Ask a Scientist

All questions

• I have been growing stinging nettle for admira butterflies. So far I have hatched and released 52 yellow admirals but to my great disappointment no red admirals. Do they not lay eggs on the same nettles if the yellow admirals have laid there first or am I growing the wrong type of nettle to encourage the red admiral?
• Is chocolate poisonous to cats as well as dogs?
• We are puzzled by a bird which has been in our garden frequently this summer and autumn, though not before that. It is the same size as a thrush, but has a plain brown chest. It's most distinguishing feature are several white spots, about the size of a fifty cent piece, on it's back and it has some white under its wing. It is mostly seen at ground level and is digging up the moss on the lawn to look for grubs. It appears to spend much of its time at ground level, though it is happy to sample the grapes we are growing on a pergola. What is this bird?
• I love raising Monarchs and this year I have had around 200 caterpillars sent to me from up north. They have all hatched into butterflies. Some of these are just starting to lay again now. Do you think this lot has a chance of surviving our winter, or will they migrate north. If they do migrate what are my chances they come back in Spring? If I was to try and keep the butterflies alive inside for winter what would the best recipe be for nectar and would this be possible? I would so love to have my own stock to start off in Spring with rather than trying to get caterpillars sent to me.
• What is the difference between white and black butterflies?
• Do butterflies have memories? I notice that monarch butterflies hover over the exact spot in my garden where a swan plant used to grow.
• Do butterflies have memories? I notice that monarch butterflies hover over the exact spot in my garden where a swan plant used to grow.
• Is there evidence that saving endangered bird and animal species from extinction will, in all cases, have tangible benefits for human beings? If not, why do we do it?
• Why doesn't New Zealand have colourful birds, as exist in almost any other country.
• Can an old dog learn new tricks?
• I enjoy getting cockles from a sandy beach near Dunedin, cooking and eating them. But I have realised that I know nothing about their life cycle and would appreciate an outline from conception; including an explanation of how their shells grow, what age they are when the shell reaches about 4 cm across, and why the shell "clicks" open suddenly when heated towards boiling temperature
• Some years ago an American schoolgirl suggested sending spiders up into space and observe their construction of webs in a weightless environment. Was this ever done and if so what was the result?
• I found an unusual slug in the grass verge of my vegie garden which doesn't get any sprays. It was about five cm long, about 1cm wide, quite flat and was black with a cobalt blue stripe down one side. The site is 20 metres above the sea and well away from the native bush line. What sort of slug could this be?
• I found an unusual slug in the grass verge of my vegie garden which doesn't get any sprays. It was about five cm long, about 1cm wide, quite flat and was black with a cobalt blue stripe down one side. The site is 20 metres above the sea and well away from the native bush line. What sort of slug could this be?
• I've heard that whereas salmon leave the sea and return to their fresh-water birth-place to spawn, some fresh-water fish go to the sea for the same purpose. This suggests that some fish can live and feed in both kinds of water. What differentiates fresh-water fish from sea-fish?
• Where do quail go in winter? We have two breeding pairs on our property but they seem to vanish in wintertime.
• How far at sea have salmon sold in New Zealand shops travelled?
• As a regular observer of spiders, I have noticed that the number of spider webs near my home in Waikanae has decreased dramatically. Many possible reasons come to mind but is there a known reason for this?
• I drive a lot, and have noticed that almost every bird flies away immediately on the sound of an approaching vehicle. Generally, most birds frighten easily, but Mynah birds don’t. On the road they seem to know how far they need to move from a vehicle and go that far only. Around town they will stand less than a metre away from moving cars. Does this mean they are capable of reason and judgment or is it just instinct?
• What happens to poison once rabbits eat it? Do hawks and other predators get poisoned?
• I photographed a triple rainbow. Is it rare or just unusual for this to happen and what causes this?
• How does this Sun effect happen? It lasted only 2 minutes.
• I recently cracked an egg and found it had three yolks, two small and one large. How rare is this?
• Yesterday I fell straight forward on a sidewalk after tripping. I caught myself with both hands near the wrist, then immediately rolled onto the grass. I wasn't hurt. I've been puzzling over the fact that I immediately rolled over after falling on my hands. It seemed an automatic reaction. Does it have something to do with the energy of falling?
• I found an infestation of small insects in a drawer in my writing desk. (sample enclosed) I had recently thrown out a stained wheat bag stored in the drawer. What are they and why did they accumulate there?
• Why does a daddy spider kill himself and how does he do it?
• I photographed this insect whilst visiting my mother in Owera. What is it?
• I found an unusual spider inside our pump-house. It has a red spot on its back and two red spots on its belly. In its web was a large water spider. What sort of spider is it and is it dangerous?
• My wristwatch had a luminous dial but with time it faded so much as to be unreadable. However when I was in the bush one night I had cause to shine my flashlight on the dial, and when I returned to the tent my watch dial was luminous again. It did not last for long though. What caused it to be re-charged?
• My wristwatch had a luminous dial but with time it faded so much as to be unreadable. However when I was in the bush one night I had cause to shine my flashlight on the dial, and when I returned to the tent my watch dial was luminous again. It did not last for long though. What caused it to be re-charged?
• How do birds find worms under the ground?
• Why are dogs better at smelling than people?
• When ordering a beer in craft beer and other pubs, I usually ask for a pint. The glasses I am given vary dramatically in size. Is there a standard?
• Recently there has been news that a solar flare crossed the orbit of the Earth in recent times, missing the Earth by just 5 days. I understand that should a flare such as this strike the Earth, electricity supply, electronic appliances, and communications would be in jeopardy. What would be the most likely consequence of such an event and what could happen in a ‘worst case’ scenario?
• Why does the Sphynx cat have no hair? Is it to keep cool in a hot place like Egypt?
• Our teacher's dog only chases rabbits when they dash away. Why doesn't it chase the ones sitting or hopping?
• Some people think that with sheet lightening there is no thunder. I have always thought that any lightening caused noise, but I don't completely understand what causes thunder!
• Why do lemmings run and leap off a cliff and kill themselves?
• Why do flies appear to suffer no damage when they bash into window panes?
• I photographed these ducks, which are smaller than mallards but have a larger beak and are shy. What are they and what is known about them.
• I photographed these ducks, which are smaller than mallards but have a larger beak and are shy. What are they and what is known about them?
• I have some young fallow deer which I have been feeding on crushed oats and lucerne. A couple died. Could their diet or the cold have been a problem?
• A newspaper featured a photograph of a rainbow. I have what looks like the exact same photo, which I took on the same afternoon but 200 kms to the East. Can this be the same rainbow? If so how far can they been seen.
• I recently arrived back from Canada and the USA with a tick attached to my leg which my doctor photographed, removed and sent away for identification. Does this happen much and is the tick dangerous to me or biosecurity?
• This animal was resting against our house in the sun in Hampden. The body was 140mm, the feelers were 90mm, and the legs approx 75-85 mm long. What is the name and what do they live on? We shifted it into a tree and it got quite aggressive.
• A colour wheel consists of a series of black lines which, when spun, produces colours. Why is this so?
• Is it true that the plastic foam which provides the cushioning in safety helmets degrades over time and becomes ineffective ?
• Why isn't pea straw fed to animals the way hay is?
• My dad could not go to work because a cow derailed the train he was going on. How can a 270kg cow derail a train?
• We have bones and a letter re a moa called Dinornis torosus. What is known of this species of moa?
• Why do our electric clocks seem to gain about 10 - 15 minutes over a 10 day period whereas the clocks on the microwave and the electric range keep perfect time over the same period.
• What are the bugs we found in the bottom of Nan and Pops water fountain? They are like a stick, and walk along the bottom of the water.
• What causes the colour in clouds, from white to grey to blue-black? Steam in the kitchen is transparent but would it become coloured if in great depth, similar to water? Bath water is colourless but the ocean is green or blue. In both cases are other ingredients involved?
• Bee-like insects were hovering at a corner of my house, behind the lemon tree, apparently wanting to get in under the weatherboards. They were there three days then vanished. There were lots of similar looking insects on the Senecio Greii a few days later. What was going on?
• I was watching USA golf and the commentator said that US golfers aren't used to playing in rain as there is a huge chance of lightning when it rains in the USA. The same seems to happen in Australia and parts of Europe. In NZ we have lots of rain and few lightning storms. So I was wondering if the reason has something to do with islands and continents as it seems to me the bigger the land mass the more lightning?
• Recently I observed a group of red-billed gulls, many of whom appeared to be standing on one leg until they moved which showed they had two good legs. Is this normal bird behaviour and why do they do it?
• On a recent climbing trip to Mt McKenzie on the main divide, my companions and I came across some amazing patterns created in the snow by an unknown creature. A circle was being formed the rebate was approximately 4mm wide and 2-3mm deep. On our return journey passing the same position, the circle was nearer to being completed by about 10mm in 1hr. A closer examination of the creature revealed it was about 4-5mm long, 3mm wide, and looked like a small chip of rock. On the underside showed some sucker like feet . The position of it in the groove indicated that it was moving sideways.
• Recent light shows have had strings of large white translucent globes gently change colour through six colour ranges. How is this done?
• Our cat sleeps on our bed but since we left him at a cattery for five days he has been "kneading" us at night, keeping us awake. How can we discourage him from kneading?
• How does one get rid of cluster flies?
• How does a DVD keep on the track on the disc? It isn't like an old record where the needle follows a grove?
• Why do most land birds have a tuneful song, whereas most sea birds seem to have a raucous call?
• During the winter I have had condensation under the toilet cistern and puddles of water on the toilet floor. Is this due to a recently installed heat pump and, if so, why is the dampness occuring now?
• Why do dogs drag their bottom over the ground?
• If hydrogen is used to run a car, could the resulting water be re-electrolysed to produce a continuous hydrogen cycle, and do the same gasses bubble up from both electrodes?
• I have two whitetail spiders in my house. Can you enlighten me about them please?
• I read somewhere that enough solar energy falls on Australia in a day to provide the world's energy needs for a year. Is this correct?
• Will a leather pouch for a cellphone prevent the possible human tissue damage caused by the radiation emitted by cellphones? If not, what can?
• In winter in the Whakatipu Basin we feed the waxeyes and are normally inundated with them. This winter, not a one. Where are they?
• Why are clouds white?
• Is natural radiation dangerous?
• Are there any blind insects?
• Are there blind insects?
• What is radioactivity and how is it made?
• Can the gamma rays from a smoke alarm build up on the casing and cause it to be radioactive?
• I found some odd shells on Ocean View Beach. They were shaped a bit like a butterfly. What are they?
• What colour are ladybird's eggs?
• Scientists are trying to make heavy atoms possessing 'magic' numbers of protons and neutrons (such as 126), which should be extra stable. What is the reason for the instability of the light atoms Technetium and Promethium, which have no stable isotopes? Are 43 and 61 'anti-magic' numbers?
• Why do lady birds have the colours and spots they do?
• Why are scientists making artificial/new atoms? Of what use are they?
• Why does the Moon look red sometimes? What does it mean?
• Do we need insects?
• Why does the Moon look red sometimes? What does it mean?
• How many different kinds of bugs are there?
