BBC Focus - 04.2020_

Q&A

No– infact,it maygiveyoua
betternight’ssleep.A 2007
studyattheNetherlands
InstituteforNeuroscience
foundthatpeoplewhowore
socksinbedfellasleepfaster
thanthosewithout.The
reasonis thatwarmingyour
feettricksyourbodyinto
thinkingit’stoohot,andsoit
increasesbloodflowtothe
skin.Thiscausesyourcore
temperaturetodropslightly,
anda reducedcore
temperatureis oneofthe
signalsthattellthebrainto
prepareforsleep.It’sa good
ideatoweara differentpair
fromyourdaytimesocks,
though,justtokeep things
feeling fresh.LV

YASMINHAYES(AGE13),LONDON

IS ITBAD

TO WEAR

SOCKS

IN BED? Saltwater
crocodile
Heartrate:1-3bpmwhen
underwater
Range:India,Asia,Australia

Bluewhale

Heartrate:2bpmwhen

diving

Range: Worldwide

Hibernating

groundhog

Heartrate:5bpm

Range: US, Canada

Gianttortoise

Heartrate:6-10bpm

Range: Galápagos Islands

Elephant

Heartrate:30bpm

Range: Africa, Asia

Human

Heartrate:60-100bpm

Range: Worldwide

Cat

Heartrate:140-220bpm

Range: Worldwide

Canary

Heartrate:1,000bpm

Range: Worldwide

Blue-throated

hummingbird

Heartrate:1,260bpm

Range: US, Mexico

Pygmyshrew

Heartrate:1,511bpm

Range: Northern Eurasia

TOP 10

HE ARTR ATE S

Someoftheslowestandfastest

heartrates in beats per minute

(BPM)

PETERSPICER,GLOUCESTERSHIRE

WHYISPOOALWAYS

BROWN, NOMATTER

WHAT WE EAT?

Bythetimeit hasbeenthroughyour

intestines,mostofthenaturalpigments

infoodhavebeendigestedaway(the

redfrombeetrootbeinga notable

exception).Thebrowncolouris duetoa

chainofprocesses,whichbeginswith

thebreakdownofoldredbloodcellsto

producea chemicalcalledbilirubin.This

endsupintheliver,whereit mixeswith

bile.Thebiletravelsintothegut,where

bacteriametabolisethebilirubininto

anotherchemicalcalled stercobilin,

which is brown.LV

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

EMAIL YOUR QUESTIONS TO [email protected] TWEET US@SCIENCEFOCUSQA

WINNER

Peterwinsa Nokia7.2smartphone.

It boastsa 48-hourbatterylife,

64GBinternalstorage,triplecamera

setupandFullHDdisplay.

nokia.com

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