James O'Brien's Mystery Hour

00:02 This is a Global Player original podcast. 00:08 This is LBC from Global. Leading Britain's conversation. Mystery Hour with James O'Brien. 00:16 Good Lord, is that the time? Three minutes after 12 on a Thursday, time to get our thinking caps on and start solving some mysteries. 00:23 What is this, you may be wondering if you're new to the programme? Well, it's a little bit different from the other 14 hours of the week that we could potentially be spending together henceforth, when we wrestle with the major issues of the moment, put the world to rights and solve some of the greatest riddles of our age. This is an altogether more fun. 00:41 business. 00:42 You ring in with a question, who, why, what, where, when, whither, wherefore, whence even, someone else rings in with the answer. The magic happens in between the two poles. Somehow the alchemy kicks in and we all have a wonderful time. I'm not even joking, it is just always, always uplifting, isn't it? But of course to get involved I need questions on the board and to get your question on the board 0345 6060973 is the number that you need. Oh, and there's a prize. Did I ever take, did I mention the prize? 01:14 My favourite contribution of the week. 01:17 receives a Mystery Hour game, of which there are two, one in a box and one in a tin. They are mutually exclusive. What's the correct word to use? They're completely self-contained. So you have got two games, effectively. There's absolutely no reason on earth why you shouldn't want both of them. There's no repetition, deviation, or hesitation. 01:38 Find out more at mysteryhour.co.uk. And if you want to read through the terms and conditions of the competition, under which I do give a game of your choice to my favourite contributor of the week, then you need to go to lbc.uk and you will find it four minutes after 12. 01:54 I think that's it, isn't it? I can't... I saw anything else. I did a bit before. I've done it that way round. I didn't take calls in the last bit of the last hour, so historically it's a little bit easier to get through in the first quarter of this hour. But that's not... Well, there's one phone line for you. As soon as I say that, there it goes. 02:12 Shall we just crack on? Are you good? You good to go? You good to go? I'm good to go? You're good to go? All right, let's go. Jane's in Dulwich. Jane, question or answer? 02:21 Question, please, Jane. Carry on, Jane. 02:24 It's a question that comes from a fascinating fact I learnt when visiting some lovely gardens in Norfolk recently. Whereabouts in Norfolk? At Holcomb Hall. 02:34 Oh, lovely. Very nice. 02:36 Lovely indeed. 02:36 Was there an art exhibition? Was there an art exhibition? Oh, no, that's up the road, isn't it, at Houghton House? 02:41 Yes, that's right. Very good. Yeah, no, there was. 02:44 That's the seat of the Earl of Leicester, Jane. 02:47 Oh. Yeah, well, that's what I didn't know. 02:50 No, it is. A lovely beach as well. Did you walk down to the beach? Beautiful, yes. Oh, glorious. 02:54 Absolutely glorious. 02:55 Anyway, carry on. 02:57 Well, the fascinating facts I learnt in Holcomb Hall is that apparently strawberries are one of the few fruits that have their seeds on the outside. 03:06 Oh, yes. 03:07 With each strawberry having over 200 seeds on the outside each. 03:13 Yeah. 03:14 So my question is, How come we're not overrun by strawberries if each one has got so many seeds, 200, so close to the ground? 03:23 Well, we eat them. 03:26 Yeah, but what if we didn't? But we do. 03:28 We do eat them all. 03:30 Oh, bloody hell. I thought you were going to go, wow. No. 03:34 We ate all the strawberries. If we didn't eat all the strawberries, we'd probably be overrun by strawberries. Oh, God. No, it's a good question. I'm being unfair. 03:43 Oh, that's so mean. I thought you were going to go wow. 03:45 No, I'm not going to go wow. I might go wow later. I'm going to reserve my wow. 03:51 I might go wow later. But at the moment, the main reason why we're not overrun with strawberries that are covered in seeds is because we do eat them all. I mean, all of them. 04:01 Okay. I was thinking you were going to go, surely we should have a strawberry proliferation. 04:06 A proliferation of strawberries. That's the name of my third album. Right. It's on the list. We'll see. 04:12 Why aren't we overrun with strawberries, given that they've all got so... I mean, we should also be overrun by melons, though, Jane, shouldn't we? 04:18 Have you ever seen a melon? Have you ever seen a melon? 04:21 No, no, no. But that's the whole point there on the inside. Yeah, but what difference does it make? 04:25 Oh, quite a lot in my head. Well, it makes no difference at all in the ground. In the natural world, a seed is a seed, whether it's on the inside or the outside. In fact, on the outside, it's probably less likely to succeed because it hasn't got a sort of pod of nourishing matter around it. 04:41 Oh, you're really diminishing my wow factor. 04:43 I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I can tell that I'm raining on your parade. 