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THE LAST WORD Disease-proof If you have a few drinks, does the alcohol in your bloodstream act as medication against any microbes in the body?
component to be reflected. If there were no blue component in the light source, then its surface would appear black instead. But light can also be emitted by the object itself. All objects at temperatures above absolute zero are constantly emitting electromagnetic radiation. At room temperatures, this light is at a wavelength below the visible spectrum so we cannot see it with our naked eye (although we
n There can be a protective effect, but only if the alcohol concentration is high enough. A study in the journal Epidemiology is one of the few to confirm the benefits of drinking alcohol with a meal. During an oyster-borne outbreak of hepatitis “Our sun is a ball of plasma A, those drinking alcohol of 10 per made up mostly of free protons and electrons cent strength or higher which emit a white light” experienced a protective effect. I would argue that for the sake of your health total daily can see it using infrared goggles). consumption should be However, when an object becomes moderate, the equivalent of two hot enough, its electromagnetic glasses of table wine. radiation enters the visible Lewis Perdue spectrum. It starts at the lower red Sonoma, California, US end (for example, a hot glowing coal), then more colours are added as the object gets hotter, until Chromatic quandary eventually it glows “white hot”. If you had an isolated If subatomic particles could be seen subatomic particle such as a with the naked eye, what colours lone electron, proton or neutron, would they be? then light waves in the visible spectrum pass right by them n When we look at things, we see without interaction because the light coming from their surfaces. particles are so small. So there There are two sources for this would be no reflected light to give light. For most everyday objects the particle any colour you could we see reflected light. see. They would be invisible, just If the light falling on the object like the oxygen and nitrogen is white, then the colour comes atoms in the air you are looking from the parts of the visible through to see this page. spectrum not absorbed by the The only way to see such a surface. So a “blue” object is one subatomic particle with the naked that has absorbed all the other eye would be if it were hot enough colours, leaving only the blue to emit electromagnetic radiation
The writers of answers that are published in the magazine will receive a cheque for £25 (or US$ equivalent). Answers should be concise. We reserve the right to edit items for clarity and style. Please include a daytime telephone number and an email address if you have one. New Scientist retains total editorial control over the published content. Reed Business Information Ltd reserves all rights to reuse all question and answer material that has been
submitted by readers in any medium or in any format and at any time in the future. Send questions and answers to The Last Word, New Scientist, 110 High Holborn, London WC1V 6EU, UK, by email to [email protected] or visit www.newscientist.com/topic/lastword (please include a postal address in order to receive payment for answers). Unanswered questions can also be found at this URL.
in the visible spectrum – so its colour would depend on the temperature of the particles. There is an everyday example of this. Our sun is a ball of plasma made up mostly of free protons and electrons that emit a white light. Other stars have lower surface temperatures, so their protons and electrons look red, while other stars are hotter and have a bluish tinge. Simon Iveson Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia n To see atoms as they are we would need light in the gamma ray range, millions of times shorter than visible light wavelengths; and that implies horrendously high-energy photons. Such a photon striking a particle, or emitted from one, would deflect it like a hammer blow. That is why gamma radiation is so dangerous to living cells; it smashes electrons off atoms. In such light, atoms are gamma ray colour: invisible, because the wavelengths are vastly shorter than any colour we can see. Jon Richfield Somerset West, South Africa n I can confidently assert that electrons are green, photons are blue and, if I remember correctly, protons are yellow. I recall discussing this with a colleague in the canteen of a major electronics company when an eminent physicist came over to our table in a fury to tell us that we were
talking nonsense. It took some time to explain that we were discussing the colours for the various particles in an animated sequence in a training video. James Lee Abergele, Conwy, UK
This week’s questions Cancelled out
In early November, UK airports cancelled many flights because of heavy fog. But why does fog still disrupt aircraft departures and arrivals? Surely we have the technology to prevent this. Alan Penrose Northampton, UK Pine fresh
Just what is that Christmas tree smell? Thomas Tobin London, UK Thin on top
Why do we go bald only on the top of the head? Howard Barnes Kempston, Bedfordshire, UK Surge protector
You often hear that extra power stations have to be put on-line in the UK during ad breaks for popular TV shows because of everyone making a cup of tea. Is this really true, and if so does national power usage in the UK vary more than in other similar countries? Simon Scarle Newport, Gwent, UK
Question Everything The latest book of science questions: unpredictable and entertaining. Expect the unexpected Available from booksellers and at newscientist.com/questioneverything
THE LAST WORD Disease-proof If you have a few drinks, does the alcohol in your bloodstream act as medication against any microbes in the body?
