BBC_Science_Focus_-_08.2019

Q&A

ALGORITHM YOR LIFE

HOW CAN I

KEEP COOL IN A

HEATWAVE?

YES DO YOU WEAR NO

BLACK?

START

HERE

KEEP IT

LOOSE

KEEP IT LOOSE

A 1980 study found

that the black robes

worn by the

Bedouins in the

desert keep them

cool by allowing air

toow between the

robe and the skin

• the colour is
  largely irrelevant
  here. So if you’re
  wearing black, go
  baggy.
  H AV E A N
  ICE LOLLY
  Melting ice requires
  heat energy to
  rearrange the
  molecules into
  liquid form. So
  sucking an ice lolly
  will use up some of
  your excess heat,
  cooling you 30 per
  cent more than the
  same volume of
  cold drink.
  EAT SOMETHING
  SPICY
  Capsaicin in
  chillies tricks the
  thermoreceptors in
  your mouth into
  thinking you’re
  hoer than you
  really are. This
  makes your skin
  ush, and you also
  sweat more. Both
  are eicient ways to
  shed heat quickly


• provided there’s
  a breeze.
  C RE AT E A
  DRAUGHT
  Instead of opening
  every window in
  the house, open just
  the upstairs
  windows on the
  sunny side of the
  house and the
  downstairs
  windows that are in
  shade. The pressure
  dierence between
  the two will pull
  cool air up through
  the house.
  FAN YOUR FACE
  The skin on your
  forehead has an
  especially large
  number of sweat
  glands (around 175
  per square
  centimetre), so
  fanning yourself
  here will help cool
  you down quickly.

ALAMY, MAGNOLIA PRESS ILLUSTRATION: DAN BRIGHT

Yes. The males of the

Phallostethidaefamily

of fish, which live in

rivers in Southeast Asia,

have a sex organ

positioned under their

chin, just behind their

mouth. It consists of a

rod for injecting sperm

and a separate serrated

hook for holding on to

the female’s head,

which guarantees no

sperm gets lost in the

strong river currents.LV

JASON GOODYER, BRISTOL

I’VE HEARD

THERE’S AN

ANIMAL WITH

A PENIS ON ITS

HEAD. IS THIS

TRUE?

CREATE A

DRAUGHT

FAN YOUR

FACE

REFRESHED

PARCHED

HOW ARE YOU

FEELING?

YES

ARE YOU HUNGRY?

ARE YOU AT HOME?

NO

EAT

SOMETHING

SPICY

YES

HAVE AN

ICE LOLLY

YES

NO

STILL STRUGGLING?

NO

STAY COOL