04:47 It's on the list. Right, stop it. 04:52 0345 6060 973. Given that strawberries are covered in seeds, why are we not covered in strawberries? That's a good question. 05:01 Gregor is in Kilburnie in North Ayrshire. Gregor, question or answer? Hello, James. There's a question. Carry on. 05:10 My question is about mushrooms. It's all gone a little bit food-based, hasn't it? It's not a great phone line, but hopefully we'll stay with it. Go on. 05:17 Oh, sorry, James. 05:18 Yeah, I've had to get better. No, not going to happen. I think you've been hacked by AI. 05:25 On the plus side, it's also going to cure cancer in our lifetime. So, you know, you've got to take the rough with the smooth. 0-3-4-5-6-0-6-0-9-7-3. Two phone lines free. Quickly. Geraint. Swansea. Question. Answer. Which? Question. How's it going, mate? 05:38 You OK? I'm OK. Yeah, you? 05:40 Yeah, really good. Just a quick one. I'm follically challenged. I've been shaving my head in the shower with a BIC for the last 40 years or so. What, the same one? 05:51 No. Go on. Occasionally, I cut my head, but the first sense that I've actually cut my head is I get a taste of metal in my mouth. This is before I see any blood or before I feel any pain, I get a taste of metal in my mouth. Why is that? 06:12 Eleanor's really cross with you, actually. She doesn't write much on the screen in the course of a program, but she's really worried about, why are you using a BIC, she wants to know. Why don't you get something a bit better, a bit less hazardous? 06:24 Well, other razors are available, but, yeah. Do you mean like a little plastic chuck-away one? Well, yeah, occasionally I use the one that my wife uses. On your head, though. 06:32 You get one with a bit of movement in it or something like that, or get one of those fancy, like... Anyway, that's not the question. So you're shaving your head. 06:40 How often do you do it? Every morning, every other day? 06:43 About twice a week. Twice a week. And you cut yourself, and you know you've cut yourself because you can taste metal. Have you ever tasted metal and checked and you hadn't cut yourself? 06:52 Occasionally, yeah. 06:54 But that's where I've maybe grazed my head, but there's no blood. So you think that there is a sort of warning system in your mouth about the state of your head? Yes. 07:05 Okay. I mean, what if it's just you? 07:08 Possibly, yeah. 07:09 Maybe I'm just a little bit unusual. 07:11 But there could be something in it. 0345 6060973 is the number that you need. I mean, that would be fascinating if we got an answer to that. Shaving your head, cut yourself. Don't feel any pain to start, until you've registered the fact that you've cut yourself, by tasting metal in your mouth. Natalie's in Manchester. Natalie, question or answer? 07:31 Question, please. Carry on. 07:34 Why do dogs' paws smell of popcorn? 07:40 What? 07:42 It's a thing. It's not a thing. Dogs' paws. It is a thing. 07:46 How do you know popcorn doesn't smell of dogs' paws? 07:51 Is it a thing? 07:53 Yeah, it's a thing. 07:54 Ask many a dog owner. I don't think you own a dog, but ask many a dog owner. 07:58 I do own a dog. I do. How dare you? I do. I just don't go on about it all the time. 08:02 Okay. 08:03 Like some dog owners I could mention. 08:07 You don't know what I do at home. That might be completely wrong. 08:11 Yeah, so it's on social media, for instance. People are like, oh, you know, the popcorn is smelling dogs. 08:17 Oh, well, it must be true. 08:18 No, but it is. Test it out. Smell your dog's paws. I've got a million. 08:23 I'm not going to go home and smell my dog's paws, am I? 08:27 I finally got the family back from Greece after the air traffic control thing went down. The last thing I'm going to do, as we have our emotional reunion, is going to say, just wait there a moment, darling. I've got to go and smell the dog's paws. It's just not going to happen. But it is a thing. Lots of people telling me it's a thing. I think it's umami. 08:47 Right. I didn't say what's the molecule or something. 08:51 No, I like it. Why do dogs' paws smell of popcorn? Do they always smell of popcorn? 08:56 I mean, how often do you check? 08:58 I don't check them that often. 09:01 There will be people checking now for the very first time. 09:05 Sasha's done it. Sasha writes, OMG, which means they're quite young. OMG, just did it. Correct. That's crazy. 09:15 The country is now full of people sniffing their dog's paws as a direct consequence of tuning into this programme. Don't do it if you're driving. All right, why? Why? 09:24 Why do dogs' paws smell of popcorn? 03456060973. Well, I knew not. I've gone a bit old English there. I knew not. That sounds better than I didn't know, didn't it? I knew not. 09:37 Let's go back to Gregor in Kilburnie. Where were we? Mushrooms. I got that far. 09:41 Yes. Sorry, James. Is this any better? Oh, infinitely. Fantastic. Can I say, I do have my dog here and his paws do smell of popcorn. This is getting ridiculous. 