Ask a Scientist

All questions

• These caterpillars grew in an open gas pipe in a gas-fired hot tub in Central Otago, blocking off the flow of gas. What are they?
• What is this insect?
• Occasionally after heavy rain we get a huge amount of these worms outside our class. We had yesterday off school as the flooding of the Waitahuna River was quite serious and we came back to these visitors. What are they?
• What is this bug that is killing my pot plant?
• Every now and then, I have picked up from my hall carpet what at first looks like a piece of cotton or thread. It is brown and about 3cm long. When I get it in my hand it moves about. Looking closely it is like a very tiny caterpillar. I havn't found them anywhere else in the house. What are they?
• I’m just back from visiting family in Brisbane in November. We were walking round a lake and saw this goanna digging up a clutch of about eight eggs, and munching and swallowing them all down. This was in soil beside a walking track, only a few metres up from the side of the lake. I gather there are turtles in the lake so we thought they might be turtle eggs. However they made a definite crunch and I thought turtle eggs were leathery and more spherical. They were a uniform dirty white colour, about 25-30mm long, oval (but not peaked at one end like a hen’s egg), and buried in fairly loose soil about 80mm deep.
• Why do some birds walk but others hop?
• How did dinosaurs get so big?
• What determines the maximum size of an animal? Is it the bodily materials or the construction, as it might be with engineering?
• Where do birds go to die? We see lots of birds around especially in the garden if you feed them in the winter but rarely see dead ones.
• How do caterpillars of Monarch Butterflies stay on the plant without falling off? Do they have special feet?
• We discovered a few of these bugs, up to 2cm long, in holes in clods of soil when digging in the garden. It was very slow moving. What is it?
• I have a good population of Brown Tree Frog (Litoria ewingi) in three ponds at my batch adjacent to the Waianakarua river in North Otago. In the first year they bred in all three ponds towards the end of winter, but have not done so since. Following their introduction we also have 7 Southern Bell frogs and 2 young gold fish in one pond. Would this put them off breeding in this pond? The tree frogs also used to croak consistently from dusk to the early hours of the morning. This doesn't occur now. They sometimes croak during the day and just on dark.
• I have a hunch that our dog wags her tail from right to left, starting with a wag to her right. Is there any evidence of right-handedness or left-handedness in animals which don’t have hands? And those which do?
• Our local ornamental lakes have not seen frogs for some years. Why?
• We found six of these insects in our garage at Alexandra. What are they?
• I have seen wasps attack monarch butterflies and their caterpillars. Where did this nasty species originate from, as only a few years ago, there was no problem hatching these larvae, but now we have to cover the swan plants with netting to allow any of the grubs to hatch.
• We have been enjoying watching the Monarch caterpillars and subsequent butterflies this season on our large swan plant. What actually happens inside a chrysalis?
• In feeding birds I throw a handfull of wholemeal breadcrumbs onto the lawn. By chance the crumbs landed inside a long loop made by my garden hose. The birds wouldn't come too close. After observing them for two hours I shifted the hose and they fed on the crumbs. Why the hesitancy? Were they programmed to regard the hose as a snake?
• What is the life cycle of the bumble bee and does it pollinate plants?
• Is there a specific time of year when NZ is more vulnerable to lightning strikes?
• The kingfisher overlooking the river and creek near us is accompanied by several small birds. They follow him, from his perch, usually a power line. Is there a reason why the small birds hang about the kingfisher?
• Why are different sorts of clouds different colours, from white to very dark grey?
• Why have pukekos survived and flourished when the other ground birds haven't and are killed by stoats and cats?
• How do small birds, such as fantails and wrens, keep warm and survive in below zero temperatures
• Can you please tell us why our sparrows have suddenly started eating our lavender seeds. We think they might be copying the Goldfinches.
• Can you please tell me what these are? I find these regularly on the concrete at the bottom of the garage door but no where else. They are about 3mm across they look like baby hardback snails but I don't have any of these in my garden
• Why have I found so many dead black-backed gulls (both adult and juvenile) on the beach at Owhiro Bay over the last two summer/autumn periods? The beach is well inside the local marine reserve. Last year I found about 20 dead birds and a similar number this year. What is killing these birds?
• 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?
• How can a brown cow, who eats only green grass, produce only white milk?
• 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.
• How does the physics demonstration work whereby a test tube can be made invisible when immersed in a liquid?
• What stops an electron, say in hydrogen atom, from being drawn into the nucleus since it is attracted by the proton charge? (Is it only speed momentum like planets' centrifugal forces, and the centre of the nucleus is so small that it misses the target and spins around the nucleus? or is it something else?)
• 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.
• Can water in a gravity-fed irrigation scheme be made to also go briefly uphill using a reverse syphon?
• Do butterflies have memories? I notice that monarch butterflies hover over the exact spot in my garden where a swan plant used to grow.
• I have lived in the Hutt Valley for 60 years and as a kid there seemed to be tadpoles and frogs everywhere, especially around the pools created by the stone crushers up and down the river but now I never see or hear them on my many walks up and down the river or in any other parts of the region. Why?
• When the windows in the car are down and I'm driving at a higher speed (say 60 kmph or more) a pulsating sound is created that really hurts my ears. When I put the windows up or when I slow way down, the sound goes away. Why is that?
• Why can they not get the volume even for TV programmes and commercials?
• 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?
• What design features are important in a rugby ball? Does spinning a rugby ball when it is thrown affect its performance?
• I collected some black sand from the beach and did some experiments with it, with bags and magnets. I noticed it was magnetic. Why doesn't magnetic sand rust?
• Sheep and cows eat grass (non-fat) and walk all day (excercise). Why do we get so much fatty meat?
• What actually defines the arc of a rainbow? Is it the time of day, position of the sun, season? There appears to be many different degrees of curvature, some appear high with a small radius, others low and flat etc. Regardless, no matter how hard I look, I'm still chasing that "pot of gold"
• Is it necessary for a rocket, while in space, to be jet-propelled?
• Why doesn't New Zealand have colourful birds, as exist in almost any other country.
• When we go to the zoo we never hear the giraffes making any sounds. Do they?
• How and why does space weather affect the power grids, satellites, and electronic equipment?
• 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
• Do the various scientific bases in the Antarctic have freezers to store their food? i.e. do they actually need them?
• 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?
• When finishing pouring wine, red drips more than white. Why is this?
• 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?
• When I was young, at movies watching westerns, the spokes on wagon-wheels sometimes turned slow, stopped or went backwards. This was the stroboscope effect caused by film frames being presented to our eye in rapid succession.
• 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?
• How do scientists know it is time to add a second to clocks?
• If you shake the loose water off your hands before drying them under a hand-dryer in a public toilet, will this make a significant difference to the time taken to dry your hands? How much electricity would this save? Could it be extrapolated to an estimate for how much electricity would be saved if everyone in NZ did the same and whether we should have a national campaign to shake hands before drying?
• 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?
• I read recently that the Large Hadron Collider could possibly have created a microscopic black hole. In theory that tiny black hole would simply swallow anything in proximity to rapidly becoming a large one, meaning the end of Earth. Is this so?
• Why do mats move when placed on carpets ?
• 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?
• I recently cracked an egg and found it had three yolks, two small and one large. How rare is this?
• How does this Sun effect happen? It lasted only 2 minutes.
• 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?
• 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?
• Why do rockets need to go so fast to get into outer space? Jumbo jets lift off with an almost agonising slowness, so why can’t rockets do the same thing and just keep going up at a similar gentle pace until they reach orbit?
• 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?
• How do birds find worms under the ground?
• 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?
• 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?
• Why does the Sphynx cat have no hair? Is it to keep cool in a hot place like Egypt?
• 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?
• Our teacher's dog only chases rabbits when they dash away. Why doesn't it chase the ones sitting or hopping?