• As a motorist traveling regularly up and down between Dunedin and Christchurch, I have often pondered the question of how long a rest stop one would need to avoid ever catching up again with the oversize traffic ahead. For example, I recently became stuck behind a line of sheep truck, milk tanker, private car and a truck and trailer unit. The convoy speed was 80 to 100kph. The vehicles were too close together to pass individually. Fortunately, they all passed the Waimate turn-off cafe, so I stopped for a coffee. Sure enough, I didn't catch up with them again. Assuming that all were traveling to the same destination, is there an underlying rule of thumb about the time I need to stop for to ensure I don't get held up again?
• What kinds of insects can fly?
• If the eye is a single lens shouldn't the image be up-side down on the retina?
• Do insects see colour?
• Do insects see colour?
• Ever since I was a child, I have been led to believe that 'wild-fire' that occurs on windy nights was different from lightning.What is wild-fire?
• Can spiders climb?
• I read that Cherenkov radiation occurs when a charged particle moves faster than the speed of light through a transparent medium. But I thought nothing travelled faster than the speed of light?"
• Do Tarantulas eat mice?
• How many spiders are there?
• When crossing a causeway in the harbour the tidal flow direction is quite clear as water rushes through the constriction. How is tidal flow direction determined where there is no constriction?
• The harbour surface often shows wrinkled lines of water moving at right angles to each other. How can these ripples criss-cross without losing shape?
• Why are some animals camouflaged and some not?
• Why can a blowfly fly full speed into a glass window without appearing to suffer any ill-effects?
• How are spiders poisonous?
• Why are insects so small?
• Since leaving our cat at a cattery for five days he has been "kneading" us at night. He walks around in circles, kneading and purring. No matter how many times we lift him off the bed he comes back and will carry on before going to the end of the bed to sleep. This is depriving us of sleep. What causes his kneading?
• Why does food heated in a microwave oven cool quicker than that heated in a pot on the stove, even though both appear to be boiling?
• Why is light faster than sound?
• How many different types of light are there?
• A hen lays an egg a day. Where do the eggs laid by seagulls, sparrows, and other birds go?
• How do solar panels work?
• Why don't animals today grow as big as dinosaurs?
• Why does light make heat?
• Tuis appear to vanish for two months during the winter. Where do they go to?
• I have a keen interest in helping the city and bush birds through the winter months. I put out sugar-water and seed on a daily basis and also bread. I was recently told to be careful about feeding bread to the birds when they begin nesting because it can actually harm the baby birds when the parents feed them. Is this true? I would hate to think I was harming them rather than helping them.
• .
• How do nectar feeding birds, such as tuis, feed their young?
• Why do short-tailed New Zealand bats eat nectar?
• Why is it that no matter what colour bubble bath is used the bubbles are always white.
• What is the proper name for the pink mould that grows in bathrooms? Why does it like the bathroom so much and what is the easiest way to get rid of it, preferably for a decent length of time?
• I have two air-temperature thermometers, one about 110 years old and a new cheap one, both made by the same manufacturer and both containing a red fluid. They register about 3 degrees Celsius different. Why? And how can I find out which one is accurate?
• How do steam train whistles get that woo-woo sound?
• We provide fat and seeds for birds over winter. Often in a group of silvereyes, there will be one bird that will sit on a branch near the food or on the feeder and ruffle its wings at the other birds as if to say "go away this is my food source!" We've also observed this bird sometimes fly at and chase other silvereyes away from the food. Sometimes they will also try the wing ruffling at Greenfinchs, who ignore it! What does this ruffling signify?
• Sandfly, and mosquito, bites itch and itch heaps! But why? And by that I mean what is the evolutionary advantage to the sandfly, or mosquito, in making it's victim suffer so much?
• What is in the bubbles in iceblocks?
• How does a dust bath clean a chicken's feathers?
• Why is ice sometimes clear and sometimes cloudy?
• What animals are colour blind?
• When driving into a ground floor car park the AM radio stations go noisy and vanish but the FM radio stations can still be heard. Why is this?
• My sister and I caught a little fish in Sawyers Bay Creek. It was unusual in that it had a sac on its tail. Can you tell us about the fish and the sac? P.S. We put the fish back.
• If a driver was faced with a car of similar speed (100km/hr) coming straight at the driver on the wrong side of the road, and the drivers only options were to hit the car or a solid concrete bridge abutment, which should the driver choose?
• Around our home we have about 12 brown striped skinks. What do they eat and what are their mating habits?’
• About 4 years ago, we noticed that the starlings that used to roost on Pudding Island changed their behaviour, and started to come in huge flocks to roost in the gum trees behind our house, making a very loud and cheerful chattering to brighten up our winter dawns and dusks.
• How does a thermos flask keep my Dad's tea hot or his fruit juice cold?
• Is there any research going on concerning farming snails in New Zealand?
• When making a single cup of tea is it more efficient to use my electric jug (1400W) or my microwave oven (600W)?
• My goldfish was swimming on its side and the pet shop told me to put a pea in his bowl to eat. He died but we were wondering what a pea has in it to make him better?
• If an electrical current increases, do more charges leave the battery or do they just travel faster?
• Why does the handle of a cup not get hot when the cup is?
• How does heat travel?
• What sea creatures use a "cats-eye" to seal the entrance to their shell and what functions does it serve?
• Why does heat travel?
• Why do mountains appear to be blue when seen in the distance?
• Have the native birds of NZ influenced non-native birds to alter and improve their songs?
• If I place two bar magnets with like poles facing they repel. However, if I place a 2cm wide bar of unmagnestised steel (a keeper) between them then both are attracted to the keeper, ie the attractive force to the keeper is greater than the repulsive force between the opposite poles. Why is this?
• Why are flowers fragrent? Can bees smell?
• My mother and grandmother often mention that following washing, white clothes always take longer to dry than non-whites. Are they correct?
• Is it true that water can be electrolysed by a car battery into hydrogen and oxygen to be used as a fuel supplement to petrol?
• I found a large ant in the roots of a Clivia from Tauranga obtained more than five years ago. Is it unusual being so large and does it bite? Is it common, is it strange for Dunedin, and is it normally so long-lived?
• During a recent drive we came to a railway crossing. The barrier arms were down but no train was coming. I would like to know what makes the barrier arms go down when there is no train coming.
• In removing an attractive rock on dry mud I was amazed to see a small frog underneath it. There appeared to be no crevices by which it could get in or out. Why was it there and how did it survive?
• A blackbird in our garden has more white than black on its body. The white parts are stark white. It used to be chased by the black blackbirds but now chases them. Is it unusual for a blackbird to be born like this?
• I am informed that the human body acts as an aerial, and picks up any wavelength that matches a person's height. Is this so?
• I have been observing slaters in my garden. Why do slaters and centipedes have so many legs?
• Why is the moon yellow at night but white during the day?
• At the gym my excercycle has a mesh cage over the fan on the wheel which cools the rider. In cooler weather I put my towel over the cage to stop the draught. It is a lot less effort when the cage is covered by the towel. Why is this?
• The frogs in my neighbour's pond vanished three years ago. My neighbour said a heron and kingfish ate them all. Could there be other causes and is the pond likely to get repopulated?
• Living on Otago Peninsular for 15 years I have noticed over the past three years that there has been no swarming of Munida (scarlet shoals) and no Peruvian mackeral in the harbour. Is this connected with global warming?
• When a marble is rolled over a flat surface why does it make a noise?
• Why does my long hair stick up after I have brushed it?
• What animal wags its tail the fastest?
• How can glass be broken by sound?
• My Nana has bugs flying around her tree. It looks like a short skinny wasp, black and white with orange legs and white feet. It flies with its back legs pointing back. What are they?
• How did platypus come about?
• What causes gravity?
• When we look in a rear-view mirror the number plate of the car behind appears back to front but not upside down. Why is this?
• Why do birds build nests that are identical to their species? Where does the nest design and building knowledge come from in the bird?
• How do Paua reproduce?
• Why does water take away friction?
• How do mother Emperor penguins know if their chick is a boy or a girl?
• In order to show students that radio waves wont travel through a metal mesh I wrapped a walkie-talkie in mesh, but it picked up a signal. I then tried wrapping it in two layers of aluminium foil, but it still received a signal. Why was this?
• Whilst cleaning out a shed at Taieri we found a mushroom-shaped, shell-like object. What could it be?
• How can we keep a swing going without touching the ground or being pushed?
• Which is the most poisonous spider in the world?
• Why does water make bubbles when it boils?
• Why do we see a reflection off the clear windscreen of a car?
• I observed baby? wax-eyes fluttering and vibrating their wings a lot. What are they saying?
• When a seagull swallows a fish whole, what happens to the bones?
• How do scientists measure the speed of light?
• Why do some species of animals like human company but others not?
• Why am I more buoyant when floating in sea water at Tonga than around New Zealand?
• How does a magnet pick things up?
• Where do flies live when it is cold?
• Friends of mine in Germany paint bird sillouettes on their large windows. Is there any evidence that this deters birds from flying into the glass?
• How does a magnetic field go through things?
• Having dived the East Coast, why are there only small crayfish found in North Otago and they get bigger as one goes around the south coast towards the Fiordland sounds?
• What are permanent magnets made of?
• How do you make an electromagnet?
• Why do some balls bounce?
• How come when I put out sugar and water in my bird feeder, within minutes a tui, bellbird, or waxeye, appears, followed by lots of its mates. Can they communicate?
• Why is lead not transparent but lead crystal glass is?
• Why do sharks sink when they stop swimming?
• Why do fish need gills?
• What goes up but never comes down?
• Are bubbles liquids, solids or a gas?
• Whilst whitebaiting during a heavy flood the dirty water was full of tiny eels. Where did they come from?
• When a balloon pops why does it make such a loud bang?
• When whitebaiting we often catch smelt and small fish called cucumber fish? What is a cucumber fish and what is known about it? eg what does it grow into?
• When a ballon pops why does it make such a loud bang?"
• Why do crayfish go on walks around the South Island?
• How does a garden solar-powered light work?
• If animals have such sensitive hearing how can they live with household noises?
• Why does light slow down in glass and what is the fundamental cause of the colour display in prisms and diamonds?
• What did sandflies live on BC (Before Campers)?
• In a family flash photo our eyes appeared red but our old dog's were yellow. Why the difference?
• Why is it that when a half-full bottle is spun in a vertical circle the liquid doesn't fall out when the bottle is upside down?
• Whilst tramping around the coast we found a waxy blob washed up. Could this be ambergris?
• We often see sea fog form over the sea, then drift up the river before spreading over the land. Why is this?
• How does humidity work? How can there be more moisture in the air in summer than in winter when it is wetter weather?
• Why are there eggs and what are they made of?
• According to Einstein the speed of light is constant for all observers irrespective of their speed and location. Thus whether or not an object is said to be rotating will depend upon the observer. However, rotating objects distort. Our Earth is slightly flattened at the poles for this reason. Does this not imply that the rotation is intrinsic to the object itself and is not related to the measurements of independent observers?
• While walking around the edge of a Central Otago dam, when the water was very low, I found about 10 white, chalky, hemispherical, button-like objects about 14mm in diameter. What are they likely to be?
• Why does the speed of sound in air increase with temperature?
• What causes gravity?
• Do bumble bees make honey, live in hives, sting, and have a queen bee, just like honey bees?
• What is the colour black?
• Why do I see only bumble bees pollinating Rhododendron flowers?
• Think of a headlight on a car travelling at 100kph. If light is incapable of travelling faster than the speed of light (c), ie at c plus 100kph, would then the light be brighter immediately in front of the filament? Could it be compressed in someway? If not why not?