component to be reflected. If there were no blue component in the light source, then its surface would appear black instead. But light can also be emitted by the object itself. All objects at temperatures above absolute zero are constantly emitting electromagnetic radiation. At room temperatures, this light is at a wavelength below the visible spectrum so we cannot see it with our naked eye (although we
n There can be a protective effect, but only if the alcohol concentration is high enough. A study in the journal Epidemiology is one of the few to confirm the benefits of drinking alcohol with a meal. During an oyster-borne outbreak of hepatitis “Our sun is a ball of plasma A, those drinking alcohol of 10 per made up mostly of free protons and electrons cent strength or higher which emit a white light” experienced a protective effect. I would argue that for the sake of your health total daily can see it using infrared goggles). consumption should be However, when an object becomes moderate, the equivalent of two hot enough, its electromagnetic glasses of table wine. radiation enters the visible Lewis Perdue spectrum. It starts at the lower red Sonoma, California, US end (for example, a hot glowing coal), then more colours are added as the object gets hotter, until Chromatic quandary eventually it glows “white hot”. If you had an isolated If subatomic particles could be seen subatomic particle such as a with the naked eye, what colours lone electron, proton or neutron, would they be? then light waves in the visible spectrum pass right by them n When we look at things, we see without interaction because the light coming from their surfaces. particles are so small. So there There are two sources for this would be no reflected light to give light. For most everyday objects the particle any colour you could we see reflected light. see. They would be invisible, just If the light falling on the object like the oxygen and nitrogen is white, then the colour comes atoms in the air you are looking from the parts of the visible through to see this page. spectrum not absorbed by the The only way to see such a surface. So a “blue” object is one subatomic particle with the naked that has absorbed all the other eye would be if it were hot enough colours, leaving only the blue to emit electromagnetic radiation
The writers of answers that are published in the magazine will receive a cheque for £25 (or US$ equivalent). Answers should be concise. We reserve the right to edit items for clarity and style. Please include a daytime telephone number and an email address if you have one. New Scientist retains total editorial control over the published content. Reed Business Information Ltd reserves all rights to reuse all question and answer material that has been
submitted by readers in any medium or in any format and at any time in the future. Send questions and answers to The Last Word, New Scientist, 110 High Holborn, London WC1V 6EU, UK, by email to [email protected] or visit www.newscientist.com/topic/lastword (please include a postal address in order to receive payment for answers). Unanswered questions can also be found at this URL.
in the visible spectrum – so its colour would depend on the temperature of the particles. There is an everyday example of this. Our sun is a ball of plasma made up mostly of free protons and electrons that emit a white light. Other stars have lower surface temperatures, so their protons and electrons look red, while other stars are hotter and have a bluish tinge. Simon Iveson Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia n To see atoms as they are we would need light in the gamma ray range, millions of times shorter than visible light wavelengths; and that implies horrendously high-energy photons. Such a photon striking a particle, or emitted from one, would deflect it like a hammer blow. That is why gamma radiation is so dangerous to living cells; it smashes electrons off atoms. In such light, atoms are gamma ray colour: invisible, because the wavelengths are vastly shorter than any colour we can see. Jon Richfield Somerset West, South Africa n I can confidently assert that electrons are green, photons are blue and, if I remember correctly, protons are yellow. I recall discussing this with a colleague in the canteen of a major electronics company when an eminent physicist came over to our table in a fury to tell us that we were
talking nonsense. It took some time to explain that we were discussing the colours for the various particles in an animated sequence in a training video. James Lee Abergele, Conwy, UK
This week’s questions Cancelled out
In early November, UK airports cancelled many flights because of heavy fog. But why does fog still disrupt aircraft departures and arrivals? Surely we have the technology to prevent this. Alan Penrose Northampton, UK Pine fresh
Just what is that Christmas tree smell? Thomas Tobin London, UK Thin on top
Why do we go bald only on the top of the head? Howard Barnes Kempston, Bedfordshire, UK Surge protector
You often hear that extra power stations have to be put on-line in the UK during ad breaks for popular TV shows because of everyone making a cup of tea. Is this really true, and if so does national power usage in the UK vary more than in other similar countries? Simon Scarle Newport, Gwent, UK
Question Everything The latest book of science questions: unpredictable and entertaining. Expect the unexpected Available from booksellers and at newscientist.com/questioneverything