• Richard Mitchell, of Paraparaumu Beach, asked:-
• Why do flies appear to suffer no damage when they bash into window panes?
• Why do lemmings run and leap off a cliff and kill themselves?
• Many years ago I saw a rainbow with another upside-down sitting on top of it. I have never heard of anyone else reporting this. How could it happen?
• 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?
• 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?
• 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.
• A colour wheel consists of a series of black lines which, when spun, produces colours. Why is this so?
• 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.
• 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?
• We have bones and a letter re a moa called Dinornis torosus. What is known of this species of moa?
• 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?
• 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.
• 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.
• 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?
• 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?
• 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?
• 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?
• Recent light shows have had strings of large white translucent globes gently change colour through six colour ranges. How is this done?
• 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.
• 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?
• 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?
• Why do dogs drag their bottom over the ground?
• 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?
• I have two whitetail spiders in my house. Can you enlighten me about them please?
• 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?
• Why do we have insects in our world?
• Is natural radiation dangerous?
• Are insects important?
• What is radioactivity and how is it made?
• Are there any blind insects?
• Are there blind insects?
• I found some odd shells on Ocean View Beach. They were shaped a bit like a butterfly. What are they?
• Can the gamma rays from a smoke alarm build up on the casing and cause it to be radioactive?
• 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 are scientists making artificial/new atoms? Of what use are they?
• Why do lady birds have the colours and spots they do?
• Do we need insects?
• Why does the Moon look red sometimes? What does it mean?
• Why does the Moon look red sometimes? What does it mean?
• 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?
• How many different kinds of bugs are there?
• What kinds of insects can fly?
• If the eye is a single lens shouldn't the image be up-side down on the retina?
• 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?
• Do insects see colour?
• Do insects see colour?
• 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?"
• Can spiders climb?
• 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?
• Why are some animals camouflaged and some not?
• 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?
• How are spiders poisonous?
• Why can a blowfly fly full speed into a glass window without appearing to suffer any ill-effects?
• Why are insects so small?
• 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?
• 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 are there no mynah birds in Palmerston North?
• Why is light faster than sound?
• A hen lays an egg a day. Where do the eggs laid by seagulls, sparrows, and other birds go?
• How many different types of light are there?
• Why don't animals today grow as big as dinosaurs?
• How do solar panels work?
• Tuis appear to vanish for two months during the winter. Where do they go to?
• Why does light make heat?
• .
• 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 cannot light escape a black hole?
• 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?
• What is in the bubbles in iceblocks?
• 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?
• Why is ice sometimes clear and sometimes cloudy?
• How does a dust bath clean a chicken's feathers?
• 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)?
• If an electrical current increases, do more charges leave the battery or do they just travel faster?
• 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?
• Why does the handle of a cup not get hot when the cup is?
• Why does heat travel?
• What sea creatures use a "cats-eye" to seal the entrance to their shell and what functions does it serve?
• How 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?
• 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?
• 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?
• 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?
• 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 can glass be broken by sound?
• 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?
• 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?
• How do mother Emperor penguins know if their chick is a boy or a girl?
• 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?
• I observed baby? wax-eyes fluttering and vibrating their wings a lot. What are they saying?
• Why do we see a reflection off the clear windscreen of a car?
• 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?
• 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 do some balls bounce?
• 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 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 balloon pops why does it make such a loud bang?
• 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?
• What did sandflies live on BC (Before Campers)?
• Why does light slow down in glass and what is the fundamental cause of the colour display in prisms and diamonds?
• 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?
• Do bumble bees make honey, live in hives, sting, and have a queen bee, just like honey bees?
• What causes gravity?
• Why do I see only bumble bees pollinating Rhododendron flowers?
• What is the colour black?
• Why are eggs different shapes and colours, and how do the chicks get out?
• 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 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?
• 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?
• 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?
• How do venomous snakes get the poison in their teeth?
• 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?
• 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?
• How do zebras get their stripes and why?
• 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?
• How does induction heating on a stove work?
• 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?
• 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?
• During a heavy frost, ice made a very attractive pattern on the glass roof of our conservatory. Why did this pattern form?
• Are cock-a-bullies seasonal?
• How did Rutherford go about splitting the atom?
• Are any insects extinct?
• I read somewhere that the singing of new melodies had enlarged the left brain of nightingales. If this is so, does it work for human singers? Is singing good for the left brain, but not the rest of it?
• 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?
• Every time my three young grandchildren come to visit for a few hours, I'm exhausted for a day or more afterwards. But they have as much energy as ever next morning. Is this about their adrenaline, or metabolism, or just my own aging, or what?
• 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?
• Do fish sleep?
• Do fish sleep?
• I saw a demonstration in which a lightbulb placed in a microwave oven glowed. Why did it?
• Salt is important for the body. Is rock/sea salt any better than iodized salt? Is there any way of knowing your correct salt level without a blood test? Perhaps the old-timers were right in having salt with their porridge.
• How did insects first come to be?
• Why is it bumpy flying through clouds?
• If a schizophrenic has a accident and is head injured, because of multiple personalities would they take longer to heal mentally?
• What colour is spider blood?
• Is it possible to see a rainbow as a complete circle?
• When staying in SE Asia I noticed vegetables etc growing in contaminated water. Were they safe to eat? (Watermelon is mostly water.)
• Has there been any computer modelling done that can predict the chances of a life-harbouring planet similar to ours, especially one that's been allowed to flourish without their planet's inhabitants being wiped out every 500 million years or so by asteroids?
• Why is speed at sea measured in knots and what are they?
• If light takes 13 billion years to get here from a recently-spotted distant galaxy, did the galaxy form that long before ours and consequently would any life there have a 13 billion-year head-start on us?
• 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?
• What are the constituents of phlegm and snot? Why can at times one produce great quantities of this material, and other times can't?
• How long do tarantulas live?
• What is the people-carrying vehicle which has the most kinetic energy?
• Recently, the recommendation of five plus a day of fruit and vegetables has changed to only two servings of fruit, the rest of vegetables. Given that some vegetables are actually classed as fruits, e.g. tomatoes, does your tomato count as fruit or vegetable, are all berries fruit, or do dieticians have different definitions for fruit and vegetables?
• Why do insects make noises?
• When I clean my teeth, I find I always shut my eyes to do it, without knowing why. Is it to keep flying toothpaste droplets from getting in my eyes, or because I can rely on the feel of the brush doing its good work round my teeth and gums? or some intriguing reflex action? What do scientists do when they clean their teeth?
• Why do some desert people wear dark coloured clothes? Isn't it cooler to wear white?
• How is lightning formed?
• The human retina receives a view of the world that is upside down and the brain learns to re-interpret this. I read recently of a man who wore spectacles which provided the upside down image. It took only 8 days for his brain to get the image the correct way up. How long does it take for a baby's brain to learn to see the world the right way up?
• How many types of butterflies are there in the world?
• Why do we not get goosebumps on our hands, feet and face?
• Our most powerful telescopes can only see a certain distance into space. What lies beyond that?
• What do leeches eat and do they occur as far south as Otago?
• Why does sound travel faster in solids than in air, whereas light travels slower?
• 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?
• Why do fingernails grow much faster than toenails?
• We read sometimes that a very distant galaxy has been observed, say 12 billion light years away whose light left not long after the big bang. How is that possible without the the two moving apart faster than the speed of light which is itself a limiting speed?
• 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?
• If the Universe (space) is expanding on a cosmic scale, is it also expanding on a local one? In other words, is the distance between planets or even electrons also increasing?
• How do seahorses swim and how big do they get?
• How does water conduct electricity?
• If all black holes are by definition infinitely dense and infinitely small, how can there be different sized black holes? Isn't infinity non-negotiable?
• Why do our eyes weep when running in cold air?
• How does electricity go through power lines?
• How many types of seahorses are there in New Zealand and what do they eat?