• Why are eggs different shapes and colours, and how do the chicks get out?
• Why are the ponds at the Grassmere Salt Works pink?
• Bernoulli's Theorem predicts that air flowing around objects will exert the lowest static pressure where the air flow velocity is highest, and the highest static pressure where the velocity is least. What common examples demonstrate these forces?
• Bernoulli's Theorem is the usual explanation for how aircraft wings generate lift, in that an aerofoil causes the air to travel faster over the top of the wing. It seems very odd that a fluid moving at a faster rate is at a lower pressure. One would think that with faster speed there would be more energy involved and there would also be an increase of pressure in the fluid. Why not?
• In tussock and snow grass of the hills of Central Otago I came across two very hairy caterpillars. The were dark brown, the hair was very dense which gave them a velvety appearance, and they were about 25mm long and about 4 mm in body diameter. They were very active and seemed to be travelling. When picked up they curled into a ball like a hedgehog does. Can they be identified from this description?
• I learned in physics that electricity stays on the outer surface of a metallic shell. Does that mean when a Medieval knight in armour is hit by lightning he would be OK?
• How do venomous snakes get the poison in their teeth?
• How do zebras get their stripes and why?
• If nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, and supposedly strange things happen if anything exceeds the speed of light, how can light travel faster than the speed of light if, for example, you throw a torch that was switched on?
• While flying a helicopter my Dad saw a rainbow which was a complete circle. Are all rainbows complete circles?
• How long do elephants live?
• Why are elephants grey?
• Why is water invisible?
• If we drilled a hole right through the Earth and dropped a two-tonne lead weight would it go right through or stop at the middle?
• Do all cheetahs have the same number of spot patterns?
• How do giraffes get their patches and why are there three types of girrafe?
• Why do bubbles in fizzy drink, or boiling water, stream from a small number of places?
• Our house has a lot of glass and in early summer typically half a dozen thrushes fly into the windows. There are many other types of birds around but they all seem to avoid the window collisions. Why is it thrushes dont?
• How does induction heating on a stove work?
• We have wind chimes and a spider has made its home in one. Can spiders hear?
• Polaroid sunglasses polarise light so that when when looking through two sunglasses at right angles to each other no light gets through. However when a third sunglass lens is added between them light can get through. Why?
• Are cock-a-bullies seasonal?
• During a heavy frost, ice made a very attractive pattern on the glass roof of our conservatory. Why did this pattern form?
• Are any insects extinct?
• How did Rutherford go about splitting the atom?
• Surface tension draws water up a tube. Could a very large number of very fine tubes be used to draw water to the top of a water tower and use this water to generate power?
• I found a stick insect, with a body length of 9.5cm, on a house wall. Is this one fully grown or do they get bigger?
• I saw a demonstration in which a lightbulb placed in a microwave oven glowed. Why did it?
• Do fish sleep?
• Do fish sleep?
• Why is it bumpy flying through clouds?
• How did insects first come to be?
• What colour is spider blood?
• Is it possible to see a rainbow as a complete circle?
• Why is speed at sea measured in knots and what are they?
• How do birds develop in an egg?
• In the film "The Bourne Identity" the hero, in a tight spot in a stairwell, grabbed the body of a dead baddy, jumped over the bannister and fell several stories, using the baddy's body to break his fall. Would this be possible?
• How long do tarantulas live?
• What is the people-carrying vehicle which has the most kinetic energy?
• Why do insects make noises?
• Why do some desert people wear dark coloured clothes? Isn't it cooler to wear white?
• How is lightning formed?
• How many types of butterflies are there in the world?
• Why does sound travel faster in solids than in air, whereas light travels slower?
• What do leeches eat and do they occur as far south as Otago?
• Why is it necessary to compress hydrogen gas to run a car of the future?
• What is an algal bloom and how do they affect people?
• Where do whitebait go, and why, in the off-season?
• Why do I get an electrical shock when I touch the car door to get out?
• How do seahorses swim and how big do they get?
• How does water conduct electricity?
• How does electricity go through power lines?
• How many types of seahorses are there in New Zealand and what do they eat?
• How does water turn into electricity?
• How can whales spout water out of their spouts?
• Why doesn't the constant shedding of debris from a comet (giving it a tail) mean that they 'wear out' in a few years, or decades, or centuries?
• Why is an Octopus slimy and how do they make the slime?
• During the second world war powerful sleeve valve engines were developed for British fighter aircraft. Why hasn't the motor vehicle industry used these engines in production cars?
• How can whales stay under water for so long?
• What happens to the electrons when an alpha particle is ejected from a radioactive nucleus?
• What would happen if two black holes got close to each other?
• Does burning coal help produce the ozone hole over New Zealand and will the hole repair itself?
• Why do hammerhead sharks have heads that shape?
• How was space formed?
• Bill Holvey, of Kirwee, asked:-
• How can we tell a male turtle from a female turtle?
• Here’s a question for us hot yogis. Bikram Yoga is a series of 26 hatha yoga postures performed in a heated room (40°C) over 90 minutes.
• Why do sharks have cartilage rather than bones?
• A TV expose showed video footage from a pig farm where rats were living with the pigs, and carcasses of dead pigs were left with the living pigs. Apart from the animal welfare issues, this kind of farming practice raises also human health issues. Could you please explain what is the chance of getting Trichinosis and/or Creutzfeld-Jacob disease ("mad cow disease") when consuming meat from the pigs living in these kind of conditions?
• Why do modern fridges "hum" more than old ones?
• How big is space?
• For disaster preparedness we are told to keep a supply of food. What is the life of canned food?
• Do crabs only live in the salty sea?
• Elizabeth Andrews, of Christchurch, asked:-
• I have been told the Earth gets 100 tonnes heavier each day due to space dust. Is this so?
• To get quick relief from Gout, a doctor once prescribed Colchicine. This caused me to empty my whole "poisoned" system by vomiting, a horrid heaving experience, and extreme diarrhoea. Would consuming a whole bottle of prune juice, which is much more pleasant and cheaper have the same effect?
• What are jellyfish, how do they move and what do they eat?
• At mid-winter in Wellington (latitude 41.3 degrees), the Sun rises at 7.48 am and sets at 4.58 pm (NZST), whereas in Sydney (latitude 33.9 degrees), the Sun rises at 7:00 am and sets at 4.54 pm (AEST). Sunrise in Sydney is earlier at that time of year, because it’s further north. However, the sunset times are almost the same. Why isn’t the Sydney sunset time later than that for Wellington?
• Is there a container that wont expand at all under pressure inside it?
• I read somewhere that gold is not a naturally occurring mineral on earth, but instead has come from debris after certain planets collided. If that is so, are any further visitations possible or was it a one-off event during earlier stages of the Big Bang?
• How do starfish breathe, eat and move?
• How do sea animals protect themselves?
• If a lunar month is 28 days, does that mean a full moon is always on the same day of the week?
• Why do you go into space in a rocket and not in a plane?
• Why is it that some children and teachers get nits constantly but others don't get them at all? Is it something to do with blood?
• The sun cuts an arc across the sky from sunrise to sunset that is high overhead in the summer and low in the winter. The moon's path is the exact opposite of this. High overhead in the winter, low in the summer. Is there some kind of mirror effect happening?
• How do jellyfish sting?
• If the ozone hole gets too big will people start to die?
• On Sunday May 5th, near Clydevale in South Otago, we saw through a hole in the clouds something falling with white smoke-like stuff trailing behind it. It seemed to hit nearby trees. Could it have been space junk?
• Why does a breast feeding mother who eats a strongly pigmented food like beetroot have her breast milk stay white but the baby's poop go pink?
• How do fish survive under water?
• How long does it take a raindrop to reach the ground?
• Why do some people get seasick and others in the same boat don't? Are there any good cures for seasickness ?
• What different types of animals live in the sea?
• Could it be true that the solar system exerts a modulating influence on solar cycles?
• How can you measure the size of raindrops?
• How is it that our seasons change exactly on time by calendar whether the Earth is moving in orbit away from the Sun or towards it?
• Last season we released some whitebait into our small garden pond which has a rocky edge with long grasses. During the winter they vanished, so we assumed they had been eaten by predators. But in spring they reappeared. Where had they been hiding?
• How big is a raindrop?
• Is Pluto a planet or not? It has moons, so is it a planet? How do the moons hide? Are the moons hiding behind Pluto?
• How come a video camera sees the invisible signals from a video remote unit?
• I found the enclosed spiders in my wood-pile. It isn't a species I have seen before. Can you tell me anything about the spider and is it dangerous?
• Nutritionists often stress the importance of including green and leafy vegetables in your diet. Do broccoli, green bean pods and green peppers have the same nutritional value? If not, how do they differ?
• How did the sun get so hot and stay hot?
• How does a TV remote work?
• Why do cats have litters with so many different colours?
• Who discovered the first planet and how did they know it was a planet?
• Where does wind come from?
• How do baby birds inside a fluid filled egg, and without an umbilical cord to their mother, survive so long without oxygen?
• I have been told that I shouldn't use aluminium cooking pots because aluminium can contaminate the brain. Is this so?
• Why does the "head" on a glass of Guiness beer seem to be finer and longer-lasting than other beers?
• Why is it that as they age men’s bottoms shrink, while women’s expand?
• I overheard some people talking about the galactic equator and planetary alignment on Dec 21, 2012. What is expected to happen then?
• Where do the bubbles come from in the bottom of a glass of fizz or beer?
• Whilst tramping in the West Matukituki Valley in Mt Aspiring National Park in January, I saw a very hairy black caterpillar about 4cm long scurrying across a boulder near the river. With each curl-up it made one or two thin lines of bright red/orange visible under its black hair. What can you tell me about this caterpillar?
• Why does the North-West Arch occur?
• Why are some people severely poisoned by one mosquito bite, while others merely experience a slight reddening which soon disappears?
• What are the constituent chemicals in urine? The ancient Romans used it as part of a cloth dyeing process.
• I have never before seen this butterfly/moth. What is it?
• On Tuesday the 13 of March 2012 at 8:50pm I was sitting in our spa watching, what I believed was a satellite, going slow across the sky (south to north) then all of a sudden it flashed really bright then took off across the sky really fast. What could this be?
• When cooking food in a microwave, will it destroy all the organisms that could give you food poisoning?
• Where and when is it best to look for aurora?
• Why is gravity on Mercury different to gravity on Earth?
• We have on our property a pure white sparrow and a pitch-black fantail. Neither have any markings on them. What causes such colouring?
• How and why do lizards drop their tail when under attack?
• What causes the Northern/Southern Lights?
• If all the elements in planet Earth other than the lightest two or three were formed within earlier generations of stars, and planet Earth was later formed from the remains of these stars, how is it that the metals used in modern technologies are not evenly distributed through the lithosphere, but tend to be concentrated in particular places?
• Recently we had an abundance of lemons and decided to juice them. We stored the juice and pulp in the fridge in a plastic milk bottle and a glass bottle. After a few days you could see the plastic bottle, which was only half full, starting to swell and when it was opened it gave a loud fizzing sound and juice spilled out. The lemon in the glass bottle, which was filled to the top, also fizzed upon opening but wasn't as reactive.
• Why do I have a dimple in my chin?
• Once upon a time wine bottles had corks, and after being opened needed “breathing.” Why don’t the current metal screwcaps need the same performance? Was it only a ritual or does wine still need breathing?
