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Nosey question
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The wobblies
Nosey question
Why do my legs become wobbly when I stand near a cliff top?
Why does my nose run in cold weather?
n These effects vary from person n This is caused by condensation to person. My wife, who is not and evaporation. In cold air there is acrophobic, gets a tingly feeling in not much water vapour but warm her palms and soles, presumably exhaled air is almost completely in anticipation of a need to cling saturated with water vapour from on with all the passion of her its passage over the warm surfaces simian ancestors. of the lungs and airways. If however, like me, you have When the exhaled warm and a poor sense of balance, and rely moisturised air passes over the on visual input to supplement it, surface of the nasal mucosa that I speculate that this feeling is an has been cooled by the cold air effect of poor feedback. Normally on its way into the lungs, it one sways according to the condenses, just as it does if you balancing movements of the blow exhaled air towards the legs and unconsciously adjusts colder surface of a window pane according to one’s vision. or a mirror. As the nasal mucosa Standing on a cliff where no level cannot take up all the moisture ground or rising walls offer visual that condenses on it, the nose clues to help you avoid toppling, runs to get rid of the excess. The your legs get poor feedback and water running out of the nose is keep over-correcting. That feels clear and clean condensed water, very insecure, which could set and is not a sign of an infection. knees shaking. “In the Arctic a constant When fear causes legs to runny nose is a nuisance, tremble, the impulse seems a primitive one: small children and so you learn to avoid breathing through it” many other immature animals commonly throw themselves to In the Arctic this constant the ground when frightened, in a state of helpless submission. Shaky running nose is a nuisance legs might be part of that response. until you learn either to avoid breathing through the nose or A wry saying in Afrikaans to breathe in through the nose expresses defiance of the and out through the mouth. symptom: “Staan stil broek; In fact, the original Arctic mitten jou baas is nie bang nie,” which has a piece of soft fur on the back translates into English as “Stand to wipe up the surplus water still trousers; your master isn’t running out of the nose. After afraid.” the water has frozen, the ice Jon Richfield crystals can easily be shaken off. Somerset West, South Africa
Questions and 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. Restrict questions to scientific enquiries about everyday phenomena. The writers of published answers will receive a cheque for £25 (or US$ equivalent). Reed Business Information Ltd reserves all rights to reuse question and answer material submitted by readers in any medium or format.
New Scientist retains total editorial control over the content of The Last Word. Send questions and answers to The Last Word, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, UK, by email to [email protected] or visit www.last-word.com (please include a postal address in order to receive payment for answers). For a list of all unanswered questions send an SAE to LWQlist at the above address.
The same condensation/ evaporation problems arise when you are eating warm soup. Here the moist and warm air from the ingested soup will tend to condense on the nose mucosa and create the same condition. By carefully adjusting your breathing you may overcome the problem by regulating the direction of the airflow over the mucosa of the nose, or by simply only breathing through the mouth. Leif Vanggaard, Hellerup, Denmark n Apart from being the sense organ involved in smell, the nose is the main route by which air enters and leaves the respiratory pathway. Before it reaches the lungs it needs to be warmed, moistened and cleaned and all these conditioning processes begin in the nose. As those of us who suffer from frequent nosebleeds are only too aware, superficial blood vessels in the nose serve to warm the air. If you peer up someone’s nose (perhaps do this when no one else is looking) you will see a number of large black hairs, which serve to filter out larger particles of dirt. Mucous secreted by glands lining the nose, aside from moistening the air, also trap smaller particles. The epithelial cells lining the nose have small hair-like structures called cilia on their surface, which beat to move the resulting mess towards the back of the throat where we swallow it, although the uncouth may choose to spit it out. In cold weather the cilia on the
epithelial cells beat less efficiently and the mucous dribbles out of the front of the nose rather than being shepherded backwards. Similar ciliated cells line the windpipe, or trachea, where, along with mucous secreted by goblet cells, they trap dirt that has got through the nose and mouth. These cilia beat to move the material up towards the throat. One of the reasons not to smoke is that it destroys these cilia, resulting in smokers developing a characteristic cough needed to move the impurities away from the lungs’ respiratory surfaces. Ron Douglas Saffron Walden, Essex, UK
This week’s questions Rate of escalation
In an attempt to lose weight, not only am I eating less, I am also exercising more by climbing a hill regularly. In terms of weight loss, is there any difference between climbing to the summit as fast as possible or at a more sedate pace with stops to catch my breath? Alistair Scott By email, no address supplied Hound BOUND
When my dog is running to me, it follows a straight line but with its body at a slight angle to the direction of travel. The rotation is always to the dog’s right. Why does it do this and do many animals show this behaviour? Liselott Muhlen-Schulte Sydney, Australia
Why are orangutans orange? A new collection: the usual insight, ingenuity and wit – this time with full colour photographs Available from booksellers and at newscientist.com/orangutans
Last words past and present, plus questions, at last-word.com
The wobblies
Nosey question
Why do my legs become wobbly when I stand near a cliff top?