09:48 Go on, amazing stuff. I had no idea. Did you know that before? Were you expecting them to smell of popcorn? Had you come across this phenomenon previously? I've heard it before. 09:56 I mean, they smell nice. They smell nice. I wouldn't have said popcorn, but yeah, she's right. 09:59 Well, you've got popcorn in your head now. If I said biscuits, in fact, just do it again. Wait there. Just clear your mind. 10:06 Clear your mind. 10:07 Clear your mind. Clear your mind. Biscuits, biscuits, biscuits, biscuits, biscuits, biscuits. Do your dog's paws smell of biscuits? 10:15 um i'm just smelling popcorn my psychology experiment has failed anyway back to your question yes so so mushrooms um i like picking the odd mushroom not that kind and i quite uh it's always best if you dry them out first and then rehydrate them and they say that if that happens the flavor is much more intense and i've tried that and it's absolutely true but i don't understand why how do you dry what do you mean Well, so you get your mushroom, because mushrooms are like 70%, 80% water. 10:45 Yes. 10:45 You come into really, really thin slices, and you put them in a dehydrator or in the oven with the door open, and then you dry them out, and they become really thin little crispy things. Oh, yeah, okay. And the smell and the flavor is so much more intense. 10:55 It's pure. I mean, actually, I joked around a lot last week, but it is pure umami. 11:00 Yes, definitely. Especially porcini mushrooms are set. It's pure. 11:03 It's about as umami as umami can be when you get a dried porcini mushroom. 11:09 It's more umami if you dry them out and then rehydrate them, and I don't understand why. Well, do you really not? 11:15 Well, I don't understand drying them out because that intensifies the flavour. 11:18 So you think when it's got a bit more water in it, it's more flavoursome than it was when it was completely dry? 11:27 well yeah because i don't think that's true no i add the hot water you get this rush of really like strong mushroom yeah because you've got like an essence of mushroom in the dried mushroom which is going to be much more pungent than the mushroom that's 80 so what you're doing is essentially you're creating a mushroom that is about 20 to 30 percent water instead of 80 so of course it's going to be more mushroomy 11:48 I think you're adding more water than that because I'm immersing these mushrooms in water. I'm not sprinkling it on them. 11:53 Yeah, but think how big they were before they were dried out. There's no way you're immersing them in as much water as has come out of them. 12:00 That's true. But then why do they smell more mushroomy when you add the water versus when they're completely dry? 12:06 Because of vapour. 12:08 Vapour. 12:09 Because the steam from the hot water. I don't think you'd get that smell if it was cold water. 12:14 The hot water is carrying them upwards. 12:18 Is this? 12:19 Yeah. You might have a point. 12:21 I mean, there's an element here of osmosis. 12:30 I knew that was coming. 12:32 Isn't there? 12:34 Isn't there? Not as an answer to your question, but the rehydration and the dehydration. 12:40 This is the first recorded incidence of both osmosis and umami appearing in the same question. 12:50 I don't know. You might check offside on that one. 12:52 This is a magical moment. 12:54 Right. I think I've answered it. 12:58 I think you like my answer. 13:01 It would be nice if we had someone who was qualified. 13:03 Yeah, okay. I'll take it. Fine. All right. If that's the way you want it, that's the way you got it. But, I mean, it's so obviously the case that when you add the boiling water to it, the steam carries the fragrance upwards. And the reason why it's much more pungent than normal mushrooms is because it's much more concentrated than normal. But you do you, Gregor. That's fine. I'll try and find you a mushroom expert. 13:24 I bet he's a fun guy. 13:28 That's precisely the reaction that that joke deserved. Thank you. 13:32 Ollie's in Worthing. Ollie, question or answer? 13:35 Oh, no, sorry. I've been told off. It's 12.16. 13:38 It's 1218, you're listening to James O'Brien on LBC. Given that they are absolutely covered in seeds, why aren't there more strawberries all over the place? When Gawain is shaving his bald head and he cuts himself, he gets a taste of metal in his mouth before he has seen any blood or felt any pain. Why do dogs' paws smell of popcorn and why do rehydrated dried mushrooms smell so much more mushroomy than any other form of mushroom? 0345 6060 973 is the number. 14:09 You need to answer any of those questions or indeed to ask your own. And now, an interlude. So I got quite a few people complaining about me misusing umami. It started last week and then it kicked off again this week, so I made a little promise to myself... 14:26 When I was dealing with Natalie's question about the popcorn, which I think may be vaguely relevant, but no matter, I'm not going to do umami anymore today because, you know, I don't want it to turn into another thing that I have to remember because you tune in expecting some nice familiar comedy moments. 