• When scientists are trying to form a clone of an animal how do they get the cells to multiply?
• Why is water so blue in the deep bits?
• Is the Moon drawing closer to the Earth?
• Once upon a time wine bottles had corks, now more often they have screwcaps. With corks, the wine was sometimes "corked." What is "corked", and can it be cured or avoided?
• Why are planes made from metal?
• How can astronomers look 13 billion years into the past?
• Why does hair colour change with age?
• Does a tiger have different organs to a snake?
• What do you think happened to wipe out the dinosaurs?
• In a recent column re What causes cramp? the explanation concentrated on that occuring during physical activity and hinted at other causes. From time to time I suffer cramping when I am in bed. I have to roll myself out of bed and stand on the cold floor, then make my way to the kitchen to take 'dolomite' tablets which usually do the trick. I can't recall ever having cramp during or after exercise. Usually the cramp seems to come for no reason that I can think of. What causes these cases?
• Why is it that when I look into my dinner spoon my reflection is smaller than me?
• I use a Baking Soda and White Vinegar cleanser to a recipe of 2Tb Baking Soda, 1 cup of white vinegar and brought up to 1 litre of water. My use is mainly for surfaces in the kitchen.
• Why are there so many species of animals?
• Morgan Allington, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:-
• What causes cramp?
• Do dogs see the same colours we do?
• When is the best time to see meteorites?
• Why is it that some milk freezes very well, green top is fine but blue top separates out and is not appealing?
• How do mirror's work?
• What knocked over Uranus so that it is on its side?
• Although I take magnesium daily I still get cramp in my legs at night – to the extent that sometimes I have to go out to the kitchen and have a “wet finger-tip” of salt which makes the cramp go away. Why does salt taken in this manner work for cramp? In this day and age of processed food and high salt content of so many foods, I add only a small amount to cooking for flavour enhancement. Maybe not enough?
• A brown build-up has occurred over a period of use on the sole plate of my iron. What is this? Is it the same as the brown stains on my pots and pans?
• I found a small white crab inside a wild green lip mussel. Is this a parasite or does it have a symbiotic relation with the mussel?
• Why do we female humans (and possibly other mammals) have all our eggs present in our ovaries at birth? Are there not advantages in making new ones (like sperm) when needed?
• Why do we female humans (and possibly other mammals) have all our eggs present in our ovaries at birth? Are there not advantages in making new ones (like sperm) when needed?
• What is the nearest galaxy to ours?
• What is lightning made of?
• How did the first insects get to New Zealand?
• I have a number of old brass containers, a jug and some platters/trays that were fashionable about 60 years ago. I am scared they may contain lead or other metals that may contaminate the food. Are they safe to use with food?
• Since looking through a super telescope is looking backwards in time, does the universe have a visible "edge" (a kind of medieval stellatum or Primum Mobile) where it is impossible to see any further - because to see further is to see before time? Also does the universe have a center or does it always appear that way from a viewer's perspective?
• How do magnets work?
• How did we discover there are molecules, atoms, protons and electrons when they are too small to be seen with microscopes?
• Why is vitamin C essential to humans?
• What is the biggest bird in the New Zealand Native Forest?
• Has the Earth's gravity changed over time?
• How did Sir Earnest Rutherford split the atom?
• I was told that humans are one of the few mammals who cannot produce vitamin C. However some people are hardly ever sick. Is it possible these people produce their own vitamin C?
• Five years ago I bought a house which had been lived in for years by a heavy smoker. Nothing I do has completely got rid of the smell and I am curious to know how there can continue to be smell output when there is no smell input. How do smell molecules behave? If I know that, maybe I can defeat the blighters.
• Why does electricity go through metals?
• Is fresh or frozen chicken safest? I have heard that in some countries chicken cannot be sold fresh.
• I recall reading that the sun radiates energy by converting hydrogen into helium at the rate of 600,000 tonnes a second. The sun is billions of years old so how could it use up hydrogen at that rate? Does it accumulate hydrogen from space?
• What kind of native insects are there in New Zealand.
• What is congenital diabetes insipidus?
• Why are tropical fish brightly coloured but New Zealand fish are dull?
• How much energy is in the Sun compared to a single light bulb?
• Why do we use plastic for packaging when it takes so long to break down in a landfill?
• What was the first computer like?
• How far does light travel?
• Do hedgehogs hibernate and how should I care for one?
• Why do magnets stick on the fridge?
• What are chemicals and where do scientists get chemicals from?
• Why don't we sneeze when asleep?
• My daughter in Wellington recently discovered tiny tree frogs in baskets hanging about the eaves of her house. How do they get there?
• Why does the direction of the sun rise vary during the year. For the Manawatu, what are the extremes during the year?
• Who discovered dry ice and how?
• What is gravity? How does it work and where does it come from?
• Can eye colour change with age?
• A recent article stated that astronauts on the moon could blot out the earth using their thumb at arms length. Is this so?
• I heard that a fire was caused by tea towels spontaneously combusting which seems odd. Is it possible?
• Parental imprinting by infants, fixing upon the appearance, behaviour and calls of the adults, is so critical to the successful breeding of bird species that the cuckoo, brought up by other birds, must be singularly handicapped. How does a cuckoo, having never seen nor heard its parents during the crucial imprinting period, recognise the bird it must mate with to continue the cuckoo species?
• Is there a difference between heat and infrared? How is it we can feel an electric heater but not the infrared TV changer?
• Why are the Sun and Moon visible from both sides of the equator?
• How do parrots talk?
• When sucking helium into your mouth, why does your voice go squeaky when talking?
• Where does all the rubber dust/particles go worn from rubber tyres wearing out on our roads?
• Is radiation still present in food for several minutes after the food has been cooked in a microwave oven?
• Why is that when I am standing still the Moon looks still, but when I am moving in a car the Moon looks like it is following me?
• We feed all sorts of food scraps to all sorts of birds that visit our school. How can a bird eat all these different types of food which are foreign to them?
• Why does UHT milk boil faster in a microwave oven than the same volume of standard homogenised milk with identical composition.
• How do spittle bugs, which dont appear to have wings, travel to spread to other plants?
• Why is water a liquid, when it is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, which are both gases?
• Why do planets move in elliptical rather than circular orbits?
• I have heard it argued that emissions from vehicles are insignificant as factors in environmental damage in comparison with the effects of volcanic eruptions and that therefore mankind is not responsible for alleged climate change. How correct is this?
• How does light make us see in the dark?
• How did Einstein come up with E = Mc^2
• If things on Earth just evolved, why aren't there any mistakes or things that evolved wrong?
• If the Earth and Sun's alignment was altered, say by an asteroid impact, would our lives be effected?
• Why does looking at the sun make you go blind?
• Mass jet travel introduce a lot of water vapour into the hitherto fairly dry stratosphere. Does this have any effect on climate?
• I have seen advertised objects, containing magnets, which are reputed to stop lime scale forming. Can this be true?
• Why do our eye lids close vertically not sideways?
• Does the moon have any gravitational pull on the earth?
• Camryn Mabey, of Riverdale School, asked:-
• Why are the eyes of the yellow-eyed penguin yellow?
• What was it that started the big bang?
• What causes tinnitus?
• How fast do raindrops fall?
• Calcium carbonate forms in hard water which contains traces of disolved calcium. Where does the CO3 come from to form limescale and how can it be got rid of from porcelain urinals?
• I was fascinated by your explanation of the change in vegetation of the Sahara. I have often wondered about our south Island eastern side. Is it naturally tussock, what was it like in pre-human times, what would happen if it was left to nature? Would forest come or is it too dry?
• Why do dogs chase cats?
• How does an aqualung work?
• Why does the Earth revolve and the Moon doesn't? Do all planets revolve?
• Recently on inspecting a used sheet of corrugated roofing I noticed patches of a white powdery substance on the under side, mainly where the metal was nailed to timber. In some places rust was showing through the white powder. What are the factors which cause the sheeting to deteriorate, how can it be slowed, and can it be treated?
• What is the best way to thaw a frozen chicken quickly?
• Snow will not form in air as warm as 4C but large snowflakes can fall into air that warm and not melt completely. Why?
• Why does the Earth rotate and orbit but the Moon only orbits and doesn't rotate?
• Why do bees make their honey holders as hexagonal arrays?
• Which grows faster - salt or sugar crystals?
• What is the size of the Moon's umbra, the shadow cast on the Earth during an eclipse of the Sun?
• Why are there so many different types of worms?
• How do doctors know what medicines to give patients for their illnesses and diseases?
• What will happen to the computers that are not compatible for the year 2000?
• Is there a connection between the weather in New Zealand and Australia?
• What causes migraine headaches?
• Until about 2,500 years ago the Sahara was a green land until the rains suddenly stopped. Given the climate changes over a long period of time since, why has the world weather not resumed a pattern which brings rain again to such a desert area?
• Why do some worms glow?
• Why is glass clear when the sand it is made from is opaque?
• I have an outdoor ornament whose paint changes colour with the weather, and also a coffee mug which changes image when it holds hot liquid. How do these paints work?
• Has the Sun's diameter changed over the past 100 million years and is this a likely problem for the Earth?
• How do flying fish fly?
• I heard that heating plastics can release dangerous dioxins. Are plastics safe to use in microwave ovens?
• Why is it that toilets flush and plug holes drain in different directions in different hemispheres?
• How long does a brain last without water?
• I understand that the Earth's magnetic field is not static, but changes direction with time. The position of the North and South poles varies from year to year. Volcanic extrusions on the floor of the oceans have shown a recurring reversal of direction of magnetism over the aeons. Over what length of time do the poles reverse, and when is the next reversal likely to happen? What effect if any will this have on the Earth's magnetosphere, and any influence on surface conditions?
• For several months the new moon has been accompanied by an out of focus image, lying adjacent. One new moon I saw had an additional red crescent wedged in between. Is this related to the recent unpredictable weather patterns?
• When I walk along the beach at low tide, each time I put my foot down, the sand around it goes drier than it was before my foot landed. Logic makes me believe my weight would compress the sand particles. This would force the water out from between them. So why don’t I see water around my foot? I noticed that when I lifted my foot again, the footprint I left behind was watery.
• Why does your brain swell when you break your skull?
• When I walk along the beach at low tide, each time I put my foot down, the sand around it goes drier than it was before my foot landed. Logic makes me believe my weight would compress the sand particles. This would force the water out from between them. So why don’t I see water around my foot? I noticed that when I lifted my foot again, the footprint I left behind was watery.
• How can we reduce the amount of noise in our school hall?
• By early winter the Red Admiral butterflies have all gone but Yellow Admirals are here and in the tussock covered hills nearby. Is there a reason for these changes?
• What is in Lava lamps?
• Why does a calendar refer to the lunar phases being "first quarter" and "last quarter", when in fact it's half of the Moon that appears bright at those times?
• Electric cars using lithium ion batteries may be the new transport to avoid future oil shocks. What is lithium, where is it mined, is there enough to prevent future lithium shocks, is it toxic and can it be recycled?
• What is the physics involved when doing an ''ollie'' on a skateboard?
• What do nerve cells look like?
• I was delighted by the brilliant display in the early morning sky: the cresent Moon, Orion and the Great Dog with Sirius at its sparkling best. But Venus stood out the most. Why does it appear so big?
• Many Monarch butterflies hatched in the Oamaru Gardens. Where have they gone?