• Given the theory that the universe was created by one huge explosion all the planets like earth seem to be incredibly circular or rounded in shape. How could this be?
• Why are planets round?
• I often reheat leftovers in the microwave oven but was recently told that destroyed the protein in the food. Is that so?
• How can whales spout water out of their spouts?
• How does water turn into electricity?
• When my grandma was young there were no plastics. Are foods sold in plastic containers and liquids that have been in plastic pipes, kettles or bottles bad for us? What would happen if I ate some plastic?
• 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?
• Why is an Octopus slimy and how do they make the slime?
• 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?
• My favourite tramping party trick gets an airing if ever we come upon a substantial waterfall in the bush. First, my companions are asked to choose a spot in the landscape near the waterfall. Next, they stare at a fixed spot in the face of the waterfall. When, after 30 seconds they are asked to switch their gaze back to their chosen spot the landscape there appears to travel upwards.
• Why is it that all matter in the universe is subject to a spinning motion? Both at the micro and macro level, bodies spin around their own axis as well as around other bodies. What is responsible for all this spinning, and is this maybe the universal force that makes the universe possible?
• What happens to the electrons when an alpha particle is ejected from a radioactive nucleus?
• How can whales stay under water for so long?
• Why do hammerhead sharks have heads that shape?
• Does burning coal help produce the ozone hole over New Zealand and will the hole repair itself?
• What would happen if two black holes got close to each other?
• Are people of certain blood groups more predisposed to various types of cancer?
• How can we tell a male turtle from a female turtle?
• Bill Holvey, of Kirwee, asked:-
• How was space formed?
• 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?
• I hear that eggs have sulphur in them. Is it in the yolk or the white?
• Elizabeth Andrews, of Christchurch, asked:-
• Do crabs only live in the salty sea?
• For disaster preparedness we are told to keep a supply of food. What is the life of canned food?
• 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?
• How do starfish breathe, eat and move?
• 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?
• Is there a container that wont expand at all under pressure inside it?
• I notice that metal hand rails (galvanized steel?) on our stepped pathways have taken on a bright but dark burnished polish wherever the human hand has touched and not elsewhere. It seems to be resistant to rust and is quite an attractive finish to the metal. What is the chemistry going on here? Has it been exploited in any way?
• How do sea animals protect themselves?
• Why do you go into space in a rocket and not in a plane?
• If a lunar month is 28 days, does that mean a full moon is always on the same day of the week?
• 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?
• Why does rice, almond, and soy milk have a tendency to curdle in hot drinks whereas dairy milk doesn't?
• 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?
• If the ozone hole gets too big will people start to die?
• How do jellyfish sting?
• How long does it take a raindrop to reach the ground?
• 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?
• How do fish survive under water?
• 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?
• Can garden herbicides harm cats? When my son sprayed our gardens, his cat died and one of mine became ill. They lost weight, their pupils' dilated, and apparently their immune system became depleted. All three cats were from the same litter.
• Why do some people get seasick and others in the same boat don't? Are there any good cures for seasickness ?
• When a yeast is added to fruits or malt it changes the sugars into alcohol. However when added to ginger and sugar the resulting fermentation is non-alcoholic. What is the chemical difference in the fermentation?
• Could it be true that the solar system exerts a modulating influence on solar cycles?
• The gravitational force of the Sun on the Earth is 200 times greater than that of the Moon. So why are tides due to the Moon?
• What different types of animals live in the sea?
• How can you measure the size of raindrops?
• 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?
• I have read the quote “It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown.â€� Is this true?
• How big is a raindrop?
• 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?
• 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 come a video camera sees the invisible signals from a video remote unit?
• At the bottom of the Periodic Table there are elements listed starting with the letters Un. What are these?
• 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 did the sun get so hot and stay hot?
• Why do cats have litters with so many different colours?
• I have a touch-lamp as my bedside lamp. It regularly makes a buzzing sound like a transformer. Would that effect someone's health?
• The reports about the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere worry me. Is there any way people can take carbon dioxide out? I'm doing my best keeping all these trees in my back yard but that's not even a grain of sand off the beach.
• How does a TV remote work?
• I have been told that I shouldn't use aluminium cooking pots because aluminium can contaminate the brain. Is this so?
• I have a group of 6 tyre stacks in which I grow potatoes, vegetables and strawberries. I have recently been made aware of some concerns about materials leaching out of the tyres into the soil and the subsequent contamination being absorbed by the plants. I have no wish to be responsible for poisoning my family! Can you advise me about this problem.
• Where does wind come from?
• Who discovered the first planet and how did they know it was a planet?
• How do baby birds inside a fluid filled egg, and without an umbilical cord to their mother, survive so long without oxygen?
• Why is it that as they age men’s bottoms shrink, while women’s expand?
• Where do the bubbles come from in the bottom of a glass of fizz or beer?
• If there is a strong wing blowing down a lake, will the wind pressure and wave movement result in water being pushed to the downward end of the lake? Will this result in the lake level being higher at the downward end?
• Why does the "head" on a glass of Guiness beer seem to be finer and longer-lasting than other beers?
• 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?
• I overheard some people talking about the galactic equator and planetary alignment on Dec 21, 2012. What is expected to happen then?
• What are the constituent chemicals in urine? The ancient Romans used it as part of a cloth dyeing process.
• Why are some people severely poisoned by one mosquito bite, while others merely experience a slight reddening which soon disappears?
• 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?
• Why does the North-West Arch occur?
• I have never before seen this butterfly/moth. What is it?
• What would be the atmospheric pressure on us if we were on the bottom of the Mariana Trench and there was no sea, just that deep canyon.
• 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?
• I understand the horrific 9.1-9.2M earthquake in the Indian Ocean in 2004, which killed hundreds of thousands of people in multiple countries, caused the earth to wobble on its axis. Little has ever been reported on this. Has the Earth stopped wobbling? Has it shifted on its axis? If so, has it contributed towards global warming?
• When cooking food in a microwave, will it destroy all the organisms that could give you food poisoning?
• I was given a jigsaw puzzle of the Periodic Table of all known elements, and in the course of putting it together realised that it is mostly arranged in rows of 18 elements with each element assigned a number. The exceptions are row 1 which has only Hydrogen (1) and Helium (2), and rows 2 and 3 which have 8 elements with gaps of ten between Beryllium (4) and Boron (5), and Magnesium (12) and Aluminium (13).
• 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.
• How and why do lizards drop their tail when under attack?
• 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?
• What causes the Northern/Southern Lights?
• Does all this energy extracted from the ocean and expended during the high winds of a cyclone and its aftermath actually reduce the energy in the ocean and the atmosphere and, by extension, reduce the warming in the biosphere? Is it in effect an environmental safety valve, or just an outward visible symptom of an invisible climate aberration to be endlessly repeated as things get worse?
• When scientists are trying to form a clone of an animal how do they get the cells to multiply?
• 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?
• Is the Moon drawing closer to the Earth?
• Why do I have a dimple in my chin?
• Why is water so blue in the deep bits?
• Why does the wind drop at sunset or in the evening after blowing a gale all day?
• 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?
• 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?
• 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 are there so many species of animals?
• What do you think happened to wipe out the dinosaurs?
• 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.
• Has anyone ever considered the scenario of a meteor the size of the K-T event hitting Antarctica right on the greatest thickness of ice sheet? What would be the effects on global climate?
• Why is it that some milk freezes very well, green top is fine but blue top separates out and is not appealing?
• Morgan Allington, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:-
• We have been told by scientists that glass takes one million years to break down. Then how come there are bone fossils which are organic/carbon and are up to four hundred million years old? Don't say they are fossilised by silica, because if so they would be long broken down.
• What causes cramp?
• When is the best time to see meteorites?
• Do dogs see the same colours we do?
• 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?
• 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?
• How do mirror's work?
