How much wood...

I have been waiting for someone to ask me this for a while.

"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

Well obviously the answer is "A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood."

Or in fact, since the woodchuck is the same animal as the groundhog, could we not instead ask: how much ground would a groundhog hog if a groundhog would hog ground.

Does Santa exist?

 Ok, a good Christmas related question for getting into the Christmas spirit. Lets tackle the facts.

Global warming, icebergs meting?

I was asked this a while ago, and then again today. Basically the question is "If global warming is causing the icebergs to melt, and 95% of an iceberg is below the water already, then how can this cause sea levels to rise so much?"

What makes stainless steel stainless?

Stainless steel is stainless because it is made from Teflon and everyone knows nothing sticks to Teflon (except frying pans). Because nothing sticks to it then nothing can discolour it or stain it. Because nothing can stain it well, it is rather "stainless."

Now, this doesn't make sense, I hear you say. If it is made of Teflon then why not just call it Teflon instead of stainless steel? Well stainless steel has been a misnomer for ages in that it wasn't really stainless, oh, and it wasn't steel either. Stainless steel used to be made of copper and as everyone knows, copper turns green after a while, so this choice of name was very bad in so many ways.

When manufacturers started making stainless steel from Teflon and noticed that it doesn't stain, then the name stainless steel stuck.

Are mushrooms fruit or veg?

Well, neither really. Like Truffles, mushrooms fall under the category of fungi. This is because truffles are subterranean mushrooms (Fungus Tuber Ascomycetes Mycota - or sac mushroom to you and me).

Do you need to know more?

Why is the sky blue?

This is quite a cool question asked by my 8 year old daughter. Parties can't swing without it, we can't survive without it, and blue skies would be black and spotty without it: Atmosphere. In short, the blue sky is caused by particle diffraction. The air we breathe is made of molecules of common substances; nitrogen and oxygen being the main constituents. Light hits some of these molecules bouncing off in another direction and some is absorbed - both changing the colour slightly.

The rest of the explanation is pretty dull, so only carry on if you're made of stern stuff. First, here is some South African Blue sky for you. It's Pilgrims Rest in the Low Veld - A lovely place if you're visiting.

Is there life on Mars?

There is evidence that there used to be, but it's all dead now.



What about water then? Well, yes but it's all in the form of ice at the polar caps.

Hell - endothermic or exothermic?

First, we postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls will also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving?

Twenty years in the explaining

One of my claims to fame is that I have code running on computers in, on, under and orbiting the earth as well as leaving the solar system and scattered in millions of bits on Mars. You've heard all the rumours about the temperature in outer space going from minus 200 degrees in the shade to 200 degrees in the sun, well the gold stuff wrapping equipment that leaves the earth is used to reflect a load of the heat radiation so as to help keep the circuitry cooler (Allegedly).

Keep it simple stoopid!

I was recently asked the following question:

How many average sized duck eggs can you fit in an empty shopping basket?

Maths gone crazy

Ever wondered why you always end up with one odd sock after you wash them? well, maybe science and mathematics have the answer (and by answer I mean proof that the world is a very complicated and confusing place).