New Scientist - USA (2021-11-20)

20 November 2021 | New Scientist | 55

Answers

Quick quiz #128

Answers

1 The leg

2 The Imbrian

3 13 (from 1990 to 2003)

4 The cloaca, the single orifice

for the digestive, reproductive

and urinary tracts

5 Copper

Cryptic crossword

#70 Answers

ACROSS 1 Annie, 4 Bodices,

8  Eschewing, 9 Oar, 10 Barnacle,

11 Jump, 13 Cannon, 15 Agatha,

18 Save, 19 Air tubes, 22 Mic,

23 Astronomy, 24 Cistern,

25  Humid

DOWN 1 Alembic, 2 Nicer,

3  Elevator, 4 Bridle, 5 Doge,

6  Croquet, 7 Strep, 12 Egg tooth,

14 Novices, 16 Assayed,

17 Piston, 18 Sumac,

20 Broom, 21  Fare

#139 BLOXO cubes

Solution

The six yellow four-packs and

three single blue blocks will all fit.

The blues are placed along the

diagonal of the 3x3 box.

Tom Gauld

for New Scientist

at each 5-minute interval too.

An arrangement at those times

can therefore be seen as chosen

for convenience when reading the

clock rather than being precisely

synchronised to an event.

The ambiguity of a time like

11.15 can be resolved by context.

No one cares if I arrive at the coffee

shop to meet you at 11.18, even

though we arranged 11.15, but we

all understand that 11.15 on a train

timetable means exactly that.

Setting an appointment at 11.17

is a clear demand for punctuality.

Andrew Vaughan

Horsham, West Sussex, UK

We are accustomed to

approximating time: 10 past,

quarter to, etc. Therefore, when

faced with an appointment at

an unusual time, our brains are

triggered to pay extra attention

and presumably turn up on time.

I once had a colleague who set

meetings for uncommon times.

His strategy backfired as we

rebelled against the implication

that we couldn’t turn up at

conventional times. My

compatriots and I always

showed up fashionably late.

Dying to be green

Indestructible coffins aside, what is

the most environmentally friendly

way to deal with our bodies after

death? Is burial better than

cremation? (continued)

Peter Calver

Stansted, Essex, UK

The most environmentally

friendly way to deal with

a dead body is to eat it.

James Leedam

Monmouth, UK

Local natural burial, in its purest

form, is the most eco-friendly way

to deal with our remains. This is

a simple burial without toxic

embalming, within a few days

of death, in a locally handmade

woollen shroud or a coffin made

from wicker or sustainably

sourced timber. The grave should

make minimal impact on the

landscape, in a location where

the products of decomposition

won’t pollute groundwater. Any

memorial, crafted from locally

sourced materials, should be

remote from the grave. This

allows the land to remain as a hay

meadow, pasture or woodland,

or as a wildlife conservation area.

In response to the Dutch

study mentioned in a previous

reply to this question, comparing

the environmental impact of

cremation and burial: this didn’t

consider natural burial. It also

added the carbon cost of cemetery

maintenance and imported

granite memorial stones to

burials. These assumptions,

which led to the conclusion

that cremation had a lower

impact, aren’t correct in the

UK. Keeping things simple,

local, modest and natural will

make the biggest difference.  ❚

“ Chiming church

clocks encouraged

punctuality merely

to the nearest hour.

Digital clocks may

be more demanding”