Australian Science Illustrated — Issue 54 2017

Editor: Morten Kjerside Poulsen

scienceillustrated.com.au | 19

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ELEPHANT SEAL

2 hours

Carbon monoxide in its blood

may help an elephant seal

dive deep to catch rays.

SPERM WHALE

90 minutes

A flexible chest ensures that

the lungs can collapse to ena-

ble extremely deep dives.

WEDDELL SEAL

70 minutes

Myoglobin in the seal's

muscles stores oxygen, which

the seal "eats" under the ice.

SLOTH

40 minutes

Very slow metabolism lowers

the creature's pulse by 2/3,

reducing oxygen consumption.

CUVIER'S BEAKED WHALE

2 hours and 18 minutes

Apart from holding its breath,

the whale can dive to a record

depth of 2,992 m.

Which mammal can

dive for the longest

time?

TOP 5

?

WHALE WATCH AZORES/SEAPICS.COM

What are gravitons?

Photons are force carriers of electro-

magnetism, i.e. they transmit electric force, and

according to one theory, gravity may also have a

force-carrying particle known as a graviton. In

other words, the particle “carries” gravity.

However, the existence of the graviton has not

been proved, so it is only theoretical.

Fish 'meat' consists of large, complex protein molecules.

All proteins have a specific 3D structure, which is

necessary for them to function. The structure is fragile,

and particularly heat can change the 3D structure. When

a fish is fried, the proteins unfold, and the consistency of

the fish is altered. The structure of the proteins and so

the fish can also be affected by acid. Lemon and lime

juice contain citric acid, and the low pH of the juice can

change the structure of the

proteins. Although the fish is

not fried, the structure changes

anyway, so the fish is prepared

• just as if it had been fried.

CAN THERE BE CROSSWORDS

IN MANDARIN OR CANTONESE?

Crosswords in Chinese use

pictographic characters instead

of letters. One character

represents a syllable and

normally also meaning or a word.

So, the Chinese do not solve

crosswords based on words, but

rather on sentences with one

character (word) per square.

Can lemon 'cook' fish?

1 Two protons (hydrogen nuclei)

collide to produce

deuterium – a nuclei

consisting of one proton

and one neutron. In the

collision, one neutrino

and one positron

are emitted.

2 Deuterium is struck by a proton and

converted into helium-

• two protons and one
  neutron. The fusion results
  in the emission of one
  photon, which finds its
  way to the Sun's surface,
  turning into sunlight.

3

Two helium-

nuclei collide.

The result is helium-4.

The two protons can

now enter into new

nuclear processes.

Inside our local

star, hydrogen is

converted into

helium in a process

known as the

proton-proton

chain reaction.

Hydrogen is

converted

into helium

Ceviche is a cold dish with

fish and shellfish that

have only been prepared

with lemon juice.

PHYSICS-SAVVY?

SHUTTERSTOCK

ARCHIVE

MIKKEL JUUL JENSEN

Protons

Deuterium

Photon

Proton

Helium-

Helium-3 nuclei

Helium-4 nucleus
Proton Proton

Deuterium

Neutrino Positron