observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2115569,00.html
The Observer The panel John O'Farrell Writer Author, broadcaster and comedy scriptwriter. Iain Stewart Geologist Stewart presents a new TV series, Earth: The Biography, this autumn. Will Self Writer Novelist, short-story writer, critic and broadcaster. Susan Greenfield Scientist Author of several popular science books about the brain. Kirsty Wark Broadcaster Political journalist and presenter of BBC2's Newsnight. Marina Warner Writer Novelist, critic and cultural historian, in particular of female myths. Robert Winston Scientist Human fertility expert and science TV presenter.
Advertisement Daisy Goodwin TV presenter TV producer and presenter, editor of several poetry anthologies. Iain Stewart Er, I guess the sodium ions get taken up... The chlorine joins with the water and the sodium ions float free. It must be because it absorbs water to the point at which it disintegrates. The only reason I know any of this is because I've been testing my daughter on her GCSEs. Marina Warner The molecules join with the water molecules. The sodium molecules join up with the hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Susan Greenfield Because sodium and chloride disassociate and H20 is hydrogen and oxygen. Answer: Sodium chloride is an ionic substance that contains alternating sodium and chlorine ions. When salt is added to water, the partial charges on the water molecule are attracted to the Na+ and Cl- ions. The water molecules work their way into the crystal structure and between the individual ions, surrounding them and slowly dissolving the salt. Iain Stewart This I am sure of: 45 billion - no, actually 46 billion years. Robert Winston Well, the universe is 13 billion or 14 billion and the earth is between 4 and 5 billion years old. Well, I know that human beings have been going for about a million and a half years, so ... Something like 60 billion years or something like that, but that's a grasp. Will Self In my house, very little, because I never get round to changing the bulbs. Iain Stewart This is taking me right back to school physics. It's the kind of question I always pray a nine-year-old won't ask me. Marina Warner The energy is conducted along the wire to the filament. Susan Greenfield There's a flow of electrons called a current, and it's that flow which is the energy and generates heat and light. No, Okay, when you turn on the switch you make a circuit. Answer: The switch controls the flow of electricity through a circuit - a complete, unbroken loop through which electric charges can move. When the light switch is on, these electric charges can move in an endless loop. This loop begins at a power station where the charges pick up electric energy. They then flow through wires to the light switch, then to the light bulb where they deliver their electric energy, and finally back to the power company to obtain more energy. It's different epigenetics and there's different mitochondrial DNA, so it's a different organism. Actually, what we're beginning to understand is that the epigenetic aspects of cloning are fundamentally very important. And twins are rather more dissimilar than people imagine, too. For example, they have different fingerprints from each other, so there are quite interesting and subtle diff erences. Well, identical twins are clones, not non-identical twins. Answer: Yes, up to a point (see Robert Winston's answer).
Sorry, I can't articulate that entirely because I'm half asleep. John O'Farrell My daughter explained this to me the other day. It's to do with blue being the dominant colour in the colour spectrum. Will Self It's because of the diffusion of light from the sun through oxygen, through the air. Iain Stewart Because of 'Rayleigh scatter', the diffusion of blue light molecules. I have looked it up because I've been asked the question by my children and I've explained it to them and now I've forgotten. Kirsty Wark Because it's a reflection of the oceans on the planet. the rain clouds obscure the blue, and the blue is a reflection... Answer: A daytime sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light. Will Self It's either the conservation or the dissipation of energy, isn't it? Iain Stewart It's about the conservation of motion, I think, but I'm not sure. Susan Greenfield That everything degenerates to entropy. Robert Winston I've always refused to answer that question on a matter of principle, simply because of C P Snow, and you can report that. It states that in any system the quality of energy deteriorates gradually over time. As usable energy decreases and unusable energy increases, 'entropy' increases. As usable energy is irretrievably lost, disorganisation, randomness and chaos increase.
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