Category: Science

I’m far from being an O-chem maven. But maybe this will help? bit.ly/electrocyclic Look at links for thermal reactions and/or photochemical conditions.

We do have Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others, which includes his short story, “Story of Your Life,” on which the film Arrivalwas based. Thanks for your interest! I’ll have my assistant order more of his work. Thomas Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions(O’Neill Library Q175 .K95 1974) is a classic in science epistemology. For a more recent work, try Nancy Cartwright’s The Dappled World (O’Neill Library Q175 .C37 1999).

E. B. White tells us that Charlotte’s egg sac (her “magnum opus”) had 514 eggs. I expect other spider moms may be as prolific – if not perhaps as clever.

Happy, well-fed spiders!

On average, people pass gas about 10-20 times per day. It is possible you are not farting more than usual; you’re just noticing it in class because it’s embarrassing. You can try releasing gas before class (outside or in a bathroom is less noticeable). You might also track what you eat and see if particular foods should be avoided. If you are experiencing other health issues such as diarrhea, constipation, weight loss, etc., see a doctor to make sure your gas is not a symptom of a larger issue.

There are many things that function on a level not visible to the naked eye, and wind is one of them. Wind, in short, is just air in motion. Air is composed of gases that expand (and become less dense) as they warm & shrink (and become more dense) as they cool. Cool air sinks, warm air rises. When cold air meets warm air, there’s motion. That’s wind. The sharper the difference, the faster the wind. And wow, there have been some sharp differences lately!

Assuming we are discussing the process of drinking and swallowing water rather than food, it takes quite a length of time for a giraffe to drink water due to its highly unusual drinking mechanism. Using its jaw as a plunger pump, with each pumping action taking about 1.5 seconds, the giraffe fills its esophagus after about 17 pumps (25 seconds) for a total volume of 5 litres (bit.ly/giraffe_drinking). After this drinking episode, the water is still estimated to be in the giraffe’s esophagus (about 1m down) when it lifts its head; hence additional time is needed to travel down the second metre of the giraffe’s throat by peristalsis (4cm/s) aided by gravity, perhaps less than another 25 seconds. I would estimate between 35-45 seconds in total, for filling its mouth and half its throat and then transporting the water to its stomach, completing the full action of drinking and swallowing water.