A Formica ant suspends a drop of aphid honeydew between her mandibles (which bristle with 7 or more teeth), as she drinks it. 
		Photo courtesy of Alex Wild, copyright, used with permission.WonderQuest:  On the web since 1997...      

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Top 10 Questions

1. Ceiling fan - way to rotate

2. Average size US woman

3.  What animal lives longest?

4. Can eye color change?

5. Animals that mate for life

6. Does alcohol kill brain cells

7.Does the Moon rotate?

8. Septic tank - how often pump?

9. What exactly are hazel eyes?

10. Most poisonous animal!

 

Current Column: 

Petroglyphs from Bushmen of South Africa illustrating an early hunt with dogs. Picture used with permission from Pietermaritzberg: University of Natal Press.

Did humans and dogs become domesticated together?

There’s conjecture of how man and man’s best friend have influenced each other’s development


Here's your next question:


Why do birds sitting on a power line all face the same direction?

Deadline is 1 July. We will publish the best answers on 12 July.

Click here to give April your answer.

 

 

 
Airspace     Aircraft        Balloons        Space
Airspace--- aircraft

Aerodynamic shape:  What is the most aerodynamic shape? I've heard it is the shape of a falling raindrop but wonder why jet fighters have pointed noses.
Black box: how long can an airplane's black box last underwater and still provide useful information?
Black box: What materials are used in black boxes, and how do they prevent it from destruction?
Fly off:  Why do Navy aircraft fly off the aircraft carrier before the ship comes into port?
Jets: How can a jet engine operate in heavy rains or snows without flaming out?
Jet trail:   I noticed at sunset that I can see jet trails at a very far distance and, if the sun is just right, I can see the jet sparkling in the setting sun. How far away is the horizon from the jet if it is flying at 36,000 feet? Is it 50 miles, 100 miles, 200 miles?
Jet trails: Why do jets leave white streaks in the sky?
Power supply:  My colleague today asked me a question that puzzles me a lot!! Why do aircraft use 115 volts, 400 hertz (Hz) while our domestic supply is 115 volts, 60 Hz! Why so different?
Sonic boom:  What happens when a plane goes faster than the speed of sound?
Speeds:  What speed do large passenger jetliners usually build up to on the runway before they take off?
Supersonic:  Who was the first person to fly faster than sound travels?  Was it with an airplane?

Airspace--- balloons, skydiving

Helium balloons: why do helium balloons come down in a few days? Can't they make balloons that keep helium in?
Helium balloons:  My daughter put her helium balloon in the bath with her and now it won’t float. Do you know why?
Jets/balloons:  I thought that the sound barrier was broken  in a balloon, before Yeager.  Am I right?  Was there a sonic boom?
Skydiving: Doesn't terminal velocity of a skydiver also depend on his altitude? I remember seeing a skydiver who jumped from the edge of the earth's atmosphere (in a space suit) and broke the speed of sound.

Airspace--- space

Bugs in space:  I know it's just a joke:  astronauts cleaning bugs off their windshield on a space walk.  But it got me wondering.  Do astronauts ever really see bugs in space?
Colonization of a planet and the galaxy:  How many and what ratio of men and women will be required to create a healthy human population on another planet? 
Hubble telescope: Can the Hubble Space Telescope discern any manmade equipment left behind on the moon?
Mars rover:  Are the Mars’ Rovers still active or did they finally say goodbye?
New Horizon (Pluto)  I have been tracking the speed of the New Horizons spacecraft in the early stages of its journey to Pluto, and have noticed an increase in speed.  What is causing this steady increase, and will it continue?
Orbit mechanics: is it possible for two spaceships to fly in close formation to each other in Earth orbit?
Spacecraft speed: How fast do spacecraft cruise?
Solar sails: The idea of using sunlight to blow spacecraft across the Solar System will not work, suggests a new analysis by Thomas Gold. How do solar sails work and is Gold right?
Space clock: Since time and speed is relative, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, will an atomic clock on the International Space Station be slower than a synchronized atomic clock on the ground?
Space clock: Your answer on the International Space Station (ISS) clock neglects the fact that a clock in orbit at any altitude is at zero gravity because centrifugal force cancels gravity.
Space junk : Can space junk make a moonlet?
Space radiation:  How did astronauts in the Apollo 14 mission survive being exposed to high radiation doses in a short time? 
Space station:  How long does it take the International Space Station to complete a revolution of the earth?
Space station : how can I spot the Space Station at night?
Space station (ISS):  How far away from earth does the space station travel and at what speed?
Space travel:  How long would it take earth's fastest space ship to reach our nearest star (not counting Sol)?
Speed:  Which goes faster, bullets or rockets, and how much faster?
Star Trek:  How large is the Star Trek ship — if it were real?
Warp speed:  How fast is warp speed?
Weightless:  Today on CNN, they reported that the astronaut and cosmonaut at the space station "lost weight" because of a restricted diet. Without gravity effects acting on a space station ("weightless"), how do they determine that the men had "lost weight"?
 

 

 

 

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