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This week’s new questions

What makes certain materials glow under UV light, and not others? And why do our own farts smell OK, whereas those of other people’s smell awful?

5 January 2022

KARAWANG, WEST JAVA, INDONESIA, JAN-18 : An employee shows newly-launched Rupiah banknotes which are illuminated by the ultraviolet in Indonesian Money Printing Public Company (Peruri), Karawang, West Java On January 18, 2017. There are elements of security that can readily be known to the public and there will only be known specialist. (Photo by Dasril Roszandi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Dasril Roszandi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Why do only some materials glow under UV light? For instance, when I shine my UV torch at a packet, only the price ticket glows bright blue.

John Cooper, London, UK

 

Woman pinching nose due to bad breath by male mouth during sleep; Shutterstock ID 1960119607; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Shutterstock/Roman

How is it that one’s own farts smell tolerable, but other people’s smell awful? How does the brain differentiate between the two?

Tim Hale, Sheffield, UK

 

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