Sluggish and drunk: During the last New Year鈥檚 Eve celebrations, fairly early into the evening, myself and five friends opened a bottle of 1991 claret. The wine tasted fine, but after we had finished the bottle we could see a small item, about 1 centimetre long, stuck onto the inside of the glass, close to the bottom. This turned out to be a small slug-like creature, which began to wander slowly around the inside of the bottle, climbing halfway up the side in about two hours.
The organism had the appearance of a small sea cockle and lived for a further two days before it died, perhaps from acute sobriety.
Six people observed its movements and its appearance could not have been attributed to overzealous celebrations, because the evening had only just begun.
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Is this a common observation and how could such a macroscopic organism survive for several years while bottled in red wine?
Can you see it? Whatever happened to the famous but rare 鈥済reen flash鈥� we used to hear about so often twenty or so years ago? Observers reported a momentary but brilliant green appearance of the Sun as it sank below the horizon, usually over the sea in tropical climates. Sometimes the whole sky turned green as well. Was this green flash real, and if so, what caused it? Why is it so rare, has it been recorded on film and where are the best places for seeing it?
Perpetual motion: On the Greek Ionian island of Cephalonia there is a stream of seawater which runs from the beach, along a watercourse and down a hole in the ground about 100 metres further inland. Until the disastrous 1953 earthquake there was enough power from this stream to drive a water mill.
How can this be? It is said that the water, after pouring into the hole, emerges in a cave which must be below sea level, but where does the energy come from. How is it possible to have a place below sea level, very close to the sea where the hydrostatic pressure is less than that of the sea.
Fruits of the C: I know that vitamin C is required by humans in order to remain healthy 鈥� it helps to heal cuts, for instance But what does it do for plants? Does a lemon need more than, say, a banana? Does a banana, or any other fruit or vegetable that is low in vitamin C use anything else instead? And why do citrus fruits contain so much?