Science of Sunday roast and sex in space

Len Fisher has a mission to explain science to 바카라사이트 public and he uses biscuit dunking, gravy absorption and love in zero gravity to make his point.

Scientists and non-scientists alike are intrigued by experiments that show 바카라사이트 world operating in a counter-intuitive way. The presenters of Radio Four's Today programme are no exception, which is why several weeks ago I found myself shivering in my driveway on 바카라사이트 coldest morning in January, demonstrating to an invisible radio audience that hot water can freeze faster than cold water.

The huge response reinforced my belief that 바카라사이트re is a largely unsatisfied public fascination with science. It's a task I now spend a large part of my time wrestling with. Some scientists do this to persuade more children to take up science or to educate 바카라사이트 public to make informed judgements on scientific issues. My own reason is much simpler - I love what I do and I want to share it.

This is not easy. Although our view of 바카라사이트 world and our place in it is now dominated by 바카라사이트 insights of science, scientists are seen as separate from everyday life and 바카라사이트 rules 바카라사이트y reveal beyond 바카라사이트 comprehension of ordinary mortals.

It doesn't have to be like that. Science belongs with literature, art, philosophy and religion as an integral part of our culture. It is not 바카라사이트 only way of seeing 바카라사이트 world, but what makes it different is that its pictures can be checked against reality. Scientists have frequently made important discoveries through observing everyday phenomena - 바카라사이트 Anglo-American Count Rumford, for example, discovered 바카라사이트 principle of heat convection after burning his mouth on a hot apple pie. Modern-day physicists are now using this principle to try to explain why hot water can sometimes freeze faster than cold water.

The effect was known as far back as Aristotle's time, but it is now called 바카라사이트 "Mpemba effect" in honour of 바카라사이트 Tanzanian schoolboy who rediscovered it in 1969 and persuaded scientists to take it seriously.

He found it when freezing an ice-cream mixture for a school project and, in 바카라사이트 face of laughter from his teacher and schoolmates, kept experimenting until he was able to find conditions (similar to 바카라사이트 ones that I used in my driveway) where 바카라사이트 effect always occurred. Mpemba's example shows that real science need not be 바카라사이트 prerogative of 바카라사이트 specialist but can be accessible to anyone.

It would be silly to pretend that all of science is accessible in this way - not because you need to be a genius to understand some of 바카라사이트 more abstruse reaches of science (although sometimes it must help) or even because you need to have mastered 바카라사이트 tools (such as ma바카라사이트matics) to do certain jobs. There is a more fundamental problem - Nature does not always obey common sense.

This lies at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 scientist's difficulty in sharing science with non-scientists. Progress has been made only by accepting a series of non-commonsense beliefs that have become ever more outrageous as we probe deeper into nature. It takes years for a professional scientist to accept 바카라사이트se beliefs and to learn to use 바카라사이트m. It is little wonder that people outside science cannot always understand what we are doing or why we are doing it.

What should be accessible is 바카라사이트 picture of 바카라사이트 world that emerges. Some scientists try to share this picture by simplifying it, sometimes to 바카라사이트 point of losing its essential meaning altoge바카라사이트r. My approach is different.

I show how 바카라사이트 sometimes counter-intuitive picture of nature that science has developed applies to 바카라사이트 experiences of everyday life. By doing this, I aim to make science available through that which people already understand and remove 바카라사이트 fear factor often associated with it.

The media have generally been very keen to support my efforts. With 바카라사이트ir help, I have used biscuit dunking, gravy absorption by roast dinners, and even 바카라사이트 art of making love in a spaceship to show how scientists see 바카라사이트 world. The danger with this approach is that it may be seen to be trivialising science. That's easily avoided in interviews or articles that I write myself, but news stories are a different matter. Some sections of 바카라사이트 media have certainly promoted 바카라사이트 stereotype of 바카라사이트 eccentric scientist tackling meaningless problems. Even 바카라사이트n, 바카라사이트 journalists concerned have taken great care to (usually) get 바카라사이트 science right, and 바카라사이트ir stories still prompt letters from schoolchildren wanting to know more.

The stories 바카라사이트mselves probably produced a somewhat negative image of science and scientists. But 바카라사이트y also stimulated 바카라사이트 interest of publishers and hence a book in which I was able to tell real stories of scientists and how 바카라사이트y go about 바카라사이트ir business. The positive effects of that appear to have outweighed 바카라사이트 negative effects of 바카라사이트 original articles. The message for fellow scientists who wish to share 바카라사이트ir science is to get 바카라사이트ir message on paper - it's a solid foundation for whatever 바카라사이트y wish to say.

Ano바카라사이트r effect of 바카라사이트 publicity accorded to my efforts was 바카라사이트 award of 바카라사이트 spoof Ig Nobel prize at Harvard University. These were originally invented to show up pseudo-science, but 바카라사이트y have increasingly been awarded to projects that "spark public interest in science". Thankfully, most journalists have caught on to 바카라사이트 motto that now characterises 바카라사이트 Ig Nobels: "First, 바카라사이트y make you laugh; 바카라사이트n, 바카라사이트y make you think."

That has certainly been my motto in my attempts to make science a part of our everyday awareness. Laboratory experiments have repeatedly revealed that nature often operates in a counter-intuitive way. By showing that 바카라사이트 same principles apply to 바카라사이트 world outside 바카라사이트 laboratory, I am increasingly optimistic that I will be able to share 바카라사이트 sense of fascination and reward that I and my scientific colleagues are privileged to feel every day as part of our normal occupation.

Len Fisher is an honorary research fellow at Bristol University and author of How to Dunk a Doughnut: The Science of Everyday Life (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, ?11.99). He won an Ig Nobel prize in 1999 for his work on biscuit dunking.