14:45 And then I got the mothership of umami. You can't have a conversation about dried mushrooms without talking about it. They're probably the most umami thing of all. So I'm sorry. And I'm going to try very hard not to bring umami into the conversation when it's not actually relevant to the conversation. 15:00 And there it is. 15:01 Ollie's in Worthing. Ollie, question or answer? 15:04 Morning, James. 15:08 My question is regarding time and the division of time. So, you know, minutes, hours and days. Why is it done in the six times table rather than in the kind of the 10 times table, the metric way? It's probably me being a millennial metric fan. But why is it done in sixes rather than tens? 15:29 I mean, it is done metrically in some ways when you think about milliseconds and you get down to breaking it down later in history when they started breaking things down further. 15:40 I mean, there's two answers to this. There's the sort of logical answer. 15:44 And then there is the historical answer. The historical answer would be because that's what the people who first started recording time decided to do, to which you respond by saying why, to which I respond by saying, well, it's actually really easy to divide. 16:00 Well, I wonder whether it was heart rate or something like that. You know, resting heart rate at 60 beats or... 16:04 I mean, 12... 16:07 It breaks up nicely, doesn't it, into quarters and halves. So, you know, 5 and 2.5 are not as neat as 3 and 6. That would be part of it. But it's going to be the Sumerians or the Babylonians. 16:21 I was going to say an ancient mathematical system maybe that's not modern. 16:25 How many fingers have you got? 16:27 10. 16:27 Oh, yeah, it's not that big. So it's Babylonian or probably Babylonian or Egyptian. Egyptian could be. Anyway, we'll find out. Would it make life any easier? 16:40 Well, it's just sectionals. When I'm running my 5K, it's easier to divide by 10 than it is 6. 16:44 Yeah, that's true. I'm sort of thinking it'd be quite a good... Did they do it as an April Fool's once? Did Terry Wogan make... Someone did it as an April Fool's when they said time is going metric. Everyone has got really cross. 16:56 It's not one I know. 16:57 All right, don't rub it in. Everyone's going to have to chuck their watches. All right, why is time done in 12s and 6s rather than in easier to process 10s? 03456060973. Thank you, Ollie. Paul's in Saddleworth. Paul, question or answer? A question, please. Carry on, Paul. 17:17 So I drive around a bit and I see loads of signs for battles and things. You know the brown signs at Toyota, the Battle of Bosworth Moorings? 17:26 When the kids were a certain age, we had a little thing on long journeys where we would, whatever journey we were on, if we weren't on a tight schedule, we'd always go down one of those roads to at least one brown site. There you go. That's back to Scott in Birmingham. That's something you can do with the kids and the grandkids, isn't it? It's something you can pass on. You can go to places. I can't help with that. Anyway, sorry, carry on. 17:46 So I got to thinking, if you've got two opposing teams fighting each other, the vectors aren't really going to be that bothered about the people they've just finished off. And is there some sort of battle etiquette at the end of the battle that all the bodies got buried properly, or did they just leave them lying around for the birds to eat? 18:04 That's a nice question. I mean, they'd have robbed them blind, wouldn't they? They'd have stripped them of anything valuable. 18:10 Yeah, but I mean, once they've won and carried on to where they're going next, they're not going to waste time getting rid of people. So what happened to everybody? 18:18 Did the local villagers come and tidy up, or did they just... Did they just all get left? 18:22 Yeah. I mean, a friend of mine who's Kosovan was telling me about a field, I think it's the field of Kosovo, which has extraordinary significance in the Balkans, a battle that happened in, I think it was 1349. 18:36 And poppies grow there every year, even if they dig the ground up and try and grow something else there. The poppies just come back year after year after year. It's part of sort of Kosovan folklore. I just mention that because it's an incredibly famous battlefield and Flanders' poppies as well, isn't it? So you wonder whether there's some sort of relationship between buried bodies and poppies, but the question of what they do with the bodies at the end of a battle is... Yeah, I thought there might be some unwritten rules, like some etiquette at the end of it. 19:07 Well, there wouldn't have been etiquette in the Dark Ages, would there? But I don't even know that there was etiquette in the First World War or what happened. I mean, it's a brutal question, but I like it. What happens to the bodies at the end of a big battle? 19:18 Because you never hear of mass graves being excavated and finding medieval soldiers, like the Battle of Hastings that's in the news at the moment, you know, with the tapestry. 