Little questions that you don't know the answer to...

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tillyoshea
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Sput wrote:
russnet wrote:How comes glue never sticks inside it's container?
It does stick to the inside of its container, but it doesn't stick to itself. Glue works by filling miniscule gaps in surfaces, as its molecules are smaller. As they're all the same size in the tube (bar the sides of the container) they have nothing to get into.
I don't buy that solution. If glue doesn't stick to glue, how does it ever stick two surfaces together? With your hypothesis, the glue would just fill the gaps on each surface - so I'd end up with two very smooth things, which would be inherently less likely to stick together. And you could leave the top off the tube with no problem, whereas everyone knows that to do so means the tube becomes blocked.

Edit: New Scientist's 'The Last Word' column from a few years back suggests that it's because glue dries either by the solvent evaporating or by some oxidative reaction - depending on the particular type of glue. Because the tube is air-tight, the solvent can't evaporate or there's insufficient oxygen for the oxidative reaction. That makes sense to me!
russnet wrote:Why does a gynaecologist leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?
Because some people interpret watching them undress as inappropriate behaviour, whereas the actual gynae examination is taken as standard doctor-stuff to do.
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Sput
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But tilly, was your solution endorsed by television sensation Johnny Ball? :) It could be that some glues work in my way and some in yours.

When you get down to that scale there are a lot of forces between molecules at work - but as I'm no physical chemist (thankfully) I can't be sure!
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David
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Johnny wrote:
Jamez wrote:
Johnny wrote:Why do dogs chase their own tails?

How come you never see baby Magpies or Crows only fully grown ones? ( i know we;'ve had the pigeon answer above but you see baby sparrows, etc but never these two ravonous birds)

Who decided that swear words were actually swear words & not everyday words
Swear words are everyday words.
You know what I mean if you call someone a wanker or a c*nt they get greatly offended but who decided they were offensive. Why not flip-flop or boomerang?
This BBC (public service :roll: ) site shows some origins.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A753527


And what determins a swear word here.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_boar ... s/798.html

I coudn't be bothered to write it all out.
David
freddy
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Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 17.36

Why couldn't Rainbow's Zippy manage to unzip his mouth if someone had zipped him up?
russnet
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Location: Milton Keynes

Suppose anything is hard when the poor chap who had one hand with three fingers! Which brings us to the predictable question involving Rainbow in which why do they wear pj's to bed but wear nothing during the day?
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Purpleduck
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freddy wrote:Why couldn't Rainbow's Zippy manage to unzip his mouth if someone had zipped him up?
Because he is a puppet :?
Lee
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Joined: Mon 12 Jul, 2004 15.49

Purpleduck wrote:
freddy wrote:Why couldn't Rainbow's Zippy manage to unzip his mouth if someone had zipped him up?
Because he is a puppet :?
That's absurd, don't talk such utter nonsense for goodness sake.

Zippy has only one hand, and its an odd hand at that. It flaps about there like anything. If I had a hand like Zippy I'd never be able to unzip... er, anything. I think I actually saw him unzip it once though.
russnet
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Joined: Tue 09 Sep, 2003 09.32
Location: Milton Keynes

Weird as it is though that he couldn't unzip himself yet he could happily eat sausages all day, play games with George. Times must have been tough for Zippy in the Rainbow house what with a confused Hippo hanging around.
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cdd
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Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 14.05

nodnirG kraM wrote:*BUMP*


Why are PC and laptop widescreen displays 16:10 rather than 16:9??
That's bloody irritating, isn't it... I put my favourite widescreen film onto my widescreen laptop, and, Lo, I get these beuatiful black bars.

I'm sure there's some boring reason for it, though -- probably so idiot computer buyers go "OOOH! WIDE-SCREEN!" in the shops.
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nidave
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Location: Manchester

[quote="Jamez"]

3. Why do you never see white dog poo anymore?

[quote]

Strangly enough there was a documentry covering this subjct on Radio 4 - they say its bacuse dongs dont get as many bones as they used to and its the calcium being passed through the body. This and the increase in processed dog food.
Si-Co
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Location: Blaydon, Tyne and Wear

How does the brown cow give white milk when it only eats green grass?

That's the burning question.

Let's have your suggestion.
Everyone hears what you say,
Friends listen to what you say,
Best friends listen to what you don't say.
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