Does Anything Eat Wasps?: And 101 Other Questions (New Scientist)

How long can I live on beer alone? Why do people have eyebrows? Has nature invented any wheels? Plus 99 other questions answered. Every year, readers send in thousands of questions to New Scientist, the world's best-selling science weekly, in the hope that the answers to them will be given in the 'Last Word' column - regularly voted the most popular section of the magazine. Does Anything Eat Wasps? is a collection of the best that have appeared, including: Why can't we eat green potatoes? Why do airliners suddenly plummet? Does a compass work in space? Why do all the local dogs howl at emergency sirens? How can a tree grow out of a chimney stack? Why do bruises go through a range of colours? Why is the sea blue inside caves? Many seemingly simple questions are actually very complex to answer. And some that seem difficult have a very simple explanation. New Scientist's 'Last Word' celebrates all questions - the trivial, the idiosyncratic, the baffling and the strange. This selection of the best is popular science at its most entertaining and enlightening.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member wyvernfriend

A collection of questions culled from the New Scientists "Last Word" column, where the public pose questions and the public answers, includes some editoral answers as well. Fun, witty and informative.

4 more

LibraryThing member m.c.wade

From the Q&A column in the magazine New Scientist, a book chock-full of scientists' answers to questions like "How fat would I have to be to become bulletproof?" and "Why does lager go flat faster than ale?" and "If I wanted to surf down a molten lava flow, what kind of surfboard would I need?"

This book's approach is unique in that you get answers to each question from several different people, who don't always agree. For example, to sum up the opinions in the book on how fat you would have to be to become bulletproof:
- the shockwave of bullets, even if they don't penetrate the skin, can be enough to kill (for example, with shot pellets);
- a layer of fat two FEET thick might not be quite enough;
- a man 6 feet tall, in order to have an inch thick layer of fat all over, would weigh about 1,425 lbs.
Recommended.

Show Less

LibraryThing member fieldri1

Taking its cue from the popular New Scientist column 'The last word', this book is a collection of the weird and wonderful questions that people have asked of other readers of the magazine. Like the other book 'Why don't penguin's feet freeze', this book takes its title from one of the odder

enquiries in the text.Apparently is transpires that actually an awful lot of different things eat wasps, ranging from various creepy crawlies to birds and larger animals.Full of questions that will make you go 'I always wondered that...' and answers that will make you say 'oh, right, now I see!', this book is a little treasure trove of invention and interest!

Show Less

LibraryThing member elliepotten

I've had a couple of these New Scientist compilations but I have to say, this first one is still my favourite. Like the others in the 'series' it is a collection of letters from the magazine's brilliant 'Last Words' page, where questions can be submitted for other readers to answer. These questions

- and their answers - can be brilliant, serious, hilarious or pithy by turn.

Have you, for example, ever wondered how frost makes those pretty patterns on your window? Or why you feel more pain two days after exercising than you do the first day? Perhaps you've pondered why dark drinks give you a worse hangover than clear ones, or idly considered how long a head can still be said to be 'alive' after it is chopped off? The answers are all here! A brilliant little book for idling away an hour or two...

Show Less

LibraryThing member bnielsen

Indeholder "Introduction", "1. Our bodies", " Contusion confusion", " Congener congeniality", " Poison pen", " High brow", " Life in a glass", " Blubber bullets", " Fossil record", " Delayed reaction", " The sandman cometh", " Growth areas", " Waxing lyrical", " Dead end", " Head trauma", " Raising

an army", " Does my bum...?", " Mr Blobby", " Skin creep", " What goes in...", " Natal knots", " Thunk!", " Bodily breeding", " Google-eyed", "2. Plants and animals", " Chorus line", " Fly, fly away", " Living bath", " Siren screams", " Shell shock", " Living on stone", " Toxic tatties", " Mole holes", " Walking tall", " Who needs nine lives?", " Don't bee home late", " Vicious fruit", " Flying V", " Dem bones", " In the dock", " A sting in the mouth", "3. Domestic science", " Bluto strikes back", " Beer orders", " Spectral images", " Whisking disaster", " Concerned consumer", " Pickled poser", " Dunking dumplings", " Spice attack", " Rubber horror", " Citric secret", " The black stuff?", " Light bite", " Cream on", " Honey monster", " Gurgle time", " Changing tastes", " Curious cuppa", " Indestructible wine", " A long drink", " Shock value", " Honey, I'm bendy", " Grey matter", " Heated hop", "4. Our universe", " Planet pinball", " Which way to turn?", " Turn left at Mars", " No more moon", " Low-gravity lager", " Gnab gib", "5. Our planet", " Dump it in the mantle", " Water, water...", " Hidden depths", " Concrete jungle", " Seasonal shift", " Lava wave", " Coast to coast", " Pingu's pleasure", " Shrinking world", " Balance of power", " Wave goodbye", "6. Weird weather", " No-ball snow", " Which way, Captain?", " Ice art", " Heavy weather", " Heavy or light", " Forest of fear", " Knowing your dews", "7. Troublesome transport", " Wrap up well", " Lighting up", " Pre-inventing the wheel", " Sea legs", " Titanic explosions", " Hail the ale", " Tread mills", " Ship shifting", " Pane barrier", " Fasten seatbelts", "8. Best of the rest", " Family line", " Cold surface", " Killer chemical", " Pipe dreams", " Received pronunciation", " War nuts", "Index".

En masse spørgsmål om ting, man kan undre sig over. Fx hvad første verdenskrig havde at gøre med hestekastanjer og hvor mange grønne kartofler man kan spise før man dør af det.

Show Less

Fewer