DO POLAR BEARS GET LONELY? AND 101 OTHER INTRIGUING SCIENCE QUESTIONS

I thought we should have a change and review a book instead of a magazine for this issue. For nearly 15 years readers of New Scientist magazine have been contributing their knowledge to the Last Word column and this book is a compilation of some of their answers. It has a predecessor; 'Does anything eat wasps?' and another similar cousin; 'Do penguins have knees?'

The book is split into 8 chapters covering food and drink, plants and animals, our planet and universe etc. etc. Each question tends to have two or more answers from different people and we are rarely given their credentials. Further, the answers often contradict each other and one soon reaches the conclusion that the answers are opinion rather than fact. The Editor found this slightly worrying, albeit entertaining. He is reassured by more scientifically minded colleagues who assure him that it is quite normal and indeed healthy, for cutting edge science to be the subject of animated debate and disagreement.

One question where there is broad consensus is why bottled water has a Use By date? The main answer is that it's not the water that is the problem but the packaging i.e. the plastic bottle which is subject to breaking down and allowing some components to leach into the water. One answer did mention the use of glass bottles to avoid this problem and another the conflicting concern that the bottling plant might not be completely sterile.

The question "could hamster power (running on wheels) provide a green answer to the energy crisis and how many hamsters would it take to power a house?" yielded 5 answers from as far afield as Australia. One answer is 2,400 hamsters would be needed to light one 60 watt bulb. To power a house would take almost 100,000 hamsters allowing for rest breaks, eating, animal welfare and strikes. (Sorry, I made that last bit up. Ed.)

The killer blow to the argument was delivered by someone from Stratford-upon- Avon who pronounced that hamsters are net consumers of energy in that they eat more energy than they produce. It would therefore be more efficient to burn their food in a furnace and use the power output from that. This begs the question of why one would have hamster food whilst having no hamsters, but at that point the Editor retired hurt.

Finally, the answer to "Do Polar Bears get lonely?" is an unequivocal "no". They are not social animals but hunters and an accumulation of polar bears would simply be more competition for food and for mates.

They do come together to mate, of course, but the male then leaves the female to raise the cubs so that they may get back to the serious job of hunting.