19:30 You hear about plague pits and things like that, but you never hear about war graves. I mean, unless it's an attempt to hide evidence of a war crime, but soldiers who have perished in legal warfare... I don't know. Someone will, definitely. Thank you for that. I like it. Do you ever... I mean, I suppose you're working when you're driving around, so you can't pop down to visit the battlefield and stuff like that. 19:51 I just drive past and think, one day I'll come back. 19:53 You never do. There it is. There is the universal condition. Thank you, Paul. 12.24 is the time. Christine's on the Wirral. Christine, question or answer? 20:02 Hi, James. Question, please. 20:04 Carry on. 20:05 Why has margarine gone so slippy? 20:10 All of it. 20:12 Yeah, well, the ones we use. Really? Can't keep it on the knife between the tub and the toast. 20:18 Since when? When did this start? 20:20 Well, a tub lasts us probably about six weeks because there's only two of us. 20:25 But when did you notice that it was getting runnier? 20:28 Oh, months ago. Months ago. 20:30 But just months, not years? No, months. So, what, this year? Do you reckon it's a 2026 thing? 20:35 No, before that, 25 maybe. 20:37 Late 25, the margarine got runnier? 20:40 It's not runny. It looks fine, but it will not stay on the night. 20:44 Oh, so it's still just as viscous or turgid. Oh, yeah. But it's somehow... You haven't changed your cutlery? 20:50 Between the tub and the toast, I've dropped it about five times. 20:52 From tub to toast. You've not changed your cutlery? You haven't bought new cutlery? 20:57 Nope. 20:58 Changed brand? Driving me insane. Haven't changed your brand of margarine? 21:01 Same brand. 21:03 It's not like, it's not what we've established. It's not in the tub. No. 21:08 And this was true in January. It's not the heat wave. No. 21:12 Why are you laughing? That's a really good question. 21:14 I'm like Columbo. I'm the Columbo of margarine. 21:18 No, it's the same in the cold, rather, as the hot weather. 21:21 Do you think your fridge might have got ever so slightly warmer? 21:25 No, it's brand new. 21:27 How brand new? 21:29 A year. 21:33 There it is. No, it's not. Yes, it is. 21:37 Months. Months. 25 to 20, 25. This coincides exactly with when you got the new fridge. Yes, it is. You know I'm right. 21:48 I've bloody done it. I am the Columbo of margarine. That's extraordinary. 21:52 Just one more thing. When did you get the fridge? 21:57 I'm right. I'm right. 22:00 I've put it on the list. 22:00 Why am I so nervous talking to you? Why are you nervous? Oh, I was last time. I thought it'd be better this time. 22:06 You're pretending to be the Columbo of margarine. How can you be nervous around me? So embarrassed on my behalf, perhaps, but nervous. Don't be ridiculous. At least I can talk this time. It's the fridge. It's the fridge. It's not the fridge. It's the fridge. It's a brand. It's a new fridge. Coincides more or less exactly with when you first noticed. So for a month or two, you wouldn't have thought, you'd have just thought it was, you know, you were imagining things or it was, you know, the different brand or a batch, a dodgy batch. 22:35 Well, I'm going to give a tub to my friend and see what she thinks. 22:38 After two or three months, you sort of say, hang on a minute, this isn't a one-off. This is slippier than it used to be, this margarine. And lo and behold, it's because you changed your fridge around about the time. 22:49 Yeah, but there was nothing wrong with the other fridge. No, I know. There's something wrong with the new one. 22:53 You've got it set. 22:55 No, but you've just got it set. Did you fiddle with the settings when it arrived? Yes. 23:01 No, the men did. So you've got it set ever so slightly warmer or less cold. It's colder. It's not, it's warmer. Oh. It's ever so slightly warmer. Well, actually, unless margarine's a weird substance that gets... No, you've got it just set a couple of degrees, probably half a degree warmer than the old fridge. 23:21 Right, so you want me to turn it down and then see what happens? 23:23 Yeah, ring back next week. 23:25 Okay. 23:26 I'm not even joking. 23:31 I love it. If I'm right, I'm retiring. After doing that, it's two things in one show. The cancer story and the AI is going to kill us all story, being exactly the same story. Will Guy has been in touch to say, yep, you're right. And then fixing the mystery of Christine's margarine. 23:46 Oh, wow. 23:47 It's like an episode of Ludwig. Thank you. 23:52 It is 12.28. You are listening to James O'Brien on LBC. Vieri is in Frankfurt, which means it is the dog question that is about to be answered. 24:03 It is indeed. It is indeed. Well, dogs have very particular feet because it's the only place where they can sweat. Dogs cannot sweat on their skin, just on their feet. So that and the natural occurring bacteria they have on their feet... which gets stuck between the toes and the fur and the knee support, makes it smell a bit like popcorn or tortilla chips. 