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The eminent doctor solves your problems
Dear Dr Hypothesis,
 My name is Duncan and I’m an alcoholic. There, I’ve said it. Phew! However, a friend of mine recently told me that red wine could actually be good for you and so, if I were to give up drinking, I could continue drinking only red wine. Why is red wine good for health, and why is it better than white wine?
Drunken Duncan Dr Hypothesis says:
Recent work has shown that wine contains a number of different antioxidative compounds that can help to slow damaging oxidative processes in cells. These compounds are naturally found in grape skin, seeds and stems. There is a higher concentration of antioxidants in red wine because the wine is incubated with the skins for longer during the manufacturing stages. However, it is important to remember that these benefits only occur if wine is consumed at a moderate level, as higher consumption will increase the damage to the liver and brain, outweighing any potential positive effects. If you believe that you already have a problem, Duncan, it would probably be safer for you to stop consuming alcohol altogether and to seek some professional help. www.sanluisobispo.com
/mld/sanluisobispotribune/news/special_packages/homefront/7781178.htm
www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
Dear Dr Hypothesis,
Over Christmas I decided to
avoid my annoying family, and spent the whole two weeks watching films
in my room. Several of these films contained scenes of beheading. The
time it took the beheaded person to die seemed to vary considerably,
depending on the ego of the actor involved. Could you please tell me
how long it actually takes a human to die, following decapitation?
Headless Henry Dr Hypothesis says:
It’s
not really known exactly how long it takes brain activity to cease
following beheading, because – to my knowledge – no scientifically
controlled experiments have been carried out. Anecdotal evidence from
executions during the French Revolution suggests that a head could
respond up to thirty seconds after being removed from the body.
However, this is nothing compared to cockroaches: they are known to
survive for up to a week after beheading, ultimately dying from
dehydration as they obviously have no way of drinking!
http://huah.net/scixf/xbetts.html
Dear Dr Hypothesis,
 I live directly under the flight path of Stansted airport and have recently become concerned about the possibility of my house being hit by a plane as this would cause me considerable distress. What is the scientific basis for the ability of a plane to fly, and are there any situations under which this could fail?
Flight Path Fiona Dr Hypothesis says:
Fiona, Fiona, there’s no need to worry! There is a long-established answer as to why aircraft fly, which is based on the structure of the wing. Air particles moving over the upper surface of a wing or airfoil travel faster than those under it, and it was then discovered by Daniel Bernoulli in the 18th century that this meant there would be an area of lower pressure above the wing. Therefore, there is a net force under the wing to push it upwards. This difference in velocity is generated either by the shape of the wing or by the angle to its movement. While I cannot guarantee that a plane won’t fall on your house, I feel reasonably certain that it would not be due to a failure of the laws of physics.
www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/wrong1.html
Dear Dr Hypothesis,
I have recently been suffering from insomnia brought on, I believe, by the stress of an impending court case – but that’s by the by. As I spend the sleepless nights looking up at the stars (or, more frequently, the clouds), I have often pondered what life would be like without nights and how much more I could get done – if I wasn’t so tired all the time! Could you tell me why the Earth spins in the first place?
Sleepless Simon Dr Hypothesis says:
There are several theories as to why the Earth spins, but it is hard to prove these ideas because of the difficulty of testing them with experiments. My personal favourite is that it is a consequence of the way the Earth was formed. It has been proposed that the solar system arose from a cloud of gas and dust collapsing in on itself but, as it collapsed, it began to swirl in eddies similar to those sometimes observed when water goes down a drain. As one of these swirls gathered matter to itself and formed the Earth, it continued to spin and has continued to this day, as there are no forces in space to stop it. The speed at which the Earth spins at the equator has been calculated to be about 1,000 thousand miles per hour. www.madsci.org |
