Sherry Seethaler, Assistant Director of Science Communications at UCSD, fields questions in her weekly science education column for the San Diego Union Tribune

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•Questions Answered 01/19/05

QUESTION: Why do we hiccup?

QUESTION: Why does taking a lump of sugar with a few drops of raspberry-flavored vinegar stop hiccups? (This is my son's cure and it has never failed. We have never tried it with plain or any other type of vinegar.)

QUESTION: Is it really possible that in years to come a portion of California will break off or sink into the ocean? If so, would it be noticeable that it was happening?

•Questions Answered 01/12/05

QUESTION: Why is it so difficult to find a cure for AIDS?

•Questions Answered 01/05/05

QUESTION: In response to your answer in Dec. 8's column Dr. Richter abandoned the Richter scale years ago. Quakes are measured in "magnitude and a number."

•Questions Answered 12/29/04

QUESTION: After the winter solstice (Dec. 21), I have noticed that the sunset is indeed getting later. The sunrise, however, seems to be disproportionately lagging in its contribution to the increased daylight hours. The Union-Tribune reports the time of sunrise and sunset daily, and after following it for several days, the sunset is getting later at a faster rate than the sunrise. Can you explain this?

•Questions Answered 12/22/04

QUESTION: Why does the rule about using your watch's hour hand to point to the sun and then finding south (assuming you're in the northern hemisphere) between the hour hand and 12 o'clock work? How does this relate to sundials?

QUESTION: Why does stuff that's left out in the sunshine bleach/fade?

•Questions Answered 12/15/04

QUESTION: As Earth approaches a magnetic shift, what effect will this have on the polarity of electricity from our generators? Also, how will this affect the navigation of birds and sea creatures and us when it reaches null? And what about the warming of Earth and skin cancer when our protective magnetic field is gone?

•Questions Answered 12/08/04

QUESTION: Over many years, I have noticed that sometimes, soon after a quake occurs, such as the one at Paso Robles, another quake occurs halfway round the globe, such as that in Iran. Is this simply a happenstance, or is there a geological connection?

•Questions Answered 12/01/04

QUESTION: Are recent environmental threats to coral reefs from rising sea levels unfounded? In Panama's gulf on Isla Contadora last year we were stunned to find huge coral reefs alive and well where tidal range is more than 20 feet, in water so hot that it almost felt scalding upon entry. If El Nino caude "bleaching" due to excessively high temperatures, we utterly failed to find any evidence of it.

QUESTION: When I was inserting my contact lenses, I noticed that I had a very tiny hole on the inside corner of my bottom eyelids. What are these holes?

•Questions Answered 11/24/04

QUESTION: What happens to the particles of worn tire tread? Are they polluting our atmosphere?

QUESTION: What causes the outside of the yolk of hard-boiled eggs to turn green?

•Questions Answered 11/10/04

QUESTION: If the great pyramid at Giza could be weighed would it be found to be heavier than every other building in the world?– Richard Markgraf, San Diego?

QUESTION: My question concerns stem cells: What type of tissue would be used if stem cells were harvested from an adult?

•Questions Answered 11/03/04

QUESTION: I know that soap made in the 19th century was made from animal fat. How does a bar of soap made today differ from that made with animal fat, and what did early people do for bathing before they had soaps made from animal fat?

•Questions Answered 10/27/04

QUESTION: My son would like to know how canned air works. Why is the air cold when it comes out of the can?

QUESTION: I read your article (Oct. 13) and I was surprised to read about the chemicals once used to decaffeinate coffee, such as benzene. I believe it has been known (although not really proven) to cause leukemia. Do I have the right chemical?

•Questions Answered 10/20/04

QUESTION: What is the latest research about how prions make cows or people mad?

•Questions Answered 10/13/04

QUESTION: How can fish live out the winter in 30-degree water when a human can last only five minutes? It must have to do with a special oil of some kind inside the fish. But then what's so special about it and how does it do the trick?

•Questions Answered 10/06/04

QUESTION: Embryonic stem-cell research is controversial in many countries. Does adult stem-cell research hold the same therapeutic promise?

•Questions Answered 09/29/04

QUESTION: How were the ancient Romans able to engineer and build all their magnificent buildings using their unwieldy number system?

QUESTION: Whenever I observe a line of ants traveling in opposite directions, individual ants always appear to be "touching noses" as they pass one another, as if in communication. Is this really what they are doing?

•Questions Answered 09/22/04

QUESTION: How is coffee decaffeinated?

•Questions Answered 09/15/04

QUESTION: I'm being invaded in my kitchen by these tiny black ants. Where do they come from? They seem to like anything sweet. How do I prevent them from appearing on my sink, in my bread box and other places in my house? I'm using Raid wherever I find them and keeping all edibles in the refrigerator.

•Questions Answered 09/08/04

QUESTION: I read somewhere that people who are aerobically fit sweat more than people who are less fit. Is this true?

•Questions Answered 09/01/04

QUESTION: What's the evidence for and against irradiated foods?

•Questions Answered 08/25/04

QUESTION: I have often wondered just exactly what it is that triggers the yawn.

•Questions Answered 08/18/04

QUESTION: In the Numbers column of Quest, it says that it took three years for the creation in 2002 of the first virus made from scratch with commercially available ingredients. Does this mean that we can create life now?

•Questions Answered 08/11/04

QUESTION: I was bitten by a tick (while I was) at the base of Palomar Mountain. It was on me for about one to two hours. I never got a rash. I was looking for some info on if Lyme disease is present here in the area.

