1 January 2022 | New Scientist | 55Answers
Quick quiz #132
Answers1 A block, blocking anticyclone
or blocking high2 Luciferins3 In space. An asteroid about
40 metres in diameter, it is a
quasi-satellite of Earth4 Chlorine5 An eftCryptic crossword
#73 AnswersACROSS 1 Ejector seat, 7 Jetpack,
11 Dismember, 12 Simpleton,
13 Swaddle, 14 Drupe,
15 Yanks, 16 Elect, 18 Time,
20 Autogiro, 23 Methane,
25 Roam, 26 Pledge, 29 Geiger,
30 Rift, 31 Mislead, 34 Ladybird,
36 Anal, 37 Rebel, 40 Extra,
42 Gleam, 44 Fleming,
46 Exoplanet, 47 Guidepost,
48 Entreat, 49 X-ray glassesDOWN 1 Endosperm, 2 Ensnare,
3 Trend, 4 Rebreather, 5 Erred,
6 Tissue, 7 Jumped-up,
8 Tally-ho, 9 / 19 Aston Martin,
10 Kinescope, 17 Trace, 21 Indie,
22 Dalton, 24 Triad, 27 Laser,
28 Amplifying, 29 Goldeneye,
32 Delegates, 33 Dragonet,
35 Braille, 38 Britons,
39 Semtex, 41 Trout,
43 Magma, 45 EnemaTom Gauld
for New Scientist
is the best-available, most widely
accepted theory at the time.
John Wallace
Liverpool, UK
Evolutionary pressures have
favoured some organisms that are
aware of their surroundings and
able to react to them. Humans
have become rather good at this.
We also have curiosity, which
leads us to look hard at our
surroundings and try to make
sense of what we find. So, we
gather information, and try to
invent theories that could explain
what we see. The better theories
don’t just explain all the data
so far observed, they enable
predictions. If confirmed by
data, this strengthens our reliance
on the theory,
Take satnav systems, for
example. These rely on the
predictions of relativity and
quantum theories. Every time a
satnav system is used, the theories
it was based on are tested again.
But, until we know “everything”,
theories, even the successful ones,
will still be theories.
Raining bullets
I cringe when I see soldiers
celebrating by shooting their rifles
into the air. What speed do the
bullets return to the ground and
could they hurt someone?
(continued)Anthony Battersby
Bath, UK
In the 1970s, I worked in Beirut
in Lebanon. My boss was walking
down Rue Hamra, the main
street in West Beirut, with his
wife when he suddenly collapsed.
He had been struck by a falling
bullet. It entered his body
between his neck and collarbone
and exited just above his kidneys.
He was incredibly lucky.
The bullet was tumbling and so
made a large entry wound and alarger exit wound, but it
didn’t hit any vital organs
on the way through.
It had almost certainly been
fired from some celebration up
in the mountains behind the city.James Davenport
Bath, UK
A friend of mine was hit on the
head by a branch severed from
a tree by bullets fired upwards
at a celebration in Crete.
Fortunately, the branch
was relatively small, and the
consequences were just shock
and a headache.Glenn Pickard
Baldwin Park, California, US
From 1974 to 2006, I worked
in commercial roofing in
California. I picked up or extracted
more than 900 bullets from the
roofs of warehouses, factories
and residential building that
I inspected.
These bullets were presumably
the result of guns being fired into
the air, but the damage to the roofs
was usually minimal. ❚“ An evidence-based
theory becomes
acceptable until
disproved. It never
evolves to a fact,
and that’s a fact”