BBC Knowledge Asia Edition - December 2014

BY OUR EXPERT PANEL

YOUR QUESTI0NS ANSWERED

&

Susan is a visiting

psychology

professor at the

University

of Plymouth. Her

books include The

Meme Machine

SUSAN

BLACKMORE

Alastair is a

radio astronomer

at the Jodrell

Bank Centre for

Astrophysics at

the University of

Manchester

DR ALASTAIR

GUNN

After studying

physics at Oxford,

Robert became a

science writer. He’s

a visiting reader in

science at Aston

University

ROBERT

MATTHEWS

Starting out

as a broadcast

engineer, Gareth

now writes and

presents Digital

Planet on the BBC

World Service

GARETH

MITCHELL

Luis has a BSc in

computing and an

MSc in zoology

from Oxford. His

works include

How Cows Reach

The Ground

LUIS

VILLAZON

[email protected]

Even if your phone

has been for a swim,

all may not be lost

Does putting a wet

mobile phone in rice

actually dry it out?

Yes it does, especially if you put

the phone and the rice into a sealed

plastic bag. But while the rice will draw out

the moisture, that doesn’t necessarily mean

your phone will work properly afterwards.

The water may already have fused the

phone’s circuits or left behind traces of

minerals that corrode the electronics. Also,

rice may get stuck in the headphone socket.

Soaking the phone in pure alcohol may be a

better bet. The alcohol drives water out and

removes any mineral deposits. But pure

alcohol is highly flammable and must be

treated with the utmost care. GM

PHOTO: ALAMY