Today's Radio Solution from 4BC

30 January 2008

Today we had another great question on 4BC. This one was from Riley who goes to Guardian Angels School at Wynnum.

She asked - are the colours of a rainbow always the same and if so why?

Well to answer this we need to know a few facts about how rainbows are made.
The rainbow's appearance is caused by dispersion of sunlight as it goes through raindrops. The light is first refracted as it enters the surface of the raindrop, reflected off the back of the drop, and again refracted as it leaves the drop. The overall effect is that the incoming light is reflected back over a wide range of angles, with the most intense light at an angle of 40°–42°.

The water droplets in the air act like tiny prisms. The "white" light we see is actually made up of a combination of different colors so when the light passes thru these tiny prism droplets at the proper angle it breaks the white light into its basic color components (its color spectrum).

What makes rainbows the colours they are and in the same order is because angle of deviation is different for the two colors at either end of the rainbow because blue/violet coloured light is bent or refracted more than is the red light. The red light is refracted at around 42 degrees and we see the blue light on the inner part of the arc because we are looking along a different line of sight that has a smaller angle (40 degrees) for the blue. All the colours in between are at slightly smaller angles from the red. The diagram below from this informative site shows the red and blue light going through the water droplet.

To see a rainbow, one has to have rain and sunshine. A rainbow does not actually exist at a particular location in the sky. It is an optical illusion whose position depends on the observer's location and the position of the sun. The position of a rainbow in the sky is always in the opposite direction of the Sun with respect to the observer, and the interior is always slightly brighter than the exterior. The bow is centred on the shadow of the observer's head.

Unfortunately due to this the Irish leprechaun's secret hiding place for his pot of gold is usually said to be at the end of the rainbow. This place is impossible to reach, because the rainbow is an optical effect which depends on the location of the viewer. When walking towards the end of a rainbow, it will move further away.

Today's Radio Solution from 4BC

29 January 2008

Today on 4BC we had a great question from Hayley from Mt Alvernia College at Kedron.

Hayley asked why her white cat has two different coloured eyes?

It is actually a feline form of heterochromia and believe it or not, it does occur in humans as well as some animals. Some famous humans who have this condition are Alexandra The Great, Dan Akryod, Jane Seymour and Christopher Walken. On further research it seems that whilst David Bowie's eyes may appear to be different colours, it is because he has a permanently dilated (enlarged) pupil which makes his blue eye look green or brown depending on the light, and not heterochromia.

Now back to white cats. In cats, the odd-eyed colouring is caused by one of two genes:

1. The dominant white gene, which actually has the ability to mask any other colour genes and turns a cat completely white, or
2. The white spotting gene, which is the gene responsible for bicolour cats - white being one of the colours.

The white or white spotting gene has the ability to prevent pigment granules from reaching one eye during development, resulting in a cat with one blue eye and one green, orange or yellow eye. This rare eye colouring is most commonly found in white cats, although it can be found in any coloured cat in which the white spotting gene is present.

As all cats are blue-eyed as kittens, the differences in an odd-eyed kitten's eye colour might not be noticeable other than they have a different shade of blue in one eye, which can only be picked up on very close inspection. The colour of the odd eye changes over a period of months, for example, from blue to green to yellow, until it reaches its final, adult colour.

There is a common misconception out there that all odd-eyed white cats are born deaf in one ear. This is not true, as about 60%–70% of odd-eyed white cats can hear. White cats with one or two blue eyes do, however, have a higher incidence of genetic deafness, with the white gene occasionally causing the degeneration of the cochlea, beginning a few days after birth.

Tips and Tricks

Tip #3

When using Google, did you know that behind the Google Home page are stacks of other useful search tools? On the top left hand side where your options for images etc are, choose the last option "more" and then select "even more". This opens up a world of search help tools. There are plenty of options here, but to find even more scroll to the bottom and select "Web Search Features". My favourite is Q&A.

Have a look around - there is a lot more to Google than meets the eye!

From Cows to Wedding Rings

What happens to cows that aren’t milked. Do they swell up and get mastitis?
Dairy cows have been selectively bred over the years so that they produce 20 times more milk than their calves need. Dairy cows usually have a calf each year in order to produce milk. Cows, like humans, need to have a baby to produce milk.

However, cows used to breed beef cattle produce just the right amount of milk for their calves and like wild cows, they have tiny udders, not the huge ones you see on dairy cows. Like humans, once the calf doesn’t require as much milk the milk supply starts to dwindle. They don't usually have any problems, but Dairy cows are susceptible to Mastitis due to the large volumes of milk they produce.

Why is the wedding ring worn on the 2nd last finger on the left hand?

There are many theories as to why this particular finger came to symbolize marriage.

