BBC Knowledge AUGUST 2017

&Answers

Questions

18

Space launches can have a hefty

carbon footprint due to the burning

of solid rocket fuels. Many rockets are,

however, propelled by liquid hydrogen

fuel, which produces ‘clean’ water

vapour exhaust, although the

production of hydrogen itself can

cause significant carbon emissions.

Rocket engines release trace gases

into the upper atmosphere that

contribute to ozone depletion,

as well as particles of soot. Rocket

launches are nonetheless relatively

infrequent, meaning that their overall

impact on our climate remains much

smaller than aviation’s. But it’s not

just our immediate environment;

‘space junk’ is a growing concern

as disused satellites and other objects

accumulate in our planet’s orbit. AC

ARE SPACE

LAUNCHES

BAD FOR THE

ENVIRONMENT?

...LIPSTICK?

The ingredients of lipstick need to create something that provides a glossy, smooth

colour, which doesn’t wipe off immediately, and is considerate to a rather delicate part

of the body. The major constituents of lipstick are just wax and oil, but your favourite lippy

could also contain materials derived from sheep, insects, fish and hot chillis! ML

PLUS...

GUANINE: Derived from fish

scales, this gives the lipstick

pearlescent sheen.

CAPSAICIN: The chemical

that give chillis their heat is

added to some lipsticks to make

the lips swell slightly, giving

them a plumped-up look.

DYES

5 per cent

This varies depending on

the colour, but a scarlet shade

might contain carmine red, which

is derived from scale insects.

OIL

65 per cent

Typically castor oil, this

provides glossiness and

dissolves the dyes.

WA X

30 per cent

Often a mixture of beeswax,

carnauba and lanolin

(from sheep wool).

Together these form the main

structure of the lipstick.

WHY DO PLANETS

ORBIT IN THE SAME

DIRECTION?

This is simply the result of the initial

rotation of the cloud of gas and dust

that condensed to form the Sun and

planets. As gravity condensed this

cloud, conservation of angular

momentum increased the rotational

speed and flattened the cloud out into

a disk. Hence, planets that formed within

this disk of material all ended up orbiting

the Sun in the same direction, in almost

the same orbital plane and with the

same spin direction (apart from Venus

and Uranus that were probably hit by

other bodies, altering their spin). AGu

W H AT’S I N