• What knocked over Uranus so that it is on its side?
• 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 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?
• What is the nearest galaxy to ours?
• What is lightning made of?
• 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?
• Will the oxygen ever be depleted or nearly depleted, because of all the deforestation, births outnumber the deaths, more planes and cars using oxygen, burning of fossil fuels and everything else that uses oxygen?
• 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?
• How did the first insects get to New Zealand?
• Why is vitamin C essential to humans?
• How do magnets work?
• I have often read or heard that the cause of the demise of the Dinosaur species, was due to a very large asteroid crashing into the earth somewhere in the Mexican region. Assuming these large animals were present throughout the planet alongside many species of animals, birds and insects,when the impact occurred, how is it then that every living thing didn't get wiped out as well as the dinosaurs? I ask because on radio recently, an item discussing New Zealand's giant weta,the speaker mentioned how these insects have been around before and after the dinosaur age.
• What is the rarest native animal in NZ?
• 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 did we discover there are molecules, atoms, protons and electrons when they are too small to be seen with microscopes?
• Has the Earth's gravity changed over time?
• Why does a tornado come down but suck things up?
• What is the biggest bird in the New Zealand Native Forest?
• 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?
• I read that with the end of oil, ammonia could be the next fuel for transport because it can be produced cheaply from renewable electricity. Can it be used in internal combustion engines?
• How did Sir Earnest Rutherford split the atom?
• 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?
• What kind of native insects are there in New Zealand.
• 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?
• Is fresh or frozen chicken safest? I have heard that in some countries chicken cannot be sold fresh.
• Why are tropical fish brightly coloured but New Zealand fish are dull?
• Why do we use plastic for packaging when it takes so long to break down in a landfill?
• What is congenital diabetes insipidus?
• Why do we use plastic for packaging when it takes so long to break down in a landfill?
• Is more methane released into the atmosphere when grass passes through the gut of livestock compared to when the grass just dies and decomposes naturally?
• What was the first computer like?
• How much energy is in the Sun compared to a single light bulb?
• Why don't we sneeze when asleep?
• Why do magnets stick on the fridge?
• Do hedgehogs hibernate and how should I care for one?
• How far does light travel?
• What are chemicals and where do scientists get chemicals from?
• It is said that plants give off a perfume to attract insects to pollinate them. However any one species, e.g. roses, have a range of different smells and they get pollinated. Is there a reason plants from the same species have a variety of smells?
• Who discovered dry ice and how?
• Can eye colour change with age?
• In 2015 Otago had two large earthquakes and neither had any aftershocks. Is this unusual? Also, what does it suggest to a seismologist?
• 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?
• What is gravity? How does it work and where does it come from?
• 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?
• In early August I seem to have seen more early flowers than usual that are pink. What is the attraction of pink to bees and insects?
• A recent article stated that astronauts on the moon could blot out the earth using their thumb at arms length. Is this so?
• I saw a photo of dinosaur tracks taken in Golden Bay. They appear to have stepped across several sedimentary strata which must have taken millions of years to lay down but must have been softish when walked upon. Wouldn't rainfall have washed these away at the time?
• Is there a difference between heat and infrared? How is it we can feel an electric heater but not the infrared TV changer?
• I heard that a fire was caused by tea towels spontaneously combusting which seems odd. Is it possible?
• When sucking helium into your mouth, why does your voice go squeaky when talking?
• Why are the Sun and Moon visible from both sides of the equator?
• How do parrots talk?
• Where does all the rubber dust/particles go worn from rubber tyres wearing out on our roads?
• 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 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?
• Why does UHT milk boil faster in a microwave oven than the same volume of standard homogenised milk with identical composition.
• Is radiation still present in food for several minutes after the food has been cooked in a microwave oven?
• How did Einstein come up with E = Mc^2
• 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?
• Why is water a liquid, when it is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, which are both gases?
• How do spittle bugs, which dont appear to have wings, travel to spread to other plants?
• Is global warming scepticism justified? I have been told that there has been no warming for 17 years.
• If the Earth and Sun's alignment was altered, say by an asteroid impact, would our lives be effected?
• If things on Earth just evolved, why aren't there any mistakes or things that evolved wrong?
• Why does looking at the sun make you go blind?
• Why do cones grow in clusters on the pinus radiata branch? How many clusters develop each year?
• Camryn Mabey, of Riverdale School, asked:-
• I have seen advertised objects, containing magnets, which are reputed to stop lime scale forming. Can this be true?
• Mass jet travel introduce a lot of water vapour into the hitherto fairly dry stratosphere. Does this have any effect on climate?
• Why are the eyes of the yellow-eyed penguin yellow?
• Does the moon have any gravitational pull on the earth?
• Why do our eye lids close vertically not sideways?
• How fast do raindrops fall?
• What causes tinnitus?
• In spring some trees and plants produce their flowers before any leaves appear. Most produce the leaves first. What decides the sequence? Are there any species which don't have it fixed?
• 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?
• 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?
• What was it that started the big bang?
• What is the best way to thaw a frozen chicken quickly?
• Why do bees make their honey holders as hexagonal arrays?
• How does an aqualung work?
• Snow will not form in air as warm as 4C but large snowflakes can fall into air that warm and not melt completely. Why?
• 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?
• Why does the Earth rotate and orbit but the Moon only orbits and doesn't rotate?
• Why does the Earth revolve and the Moon doesn't? Do all planets revolve?
• What is the size of the Moon's umbra, the shadow cast on the Earth during an eclipse of the Sun?
• How do doctors know what medicines to give patients for their illnesses and diseases?
• Which grows faster - salt or sugar crystals?
• Why are there so many different types of worms?
• 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?
• 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?
• My husband is very disappointed with the tomato plants in our glasshouse this year. He has lost 9 (all moneymaker) so far and they were about a metre tall, some with tomatoes about the size of a golfball. We have been growing tomatoes for 26 years in the glasshouse and never had any trouble before. The soil was changed and brought in from the vege garden as usual. About 3 weeks ago some of the leaves were wilting then we noticed that the stem was rotting. An insect was in the stem. What is the problem and how could he prevent it happening again.
• Why is glass clear when the sand it is made from is opaque?
• Why do some worms glow?
• 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?
• Has the Sun's diameter changed over the past 100 million years and is this a likely problem for the Earth?
• What causes migraine headaches?
• How long does a brain last without water?
• How do flying fish fly?
• 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?
• Why is it that toilets flush and plug holes drain in different directions in different hemispheres?
• I heard that heating plastics can release dangerous dioxins. Are plastics safe to use in microwave ovens?
• What is in Lava lamps?
• 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.
• 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?
• 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?
• How can we reduce the amount of noise in our school hall?
• Even though it's deep winter, I'm seeing cabbage trees in full bloom. Is this unusual? Is it a sign of global warming? Does it portend anything about the weather in the short term?
• 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.
• From my memory this mushroom is the first time seen at Manapouri. Is it deadly?
• What do nerve cells look like?
• Is there any possibility that a tsunami hit the North Otago coast in the wake of the Napier earthquake in Feb 1931?
• What is the physics involved when doing an ''ollie'' on a skateboard?
• 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?
• 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?
• How far is it to the planets?
• Why are most of our native trees evergreen?
• Why do we have five senses?
• 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 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 does sound travel faster in solids than in air?
• Why does rubbish smell so bad?
• Is it true that mountains cannot be higher than 10km due to gravity?
• 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?
• 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?
• How do scientists know what part of the brain controls memory, touch, taste, etc?
• I recently photographed wasps building a nest amongst rocks in Central Otago. What type of wasp does so?
• Does one become lighter or heavier as one moves towards the centre of the earth? At what distance from the centre is one heaviest?
• What is the most common animal in NZ fresh water lakes?
• Why do we only use 20 per cent of our memory?
