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This week’s new questions

Can all animals get drunk? And why was there no runaway greenhouse effect 201 million years ago, when Earth was a hothouse?

12 July 2023

HDTNNH Crab-eating macaca in Thailand ; specie Macaca fascicularis family of Cercopithecidae

CORREIA Patrice/Alamy

Can all animals get drunk? If not, what enables this in those that can?

Chris Jack,

St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK

The late Triassic period circa 215 million years ago, featuring the large prosauropod Plateosaurus and the early dinosaur predator Ceolophysis

Arthur Dorety/Stocktrek Images/Getty Images

Earth was a hothouse 201 million years ago, leading to the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction event. How did it recover? Why was there no runaway greenhouse effect?

Ralf Ludwig,

Melbourne Beach, Florida, US

To answer this question – or ask a new one – email lastword@newscientist.com.

Questions should be scientific enquiries about everyday phenomena, and both questions and answers should be concise. We reserve the right to edit items for clarity and style. Please include a postal address, daytime telephone number…

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