Category: Science

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.

Nothing, considering that you cannot fall off the edge of the earth. The earth is an oblate spheroid; therefore, it does not have edges.

It’s always sad when those you admire fall short of your expectations. But please don’t feel sorry for the penguin- it’s size and shape are perfectly adapted to the cold climate they call home.

Estimates vary. A lot. Space.com reports that the range accepted by many astronomers is 100-200 billion (bit.ly/galaxies-billions). As if that weren’t a pretty wide range already, phys.org reports that a group of European researchers recently found that we’d missed a few, and the number could be more like 2 trillion. (bit.ly/galaxies-trillions). Incidentally, the team that found 2 trillion was begun by an undergraduate student (Aaron Wilkinson) who is now close to done with his Ph.D. on this very topic.

Yes, but so far only in one direction: forward, and at the same speed everyone else is traveling. Theoretically, you could travel briefly slower than everyone by approaching the speed of light. When you return, everyone else will be old already, and that’s no fun. Kip Thorne at Cal Tech has studied this question. I’m not a theoretical physicist or a Nobel Laureate, so I’m just going to have to trust him when he says, “nope”: bit.ly/kip-time

You can squish bacteria, but it’s not easy. Bacteria are tiny (about 2 micrometers long, or 2×10−6 meters), which means if you stepped on one even on a smooth floor, the microgrooves in the floor would be plenty big to protect them. If scientists aren’t careful, they do squish them with microscope slide glass or by stirring too long & vigorously with a glass rod in a petri dish. Sturdy little guys, though: they populate the bottom of the Marianas Trench at pressures that would crush us instantly: bit.ly/bacteria-marianas. I don’t know if they make a sound when they fall, but bacteria apparently do make noises: bit.ly/bacteria-sounds.