24:27 Some people have said that they smell like Doritos or Watsits, actually. So it is just a sort of savoury snack or a biscuit would be a bit sweet. So it's more of a savoury... 24:37 Yeah, well, it's a mixture of oil and bacteria and skin. So it's B.O.? Pretty much, yeah. It's the equivalent of Keith's armpit. Well, it's F.O., so it's foot odour. 24:46 Yes, no, but it's this sweat that is drying and giving off an odour because... Plus the bacteria. Yeah, absolutely. Some people love it. Some people love it. Yeah, but you can see why. It's a nice smell, and it's a well-established phenomenon. 24:58 If you have a small dog, you can even put the whole paw inside your nose and really smell it, but if you have a big dog, you can't. How big is your nose? 25:05 Well, only if you have a chihuahua, you can put your paw. I know somebody who had a chihuahua. You used to do that regularly. It's a bit difficult when you've got a Labrador. 25:12 I like it. Qualifications? 25:14 I work with dogs. And your professional name is? 25:18 Dr. Dog. Dr. Dog. You spent a long time coming up with that one, didn't you, Vieri? 25:23 It's coming up to half past twelve. There it is. Beautiful answer to a beautiful question. Round of applause for Vieri. Thank you. Thank you. 25:30 Amelia Cox has your headlines. 25:32 It is 33 minutes after 12 and you're listening to James O'Brien on LBC. I get off and ask best things about this job. I say, well, there was this time when Marge on the Wirral, Marge on the Wirral, her name's Christine. She rang in about Marge. 25:48 about margarine getting slippy. And I thought I'd solved the mystery by being the Columbo of spreads. And then my inbox exploded with people saying that it is true. 25:58 I agree with this lady. Margarine has definitely got slippier and I haven't changed my fridge, says Phil. Russell writes, this lady is correct about the margarine. This is actually something I have noticed over the past year or two and I have not changed my fridge. Chris says, I've noticed this margarine slippiness thing too. Damien says, she is right. It is the same with me. Can confirm, writes John, my margarine has also definitely changed in the last year. And Rachel in Liverpool, I just stuck the road from Christine, who in my mind now I'm calling Marge. I've got to stop calling her Marge. 26:29 Her name is Christine. My Marge is definitely more slippery too. I'm glad someone else has noticed. 26:34 It appears to be very widespread. 26:39 Really? Nothing? Nothing for that? 26:42 Sheesh. 26:44 Well done, Keith. 26:46 Uh... 26:47 And that would mean that I was wrong about the fridge and that it's probably like Cadbury's chocolate all over again and they've changed the recipe or something to save some money. And the consequence of that is that there's a proverb, isn't there? There's many a slip from page to mouth or something like that. There's many a slip from top to toast. But that might be why. Anyway, it's why it's still on the board. I'm not taking a round of applause for that. Tim is in Ilkeston. Tim, question or answer? 27:12 Hi, James. Question, please. Carry on. 27:16 Right. 27:17 I'm unbelievably excited. I might actually get my puzzle solved today. 27:24 So I take a travel mug thing to work with me each day. And I have coffee in it because if I put tea in it, it doesn't taste right. 27:38 It does not taste the way tea should taste normally. Yes. Yes. 27:44 There's a tang. There is a tang. I can describe it. Well, I know what you mean. 27:52 Why does tea not taste right when you have it in a travel mug, but coffee isn't affected? 28:00 I think this might be a variation on the question about how The cup, like the porcelain and bone china and porous clay and all those different types of cups have an impact upon how your tea tastes. 28:17 So you're used to a certain... But it doesn't explain why... Maybe. And because coffee is just a stronger flavour than tea, you don't notice it in the same way. But we did do... I'm sure someone rang in about a year ago. I'm disappointed now. No, we're not there yet. LAUGHTER Someone rang in about a year ago asking why their tea tasted different in different cups, didn't they? Do you remember that? 28:40 Yeah. And we got an answer. 28:42 We got an answer to that, I think. Yeah, I can't remember what the... No, nor can I now. The shape, the constitution. But why does it affect the taste of tea and not the taste... 28:54 Of coffee. Millions of people around the world want to know the answer to this question. It's a true riddle for our ages. 29:04 So, yeah, tea tastes rank in those cups, whereas coffee tastes fine. 29:09 Yeah. You're on. Why do travel mugs and flasks have such a negative effect on tea while barely any effect at all on coffee? I like it. Yeah. Thank you, Tim. 12.36 is the time. Gavin is in Jersey. Gavin, question or answer? 29:25 Good afternoon, James. A question, please. Go on. Why is crossing our arms a behaviour which we copy? 29:35 So I'll give you an example. I was at a running group the other week, and there's about... You were where? 29:41 You were at a what? 29:42 A running group. 