• Since archaeological "finds" always seem deep under ground, how does the ground build up above them, where does this extra earth come from and does it cover the whole world?
• How far is it to the planets?
• How can we tell the difference between a male and a female monarch butterfly?
• I was told table spread is only one molecule different to plastic. Is this true and how healthy is it compared to butter?
• Why do we have five senses?
• Why does sound travel faster in solids than in air?
• When sending spacecraft to distant planets, scientists often use the slingshot effect to speed up a spacecraft by having it pivot around a closer planet. But wouldn't the spacecraft slow down again as it goes away from the slingshot planet?
• Why does rubbish smell so bad?
• Is it true that mountains cannot be higher than 10km due to gravity?
• How do scientists know what part of the brain controls memory, touch, taste, etc?
• Plane wings are curved at the top and flat at the bottom and are probably only made to work the right way up. So how can planes fly upside-down?
• Does one become lighter or heavier as one moves towards the centre of the earth? At what distance from the centre is one heaviest?
• In my observation I cannot ignite petrol using the red-hot sparks from an angle grinder without using an intermediary such as dried grass, paper, or flaking paint. Why is this when flint sparks or electrical sparks will ignite petrol?
• Why do we only use 20 per cent of our memory?
• Why do stars stay in the same place?
• What is the most common animal in NZ fresh water lakes?
• How are ball bearings made?
• Why does the computer screen appear to flicker when filmed on video or TV?
• Why do dogs wag their tails when they are happy, while cats swish their tails when they are cross?
• What is our current understanding of mechanisms for the sun’s influence on earth’s climate
• Does Mars have any moons?
• Why does our brain make us think?
• Is it true that during the Second World War Germany and South Africa made transport fuels from coal? If so, what is the process and is it feasible today
• When did New Zealand get made and how?
• Does the moon rotate and if not why not?
• Why can birds stand on power lines but humans get electrocuted?
• Why are dogs born with their eyes closed?
• Why do we have an outer, middle and inner ear?
• A small-aircraft crash reportedly narrowly missed a container of "highly flamable liquid oxygen". Is it correct to describe oxygen as flammable?
• How many solar systems are there?
• Why do frogs hop?
• What is water made up of?
• For the past two years it seems to me to have been much windier in Dunedin. Is this impression supported by the data?
• Why do we get earache?
• Nuclear fission reactions produce nuclear waste but nuclear fusion reactions dont. Is it possible to do a nuclear fusion reaction with the waste products of a fission reaction and thus eliminate nuclear waste?
• A recent newspaper article stated that a Czech coal-fired power station emitted more than 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. How can carbon emissions be weighed?
• How does electricity heat up the water from our tap?
• Does the Earth vibrate as a result of the total seismic, atmospheric, gravitational and human activity imposed on it?
• Why are baby stars blue?
• Why and how do your teeth fall out?
• Are mosquitos attracted to colour or to smell?
• What makes the planets spin?
• When making bread, why do we need to knead the dough and why is bread baked in such a hot oven?
• How fast does electricity travel through a wire?
• Which is stronger weight for weight, an ant or a human being?
• Recently I had several X-rays on my dodgy hip. How many X-rays are safe?
• The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has been deduced for the past 650,000 years, varying cyclically with ice ages. Our present CO2 levels are already above those that in the past have tripped an ice age but there is no talk of a coming ice age. Why?
• How did the Earth get made?
• What do you wear when you fix power lines?
• What is in asparagus that changes the smell of my urine?
• How can you tell a male fish from a female fish?
• I and many others have to walk under a bridge in whose steelwork live hundreds of pigeons. Could these droppings we have to walk through be a danger to health, especially if someone slipped and fell into it, and for children in bare feet, or with cuts in their skin, or with respiratory problems?
• Why has the abiogenic theory of oil formation failed to gain acceptance in general scientific concensus?
• How come when you touch a light bulb it is hot?
• What do we know about the planet Mercury?
• Is soil watered from a fluoridated supply over the years likely to build up high levels of fluoride, thus affecting fluoride levels in fruit and vegetables grown in it?
• M Pollard, of Palmerston North, asked:-
• Why is the number of segments in a grapefruit variable?
• How is yeast made?
• Keith Ross of Taumarunui asked:-
• When a river is dammed will the lake behind the dam eventially fill with, material eroding from the mountains and riverbed upstream?
• Why do monarch butterflies gather in parks in late autumn?
• I was adopted as a baby. A few years ago I found a younger brother who, also as a baby, had been adopted by another family. Could DNA testing tell if we had the same father?
• Have scientists succeeded in producing power from nuclear fusion?
• How come the ozone hole occurs over the Antarctic and New Zealand, two of the least polluted places on Earth?
• What is ‘phlegm’ and ‘snot’.
• How do stingrays eat their food when they are facing the ground?
• The photo I have attached is of a pohutakawa on Oriental Parade, Wellington. I have often wondered why the matted roots (or whatever they are) hang down in great clumps in midair from one particular pohutakawa tree but not all the others?
• Can you make bread without yeast, what if your yeast is out of date and what makes bread go mouldy?
• Jeff Miller, of Palmerston North, asked:-
• Why is there a boy planet (Mars) and a girl planet (Venus)?
• The photo I have attached is of a pohutakawa on Oriental Parade, Wellington. I have often wondered why the matted roots (or whatever they are) hang down in great clumps in midair from one particular pohutakawa tree but not all the others?
• Carrot flies are a pest in our garden. What is the life cycle of the carrot fly and how can we get rid of them?
• There seems to be conflicting statements as to whether or not humans are producing climate change. What is the situation?
• When and where do carrot flies lay their eggs? I dislike using poisons but they are a pest in my garden so is it possible to attack them at an early stage?
• How do people get salt from the sea?
• My Year 13 students have asked how dangerous is the radiation when using cell phones or cordless phones. Is there something that you can buy to insert in the cell phone that absorbs/stops the radiation. If so how effective is this?
• A magazine reports that hot water freezes quicker than cold water. I tried this in our freezer but there was no difference. Is it true?
• Do plants and bacteria have DNA and RNA? If so, does this imply both evolved at a very early stage in the development of life, before animals, plants and bacteria went their separate ways?
• How do you tell a comet has fire?
• I am curious about how radiation causes cancer, yet also cures it?
• Why is sulphur in eggs and how does it get there?
• How much electricity gets wasted every day?
• How long have snakes been on Earth?
• As the owner of a hundred-year-old villa I am aware the nails in it are rusted, and presumeably the older the building the more the nails are rusted. How would such a building stand up to an earthquake?
• What forms can hydrogen take?
• A chef told me polypropylene chopping boards are less hygienic than wooden boards. Is this so?
• Is infinity real?
• How does a case moth make its cocoon? I thought it was made out of skin on the inside.
• Jenny Harris, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:-
• Is it realistic that cars will eventually be replaced with solar-powered cars?
• Karen Phillips, of Dannevirke, asked:-
• How does an earthquake cause a large tidal wave and why are they called 'tidal' waves or tsunamis if they are actually caused by tremors?
• What was the largest dinosaur?
• How big or small can rainbows get?
• New Zealanders are reportedly exposed to about 40 per cent more cancer-causing sunrays than North Americans living at similar altitudes. What are the potential long-term effects of such exposure on plants and animal life?
• Why do stars twinkle but planets dont?
• How do people clean dirty water?
• What makes the waves in the ocean?
• Is the date of the full moon the same all over the world, in the Northern Hemisphere does it move across the Southern Sky, and is there anywhere where it is overhead?
• Why do snails foam when I put salt on them?
• Does brain weight increase with age?
• Why is a rainbow bow-shaped and does it go round in a complete circle?
• Could you please tell me something about this bright red mushroom with white spots on it which we found on our property? I have never seen anything like it before. We presume it is poisonous.
• What is a Laser-Ablation Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer?
• I understand there are two large masses of rubbish vortexed in the Pacific and Atlantic ocean. Could each rubbish accummulation be compacted together to form an island or into blocks to use as a protective reef for an island endangered by tsunami? What glue could hold them together and what process would make them heavy enough to sink?
• Why do earth worms come to the surface when it rains?
• Kate Johnston, of Ardgowan School, asked:-
• What is the shape of the universe and how big is the universe?
• If I eat a really big meal does some of that instantly become body fat? Also I weighed myself after shifting 2-3 tonnes of hay bales one weekend and was gutted to find I had gained weight and people said it had converted to muscle. Is this so? If I do a lot of exercise I'm told I can gain weight as muscle is heavier than fat, but how fast does it happen?
• Can Oil and Vinegar explode?
• We have a new rhubarb plant in the science garden. Is it true that rhubarb should not be harvested for the first 3 to 4 years? Is this why the stalks on the rhubarb are green and not red?
• How does fire start?
• Is time travel possible?
• Is it true that flying cures whooping cough?
• How were different breeds of dogs created from the first animal, presumeably the wolf?
• What is old water? I have heard of, or read of, water being thousands of years old. How does it differ from fresh water and how do scientists determine its age?
• What stars, other than the Sun, have planets that we know about and how far are they from Earth?
• Why does Triton, a moon of Neptune, rotate in the opposite direction to Neptune?
• What are the occasional, tiny, hard bits present in tamarillos eaten either raw or cooked? They do not appear to be structural, i.e. they seem to be unattached to any particular part at all, except the inside of the fleshy wall of the fruit.
• Why do rabbits sleep in the day time and not at night?
• Can nuclear power be used to drive a space ship?
• What is Canola Oil, as used in cooking?
• Why is it, that in the middle of summer there is such a distinct difference of the hour of sunset between say Auckland and Queenstown (upwards of an hour), but only a very small difference at sunrise (matter of minutes)?
• If temperature has to do with kinetic energy, why are some strong winds cold?
• How do I make a coal-flower garden like my grandmother used to make?
• Why do people need to drink water?
• Why do cats purr, and how is the sound made?
• Why are some planets made of gas and some solid?
• What colour is an atom?
• How much real grape is in our New Zealand wines and how much is required by law? Why don't they tell us?
• Do large public firework displays do any damage to the atmosphere or the ozone layer?
• How many phone calls can a telephone line transport at the same time?
• How fast can the fastest bird in the world fly?
• I noticed several floating mats of white, plastic-like material scattered along the shore where the wind had pushed them close to the bank. From the bobbing in the waves, one could see that they were coherent and flexible, up to 2 metres in diameter, and they had bits of weed and other flotsam trapped in the apparently amorphous matrix. The material was bright white and floated high. Could it have been from a whale?
• Do other planets have seasons?
• Why is water healthy for us?
• Why does sand, which is heavier than sea water, accumulate on our seashores?
• Why is the sea usually so much calmer in the early morning compared to later in the day?
• Why do carpets and funiture fabrics fade in the sun?
• How fast do bumblebee wings flap and how can it fly when it is so fat?
• If the Sun suddenly stopped shining, how long would it take for life on Earth to perish? Could some species survive?
• I was told that stars twinkle because gravity bends the light. What else can gravity have an effect on?
• Why do we shed tears from our eyes when hurt or upset?
• Why do I see an array of lights when looking at a distant yellow street lamp through material used in cotton sheets?
• Why do flies put a bit of spit on you before licking you?
• Why, when one person starts yawning, does everyone else around them appear to do the same?
• Is a screwdriver a machine or not?
• Is a screwdriver a machine?
• What is the latest knowledge of global warming?
