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Aerial combat
THE LAST WORD
Last words past and present at newscientist.com/topic/lastword
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Long-haul racers Can any land-based animal outperform an elite human marathon runner over the full distance? If so, which ones? (Continued)
beer? Is it purely the presence or lack of alcohol? I’m not convinced that it is, because I added some neutral alcohol spirit to an alcohol-free lager we have here in the Netherlands to make it up to the strength of ordinary beer. My friends and I can report that it tasted absolutely foul. So what else is missing from alcohol-free beer that makes it taste so different?
n A previous answer pointed out that the pronghorn – a creature similar to an antelope – could run a marathon in well under an hour. The answer also attributed the n Any fermented beverage is a animal’s speed to the fact that complex mixture and includes a it “has evolved to outrun the wide variety of molecules, such as grey wolf”. microscopic particles of yeast cell Maybe, but why is it that the wall or protein molecules. pronghorn very easily outpaces Processes like pasteurisation wolves over long stretches, as change the taste so grossly that well as the shorter distances even untrained palates and noses required to escape the predator? A pronghorn’s top speed is around can detect the differences. Other treatments might cause chemical 90 kilometres an hour – making it second only to the cheetah – and changes or changes in the it may be able to sustain speeds as high as 60 kilometres an hour for “Pasteurisation changes the taste of beer so grossly about 6 kilometres. even untrained palates In 1996, biologist John Byers can detect the difference” proposed that the pronghorn’s great speed is an adaption to proportions of flavourful predators that are now long chemicals. extinct. These predators may We can hardly generalise, have included false cheetahs and because no two brewers use endurance runners like the longidentical processes. However, legged hyena. It is an appealing producers of alcohol-free beer idea, although near impossible have two options. to confirm. First, they can simulate beer Michael Le Page by mixing suitable components – London, UK but this doesn’t usually yield good results. Second, they P(ale) imitation can produce a weak beer then Why does alcohol-free beer taste extract the alcohol, replace any so different, and generally nowhere lost non-alcoholic components, near as pleasant, as ordinary such as organic acids, and
The writers of answers 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. Include a daytime telephone number and email address if you have one. We are pleased to acknowledge financial support from Statoil in producing The Last Word. New Scientist retains total editorial control over the content. Reed Business Information Ltd reserves all rights to reuse question
and answer material that has been submitted by readers in any medium or in any format. Send questions and answers to The Last Word, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, UK, by email to lastword@newscientist. com 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.
re-carbonate the notional beer. Having concentrated a good red wine by freezing it and then removing the ice, I can vouch that even this process, which is gentle in comparison with distillation, yields a thoroughly vile product. What is missing is more than a component, or the producer would simply be able to add it. What is lost is a physical and chemical state and balance. Your “neutral spirit”, by the way, will still contain various incidental flavours. Jon Richfield Somerset West, South Africa
do not regain it after warming up. Do them a favour and keep them in a warmer place. I put mine under an upturned strainer to keep fruit flies away, and I try to eat them fresh – they taste much better that way. If the tomatoes have been harvested while still green, I keep them in the cellar, in the dark, under a couple of layers of newspaper. They redden over a few weeks, but I prefer to use them for cooking, rather than eating them raw. Susanne Thurnay Frankfurt, Germany
Tomato plight
This week’s questions
Sometimes tomatoes that are kept in my fridge succumb to a whitish mould. The first bits to turn white are the stems, so if I spot mould, I pluck these off. But my husband says removing the stems shortens the fridge life of the tomatoes, so it is better to leave them on. Is either of us right? And what is the white mould, and is there any way I can stop it appearing?
We are still awaiting suggestions for the type of mould and whether its growth is promoted by the stems or some other source. Most answers so far have dealt with the tangential issue addressed below – Ed n I imagine it is the tomato’s way of saying “don’t keep me in the fridge!” Keeping tomatoes in the cold causes them to lose their taste and, unlike other fruit, they
Logs to ashes
I recently attended a bonfire party. There were various kinds of wood being put on the fire, including treated timber, such as old furniture and fences, and recently cut stumps and branches. Nearly all of it burned away, but at the end there was still some ash. Which bits of the wood don’t completely burn, and why is there a residue left? Kevin Slater Barrow, Cumbria, UK Aerial combat
How do the people monitoring television viewing figures know that the numbers they release are accurate? They often total in their millions, but nobody has ever asked me which shows I have watched. Stephanie Hilden Portadown, Armagh, UK
The last word on energy Don’t miss the winning answers to last month’s question on page 25 Answer our next question and you could win £100 Turn to page 25 to see the latest question or visit www.newscientist.com/topic/energy, where you will also find the terms and conditions
Last words past and present at newscientist.com/topic/lastword
sponsored by
Long-haul racers Can any land-based animal outperform an elite human marathon runner over the full distance? If so, which ones? (Continued)
beer? Is it purely the presence or lack of alcohol? I’m not convinced that it is, because I added some neutral alcohol spirit to an alcohol-free lager we have here in the Netherlands to make it up to the strength of ordinary beer. My friends and I can report that it tasted absolutely foul. So what else is missing from alcohol-free beer that makes it taste so different?
