5 March 2022 | New Scientist | 55Answers
Quick quiz #141
Answers1 Phenology
2 23
3 Staphylococcus, from the
Greek word staphyle, meaning
“bunch of grapes”
4 One: cobalt-59
5 New MexicoQuick crossword
#102 AnswersACROSS 1 Porphyria, 6 Quack,
9 Pylorus, 10 Aniline, 11 Iritis,
12 Stitches, 14 Edge, 15 Dental
gold, 18 Locomotion, 20 Spit,
23 Davy lamp, 24 Go bang,
26 Retweet, 27 In utero,
28 Chert, 29 EndoscopeDOWN 1 Popliteal, 2 Rolling,
3 Hermit, 4 Rash, 5 Adaptation,
6 Quintile, 7 Atishoo, 8 Knees,
13 Centimetre, 16 Dataglove,
17 Smallest, 19 Cuvette,
21 Placebo, 22 Pop-ups,
23 Dirac, 25 Bird#156 L of a puzzle
SolutionsHere are the two symmetrical
ways of putting the three
L-shaped tetronimoes together.
The first is shaped a little like a
fish; the second resembles a heart.Tom Gauld
for New Scientist
video), FLAC (for audio) or lossless
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Whatever format you choose
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at some time in the future. But
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Using a lossless codec will ensure
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quality, no matter how many
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Lossy formats, such as MP4, MP3
or JPEG, will deteriorate each time
they are converted to a new format.
The lossless formats take up much
more disc space, but will make it
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will be preserved for the future.
Into the void
The universe is expanding, but
what exactly is it expanding into?
(continued)
Colm Keenan
Cramlington, Northumberland, UK
Perhaps the universe isn’t
expanding. What if it is the
yardstick we use to measure
it that is contracting, and in
some absolute sense the universe
remains the same size, only
seeming to expand because of the
way we assume we can measure it?Andy Howe
Sheffield, UK
Further to the previous
correspondence (15 January), it is
worth noting that if the universe
is infinite, it must always have
been infinite, including the
impossibly dense seed of the big
bang. The subsequent expansion
merely renders it “more infinite”,
even accepting that it has nothing
to expand into. (My head hurts...)
A flat, infinite universe beyond
our observable region is a popular
option among cosmologists, as is
indeed apparent from articles in
New Scientist, but this couldn’thave formed from a finite universe
that had undergone inflation at an
infinite speed.Patrick Verguet
Besançon, France
Despite its apparent simplicity,
I find myself confused by the
classic analogy for an expanding
universe as the surface of an
inflating balloon. If I were a 2D
ant walking within the boundary
of an expanding sphere, why
wouldn’t the distance between
the elementary particles
composing my body increase
as well and my body itself inflate?Pauline Fothergill
Pocklington, East Yorkshire, UK
May I add my mother’s perspective
on this question? As an inquisitive
preschooler, I remember asking
her: “What is the sky actually in?”
She looked thoughtful, then
eventually said: “Our brains
are not big enough for us to
understand this.”
I always hoped that, as I grew, I
would find an answer – but clearly
my dear old mum was right! ❚“ If I were a 2D ant in
the boundary of an
expanding sphere,
wouldn’t the distance
between particles in
my body increase too?”