• Thirty years ago while living on the North Shore (Auckland) the bane of my life was having to mow a large paspalum lawn. The sticky seed heads just laid down flat before the cutting blades could attack them. We shifted to a cooler Wellington without this annoying grass but of late I have noticed paspalum grass is appearing in patches in my area. Could this be indicative of climate warming?
• Why do stars stay in the same place?
• 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?
• How are ball bearings made?
• Why do dogs wag their tails when they are happy, while cats swish their tails when they are cross?
• Does Mars have any moons?
• Why does the computer screen appear to flicker when filmed on video or TV?
• Why does our brain make us think?
• All I have read say forests are needed to store carbon. Surely we can plant trees for many other important reasons, eg employment, moisture and soil retention, cleaner rivers, and high value tree crops to replace dairy. Shouldn't these other aspects be more widely propagated?
• What is our current understanding of mechanisms for the sun’s influence on earth’s climate
• 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
• Why do we have an outer, middle and inner ear?
• Why can birds stand on power lines but humans get electrocuted?
• When did New Zealand get made and how?
• A small-aircraft crash reportedly narrowly missed a container of "highly flamable liquid oxygen". Is it correct to describe oxygen as flammable?
• Does the moon rotate and if not why not?
• Why are dogs born with their eyes closed?
• Many of our fruit and vegetables are picked well before they are naturally ripe, because of export markets or supermarkets here. Sometimes they sit at home for up to two weeks before they soften and colour up. Do these early picked fruit and vegetables contain the vitamins and minerals full-term tree-ripened fruit and full-term ripened vegetables have? Does the early picking compromise our health in other ways? Have tests been done on the vitamin C content and minerals between the two stages of ripening?
• 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 frogs hop?
• What is water made up of?
• How many solar systems are there?
• 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?
• My lemon tree grows leaves and lemons but it also grows thorn type leaves on some of its branches. Is this normal?
• Why do we get earache?
• Does the Earth vibrate as a result of the total seismic, atmospheric, gravitational and human activity imposed on it?
• How does electricity heat up the water from our tap?
• I have recently removed a heap of mature agapanthus clumps and found no animal life in, on or under the plants. Are the plants noxious to the usual insects etc that attack my garden vegetables? I soaked some leaves in water and tried the infusion on a green caterpillar but it appeared not to affect it in any way. If the plant is noxious to our garden pests, could the vital chemical be used as a natural control? I am aware that South Africa hosts an insect that feeds on agapanthus.
• Are mosquitos attracted to colour or to smell?
• Why and how do your teeth fall out?
• 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?
• Why are baby stars blue?
• Which is stronger weight for weight, an ant or a human being?
• If trees are the lungs of the Earth, what species of tree/s is the most beneficial?
• How fast does electricity travel through a wire?
• Recently I had several X-rays on my dodgy hip. How many X-rays are safe?
• When making bread, why do we need to knead the dough and why is bread baked in such a hot oven?
• What makes the planets spin?
• How can you tell a male fish from a female fish?
• 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 is in asparagus that changes the smell of my urine?
• What do you wear when you fix power lines?
• What are the main chemicals in urine? Is daily peeing under a lemon tree beneficial (as implied in the film "The World's Fastest Indian") or detrimental (as a nursery man told me - they die)?
• 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?
• The conifer family Podocarpaceae is the oldest of the living conifer families, as in circa 230 million years ago. The modern podocarp’s have seeds distributed by birds, so what was around back then to distribute the seeds assuming birds hadn’t yet evolved?
• How come when you touch a light bulb it is hot?
• Why has the abiogenic theory of oil formation failed to gain acceptance in general scientific concensus?
• M Pollard, of Palmerston North, asked:-
• How can a dog bury a piece of meat, and then later when it is really stinking dig it up and eat it without any apparent bad effects?
• 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?
• Why is the number of segments in a grapefruit variable?
• Why do monarch butterflies gather in parks in late autumn?
• Have scientists succeeded in producing power from nuclear fusion?
• 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?
• How is yeast made?
• 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?
• 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?
• What is ‘phlegm’ and ‘snot’.
• Why is there a boy planet (Mars) and a girl planet (Venus)?
• Can you make bread without yeast, what if your yeast is out of date and what makes bread go mouldy?
• How come the ozone hole occurs over the Antarctic and New Zealand, two of the least polluted places on Earth?
• Jeff Miller, of Palmerston North, asked:-
• 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?
• 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?
• 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?
• 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?
• How do people get salt from the sea?
• There seems to be conflicting statements as to whether or not humans are producing climate change. What is the situation?
• 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?
• 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?
• Why is sulphur in eggs and how does it get there?
• How much electricity gets wasted every day?
• How do you tell a comet has fire?
• I am curious about how radiation causes cancer, yet also cures it?
• 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?
• How does a case moth make its cocoon? I thought it was made out of skin on the inside.
• Karen Phillips, of Dannevirke, asked:-
• Is it realistic that cars will eventually be replaced with solar-powered cars?
• Jenny Harris, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:-
• What forms can hydrogen take?
• Is infinity real?
• A chef told me polypropylene chopping boards are less hygienic than wooden boards. Is this so?
• 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?
• How can we remove greenfly from our class-room plants?
• Why do stars twinkle but planets dont?
• 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 do people clean dirty water?
• Does brain weight increase with age?
• 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?
• What is a Laser-Ablation Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer?
• 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 makes the waves in the ocean?
• Kate Johnston, of Ardgowan School, asked:-
• Why do earth worms come to the surface when it rains?
• What is the shape of the universe and how big is the universe?
• 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?
• Can Oil and Vinegar explode?
• 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?
• 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?
• Is time travel possible?
• Is it true that flying cures whooping cough?
• 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?
• 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 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)?
• Why do rabbits sleep in the day time and not at night?
• 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.
• Can nuclear power be used to drive a space ship?
• Why do people need to drink water?
• How do I make a coal-flower garden like my grandmother used to make?
• If temperature has to do with kinetic energy, why are some strong winds cold?
• How much real grape is in our New Zealand wines and how much is required by law? Why don't they tell us?
• 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?
• Do other planets have seasons?
• Why is water healthy for us?
• 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?
• How fast can the fastest bird in the world fly?
• 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?
• Why does sand, which is heavier than sea water, accumulate on our seashores?
• 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 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?
• If the Sun suddenly stopped shining, how long would it take for life on Earth to perish? Could some species survive?
• How fast do bumblebee wings flap and how can it fly when it is so fat?
• 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?
• Why, when one person starts yawning, does everyone else around them appear to do the same?
• Is a screwdriver a machine?
• Why do flies put a bit of spit on you before licking you?
• Which black hole is closest to Earth?
• Is a screwdriver a machine or not?
• How is hokey pokey in ice cream made round?
• What is the latest knowledge of global warming?
• What causes autism?
• Does everything float in space?
• What causes autism?
• Why do some trees lose leaves in Autumn and some trees don’t?
• How do butterflies and moths get colours on their wings?
• Why are some sheep black and some white when they are the same breed?
• 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 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 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 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?
• I once read that oxygen is blue because clear skies and lakes are blue. Is this so?
• 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?
• What is the temperature of the universe?
• What is gold used for and why are there different colours of gold?
• The pupils of Room 9, at Addington Primary School, asked:-
• What is difference between an earthquake and an aftershock? How do scientists know the difference from data recording?
• 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 causes a random itch that isn't caused by external events such as an insect bite or a rash?
• Why does heat travel along metal faster than glass?
• Why does egg yolk and faeces stick to most surfaces and fabrics better than your average glue?
• Is it possible to see stars in daytime?
• Can a fantail fly straight?
• 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?
• 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 do rabbits pluck out their hair?
• What would be the feasability of getting rid of unwanted waste by dumping them into active volcanoes such as in Hawiai?
• Why does a reflection in a mirror reflect left to right and not up to down?