• In our garden we have a totara which is nearly 90 years old. Last summer there was a mast flowering with a huge crop of ripe drupes. Most years there are a few ripe drupes, sometimes it seems none. There is another totara tree, I think male, about one hundred metres away from our tree. Some years there are lots of seedlings from the tree in our garden but other years we don’t notice any. In a nutshell my question is; Can the female “flowers” of the totara ripen into fleshy drupes even if no pollen from a male tree has fertilised them? Can they ripen but not be fertile and so they don’t produce seedlings?
• How is hokey pokey in ice cream made round?
• Which black hole is closest to Earth?
• Does everything float in space?
• What causes autism?
• What causes autism?
• Why are some sheep black and some white when they are the same breed?
• How do butterflies and moths get colours on their wings?
• Why do some trees lose leaves in Autumn and some trees don’t?
• What is the best way to stop crystals forming in urinals? They are hard to remove, is an acidic or alkaline solution best, and do magnetic preventers work?
• How are mirrors made?
• Why are planets and moons round?
• Why has the leaf I found at school got white fur on the back? Is it to keep the moisture in it?
• Why do bees die when they sting but wasps live after they sting?
• Who first found gold, which countries does it come from, and can scientists trace it back to a particular mine?
• Why do we have a philtrum, the indentation on our upper lip below the nose, and is it true that the Greeks considered it an erogenous zone?
• What is the temperature of the universe?
• What is gold used for and why are there different colours of gold?
• Why do bulls charge at red objects?
• As four-leaf clovers have one more leaf than the standard three-leaf clovers, is there any any research being done on, or advantage in, growing these for pasture?
• Why do bulls charge at red objects?
• The pupils of Room 9, at Addington Primary School, asked:-
• I once read that oxygen is blue because clear skies and lakes are blue. Is this so?
• Is it possible to see stars in daytime?
• What causes a random itch that isn't caused by external events such as an insect bite or a rash?
• Why does egg yolk and faeces stick to most surfaces and fabrics better than your average glue?
• Why does heat travel along metal faster than glass?
• I plan on growing some hops in my garden next year. Can good beer be made from green hops or is it only made from dried hops?
• What is difference between an earthquake and an aftershock? How do scientists know the difference from data recording?
• Can a fantail fly straight?
• How do astronomers know how far away a star is when they only know something about it when light reaches Earth?
• Why do our teeth chatter when we are cold?
• What is the odd growth on this Photinia hedge? It starts with a brown coloured scale which then bursts ejecting a very sticky white substance which is very elastic. Why would this suddenly appear, and will it spread to other photinia around town?
• Why does a reflection in a mirror reflect left to right and not up to down?
• What would be the feasability of getting rid of unwanted waste by dumping them into active volcanoes such as in Hawiai?
• To remind car-owners of when their car should be next serviced I have been using a marker pen to write the details onto car window stickers. By the time of the next service this writing has nearly faded to be invisible. What causes this?
• Why do rabbits pluck out their hair?
• How many insects carry diseases?
• When Dalmation puppies are born why dont they have spots?
• Why do we have a moon?
• Tides are caused by the moon and, to a lesser extent, the sun, so why does the height of the tides vary from place to place?
• We added a teaspoon of bubble bath to two litres each of hot, warm and cold water then whisked each for 30 seconds. The cold one had more bubbles. Why?
• What are the pros and cons of farmers burning off before planting?
• Has anybody seen an atom?
• How far is it from the shore line to the horizon?
• Kelly Twohill, of Queenspark School asked:-
• If an animal which has venom bites itself, will it die?
• I lit two tea candles, one red and one uncoloured. The red one burnt longer. Why?
• What are atoms made of?
• What is the replenishment time for nectar in plants like flax, and pohutukawa that tuis feed on? i.e. how soon can a bird revisit the same flower?
• What can an elderly male do to build up white blood cells?
• How does the body makes new blood cells?
• How did this happen to my tomato?
• When things become cold the particles slow down. Is this why materials become brittle when cold?
• How did this happen to my tomato?
• Where did air come from?
• How do black holes form?
• I tried growing crystals of sugar, glucose and gelatine using the same method as growing salt crystals, ie dissolving the material in water until no more could be and then hanging a string in the liquid to allow large crystals to grow. It worked for sugar but not for glucose or gelatine. Why not?
• Why are some animals born knowing exactly what to do?
• How do poos and wees get flushed down the toilet?
• Why is the night darkest just before dawn?
• I came across a large patch of this plant in a shady place under a group of trees. What is it and is it useful?
• Why do we have dreams?
• Why is there such concern over cows farting? What do these gases do to our environment?
• Why do some animals have beards?
• If black and white aren't colours what are they?
• How do you dry spring onions and vegetables keeping the colour and flavour?
• What is it we detect, and how, through smell?
• I have read that the Earth was once a snowball, even the oceans were covered by 800 metres of ice. Was this so?
• Why is human urine sometimes yellow and sometimes colourless?
• How can there be a reflection from water when it is clear?
• Why do we have days?
• Why don't cats and dogs live to 100 like humans?
• Is it true that if you travel upwards in space for long enough you will eventually end up coming from a downwards direction?
• What is the difference between a fox and a fox terrier?
• Why are the people of the world showing such different eye shapes? Slit, round, mongolian fold, etc. I had thought slit eyes might be for protection from the sun but natives of Africa have bold, round eyes.
• We notice that very little growth occurs under a canopy of pine. In places blackberry, tutu and gorse will grow (but not necessarily thrive). After trimming a radiata hedge, the trimmings have been put through a chopper. Is the resulting mix of coarse pine wood chips and lacerated pine needles ok to use around garden shrubs as a mulch and weed suppressant, or being pine, will it have a detrimental effect on the soil or the shrub it is placed around? If radiata pine mulch is toxic, are there other trees too, whose mulch should not be used in this manner?
• Why do socks become easier to stretch when wet?
• Why are con trails formed behind jet aircraft and why are they only seen on some days.
• Why do merino sheep stand in a huddle in the hot, hot sun?
• Could you tell me about wormholes in space? They sound fascinating for time travel etc.
• Can you tell me what this weed is please and what we can do to eradicate it from my garden?
• Why is it that in the tide tables of the ODT, high tide at the mouth of the Taieri River occurs 17 minutes after the high tide at Taiaroa Head?
• How do glasses work?
• Does food go rotten in space?
• We put three drops of different food colouring at the corners of a triangle on the surface of a bowl of milk, and then put a drop of detergent in the middle of the triangle. All the food colouring shot out to the side. Why?
• Is it true that you can see the shapes of the Star Sign symbols in the sky?
• Why is a chlorine atom smaller than a sodium atom?
• Why did people evolve with four fingers and one thumb? Why not some other combination?
• How does the Sun change our weather?
• What is the difference between a seal and a sealion?
• How does Newton's cradle work?
• Why is ultraviolet light so damaging?
• How do scientists know the Sun won't start turning into a red Giant now?
• How big is an atom?
• When picking grapes from a garden grapevine I noticed several bunches had a few ripe grapes and many undeveloped small green ones. Why didn't they all develop?
• Why is sugar bad for the heart? I recently purchased a can of pears in juice, which had a Heart Foundation tick, and a can of apricots in syrup, which did not. (The pears were sweeter than the apricots.) As a sweet-loving, non-smoker, non-meat eater is my risk of heart disease as bad as, or worse than, my brother who smokes and eats meat?
• How does a spider know how to spin a web?
• Why is the Earth like a magnet?
• When we placed some iodine on pieces of banana, potato, apple, pear, onion, bread and potato crisps potato, bread and crisps went black but the others stayed the same. Why did this happen?
• How do flies walk on the ceiling upside-down?
• Why is water wet?
• Why are people's teeth white? Why aren't they pink or blue?
• Why do hurricanes occur not very often and why only in some parts of the world?
• What is the cause of the misshapen carrot, the only one in a row I planted.
• What would happen to the Earth if our Sun turns into a red giant?
• People say that cats are colour-blind or only see black and white? If this is true how do they know this?
• If we stopped using toxic gases and chemicals today, how long would it take the ozone layer to recover to normal?
• What would happen to earth if there was a supernova on the star Alpha Centauri?
• How long does it take for Tb to develop, and do birds have a different disease to mammals?
• When belatedly weeding the garden on a very hot day, I received a surprise when one weed type I touched threw seeds several tens of centimetres into the air. Is this a standard seed dispersal mechanism?
• How is the weather predicted?
• Beryllium has many similarities to aluminium so why hasn't it come into general use?
• Why does it take an hour longer to fly from Los Angeles to Auckland than it does to fly from Auckland to Los Angeles?
• How far can astronomers see into space?
• How can hydrogen be separated from oxygen in a car run by water?
• I have a native clematis, variety Purity, in my garden. It has started to grow some funny looking stalks. (see photos) The growth reminds me of a type of orchid. The stalks grow normal and then it gets this growth on it. Is it some type of disease?
• Is it true that cats and dogs don't respond to their names, just the sounds at the end of their names?
• When were germs first discovered?
• Can cars run on water?
• Can scientists predict when a star will collapse?
• Why do flies rub their legs together?
• Three seeds on one of my strawberry plants seem to have sprouted. What causes this?
• Why do roses smell?
• What causes curly hair?
• Why are waves always parallel to the beach?
• How and when were magnets first mass produced?
• Does the moon affect the germination of seeds?
• On a class insect hunt we found a large slug which appeared to be laying eggs out of the side of its head. Is this what was happening?
• Why are there rivers underground? Chuck Landis, a geologist at Otago University, responded.
• Why do we have 5 fingers?
• If we fired a high-speed rocket at Jupiter would the rocket be able to enter the planet and travel right through it?
• Eve Crossan, of Stirling, asked:-
• How did the ancient Egyptians lift the enormous blocks to make the pyramids?
• How is chalk made?
• How many stars can we see on a clear night?
• We learn that respiration supplies energy to keep warm blooded animals warm. So why doesn't respiration do the same for cold blooded animals?
• When I was at Auckland University, one of the lecturers was doing research into fungal diseases of onions. Now, 25 years later, I can buy onions, either pre-packed or ones I select myself, and a few days later I have to throw one or two away because they are mouldy. Has any progress been made in this area?
• We have been talking about Concorde and would like to know if a plane can keep flying upwards into space?
• How do eyes work?
• Why do waves curl over?
• We have a hen's egg shell which is green. Why can an egg shell be green?
• Is it likely that a large asteroid will hit Earth within the next hundred years?
• Why does my tummy grumble?
• Why is lava red?
• Where does electricity go when you have finished with it?
• What is Greek Fire?
• How many different types of thermometer are there and when were they first used?
• What makes a dinosaur different from a lizard?
• How many volcanos are there and which is the biggest?
• Why are the wheels on racing wheelchairs splayed?
• Is there a scientific basis for the practice of water-divining? Why does the related folklore stress that the dowser does it with a pronged hazel branch?
• How common are four and five leaf clovers?
• What is Condy's crystals and where did it get its name from?
• How do scientists know that the Sun is made of hydrogen and helium when no-one has been close enough to get samples?
• What is a light year?
• Why is the core of the Earth warm?
• Do horses get the stitch?
• Why do our ears pop when we drive up or down hills?
• How are mercury thermometers made and how do we check them?
• In spring our snowball tree develops flower balls which are green. After about a week these become white flowers and then the tips of some of the flowers turn pale pink. Why do these colour changes occur?
• What is in soap to make it so slippery?
