you're tired?
     
  • Wed., 1 – Why does skin dry out in the winter?
     
• January 2012
  • Wed., 25 – Where would you expect a traditional pendulum clock to run the slowest:?
     
  • Wed., 18 – If the earth were a perfect sphere, it would be completely covered by the ocean. From 50 m to 25000 m, how deep would that ocean be?
     
  • Wed., 11 – Why does snow at the base of apple trees melt faster than it does elsewhere?
     
  • Wed., 4 – Does the earth lose heat as it travels through space?
     
  • Wed., 4 – Why does the colour of sunsets vary?
     
• December 2011
  • Wed., 21 – An old wives tale says a paste of bicarbonate soda and water will cool a burn. Is that true?
     
  • Wed., 14 – Why do things smell more when they're wet?
     
  • Wed., 7 – Will a log that's decomposing produce as much carbon dioxide, over time, as a log that is burned?
     
• November 2011
  • Wed., 30 – Does wind exert more force on the sails of a yacht when it's humid?
     
  • Wed., 23 – If you wear a wind up pocket watch, it will keep good time but if you hang it up, it won't. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 16 – Cheerios in milk cluster together within a few minutes, even though they were randomly distributed. Why?
     
  • Wed., 9 – If you squeeze a pile of double edged razor blades the sharp edges will look dark. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 2 – When you drop an icecube into a drink at room temperature, what causes the crackling noise you often hear?
     
• October 2011
  • Wed., 26 – How can you stabilize a hanging picture, without interfering mechanically?
     
  • Wed., 12 – You can have a rainbow at night, by the light of the moon, but they are rare, and have no colour. Why is that?
     
• September 2011
  • Wed., 21 – In tennis, is there really such a thing as a slow or fast court? Why?
     
  • Wed., 14 – Why can nearsighted people see better underwater than the rest of us?
     
  • Wed., 7 – How can a hydrophone pick up the sound of a submarine propellor 1000 km away?
     
• July 2011
  • Wed., 27 – 75% of the moon is illuminated by the sun, why can we see the other 25%?
     
  • Wed., 20 – Will black coffee or white coffee stay hotter longer (assuming the milk you added did not lower the temperature)
     
  • Wed., 13 – Swimmers move by pushing and pulling on the water. If the water were more viscous, would they move faster?
     
  • Wed., 6 – When bungee jumping, at what point do you experience the greatest forces and the greatest acceleration?
     
• June 2011
  • Wed., 29 – When you stir a martini, the olive often turns in an opposite direction than the liquid. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 22 – When you ball up a peice of paper, you can only compress it so far, even though there is still alot of air in the ball. Why can't you compress it further?
     
  • Wed., 15 – If you overhead fan is covered with dust and you turn it on high, why doesn't the dust fly off?
     
  • Wed., 8 – Hot air balloonists say when they are in the air, about half a kilometre up, they can hear what people on the ground are saying. The people on the ground, however, can't hear them.... Why?
     
  • Wed., 1 – A magnetic needle on the surface of water will orient to north, but will not move. The same needle, if placed near a magnet, will orient to North but it will also slide toward the magnet. What's the difference?
     
• May 2011
  • Wed., 18 – You can warm your hands by blowing on them gently, and cool your hands by blowing vigorously. What's the difference?
     
  • Wed., 11 – An orange slice dropped in beer will sink and rise repeatedly. Why?
     
  • Wed., 4 – If you were builidng a North-South freeway next to a city, would it better for people's health to build it on the East or West side?
     
• April 2011
  • Wed., 27 – Why do tuning forks have two prongs?
     
  • Wed., 20 – Put some ice in the bottom of a test tube, and hold it there with a weight. Add water to the top and then apply heat to the top of the tube. The water at the top can be boiling but the ice will remain at the bottom. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 13 – When people go swimming, why is it easier for women to float on their backs than men?
     
  • Wed., 6 – When you pour a beer or root beer, you will get a thick head of foam. If you put your finger in it, it will dissipate quickly. What's happening?
     
• March 2011
  • Wed., 30 – Why do we need to dehumidify the air when we use air conditioning?
     
  • Wed., 16 – If you were at a base camp on the moon, would it be harder or easier to walk on the sidewalk than it is on earth?
     
  • Wed., 9 – Take two wooden pails, without lids, and fill one with hot water and one with cold water and put them outside in freezing weather. Which one will freeze first, and why?
     
  • Wed., 2 – Why is it easier for a male speaker to fill a room with his voice than it is for a female speaker?
     
• February 2011
  • Wed., 23 – When you drop water of a very hot surface, why does it form a ball and dance around?
     
  • Wed., 16 – Usually, sound travels faster through solids than through water. Why is lead the exception?
     
  • Wed., 9 – If the walls of a very high or very wide building were perfectly vertical, would they also be perfectly parallel?
     
  • Wed., 2 – Why are industrial smokestacks so tall?
     
• January 2011
  • Wed., 26 – Why are there so few echos in a mountainous terrain?
     
  • Wed., 19 – If you hold an opaque material over your eye and look through a peephole, it will improve your eyesight. how does that work?
     
  • Wed., 12 – Why are waves parallel when they approach the beach?
     
  • Wed., 5 – Why are Mars' mountains higher than earth's?