• Why do our teeth chatter when we are cold?
• How do astronomers know how far away a star is when they only know something about it when light reaches Earth?
• When Dalmation puppies are born why dont they have spots?
• How many insects carry diseases?
• 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?
• Why do we have a moon?
• 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:-
• 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?
• If an animal which has venom bites itself, will it die?
• What are atoms made of?
• I lit two tea candles, one red and one uncoloured. The red one burnt longer. Why?
• What can an elderly male do to build up white blood cells?
• When things become cold the particles slow down. Is this why materials become brittle when cold?
• Where did air come from?
• How do black holes form?
• How does the body makes new blood cells?
• 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 did this happen to my tomato?
• How did this happen to my tomato?
• How do poos and wees get flushed down the toilet?
• Why do we have dreams?
• Why do some animals have beards?
• 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 is there such concern over cows farting? What do these gases do to our environment?
• If black and white aren't colours what are they?
• Why is the night darkest just before dawn?
• Has controlled experimentation established any connections between a full moon and the human body?
• Why don't cats and dogs live to 100 like humans?
• I have read that the Earth was once a snowball, even the oceans were covered by 800 metres of ice. Was this so?
• What is it we detect, and how, through smell?
• Why is human urine sometimes yellow and sometimes colourless?
• How do you dry spring onions and vegetables keeping the colour and flavour?
• Why do we have days?
• How can there be a reflection from water when it is clear?
• Why are con trails formed behind jet aircraft and why are they only seen on some days.
• What is the difference between a fox and a fox terrier?
• Is it true that if you travel upwards in space for long enough you will eventually end up coming from a downwards direction?
• 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?
• Does food go rotten in space?
• 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?
• 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.
• How do glasses work?
• 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?
• How does the Sun change our weather?
• What is the difference between a seal and a sealion?
• How does Newton's cradle work?
• Why did people evolve with four fingers and one thumb? Why not some other combination?
• Which is better for the environment: wool carpets or nylon carpets? (With the huge amount of television advertising spent on solution-dyed nylon carpets and with no carpet companies promoting woollen carpets one would almost think pure wool carpets are a thing of the past.)
• Why is a chlorine atom smaller than a sodium atom?
• Is it true that you can see the shapes of the Star Sign symbols in the sky?
• Why is ultraviolet light so damaging?
• How big is an atom?
• 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 do scientists know the Sun won't start turning into a red Giant now?
• Is there sufficient probability that the likes of the lowering fossil energy return ratio, stagnant world economy, rapid escalation of refugees and climate change are signs that humankind is encountering the "Limits to Growth" prediction of the early 1970s and should thus be urgently addressing the risks of exceeding those limits?
• 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 the Earth like a magnet?
• How does a spider know how to spin a web?
• Why is water wet?
• What is the cause of the misshapen carrot, the only one in a row I planted.
• Why are people's teeth white? Why aren't they pink or blue?
• How do flies walk on the ceiling upside-down?
• Why do hurricanes occur not very often and why only in some parts of the world?
• 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?
• What would happen to the Earth if our Sun turns into a red giant?
• 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 long does it take for Tb to develop, and do birds have a different disease to mammals?
• People say that cats are colour-blind or only see black and white? If this is true how do they know this?
• How is the weather predicted?
• 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?
• Beryllium has many similarities to aluminium so why hasn't it come into general use?
• When were germs first discovered?
• Can cars run on water?
• How far can astronomers see into space?
• How can hydrogen be separated from oxygen in a car run by water?
• Why does it take an hour longer to fly from Los Angeles to Auckland than it does to fly from Auckland to Los Angeles?
• Is it true that cats and dogs don't respond to their names, just the sounds at the end of their names?
• 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?
• Why do roses smell?
• Three seeds on one of my strawberry plants seem to have sprouted. What causes this?
• If I could repeatedly toss a coin in exactly the same way, would the coin always end up showing exactly the same face?
• Can scientists predict when a star will collapse?
• How and when were magnets first mass produced?
• Why do flies rub their legs together?
• What causes curly hair?
• Why are waves always parallel to the beach?
• Does the moon affect the germination of seeds?
• Why are there rivers underground? Chuck Landis, a geologist at Otago University, responded.
• Why dont we eat horsemeat like the French do?
• 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 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?
• How did the ancient Egyptians lift the enormous blocks to make the pyramids?
• Eve Crossan, of Stirling, asked:-
• We have been talking about Concorde and would like to know if a plane can keep flying upwards into space?
• Why do waves curl over?
• 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?
• How is chalk made?
• We learn that respiration supplies energy to keep warm blooded animals warm. So why doesn't respiration do the same for cold blooded animals?
• How many stars can we see on a clear night?
• How do eyes work?
• Where does electricity go when you have finished with it?
• What is Greek Fire?
• We have a hen's egg shell which is green. Why can an egg shell be green?
• My young teen loves his xbox game, halo. I do restrict how much time he spends on it but I wonder if I didn't monitor this he would probably quite happily play on it for hours at a time. He does have other interests but this one is at the top of his list. Is there an addiction here that I need to be concerned about? What drives young male teens to have such an obsession with these sorts of games? He is often tired and grumpy after playing so what is it giving him?
• Why does my tummy grumble?
• Why is lava red?
• Is it likely that a large asteroid will hit Earth within the next hundred years?
• When climbing a gum tree I found a knobbly wooden ball, about the size of an orange, which came away in my hand. What could this be?
• How do scientists know that the Sun is made of hydrogen and helium when no-one has been close enough to get samples?
• Why are the wheels on racing wheelchairs splayed?
• What is Condy's crystals and where did it get its name from?
• How many different types of thermometer are there and when were they first used?
• What makes a dinosaur different from a lizard?
• 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 many volcanos are there and which is the biggest?
• How common are four and five leaf clovers?
• Why is the number 13 considered unlucky?
• Why is the core of the Earth warm?
• Why do our ears pop when we drive up or down hills?
• How are mercury thermometers made and how do we check them?
• What is a light year?
• What is in soap to make it so slippery?
• 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?
• Do horses get the stitch?
• 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?
• Do we need to orbit a planet before landing on its surface?
• Why does my heart keep beating?
• 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?
• What is hen's egg shell made out of?
• What causes the flashes of light seen in the sea on some dark nights?
• Jessie Gibb, of Ardgowan School, asked:-
• Do hurricanes change direction when they cross the equator?
• Are three sycamore seeds stuck together usual?
• How do different species start?
• Over history, how has the average height of humans, both male and female, varied, and what caused these variations?
• If we leave Earth, will there be gravity in outer space?
• Why do we get butterflies in our stomach when we are about to go on stage?
• Why can people talk but animals can't?
• 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?
• 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?
• Why can you see dots when sitting close to a TV screen?
• Why do we have toenails? What use are they?
• 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?
• Amy, of Sawston Village College (UK), asked:-
• Why doesn't air go out into space so we can breath on the moon?
• What is our immune system and what does it do?
• Oxygen is essential for life. Where did the first oxygen come from?
• 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?
• Why is there a ring around Saturn?
• Denis Savin, of Porirua, asked:-
• When did Jesus die?
• Why is muscle heavier that Fat?
• Why are there shooting stars?
• Why is it that two gases (hydrogen and oxygen) can combine to form a liquid (water)?
• Why does this world only have boys and girls?
• 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?
• How does television work?
• How are thunderstorms formed?
• 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 do we have months and who invented them?
• Does much water from a lake soak into the ground?
• What makes elastic stretchy?
• Why do bathroom scales indicate a lower weight when used on carpet than when used on a hard floor?
• Why are rats used in most experiments?
• How long does it take for a human body to decompose?
• What causes the goosebumps I get on cold days?
• How do shells get their colour?
• How do scientists know the temperature of the core of the sun?
• 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?
• Can motorbikes be made to run on fuels other than petrol?