• Why are most people 'right-handed' and only a few 'left-handed' - quite a disability in the use of some implements or instruments? Is it only human beings who exhibit this?
• Why is deep ocean water blue but coastal waters may be milky white, green or blue?
• Why are tuatara, and other reptiles that were alive in the time of the dinosaurs, not extinct?
• How do sound tape machines work?
• Why does my heart keep beating?
• What is hen's egg shell made out of?
• Some manufacturers sell materials called foliar feeders to be sprayed onto the leaves of plants in order to feed them. Can plant leaves extract and process nutrients as the plants root system does?
• Do we need to orbit a planet before landing on its surface?
• How do different species start?
• Do hurricanes change direction when they cross the equator?
• Are three sycamore seeds stuck together usual?
• Jessie Gibb, of Ardgowan School, asked:-
• If we leave Earth, will there be gravity in outer space?
• Over history, how has the average height of humans, both male and female, varied, and what caused these variations?
• What causes the flashes of light seen in the sea on some dark nights?
• Why do we get butterflies in our stomach when we are about to go on stage?
• Having been told for many years that sunflowers turned their heads towards the sun, I have recently been watching some. They appeared to look in the same direction all day so is this just an old wives' tale?
• Why do hurricanes blow anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere but clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere?
• Why can people talk but animals can't?
• Because of the presence of silverfish, we placed camphor balls in a kitchen drawer which was lined with 'malamine' plastic. Some time later the plastic had become slushy. Why?
• How could scientists tell if there was a planet orbiting the sun on the same path as the earth but on the other side of the sun?
• Why can you see dots when sitting close to a TV screen?
• Why do we have toenails? What use are they?
• Amy, of Sawston Village College (UK), asked:-
• In five years as a resident at Fox Glacier I have not been able to grow pototaoes owing to the presence of what the locals call wireworm. The worms are thin, redish to dark brown and about 10-15 mm in length. When dug up the potatoes are riddled with tunnels and usually the worms are still resident. What are they and can I get rid of them?
• Denis Savin, of Porirua, asked:-
• Oxygen is essential for life. Where did the first oxygen come from?
• What is our immune system and what does it do?
• Why is there a ring around Saturn?
• Why doesn't air go out into space so we can breath on the moon?
• Why does this world only have boys and girls?
• Why is muscle heavier that Fat?
• How does television work?
• How are thunderstorms formed?
• Why are there shooting stars?
• When did Jesus die?
• I have a newish garage with colour steel roofing. On the south side a lichen is starting to establish. the 8 to 20 cm splotches are roughly circular and are whitish. What is it and can it me removed?
• Why is it that two gases (hydrogen and oxygen) can combine to form a liquid (water)?
• What makes elastic stretchy?
• Why do we have months and who invented them?
• Why do bathroom scales indicate a lower weight when used on carpet than when used on a hard floor?
• The leaves on my flowering cherry tree are being eaten by a worm which is green then turns black. I also notice slime and small black flies. What is this?
• Why are rats used in most experiments?
• How long does it take for a human body to decompose?
• Does much water from a lake soak into the ground?
• What is in wood ash?
• How do shells get their colour?
• How do scientists know the temperature of the core of the sun?
• Charles Jelley, of Waikanae, asked:-
• In carefully chosen raft and rowing expeditions across oceans the current helps a lot. What is the speed of some of the faster ocean currents, where are they and what causes them?
• Why do humans use smiles in a friendly, placatory, way whereas other primates use them as threats?
• Can motorbikes be made to run on fuels other than petrol?
• What causes the goosebumps I get on cold days?
• Can HIV be transmitted from an infected person to someone else via a sandfly or mosquito bite?
• Is it true that some geological plates in America are moving at a few metres per year? And what speed are the plates under New Zealand moving?
• Did pre-european Maori count using a base ten decimal system and therefore by inference had invented zero?
• Why do cut flowers in a vase look fresher, have brighter colours, and last longer if flat lemonade is added to the vase water?
• There are frying pans made with a non-stick Teflon coating. If nothing sticks to the Teflon coating then how does it stick to the pan?
• If crabs have teeth where are they?
• Do the upper layers of the atmosphere spin at the same rate as the earth or do they stay still?
• What is dark matter, where is it found and how do we know it is there?
• Who decided on the numbers 0 to 10?
• Why is water clear?
• Why is the Sun made of fire? Fire is feed by oxygen and there is no oxygen in space.
• What makes and keeps our body warm?
• What kind of weather does a towering cumulonimbus cloud bring?
• How do crabs breathe both in and out of water?
• Why does water take up more space when it turns to ice?
• How best should we use the land in order to mop up carbon dioxide most efficiently?
• I understand that most of our body cells are replaced often during our lifespan. So how do our memories transfer to new brain cells?
• How do scientists know what the planets are made of if they haven't been there to take samples?
• Who put the alphabet together?
• Why do tigers have stripes?
• Why do tigers have stripes?
• I heard of an eruption on the Sun which sent out millions of magnetic particles. What will be their effect on the Earth and satellites?
• Can you find the age of rocks by using radiocarbon dating or are they generally too old? If a rock was shot from a volcano and isn't that old, can we use radiocarbon dating?
• Is it possible to have a world in which everything is opposite that on Earth?
• What makes the dayglow yellow paint on my cycle helmet stand out at a distance?
• What causes the earth's magnetic field to reverse?
• Recently I saw two seagulls stomping on grass. Is this a mating ritual or is it done to force food to the surface?
• When an embryo is dividing, how do cells know what function they are going to perform?
• When thinning a row of carrots some were the usual orange colour but several were yellow and one was purple. How does this happen from the same packet of seeds?
• I have a dilemma involving population growth.
• What if any arguments were provoked because of the use of radiocarbon dating?
• How do scientists measure the distances between planets?
• As I trace my family tree I was aware that my ancestors doubled with every generation (two parents, four grandparents etc) I then came to the realisation that the number of ancestors would become a very large number relatively quickly. If I assume that each woman had a child when they were 20 years old. then, working backwards, the number of my ancestors far exceeds the "official" world population of about 200,000 in the year 7BC.
• How was the Grand Canyon formed?
• Why do moths go to the lights at night?
• What is a star?
• What metals are in our coins?
• Who was the first person to invent rubbish?
• What would happen to a living creature if it was exposed to radiation for a long period of time? Would it mutate and die, mutate and live, its offspring mutate, something else?
• A friend's orchard in Clyde produced a pear that was exactly half red and half green. Why was this?
• What is chaos theory?
• Are better keyboards being designed?
• Where are the seeds of the pussy willow and how are they dispersed?
• How did the sea form?
• Evan Blanch, of Alexandra, asked:-
• How many species of penguins are there?
• I have been reading about the amazing discovery of a 5000 year-old-man, the `ice mummy'. He was dated by carbon-14 dating. What is this and how does it work?
• Why does the moon shine during the day?
• What is atherosclerosis?
• Are there any dinosaurs alive today?
• I am thinking of taking "Body Enhance Plus" for muscle tone and improving hair and skin, and "Memory Power capsules" to improve my memory. Will these products help or am I wasting my money?
• Why do the tips of runner beans turn towards the fence to climb?
• Sarah Smith, of Ardgowan School, asked:- Melissa Robertson, of Kingswell High School, asked:-
• Why do the tips of runner beans turn towards the fence to climb?
• When the planets are spinning around the sun there must be a time when all the planets will line up. If this does happen would this affect the earth?
• Some people like to chew paper. What chemicals are in paper?
• Where do penguins sleep?
• Rebecca Cadogan, of Clyde, asked:-
• How, in your opinion, did the use of radiocarbon dating change the way scientists are able to interpret and understand history?
• How does ultraviolet radiation cause skin cancer?
• Why do trees, even on the side of a hill, always grow vertically?
• Why is there an extra day every four years?
• Why did my fizzy drink foam up when I added ice cream to it?
• How do people know the bones they find are dinosaur bones and not that of some other large animal?
• Is there a scientific explanation for water divining?
• How much food does a grasshopper eat a day?
• How long could a dinosaur live?
• I left some strawberries in the garden. They went fluffy. Is this because the seeds are sprouting or because they are going mouldy?
• How did the different nationalities of the world come to have different characteristics?
• What substances are in rubber?
• Is it a coincidence that we see only one side of the moon?
• Why do some beaches have bigger waves than others?
• How and why do people dream?
• Why do cats fall on their feet even when dropped upside down?
• Why cannot people live forever?
• What was the first dinosaur in the world?
• When cloning plants from one cell, how do scientists get the cell to multiply?
• Why don't the tides follow the moon and so get later the further west you go?
• If a torch was shone around a closed ring of mirrors, what would happen when the torch was turned off?
• How is Bicarbonate of Soda made? Is it a mineral or a drug?
• Why does the moon shine when it's only rock?
• If humans have brains smarter than computers, why do we use computers?
• How did all the water get here on earth?
• My teacher brought some plum blossom to school. Some had pink centres and some yellow centres. Why was that?
• What is the biggest type of snail in New Zealand?
• Why are people sick when they put their fingers down their throats?
• Do sounds echo in space?
• What is the most common element in the world?
• What are satellites made out of?
• Do moths spread germs?
• Where did humans come from?
• How would you plan plan a manned mission to Mars?
• How frequently does the earth's magnetic field reverse and when can we expect the next reversal?
• Can birds detect colour?
• What are some things that are best or only made of wood?
• What determines whether or not a plastic bag rustles, something that is embarrasing at the theatre?
• Why is window glass clear?
• Why do some people have bulging varicose veins?
• What can you make with trees?
• Is evolution now generally accepted by most (or all) of the scientific community?
• My pet lamb 'Pirate' is so called because she has a patch of black wool around one eye. Why do some white lambs get black patches of wool?
• What makes the Earth tilt away from the sun to give us longer nights in winter?
• What is a liquid crystal display?
• Why can we have mucus in our nose when we don't have a cold?
• How many different types of native tree there are in New Zealand?
• Is the Burmuda Triangle true?
• What is the colour of paint made out of?
• What causes echos?
• What makes the world spin?
• Do fish sleep in their fish bowls at night and if so do their gills still work when they sleep?
• Why are cat tongues dry and human tongues wet?
• What is sea salt?
• For how many years have people been on Earth?
• Why are some people claustrophobic?
• Does the red laser light used in decoders at supermarket checkouts emit radiation that causes sterility?
• How is a Tsunami formed?
• How fast does the world travel?
• We have an unusual plant in our garden which curls up when dry and opens when wet. Reputedly it was brought back from Egypt by an uncle there for the First World War. He called it a Desert Rose. What is it?
• Who made the first musical instrument?
• Where was the largest known meteorite found?
• Can dolphins communicate with humans?
• How do the TV people know what the weather's going to do?
• Why do women live longer than men?
• Why does infrared radiation get absorbed by carbon dioxide gas?
• Why does the estuary smell so much?
• What causes cramp?
• What is inside a seed and how can something so hard and small grow?
• How do hot mudpools form and work?
• How do you prevent frost damaging houses?
• Why can we talk?
• Why are gorilla's arms longer than their legs and why are our arms shorter?
• Why is Earth the only planet in our solar system with enough oxygen for humans to survive?
• We have a problem with toadstools coming up in our lawn. How can we get rid of them?
• Why are there seven metre waves in Hawaii but none over three metres in New Zealand?
• What is ink made of?
• Has a New Zealander ever been in space?
