How It Works - UK (2020-02)

nDearHIW,

I wasdrivingalongtheM53nearChesterwithmy

daughter.Thisparticularpartofthemotorwaywas

openedin 1972witha concreteroad.

Werealisedthatthereareveryfewroadrepairsonthis

motorwayandwonderedwhatthe‘fail’rateis of

concretecomparedtotarmac?

Weloveyourmagazinesopleasekeepupthe

goodwork!

RoyBalmer

Roadshaveundergonemanytrialsand

changesovertime,buttodaythetwomain

materialsusedforourmotorwaysareconcrete

andasphalt.Asphaltis a surfacethatlooks

almostidenticaltotarmac,butis much

morehard-wearing.

Asyouhavenoticedinyourtravels,concrete

roadshavea longerlifespanandarestronger.

Becauseofthis,theyneedrepairinga lotless

thantheasphalt.Aswellastheirstrength,

motorwaysmadeofconcretearelessaffected

byoilleaks.Asphalttendstodamagemore

easilyinaccidentalspills.Usuallyconcrete

roadslastforaround 40 yearsbeforebeing

replaced,whileasphaltlastsa quarterofthis

time.Today,asphaltroadsaregenerallylaid

becausethey’recheaperanda safersurface,

reducingskids.Andwhiletheyneedtobe

repairedmoreoftenthanconcrete,this

materialis moreeasilyrepaired.

Motorway making

096 How It Works http://www.howitworksdaily.com

Jelly mystery

IN B OX

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nDearHIW,

Ata friend’sforlunchtheotherday,wewere

servedthisverynicepudding– chocolatemousse,

jellyandberries.

Bothoftheseweremadeatthesametime,

chocolatemousseatthebottomandjellyontop.

Asit set,theoneontheleftswappedoverand

thejelly,butnotfruit,movedtothebottom.This

happenedwithallthestraightglasses.They

didn’tmixtogether.Howandwhycouldthis

havehappened?

Jacob(aged13)

Tounderstandthescienceofjelly,wefirst

needtothinkabouthowjellysets.Jellyis

oftenmadewithgelatin,whichcontains

longproteinmolecules.Asthejellycoolsin

thefridge,themoleculesinthejellywill

begintotangle,trappingthewaterinside

tosolidify.

Whenthejellybeginstoset,the

interlinkedthree-dimensionalprotein

structuresbegintoforminthehighlydense

gelatin.Thiscausesit tomovetothe

bottomoftheglass.Thelight,airymousse

settlesabove,asit hasa muchlower

density.Thesamecanbesaidforthefruit.

If therewasnomousse,youwouldprobably

havefoundthatthefruitallfloatsatthetop

ofthejellybecausethedenserjellymix

sinksbelow.

nDearHIW,

I naturallyturnoverwhenI amsleeping.Apartfromcomfort,is this

necessarytogivethebraina goodrest?Andis it badforthebrainif I

havea brokenarm,andcan’tlieononeside?

StephenConn

Themainreasonweswapsleepingpositionsthroughout

thenightis todowithcomfort.However,studieshave

showncertainsleepingpositionstobenefitourhealthand

wellbeingmorethanothers.

Sidesleepingis themostcommonposition.It’sthought

topreventsnoringandmayclearbrainwastemore

efficientlyduringsleep.However,somestudiessaythat

lyingonourleftsidecouldhavemoreadvantagesforour

bodies.Duetothepositionofourorgans,thissideis

thoughttoimprovedigestionandheartburn,betterdrain

toxinsfromlymphnodesandbenefitcirculation.Switching

sidesdoeshelptorelievetheconstantpressureoncertain

organsandpreventnumbnessfromleaningonlimbs.

Tossing and turning

©Getty

WIN!

Fullofexplosive

revelations,

Escapefrom

Earthturns

the

familiar story

oftheSpace

Race upside down

ESCAPE

FROM EARTH

©Jacob

Letterofthemonth

Pregnant women are advised to sleep

on their left side to help blood flow

©Getty

Inthecaseofyourjelly-puddingcombo,the

shape of the glasses will have had an impact

on where the jelly set. As the jelly and mousse

are in complete layers, the whole body of jelly

would need to move below the mousse to swap

layers before fully setting. In the glass with a

thinner base, there isn’t the space for the jelly

layer to move below in a smooth motion.

The curved edge of the glass on the right

means that the surface area at the bottom of

the jelly layer is significantly smaller than the

top of the jelly layer. As the jelly tried to move

layers, the slower process meant it couldn’t

reposition in time. It set before displacing the

mousse, becoming a solid interlinked protein

structure – unable to move further. Either way,

both outcomes have created two delicious-

looking varieties!

Concrete roads are often

noisier than asphalt

Jacob noticed that in glasses shaped like the one

on the left, the jelly set below the mousse