QUESTION: The date designations B.C. and A.D. (before Christ and after the death of Christ) seem to leave a gap – i.e., how to account for the actual time of Christ's life within these designations. It looks like there is a 30ish year span that cannot be included in either the designation "before his life" or "after his death."

•Questions Answered 08/04/04

QUESTION: Do spiders ever get tangled up in their own webs or for that matter in other spider webs?

QUESTION: I have often wondered how they predict the sunrise at a given time. I am thinking it is when the sun crosses a certain longitude and latitude – perhaps in our PST zone, around Yuma, Ariz., since the sun is not up here at the time listed. Is this a correct assumption?

•Questions Answered 07/28/04

QUESTION: What can you tell me about indium – element 49 – and its role, if any, in human nutrition? Are there any Web sites (on the subject) I can find?

QUESTION: What is the source and purpose of ear wax?

•Questions Answered 07/21/04

QUESTION: I've always wanted to know what exactly is causing the sensation of seeing stars. Today I had finished swimming laps and was lying in the sun. As I opened my eyes, about to get up, I saw the intermittent small white dots buzzing around for about 30 seconds. My best guess is that it has something to do with oxygen. Can you shed some light on this for me?

QUESTION: Why does fabric (and other stuff) get darker when (clear) water is applied?

•Questions Answered 07/14/04

QUESTION: How fast do earthquake waves travel from the epicenter?

QUESTION: If the human body runs at 98.6 degrees, then why do we consider it hot when it's that warm outside?

•Questions Answered 07/07/04

QUESTION: Since we have high and low tides in the seas and oceans of the world, why don't we have highs and lows in the great lakes, like Lake Michigan and Lake Superior?

QUESTION: Can you give me a clear and reasonable explanation of the basis of the Fahrenheit scale? We all know that the Celsius or Centigrade scale is based on the freezing and boiling points of water at sea level, but so far nobody has been able to tell me how the Fahrenheit scale was created.

•Questions Answered 06/30/04

QUESTION: Nearly every news report about medical research warns against some activity that will increase the risk of stroke, heart attack, cancer, fingernail fungus, bad breath or anxiety. If the risk of getting lung cancer is 50 per cent greater, does that mean that 50 per cent more people will actually get lung cancer?

•Questions Answered 06/23/04

QUESTION: I heard on some science TV show that "they," to this day, don't know for sure what makes glue work. Is this true? What does make glue stick? Does it depend on the type of glue? What do glues share in common?

•Questions Answered 06/16/04

Follow-up to freeway noise question from last week- a Physics explanation.

QUESTION: When I observe my finger touching my toe, the touch feeling in finger, toe and the visual observation all appear simultaneous in my consciousness. How can the three nerve impulses arrive at the brain simultaneously? I understand that nerve impulse speed is about six feet per second. Seems awfully slow since I seem to feel the touch instantaneously.

•Questions Answered 06/09/04

QUESTION: I recently moved into a condo a few miles from the freeway. It seems like freeway noise is louder in the evening. Is this possible or am I just imagining it?

•Questions Answered 06/02/04

QUESTION: Everything in our world has a scent to it. Has anyone ever been able to identify the number of scents and odors that exist in our world?

•Questions Answered 05/26/04

QUESTION: Why do I always sneeze when I look close to the sun?

•Questions Answered 05/19/04

QUESTION: Humans, as primates, typically learn how to swim when they're old enough to take and follow instructions from swimmers. Are there any other primates that can swim instinctively? What mammal species do not swim instinctively?

•Questions Answered 05/12/04

QUESTION: Why does the sky change colors in the evening?

QUESTION: Sometimes when I make ice cubes I get these weird iciclelike things that sort of look like miniature stalagmites on top of some ice cubes. What causes this?

•Questions Answered 05/05/04

QUESTION: What is the substance that accumulates in the corners of some dogs' eyes?

QUESTION: Charon, Deimos, Europa, Phobos-. every moon in our solar system has a name. Every one, that is, except our own. What gives?

•Questions Answered 04/28/04

QUESTION: When you buy pasta, the package instructions often tell you to add salt once the water is boiling. When you do this, there is some sort of reaction with the water and there is a cloudy "pouf" which rises to the top. What is this reaction? Why, if you add more salt after this reaction, doesn't a second reaction occur?

QUESTION: How does a frost-free freezer work?

•Questions Answered 04/21/04

QUESTION: I would like to know what the big deal about carbohydrates is now. Why should we be on a low-carb diet? (or should we?)

•Questions Answered 04/14/04

QUESTION: As I was engaged in my weekly chore of raising the weights and slightly resetting the time in our 1780s grandfather clock, I wondered how people of that era were able to set their clocks, which undoubtedly gained or lost at least a minute or two every week. I assume that those with almanacs could try to approximate the time by coordinating with sunrise or sunset, but I don't know if that's true.

QUESTION: Are raccoons dangerous to humans? And would it be safe to go in a Jacuzzi after a wild animal has been in it?

•Questions Answered 04/07/04

QUESTION: When they say in political polls "margin of error," how do they know?

QUESTION: My mother insists that in the summer heat one should shut the house up tightly first thing in the morning and keep it that way until the sun goes down, or at least until the worst of the heat has receded. The temperature is going to increase during the day anyway, regardless of the state of the windows, so wouldn't it be better to allow fresh air to circulate?