• Why do some medicines tast sour?
• Why is fire red? John Campbell, a physicist who is a consultant firewalker, responded.
• What makes a hen lay an egg and why so regularly?
• Is everything science?
• When do your feet stop growing?
• What happened when the comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter?
• Karl Dear, of Manawatu College, asked:-
• How do apples change from green to red?
• Is water a neutral, acidic or alkaline?
• Hillary Riddle, of Mokoia Intermediate School, asked:- Giles Reid, of Ilam Primary School, asked:-
• How many different kinds of dinosaurs are there?
• Why is Mars red?
• What's in washing powder to make clothes so white?
• Is there a planet with air on it?
• What is the biggest fossil ever found?
• What is plutonium and why did spacecraft, such as Cassini which was sent to Saturn, need it?
• Who was the first ever scientist in the world?
• Why do whales beach themselves?
• We have recently moved to Oamaru from Auckland. What butterflies can we expect to see in this area and what should we plant so that our garden becomes their home?
• How does food colouring make kids hyperactive?
• How was Pluto, the smallest of our planets, discovered?
• Why, when you telephone someone overseas, is it sometimes a good line and sometimes a bad line?
• What country has the most fossils?
• What is the most scientifically amazing thing you have come across?
• How do Chameleons change colour?
• What is the most scientifically amazing thing you have come across?
• What is washing powder made out of?
• What are the white lumpy bits on the top of red toadstools?
• How can scientists tell the age at death just from a human skull?
• What is the most scientifically amazing thing you have come across?
• Why do we have sun-showers?
• How do you get gold out of rock?
• Can paper be made without using trees?
• Could anyone discover a planet?
• Where does mercury come from?
• What do pauas breathe out?
• Why do we have blood?
• How do trees grow from their seed?
• What causes pins and needles?
• Who first discovered the planets and how did they get their names?
• Why does a straight stick seem bent when part of it is pushed into a swimming pool?
• What causes pins and needles?
• How can people tell what is going to happen in your stars?
• Where does titanium come from?
• Can a fossil be made of a jellyfish?
• Simon York, of King's High School, asked:-
• Can the information on a credit card be destroyed if the magnetic strips of two cards rub together?
• We know the speed of light and the speed of sound but what is the speed of smell?
• What makes the water currents in the ocean?
• What is the biggest tree in the world?
• Why do we close our eyes when sneezing? Is it because otherwise our eyes may fall out?
• Why do we go pink when sunburnt? (Is it blood?)
• How did Jupiter get its Great Red Spot?
• What causes magnetic circles in paddocks where nothing grows on the perimeter?
• When the All Blacks play in Britain how is it known how many people in New Zealand watched the game live in the middle of the night?
• Is there any evidence that another solar system exists suitable to support human life as we know it?
• Recently I saw a rainbow at night. Are these common?
• Why do alpacas spit?
• Why are there so few really active volcanoes and why do volcanoes become extinct?
• How do we make tears?
• While making bread I wondered how yeast works. How does it?
• How do rivers run on flat ground?
• What is DNA made of?
• While eating two different apples I noticed that an apple from a very old tree turned brown after about six bites but that a new variety Pacific Rose did not. Why does the flesh of the older variety become brown and what has been modified in new varieties to delay this unsightly process?
• Why do dogs chase cats?
• Humans descended from apes but what was before the apes?
• What causes aging?
• Why will the sun burn out?
• Why does light travel so fast?
• How does a spittle bug make its spit?
• Why are some people deformed?
• The Room 12 class, at Hoon Hay School, asked:- Scott Goodhew, at New Windsor Primary School, asked:- Reece Evans, at Balclutha Primary School, asked:- A geography class at Manawatu College asked:-
• Jemimah Walker, of Ilam School, asked:- Eloise Bacon, of Henley Primary School, asked:-
• How do scientists explain water divining?
• How long do roots from trees grow?
• Ross Milburn, of King's High School, asked:-
• How do nuclear weapons work?
• Why do magpies go for shiny things?
• Cullen Crossan, of Balclutha,, asked:-
• What caused the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 to collide with Jupiter?
• When water is boiled, where do the bubbles come from?
• Why do we have hair in only certain places?
• How do you make nylon out of coal?
• I have seen several different colours of lichen (yellow, white, orange) which have no green, so they cannot have chlorophyll in them. If so, how do they photosynthesise?
• Why do people become short-sighted?
• Where does seaweed in the estuary come from?
• How many litres of water are in a cloud?
• Why does salt dissolve?
• What sport do the most people die from?
• Why do all birds wake up at the same time?
• How do scientists measure the huge distances in space?
• Why can't I eat dairy food when I am sick and vomiting?
• Lydia Gallagher, of St Josephs School, Port Chalmers, asked:-
• When you look up at night which is going the fastest, a meteorite or a satellite?
• Why are the elements numbered?
• Annie Robinson, of Ilam School, asked:-
• Rory Compton, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:-
• Why is the sun so hot?
• Can snails get indigestion?
• How does seaweed grow?
• Why do singers with strong Scottish or Irish accents sing without a trace of accent?
• Why does acid burn skin and other materials?
• Why do the ends of my fingers go wrinkly when washing dishes?
• Jon Deaker, of King's High School, asked:- Helena Johnson, of Manawatu College, asked:-
• Why do native earth worms secrete a bioluminescent substance?
• Georgina Guthrie, of Musselburgh School, asked:-
• Is there anything colder than liquid air?
• Why does the water in our aquarium eventually turn green?
• Pippa Childs, of Cashmere School asked:-
• Why do we use Latin names for Chemical symbols?
• How do sharks communicate?
• Emma Wagstoff, of Rongotea School, asked:- Megan Sharrock, of Westland High School, asked:- Bryn Barlow, of King's High School, asked:-
• After watching the movie Goldfinger I would like to know what skin suffication is and how does it kill?
• Why does a piece of coal in a pot of peeled potatoes stop them from going brown?
• Graham Butcher, of Tawa, asked:-
• What was the first bird in the estuary?
• The composite standard 2 - form 2 class at Rangwahia School, asked:- Pippa Childs, aged 10 of Cashmere Primary School, asked:-
• How is epilepsy triggered?
• From where does a flower get its smell?
• How do they make the special effects on TV like when a shop blows up just as someone is leaving it?
• How are rainbows formed?
• Can earthquakes be predicted?
• What causes Alzheimers disease?
• Andrew Lord, of Musselburgh School, asked:- Pippa Childs, of Cashmere Primary School, asked:-
• What do oysters eat?
• How does a radioactive smoke detector work?
• What makes our bones white?
• Harri Deacon and Tegan Wenlock, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:-
• How do trees drink?
• How did the human race start?
• What is the difference between Two Stroke Oil and Engine Oil?
• Why is mould formed?
• How often does the skin on my face change layers?
• Why do some people go bald?
• How do rainbows get their shape and why are they all the same?
• How do scientists know what are stars made of?
• Why are there so many types of animals in the Estuary?
• Why is it that some people are more intelligent than others?
• How many stars are there?
• The room 10 class at Ashburton Borough School, asked:-
• How come bruises come up purple while blood is red?
• Why are tree tops green?
• Why are planes all the same shape?
• Kimberly Stuart, of Otago Girl's High School, asked:-
• Kate Johnstone, of Ardgowan School, asked:- Koko Hema-Taylor, of Ardgowan School, asked:- Eva Cossan, of Stirling, asked:-
• If you carved your initials into the bark of a tree and then visited the tree thirty years later, would the initials then be high up the tree?
• Why do clouds float?
• What causes different eye colours?
• What makes gladwrap stick to itself?
• How were the planets formed?
• Are all earth worms native?
• Zola Hale, of Whangarei Primary School, asked:- Tilli Kofe, of St Andrew's College, asked:- Room nine, of Addington Primary School, asked:- Rosa Henderson, of Greta Valley School, asked:-
• Has there been any suppression of research of electromagnetic radiation? If not has there been any research proving or disproving the question that electromagnetic radiation can cause disease in humans?
• Why does sunlight make your hair go lighter?
• What are some of the medicines made from bark and leaves of trees?
• Why do people want to explore outer space?
• Why does alcohol make you drunk?
• How did Earth get it's ozone layer?
• Is Morphic Resonance proven?
• Were any dinosaurs warm blooded?
• Why is black sand hotter than white sand?
• From how deep underground does the water thrown from the Rotorua geysers come?
• How often do the hairs on my head fall out?
• Why do we sweat mostly on our forehead and under our arms?
• What would happen if a weed's DNA molecule was transferred into an apricot's DNA molecule?
• Why do birds travel in a flock?
• How do astronomers know the universe is expanding?
• What is the difference between forked lightning and sheet lightning?
• Why is butter yellow?
• Why do some people have to have their tonsils out?
• How many different kinds of birds use a large estuary?
• Why does thunder roll?
• How is elastic made?
• When travelling in a space rocket do you go to sleep or not?
• Is pollen always yellow?
• Why do minerals have the shapes they do?
• Shaun Cooper, of King's High School, asked:-
• Why does hair grow?
• Is there anything colder than liquid air?
• What acids are in tomatoes?
• How do people get colds?
• How high will you have to be to begin floating around in space?
• Why do fish have scales?
• What is lava made of?
• How do you know the IQ of a person?
• How many different kinds of stones are there in the world?
• How did Stars and Planets come to be?
• How do they make paper you can see through?
• If a container of alcohol is left out for slugs and snails will they become intoxicated or die?
• How many electrons are there in a molecule?
• Why do we have different hair colours?
• Why does the sky change colour when the sun sets?
• How far can mud travel along a river?
• Ryan McIntosh, of King's High School, asked:- Paul Manson, of Nayland College, asked:- Emma Malone, of Christ the King School, asked:- Room 6, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:- Emma Hendriks, of Sawyers Bay, asked:- The year 10 class at Marlborough Girls' College asked:-
• How do dolphins sleep?
• How is acrylic made?
• Why do our cheeks go red when we are embarrassed?
• Why do plants grow?
• Dylan Greenfield, of Ridgway School, asked:-
• Can we tell beforehand whether or not a volcano will erupt?
• How does acid rain form?
• Do insects have brains?
• How do we see?
• Why does a loud noise such as from an explosion cause a ringing sensation in the ears for some time afterwards?
• Do insects have brains?
• Why did the big bang happen?
• Is there anything smaller than an atom?
• How far into space have people travelled?
• Why does concrete go hard after it is poured?
• Why are there no monkeys in New Zealand?
• What makes a volcano explode?
• James Rogers, at Borough School, asked:-
• Sophie Goodwin, of Mokoia Intermediate School, asked:-
• Claire Fallon, of Ardgowan School, asked:- Abigail Spinoglio, of Green Island School, asked:-
• What causes asthma?
• Why can't penguins fly?
• How does glue stick stick things together?
• Why do we sweat?
• Megan Gibb, of Ardgowan School, asked:-
• Do the bends in the tube forming a trumpet have any effect on the trumpet's sound?
• When you lay a plant on its side why does it still grow up?
• What is the function of the bell shaped end of a musical instrument such as a trombone?
• Why does pubic hair grow where it does in human beings?
• When palaeontologists find the bones of an extinct animal, how do they know how the bones fit together?
• Toby, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:-
• What is the difference between super and unleaded petrol?
• Why do each of us have different voices but not different accents?
• Why do comets never hit the Earth?
• Do all animals grow?