• Why do humans use smiles in a friendly, placatory, way whereas other primates use them as threats?
• What is in wood ash?
• Charles Jelley, of Waikanae, asked:-
• If crabs have teeth where are they?
• Can HIV be transmitted from an infected person to someone else via a sandfly or mosquito bite?
• 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?
• Did pre-european Maori count using a base ten decimal system and therefore by inference had invented zero?
• 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?
• What is dark matter, where is it found and how do we know it is there?
• Why do cut flowers in a vase look fresher, have brighter colours, and last longer if flat lemonade is added to the vase water?
• Do the upper layers of the atmosphere spin at the same rate as the earth or do they stay still?
• What makes and keeps our body warm?
• Why does water take up more space when it turns to ice?
• Why is water clear?
• Who decided on the numbers 0 to 10?
• Why is the Sun made of fire? Fire is feed by oxygen and there is no oxygen in space.
• What kind of weather does a towering cumulonimbus cloud bring?
• How do crabs breathe both in and out of water?
• 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?
• Why do tigers have stripes?
• 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?
• Who put the alphabet together?
• 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?
• How best should we use the land in order to mop up carbon dioxide most efficiently?
• Is it possible to have a world in which everything is opposite that on Earth?
• Why do tigers have stripes?
• What if any arguments were provoked because of the use of radiocarbon dating?
• What causes the earth's magnetic field to reverse?
• 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.
• Recently I saw two seagulls stomping on grass. Is this a mating ritual or is it done to force food to the surface?
• 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.
• What makes the dayglow yellow paint on my cycle helmet stand out at a distance?
• When an embryo is dividing, how do cells know what function they are going to perform?
• How do scientists measure the distances between planets?
• How was the Grand Canyon formed?
• What is chaos theory?
• Who was the first person to invent rubbish?
• A friend's orchard in Clyde produced a pear that was exactly half red and half green. Why was this?
• What metals are in our coins?
• Why do moths go to the lights at night?
• 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?
• What is a star?
• Evan Blanch, of Alexandra, asked:-
• Where are the seeds of the pussy willow and how are they dispersed?
• Why does the moon shine during the day?
• 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?
• What is atherosclerosis?
• How did the sea form?
• How many species of penguins are there?
• Are better keyboards being designed?
• Some people like to chew paper. What chemicals are in paper?
• Why do the tips of runner beans turn towards the fence to climb?
• Are there any dinosaurs alive today?
• Rebecca Cadogan, of Clyde, 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?
• 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?
• Sarah Smith, of Ardgowan School, asked:- Melissa Robertson, of Kingswell High School, asked:-
• Where do penguins sleep?
• How much food does a grasshopper eat a day?
• Why do trees, even on the side of a hill, always grow vertically?
• How do people know the bones they find are dinosaur bones and not that of some other large animal?
• How does ultraviolet radiation cause skin cancer?
• Is there a scientific explanation for water divining?
• Why is there an extra day every four years?
• Why did my fizzy drink foam up when I added ice cream to it?
• How, in your opinion, did the use of radiocarbon dating change the way scientists are able to interpret and understand history?
• Why do some beaches have bigger waves than others?
• Why do cats fall on their feet even when dropped upside down?
• How did the different nationalities of the world come to have different characteristics?
• How and why do people dream?
• What substances are in rubber?
• Is it a coincidence that we see only one side of the moon?
• I left some strawberries in the garden. They went fluffy. Is this because the seeds are sprouting or because they are going mouldy?
• How long could a dinosaur live?
• Why cannot people live forever?
• When cloning plants from one cell, how do scientists get the cell to multiply?
• Why does the moon shine when it's only rock?
• If humans have brains smarter than computers, why do we use computers?
• How is Bicarbonate of Soda made? Is it a mineral or a drug?
• If a torch was shone around a closed ring of mirrors, what would happen when the torch was turned off?
• Why don't the tides follow the moon and so get later the further west you go?
• What was the first dinosaur in the world?
• What is the biggest type of snail in New Zealand?
• What are satellites made out of?
• What is the most common element in the world?
• Why are people sick when they put their fingers down their throats?
• Do sounds echo in space?
• 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?
• How would you plan plan a manned mission to Mars?
• What are some things that are best or only made of wood?
• Can birds detect colour?
• How frequently does the earth's magnetic field reverse and when can we expect the next reversal?
• Do moths spread germs?
• Where did humans come from?
• What determines whether or not a plastic bag rustles, something that is embarrasing at the theatre?
• Why is window glass clear?
• What makes the Earth tilt away from the sun to give us longer nights in winter?
• 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?
• What is a liquid crystal display?
• 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 world spin?
• Why can we have mucus in our nose when we don't have a cold?
• Is the Burmuda Triangle true?
• What causes echos?
• How many different types of native tree there are in New Zealand?
• What is the colour of paint made out of?
• Do fish sleep in their fish bowls at night and if so do their gills still work when they sleep?
• Does the red laser light used in decoders at supermarket checkouts emit radiation that causes sterility?
• For how many years have people been on Earth?
• How fast does the world travel?
• What is sea salt?
• Why are some people claustrophobic?
• How is a Tsunami formed?
• Why are cat tongues dry and human tongues wet?
• Why does the estuary smell so much?
• 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?
• Why does infrared radiation get absorbed by carbon dioxide gas?
• How do the TV people know what the weather's going to do?
• Why do women live longer than men?
• Who made the first musical instrument?
• Where was the largest known meteorite found?
• Can dolphins communicate with humans?
• What is inside a seed and how can something so hard and small grow?
• What causes cramp?
• Why is Earth the only planet in our solar system with enough oxygen for humans to survive?
• Why are gorilla's arms longer than their legs and why are our arms shorter?
• How do hot mudpools form and work?
• Why can we talk?
• How do you prevent frost damaging houses?
• What is ink made of?
• Is everything science?
• What makes a hen lay an egg and why so regularly?
• Why are there seven metre waves in Hawaii but none over three metres in New Zealand?
• Why do some medicines tast sour?
• Has a New Zealander ever been in space?
• We have a problem with toadstools coming up in our lawn. How can we get rid of them?
• Why is fire red? John Campbell, a physicist who is a consultant firewalker, responded.
• When do your feet stop growing?
• Karl Dear, of Manawatu College, asked:-
• How many different kinds of dinosaurs are there?
• Is water a neutral, acidic or alkaline?
• Why is Mars red?
• Hillary Riddle, of Mokoia Intermediate School, asked:- Giles Reid, of Ilam Primary School, asked:-
• What happened when the comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter?
• How do apples change from green to red?
• How does food colouring make kids hyperactive?
• Why do whales beach themselves?
• What is the biggest fossil ever found?
• Who was the first ever scientist in the world?
• 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?
• Is there a planet with air on it?
• What's in washing powder to make clothes so white?
• What is plutonium and why did spacecraft, such as Cassini which was sent to Saturn, need it?
• What is washing powder made out of?
• How was Pluto, the smallest of our planets, discovered?
• What country has the most fossils?
• What is the most scientifically amazing thing you have come across?
• Why, when you telephone someone overseas, is it sometimes a good line and sometimes a bad line?
• 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?
• How do Chameleons change colour?
• What is the most scientifically amazing thing you have come across?
• What do pauas breathe out?
• How do you get gold out of rock?
• Where does mercury come from?
• Why do we have sun-showers?
• Why do we have blood?
• Can paper be made without using trees?
• Could anyone discover a planet?
• What causes pins and needles?
• Where does titanium come from?
• How do trees grow from their seed?
• Why does a straight stick seem bent when part of it is pushed into a swimming pool?
• Simon York, of King's High School, asked:-
• Who first discovered the planets and how did they get their names?
• How can people tell what is going to happen in your stars?
• What causes pins and needles?
• Can a fossil be made of a jellyfish?
• How did Jupiter get its Great Red Spot?