29:43 Oh, a running group, yes. 29:44 And we were sort of meeting at the start point, and one person crossed their arms, and then within about maybe two minutes, about six or seven people then also folded their arms, crossed their arms. 29:56 I've got a variety of theories for this one, Gavin. Are you interested in any of them? Go on then. Well, the first one is mirroring, which is a kind of subconscious psychological condition to create an air of comfort and familiarity in a social context. So, you know, you might run your hands through your hair and then someone else will run their hand from there. But I think it's... 30:20 Also got an evolutionary dimension because if you're folding your arms, you're telling the person that you are with that you are not a threat and you are not going to do them any harm. 30:30 Which is not the same, because obviously yawning is a similar behaviour, but it feels very odd that we would still do it. 30:37 Yeah, but that's evolution, baby. And we still do it, even when we don't need to anymore. I mean, if it was perfect evolution, I always think that we'd have two big plates in our mouth instead of teeth that can still get rotten. We'd have to, like, grind... Sorry, I'm going off on a completely unreasonable tangent. So I think it's going to be a psychological very much similar to yawning. 31:02 But I'm just putting it on the board. So why is arm-crossing contagious would be the five-word question. 31:08 Yeah, would be, yeah. Or four. 31:09 Love it. And it wasn't just because everyone was cold? 31:13 No, because over here it's still quite warm to be fair. We're still in the 20s. 31:15 Are you? Oh, very nice. Okay. Why is arm-crossing contagious? Why does tea taste dodgy in flasks when coffee doesn't? Why has Christine's margarine got softer? How do they deal with the dead bodies at the end of big battles? 31:30 Why do we measure time in 12s rather than 10s? Why do mushrooms, rehydrated dried mushrooms, have such a much more pungent aroma than dried mushrooms? Why does Geraint taste metal in his mouth when he's cut his head while shaving in the shower? And why are we not overcome with strawberries, given that the average strawberry contains about 200 seeds? I'm going to need some answers soon. 03456060973 is the number you need to provide them, but we can squeeze in one or two more questions. 32:01 To wit, Brian is in Sutton. Brian, question or answer? 32:05 Question. Carry on, Brian. 32:07 How come, given that the moon has got no natural luminosity, how come we can see it during the day with the sun behind it? 32:19 Why is the sun behind it? 32:22 Well, because the moon is in between the Earth and the sun. Yeah, but it's closer. 32:27 Closer to us. 32:28 Yeah. 32:30 But the sun could be anywhere in that orbit. 32:34 No, but we look at the sky and we can see the sun and then alongside it we can often see the moon. 32:42 Yeah, but it's not behind it in the sense that it would be providing no light to it. Light doesn't go in a kind of narrow straight line, does it? 32:54 well yeah it does it goes in parallel straight lines and so if you held a torch in front of you looking at you then you held a coin up you wouldn't see the face of the coin because the sun is so bright that the yeah but i don't i think it might look to us like the sun is is alongside the moon but it's it's it's not it's it's it's miles away yeah that is and the light is hitting the moon The light is hitting the moon from the sun. 33:20 Or it's reflecting off the earth and going back and hitting the moon. 33:24 Is it? Yeah. 33:27 Hmm. Probably not, but it just fits the parameters of the question, doesn't it? 33:32 It fits the parameters incorrectly. 33:36 Who cares? This is the age of Trump and Farage. Who cares about the truth? It comes off the sea. So, yeah, all right, you're right. I mean, I don't know, so I'll get you an answer to it. But I wouldn't be amazed if the light reflects from the Earth onto the Earth. 33:49 Yeah, I'd be interested to know because that means that we are reflecting a lot of light. And if the ice packs are... are melting, then that reflection is going to be less. 34:01 I guess so, yeah. Maybe. Crikey, we've got enough to worry about without bringing that into our content. Keith's got that look on his face. I'm talking absolute jibber-jabber. 34:12 I shall listen in truth. Well, let's find out. 34:14 Yeah, exactly. So why can we see the moon even when the sun is behind it? 03456060973. 34:24 My brain goes a bit funny on planetary questions. I don't know why. 34:28 It's a sort of contemplation of the infinite, isn't it? Or something like that. I just can't never feel that I've quite got my head around it. And yet so many people study it and do brilliantly. I mean, the moon is... 34:41 Cirque is spherical. Spherical. So, light... Anyway, this is what I mean. My brain's gone. Alex is in Carlton in Lancashire. Alex, question or answer? 34:51 Answer, James. Carry on. 34:53 So, it's an answer on the strawberry question. Yes. To a certain extent, there's two. 35:00 Depending on the variety of strawberry... Yes. 35:03 ...it depends on how successful the seed can survive... 