Why does my nose run in cold weather?
n These effects vary from person n This is caused by condensation to person. My wife, who is not and evaporation. In cold air there is acrophobic, gets a tingly feeling in not much water vapour but warm her palms and soles, presumably exhaled air is almost completely in anticipation of a need to cling saturated with water vapour from on with all the passion of her its passage over the warm surfaces simian ancestors. of the lungs and airways. If however, like me, you have When the exhaled warm and a poor sense of balance, and rely moisturised air passes over the on visual input to supplement it, surface of the nasal mucosa that I speculate that this feeling is an has been cooled by the cold air effect of poor feedback. Normally on its way into the lungs, it one sways according to the condenses, just as it does if you balancing movements of the blow exhaled air towards the legs and unconsciously adjusts colder surface of a window pane according to one’s vision. or a mirror. As the nasal mucosa Standing on a cliff where no level cannot take up all the moisture ground or rising walls offer visual that condenses on it, the nose clues to help you avoid toppling, runs to get rid of the excess. The your legs get poor feedback and water running out of the nose is keep over-correcting. That feels clear and clean condensed water, very insecure, which could set and is not a sign of an infection. knees shaking. “In the Arctic a constant When fear causes legs to runny nose is a nuisance, tremble, the impulse seems a primitive one: small children and so you learn to avoid breathing through it” many other immature animals commonly throw themselves to In the Arctic this constant the ground when frightened, in a state of helpless submission. Shaky running nose is a nuisance legs might be part of that response. until you learn either to avoid breathing through the nose or A wry saying in Afrikaans to breathe in through the nose expresses defiance of the and out through the mouth. symptom: “Staan stil broek; In fact, the original Arctic mitten jou baas is nie bang nie,” which has a piece of soft fur on the back translates into English as “Stand to wipe up the surplus water still trousers; your master isn’t running out of the nose. After afraid.” the water has frozen, the ice Jon Richfield crystals can easily be shaken off. Somerset West, South Africa
Questions and 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. Restrict questions to scientific enquiries about everyday phenomena. The writers of published answers will receive a cheque for £25 (or US$ equivalent). Reed Business Information Ltd reserves all rights to reuse question and answer material submitted by readers in any medium or format.
New Scientist retains total editorial control over the content of The Last Word. Send questions and answers to The Last Word, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, UK, by email to [email protected] or visit www.last-word.com (please include a postal address in order to receive payment for answers). For a list of all unanswered questions send an SAE to LWQlist at the above address.
The same condensation/ evaporation problems arise when you are eating warm soup. Here the moist and warm air from the ingested soup will tend to condense on the nose mucosa and create the same condition. By carefully adjusting your breathing you may overcome the problem by regulating the direction of the airflow over the mucosa of the nose, or by simply only breathing through the mouth. Leif Vanggaard, Hellerup, Denmark n Apart from being the sense organ involved in smell, the nose is the main route by which air enters and leaves the respiratory pathway. Before it reaches the lungs it needs to be warmed, moistened and cleaned and all these conditioning processes begin in the nose. As those of us who suffer from frequent nosebleeds are only too aware, superficial blood vessels in the nose serve to warm the air. If you peer up someone’s nose (perhaps do this when no one else is looking) you will see a number of large black hairs, which serve to filter out larger particles of dirt. Mucous secreted by glands lining the nose, aside from moistening the air, also trap smaller particles. The epithelial cells lining the nose have small hair-like structures called cilia on their surface, which beat to move the resulting mess towards the back of the throat where we swallow it, although the uncouth may choose to spit it out. In cold weather the cilia on the
epithelial cells beat less efficiently and the mucous dribbles out of the front of the nose rather than being shepherded backwards. Similar ciliated cells line the windpipe, or trachea, where, along with mucous secreted by goblet cells, they trap dirt that has got through the nose and mouth. These cilia beat to move the material up towards the throat. One of the reasons not to smoke is that it destroys these cilia, resulting in smokers developing a characteristic cough needed to move the impurities away from the lungs’ respiratory surfaces. Ron Douglas Saffron Walden, Essex, UK
This week’s questions Rate of escalation
In an attempt to lose weight, not only am I eating less, I am also exercising more by climbing a hill regularly. In terms of weight loss, is there any difference between climbing to the summit as fast as possible or at a more sedate pace with stops to catch my breath? Alistair Scott By email, no address supplied Hound BOUND
When my dog is running to me, it follows a straight line but with its body at a slight angle to the direction of travel. The rotation is always to the dog’s right. Why does it do this and do many animals show this behaviour? Liselott Muhlen-Schulte Sydney, Australia
Why are orangutans orange? A new collection: the usual insight, ingenuity and wit – this time with full colour photographs Available from booksellers and at newscientist.com/orangutans