Page 36 - How It Works - Book Of Amazing Answers To Curious Questions, Volume 05-15

Can you eat the Why do

rind on cheese? kangaroos

heese rinds are safe to eat, bar a few
C exceptions where the cheese is coated jump?
in a layer of wax. Rinds form when bacteria
and fungi colonise the outside of cheese, t high speeds, a kangaroo’s hopping
changing its appearance, taste and texture. A is considerably more energy
There are three main types of rind. Bloomy efficient than running, enabling these
rinds, found on brie for example, form after creatures to travel comfortably at
cheeses are sprayed with penicillin spores. average speeds of around 30 kilometres
Washed rinds result from regular baths in (20 miles) per hour for long periods of
brine or alcohol. Finally, natural rinds time. This ability is key in the barren
(parmesan, for example) develop when a Australian outback, where animals
cheese is allowed to age naturally, forming a frequently have to cover large distances
hard crust as it dries out. All are edible, in search of food or water. The
although many find the hard texture of kangaroo’s morphology has evolved to
natural rinds unappealing to eat. maximise efficiency, with strong, elastic
tendons designed to store and release
energy. As it hops, the back and forward
Does putting a movement pumps air in and out of its
lungs, saving even more energy.
wet mobile phone

in rice really dry If a plug socket is
it out? switched on but

ll water, except distilled water, contains there is nothing
A impurities that make it electrically
conductive. This will short-circuit the battery plugged in, is it
destroying it within seconds and no amount
of rice will save you. So the most important
thing is to remove the battery immediately wasting power?
– don’t even wait to power down first.
Packing it in dry rice for 24 hours after that o. The switch on a wall socket just
will help to absorb the water that might What makes N connects the live wire to the pin in the
corrode the electrical contacts or get plug. It’s there to provide a convenient way
as much as possible and leaving the parts in food organic? to switch off devices that don’t have a on/off
trapped under the screen. But dismantling it
switch. But there’s no difference between a
a warm airing cupboard is just as effective. wall socket that is switched on and a socket
he requirements needed for a food to
T be labelled as organic vary from that doesn’t have a switch at all. Those
country to country but they generally sockets are live all the time but they don’t
include avoiding unnecessary chemicals use any power until something is plugged in
How fast can (such as fertilisers), genetically modified to complete the circuit between the live and
neutral pins. There is no ‘standby power’ for
crops and certain types of processing.
a woodpecker Limited use of pesticides is allowed, a wall socket because they don’t have any
electronics inside them.
however. Livestock raised organically
peck? meanwhile, enjoy higher welfare standards.
However, there are a number of
controversies surrounding organic food and
ccording to a study conducted its health benefits. While many in favour of
A at Beihang University in China, organic food suggest that it is more
woodpeckers move their heads at nutritious, most studies indicate that this is
speeds of up to seven metres (23 feet) not necessarily the case. Although organic
per second, that’s over 25 kilometres food contains fewer pesticides, conventional
(15 miles) per hour. food still has pesticide levels well below
what is considered unsafe to consume.

36 How It Works