DOES ANYTHING EAT WASPS? and 101 Other Questions. (NewScientist)

How long can I live on beer alone? Why do people have eyebrows? Has nature invented any wheels? Plus 99 other questions answered. Every year, readers send in thousands of questions to "New Scientist", the world's best-selling science weekly, in the hope that the answers to them will be given in the 'Last Word' column - regularly voted the most popular section of the magazine. "Does Anything Eat Wasps?" is a collection of the best that have appeared, including: why can't we eat green potatoes; why do airliners suddenly plummet; does a compass work in space; why do all the local dogs howl at emergency sirens; how can a tree grow out of a chimney stack; why do bruises go through a range of colours; and, why is the sea blue inside caves. Many seemingly simple questions are actually very complex to answer. And some that seem difficult have a very simple explanation. "New Scientist"'s 'Last Word' celebrates all questions - the trivial, the idiosyncratic, the baffling and the strange. This selection of the best is popular science at its most entertaining and enlightening.

Mick O'Hare wears one hat as production editor for New Scientist and another as editor of 'Last Word' column of questions and answers at the back of the magazine. In this latter guise he edited Profile's recent bestselling book Does Anything Eat Wasps? and its successor Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? Mick joined New Scientist fourteen years ago after being the production editor for Autosport. Because you can take the boy out of the north but you can't take the north out of the boy, he freelances as a rugby league writer and also edits sports books. More importantly he is a lifelong supporter of Huddersfield Rugby League Club. He has a geology degree but retains a healthy disregard for crystallography.