• What is the biggest tree in the world?
• 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?
• Can an ant be made much bigger?
• Why do we go pink when sunburnt? (Is it blood?)
• Why do we close our eyes when sneezing? Is it because otherwise our eyes may fall out?
• Can the information on a credit card be destroyed if the magnetic strips of two cards rub together?
• 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?
• What causes magnetic circles in paddocks where nothing grows on the perimeter?
• Recently I saw a rainbow at night. Are these common?
• Is there any evidence that another solar system exists suitable to support human life as we know it?
• While making bread I wondered how yeast works. How does it?
• Why are there so few really active volcanoes and why do volcanoes become extinct?
• How do we make tears?
• Why do alpacas spit?
• Why does light travel so fast?
• Why will the sun burn out?
• How do rivers run on flat ground?
• Humans descended from apes but what was before the apes?
• 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?
• What causes aging?
• What is DNA made of?
• Ross Milburn, of King's High School, asked:-
• How does a spittle bug make its spit?
• How do scientists explain water divining?
• How long do roots from trees grow?
• 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:-
• How do nuclear weapons work?
• Jemimah Walker, of Ilam School, asked:- Eloise Bacon, of Henley Primary School, asked:-
• Why are some people deformed?
• How do you make nylon out of coal?
• Why do people become short-sighted?
• Why do we have hair in only certain places?
• What caused the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 to collide with Jupiter?
• Why do magpies go for shiny things?
• When water is boiled, where do the bubbles come from?
• Cullen Crossan, of Balclutha,, asked:-
• 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 all birds wake up at the same time?
• How many litres of water are in a cloud?
• Why can't I eat dairy food when I am sick and vomiting?
• Where does seaweed in the estuary come from?
• Why does salt dissolve?
• What sport do the most people die from?
• How do scientists measure the huge distances in space?
• Why is the sun so hot?
• How does seaweed grow?
• When you look up at night which is going the fastest, a meteorite or a satellite?
• If hot air rises, why do mountains have snow at the top? Is it because the air is thinner?
• Why are the elements numbered?
• Can snails get indigestion?
• Rory Compton, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:-
• Annie Robinson, of Ilam School, asked:-
• Lydia Gallagher, of St Josephs School, Port Chalmers, asked:-
• Why do native earth worms secrete a bioluminescent substance?
• Is there anything colder than liquid air?
• Why do the ends of my fingers go wrinkly when washing dishes?
• Georgina Guthrie, of Musselburgh School, asked:-
• Why does the water in our aquarium eventually turn green?
• Why do singers with strong Scottish or Irish accents sing without a trace of accent?
• Why does acid burn skin and other materials?
• Jon Deaker, of King's High School, asked:- Helena Johnson, of Manawatu College, asked:-
• Why do we use Latin names for Chemical symbols?
• After watching the movie Goldfinger I would like to know what skin suffication is and how does it kill?
• Emma Wagstoff, of Rongotea School, asked:- Megan Sharrock, of Westland High School, asked:- Bryn Barlow, of King's High School, asked:-
• How were the moon's craters made?
• Pippa Childs, of Cashmere School asked:-
• Why does a piece of coal in a pot of peeled potatoes stop them from going brown?
• How do sharks communicate?
• How is epilepsy triggered?
• From where does a flower get its smell?
• 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:-
• Can earthquakes be predicted?
• How are rainbows formed?
• Graham Butcher, of Tawa, asked:-
• How do they make the special effects on TV like when a shop blows up just as someone is leaving it?
• How did the human race start?
• Andrew Lord, of Musselburgh School, asked:- Pippa Childs, of Cashmere Primary School, asked:-
• What causes Alzheimers disease?
• What makes our bones white?
• What do oysters eat?
• How does a radioactive smoke detector work?
• Harri Deacon and Tegan Wenlock, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:-
• How do trees drink?
• Why is mould formed?
• How do rainbows get their shape and why are they all the same?
• How do scientists know what are stars made of?
• What is the difference between Two Stroke Oil and Engine Oil?
• How often does the skin on my face change layers?
• Why do some people go bald?
• Why are there so many types of animals in the Estuary?
• How come bruises come up purple while blood is red?
• Why are planes all the same shape?
• The room 10 class at Ashburton Borough School, asked:-
• Kate Johnstone, of Ardgowan School, asked:- Koko Hema-Taylor, of Ardgowan School, asked:- Eva Cossan, of Stirling, asked:-
• Why is it that some people are more intelligent than others?
• Why are tree tops green?
• How many stars are there?
• Kimberly Stuart, of Otago Girl's High School, asked:-
• Why do clouds float?
• 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:-
• What causes different eye colours?
• What makes gladwrap stick to itself?
• Are all earth worms native?
• 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?
• How were the planets formed?
• 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 do people want to explore outer space?
• Why does alcohol make you drunk?
• How did Earth get it's ozone layer?
• Why is black sand hotter than white sand?
• Why does sunlight make your hair go lighter?
• Were any dinosaurs warm blooded?
• What are some of the medicines made from bark and leaves of trees?
• Is Morphic Resonance proven?
• What is the difference between forked lightning and sheet lightning?
• How do astronomers know the universe is expanding?
• How often do the hairs on my head fall out?
• Why do birds travel in a flock?
• Why is butter yellow?
• What would happen if a weed's DNA molecule was transferred into an apricot's DNA molecule?
• From how deep underground does the water thrown from the Rotorua geysers come?
• Why do we sweat mostly on our forehead and under our arms?
• Why do minerals have the shapes they do?
• How many different kinds of birds use a large estuary?
• How is elastic made?
• When travelling in a space rocket do you go to sleep or not?
• Why does thunder roll?
• Why do some people have to have their tonsils out?
• Is pollen always yellow?
• Why do fish have scales?
• What is lava made of?
• Is there anything colder than liquid air?
• What acids are in tomatoes?
• How high will you have to be to begin floating around in space?
• Shaun Cooper, of King's High School, asked:-
• Why does hair grow?
• How do people get colds?
• 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?
• Why does the sky change colour when the sun sets?
• How did Stars and Planets come to be?
• Why do we have different hair colours?
• How many electrons are there in a molecule?
• How do you know the IQ of a person?
• How many different kinds of stones are there in the world?
• Why do plants grow?
• Why do our cheeks go red when we are embarrassed?
• 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?
• Dylan Greenfield, of Ridgway School, asked:-
• How far can mud travel along a river?
• Do insects have brains?
• Is there anything smaller than an atom?
• How does acid rain form?
• Do insects have brains?
• Why does a loud noise such as from an explosion cause a ringing sensation in the ears for some time afterwards?
• Why did the big bang happen?
• Can we tell beforehand whether or not a volcano will erupt?
• How do we see?
• What makes a volcano explode?
• Why are there no monkeys in New Zealand?
• Claire Fallon, of Ardgowan School, asked:- Abigail Spinoglio, of Green Island School, asked:-
• Sophie Goodwin, of Mokoia Intermediate School, asked:-
• James Rogers, at Borough School, asked:-
• Why does concrete go hard after it is poured?
• How far into space have people travelled?
• What causes asthma?
• Why do we sweat?
• Megan Gibb, of Ardgowan School, asked:-
• Why can't penguins fly?
• How does glue stick stick things together?
• What's beyond the universe?
• When you lay a plant on its side why does it still grow up?
• Do the bends in the tube forming a trumpet have any effect on the trumpet's sound?
• What is the function of the bell shaped end of a musical instrument such as a trombone?
• Do all animals grow?
• When palaeontologists find the bones of an extinct animal, how do they know how the bones fit together?
• What is the difference between super and unleaded petrol?
• Why does pubic hair grow where it does in human beings?
• Toby, of Balclutha Primary School, asked:-
• Why do each of us have different voices but not different accents?
• Why do comets never hit the Earth?