n A previous answer pointed out that the pronghorn – a creature similar to an antelope – could run a marathon in well under an hour. The answer also attributed the n Any fermented beverage is a animal’s speed to the fact that complex mixture and includes a it “has evolved to outrun the wide variety of molecules, such as grey wolf”. microscopic particles of yeast cell Maybe, but why is it that the wall or protein molecules. pronghorn very easily outpaces Processes like pasteurisation wolves over long stretches, as change the taste so grossly that well as the shorter distances even untrained palates and noses required to escape the predator? A pronghorn’s top speed is around can detect the differences. Other treatments might cause chemical 90 kilometres an hour – making it second only to the cheetah – and changes or changes in the it may be able to sustain speeds as high as 60 kilometres an hour for “Pasteurisation changes the taste of beer so grossly about 6 kilometres. even untrained palates In 1996, biologist John Byers can detect the difference” proposed that the pronghorn’s great speed is an adaption to proportions of flavourful predators that are now long chemicals. extinct. These predators may We can hardly generalise, have included false cheetahs and because no two brewers use endurance runners like the longidentical processes. However, legged hyena. It is an appealing producers of alcohol-free beer idea, although near impossible have two options. to confirm. First, they can simulate beer Michael Le Page by mixing suitable components – London, UK but this doesn’t usually yield good results. Second, they P(ale) imitation can produce a weak beer then Why does alcohol-free beer taste extract the alcohol, replace any so different, and generally nowhere lost non-alcoholic components, near as pleasant, as ordinary such as organic acids, and
The writers of answers 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. Include a daytime telephone number and email address if you have one. We are pleased to acknowledge financial support from Statoil in producing The Last Word. New Scientist retains total editorial control over the content. Reed Business Information Ltd reserves all rights to reuse question
and answer material that has been submitted by readers in any medium or in any format. Send questions and answers to The Last Word, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, UK, by email to lastword@newscientist. com 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.
re-carbonate the notional beer. Having concentrated a good red wine by freezing it and then removing the ice, I can vouch that even this process, which is gentle in comparison with distillation, yields a thoroughly vile product. What is missing is more than a component, or the producer would simply be able to add it. What is lost is a physical and chemical state and balance. Your “neutral spirit”, by the way, will still contain various incidental flavours. Jon Richfield Somerset West, South Africa
do not regain it after warming up. Do them a favour and keep them in a warmer place. I put mine under an upturned strainer to keep fruit flies away, and I try to eat them fresh – they taste much better that way. If the tomatoes have been harvested while still green, I keep them in the cellar, in the dark, under a couple of layers of newspaper. They redden over a few weeks, but I prefer to use them for cooking, rather than eating them raw. Susanne Thurnay Frankfurt, Germany
Tomato plight
This week’s questions
Sometimes tomatoes that are kept in my fridge succumb to a whitish mould. The first bits to turn white are the stems, so if I spot mould, I pluck these off. But my husband says removing the stems shortens the fridge life of the tomatoes, so it is better to leave them on. Is either of us right? And what is the white mould, and is there any way I can stop it appearing?
We are still awaiting suggestions for the type of mould and whether its growth is promoted by the stems or some other source. Most answers so far have dealt with the tangential issue addressed below – Ed n I imagine it is the tomato’s way of saying “don’t keep me in the fridge!” Keeping tomatoes in the cold causes them to lose their taste and, unlike other fruit, they
Logs to ashes
I recently attended a bonfire party. There were various kinds of wood being put on the fire, including treated timber, such as old furniture and fences, and recently cut stumps and branches. Nearly all of it burned away, but at the end there was still some ash. Which bits of the wood don’t completely burn, and why is there a residue left? Kevin Slater Barrow, Cumbria, UK Aerial combat
How do the people monitoring television viewing figures know that the numbers they release are accurate? They often total in their millions, but nobody has ever asked me which shows I have watched. Stephanie Hilden Portadown, Armagh, UK
The last word on energy Don’t miss the winning answers to last month’s question on page 25 Answer our next question and you could win £100 Turn to page 25 to see the latest question or visit www.newscientist.com/topic/energy, where you will also find the terms and conditions