ASK A GURU
Why does my atheist brother-in-law complain when his son refuses to believe in Father Christmas? Asked by @Christomill via twitter I have given this much thought because there are three ways of approaching the issue of challenging personal beliefs: by tip-toeing daintily through the tulips, bashing through the obstruction with a frontend loader, or – my personal favourite – obliterating the tulips with the front-end loader. I’m going to have to take the first route, because ideally as a science journalist I’d need to interview all parties before throwing any light on the matter; and besides, there are some sensitive issues at stake here. Firstly, I have to assume that your atheist brotherin-law doesn’t believe in Father Christmas either. That makes sense because the character doesn’t exist outside of folklore, and even then, in such apparently diverse forms as to render reports of him untenable as proof. Besides, in order to deliver as many presents as needed in a single night (even to only the good children), would require Father Christmas (and his reindeer) to do some interesting things with the laws
of physics (see The Physics of Santa) Secondly, I also have to assume that because the son has been brought up in a home where at least one the parents is an atheist, he has been encouraged to employ critical reasoning. He has therefore come to the logical conclusion that Father Christmas doesn’t exist. This means that – unlike his peers who have been encouraged to believe in nonsense – he won’t grow up to believe in horoscopes and homeopathy. The logical answer to your question is therefore simple… it’s love (altogether now, 1…2…3…”aaaah!”) I can imagine that your brother-in-law doesn’t want to risk his son being prejudiced by his peers (and their judgemental parents) by running around and telling everyone that Father Christmas doesn’t exist.
Answered by Daryl Ilbury (Sceptic Guru)
What is Sausage Skin Made of?
(More Presents!) Flickr • MissMessie, (Sausages) Flickr • Paul Keller
Asked by Heather Young Oh boy. Those of you who are squeamish and want to ensure you continue to enjoy sausages better look away now as there are two answers – and one of them isn’t pretty. Sausage skins are also known as ‘casings’. It used to be the case that all sausage skins were made from the intestines of animals – cows, pigs, sheep, and so on. Yep, the stuff that digests food and makes faeces – the intestines – are used to encase the ground meat you so thoroughly enjoy. However, it’s not that simple. Your intestines, and those of the mammals you most likely eat, are made of four layers. Sausage casings are made from the second layer from the inside, called the submucosa. Somewhat reassuringly, this tough layer has never been in contact with the animal’s poo. During processing, the other layers are stripped off and the submucosa is then cleaned and used for the sausage casings.
Now, for those of you about to vomit at the thought of all of this, don’t despair. New technological developments have allowed the development of artificial casings. These artificial casings can either be made from natural substances, like the hide of a cow, or from cotton. Finally, truly artificial casings can be made from plastic. Only one question remains: how long will this ‘tasty’ information keep you from eating your next juicy submucosal sausage?
Answered by Artem Cheprasov
G U R U • I S S U E 1 0 • F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 3 • PA G E 1 6