Both the ancient Romans and Egyptians believed that a vein - called the vena amoris in Latin - ran directly from that finger to the heart. Science has since disproved that theory, but it is still romantic to think that our wedding rings are on a direct path to our hearts.

In medieval England, a bridegroom would slide the ring part way up his bride's thumb, index and middle finger, saying "In the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost" as he passed each one. He then put the ring on the next available finger - the third finger of the left hand. This practice was finally formalized in the 1500's when Henry VIII's son authored The Book of Common Prayer, which gives English modern Protestant wedding vows and decrees on which finger our wedding rings should go.

However, in some parts of continental Europe it is and always has been worn on the right.

True or False #2

Let's bust a couple more of those "Amazing Facts" doing the internet rounds. Whilst researching for this I found a similar blog by Frankie Roberts which is worth a look if you like this kind of stuff. http://www.popularmisconceptions.com/blog/

Coca-Cola was originally green. This one appears on most all of those "Amazing Facts" lists. It is totally ... FALSE!

Coke was invented quite by chance when John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, was inspired by simple curiosity. One afternoon, he stirred up a fragrant, caramel-colored liquid and, when it was done, he carried it a few doors down to Jacobs' Pharmacy where they mixed it with carbonated water and gave samples to the customers who all agreed -- this new drink was something special. Jacobs' Pharmacy put it on sale for five cents a glass. Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, named the mixture Coca-Cola®, and wrote it out in his distinct script. To this day, Coca-Cola is written the same way. Coke is, was and always will be a caramelly brown colour - never ever green!! There's lots more about the history of Coca-Cola here:
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/ourheritage.html


It is impossible to lick your elbow ... FALSE!

I think this is included on these lists just to make people try it for themselves rather than being there as a real fact. I bet you just tried it! Do a search on http://www.youtube.com/ and you will find plenty of videos of pepole doing it. How? you might wonder as you are trying to lick your own elbow and not succeeding.

The basic essential is a rather long tongue, but failing this, if you have very flexible arms or can easliy dislocate your shoulder you could also do it. The average person might not be able to do it, but if you have any of the criteria above you probably can.

In fact, The Guiness Book of Records were receiving at least 5 claims per day from people who can do this. It is NOT a category and the only way they could get into the book was if their tongue was longer than the current record holder, which is an incredible 9.5cm long! You can see a picture of his tongue here http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/human_body/extreme_bodies/longest_tongue.aspx

Can classical music really make you smarter?

Today an interesting question came up about whether or not listening to classical music actually helped you learn by helping the memory retain facts?


Apparently there have been studies done that show listening to classical or jazz music while studying can enhance memory and the amount of information you retain. It is known as the "Mozart Effect". There is even a site dedicated to this http://www.mozarteffect.com/ffect.com/ Studies show that music with at least 60 beats a minute will increase your heart rate which will relax your muscles and open your mind allowing the memory to expand ... hmm not sure, more research needed here.


However there are also skeptics out there who debunk this theory see www.skepdic.com/mozart.html The jury is still out and I will continue my research into this. If you have any theories or facts please let me know!

My Favourite Sites

I have many favourite sites I visit regularly when researching my Radio Solutions answers. Three of my favourites are:

www.howstuffworks.com

www.wisegeek.com

www.answers.com

Again - remember - always research thoroughly and don't rely on the first answer you come across as being correct.

I will be posting lots of favourite sites as the weeks go on. Come back and visit often - you might find yourself a new favourite!

From the Coat of Arms to Sundown

Why are the Kangaroo and Emu on the Australian Coat of Arms and not other Australian animals?

The Red Kangaroo and Emu that support the shield are the unofficial animal emblems Australia. The reasons they are picked rather than other Australian animals is:

• that they are native to Australia, and are found only in Australia (except in zoos, wildlife parks etc in other countries)


• neither animal can walk backwards, and because of this they have come to represent progress and an unwillingness to back down.

The initial coat of arms was granted by King Edward VII on 7 May 1908, and the current version was granted by King George V on 19 September 1912. The current version differs from the original as it has a spray of wattle behind it and the shield shows symbols of each state of Australia.

The term ‘coat of arms’ refers to the 11th to 15th century custom of displaying the arms on a tunic or coat worn over armour.

If dawn is the coldest part of the night why isn’t sundown the hottest part of the day?

The hottest part of the day is around 2 hours after noon because the heat doesn’t come directly from the sun but from the rock and soil re-radiating the heat. This means when the sun is at its peak at noon it still takes a couple of hours for us to feel its full strength. As the sun starts to go down again after noon, the heat from the sun diminishes so by the time it is sunset the earth has started to cool down due to less heat coming from the sun.