35:09 But to a certain extent, the caller was wrong. And actually, we could be invaded by strawberries if we're not careful. 35:17 Or if we don't eat them all. 35:19 Yes, of course. So with the garden strawberry, which is the one that I think Nicole was talking about, that's a hybrid of two different strawberry species. One from Chile and one from America. 35:35 But when they've been hybridised, it shrinks the seeds and makes the seeds harder to germinate. And that basically makes strawberries impossible. I mean, it's very, very hard to grow from seed. 35:49 But a wild strawberry... 35:52 Yeah, so an alpine strawberry, or wild strawberry, the little ones, yeah, they feed really, really well, incredibly well, actually. 36:01 And is that going to be, our climate is not conducive to them then, or why aren't we covered in alpine strawberries? 36:08 um well to a certain extent it's because people don't really like them because the fruit that you get from them is really bitter and very small yes um so they're just if unless you want them you know in your garden as a sort of ornamental thing that they're not of any real use uh the alpine strawberry but in connection to where she may be wrong um strawberries the easiest way to reproduce them is through runners So they're little baby plants that come off of the mother plant. 36:42 So they come off, and then they'll sit on the soil, root themselves, and become their own plant. 36:49 And garden strawberries can produce five to six, seven, eight runners a year. 36:55 But they take a bit of cultivation, though. 36:59 So that's also part of the answer. We eat them all and they don't actually, they don't grow wild, as it were, very easily, very prolifically. 37:09 Well, they will, like I say, they will as runners. So as runners, they will, you know, so if you plant a strawberry plant in your garden and wait three or four years, you'll have probably about 30, 40 strawberry plants. Crikey. So I own a plant nursery. What a lovely job. I know, it's very peaceful. I'm just having my lunch at the minute. 37:28 Oh, amazing. 37:29 What are you having? Oh, just a sandwich and crisps. Nice and easy. 37:35 I thought it would be something really kind of organic and fruity. 37:40 Oh, no, something quick and easy, unfortunately. Fair enough. I've got a sausage roll after this, actually. Oh, well enjoyed. 37:46 A fancy one. Anyway, we digress. So, go on. The seeds... 37:52 why are we not just in a sentence why are we not overrun with strawberries given that the plants are prolific so because um because in most cases when they're grown commercially they're grown uh sort of in raised um troughs yeah so that so the varieties yeah got it so the varieties that we have no sorry finish that sentence so the runners can't what 38:18 So the runners can't then, you know, sort of get onto the floor and root themselves and continue growing. But as I was saying, if you plant a strawberry plant in your garden, you will, you know, if you plant it in the corner of your garden, give it a couple of years, it'll take over a sort of two, three metre area. 38:33 There you go. No, I like it. So it's a sort of yes and a no, really, your answer to this. It could conceivably happen. But the main reason why it probably doesn't is because we eat them all. 38:42 Yeah, well, that and, like I say, because the plants themselves have been hybrids, the seeds just can't, you know, they struggle to grow anyway. 38:50 And qualifications, just reminders. I know you've already told us. 38:53 So I'm a horticulturalist and I own a plant nursery in Tarleton. Would you like a free advert? 38:58 Oh, I'd love one. 38:59 So it's Hibs Plant Nursery, H-I-B-B-S. H-I-B-B-S, plant nursery in Tarleton, Lancashire. Lovely stuff. What's your proudest thing? What's the thing you're proudest of that you've done? 39:12 Just starting it, really. 39:13 Getting it up and running. I don't know if you'd grafted something or come up with your own variety of paint. 39:19 No, no. I'd love to do it once. Well, you will. You will. Dream big, Alex. 39:24 Dream big. You've just got a round of applause on Mystery Hour, mate. 39:27 That's all I need for today. That's made me day. 39:31 The sky's the limit. It's 12.47. 39:35 It's 12.49. Hello, James. Can you say hello to my dad, Simon, and my granddad, Peter, who are both great fans of yours? Yes, I can, Alex, and I just did. So hello to Simon and indeed to Peter. Richard is in battle. Richard, question or answer? 39:50 It's an answer, I'm afraid. No, we love answers. 39:53 We need answers. To which question? 39:56 What you do with bodies in a battle. But you're in battle. I am in battle, yes. 40:00 That's fantastic. Carry on. 40:05 Up until the Boer War, records were not kept of who died in battles. 40:12 All the valuables would have been scavenged. 40:17 The bones were ground up and ploughed back into the fields. 40:21 Wow. I mean, immediately? 40:25 Well, after the carrion and the scavenging. 40:29 all the people that died at Waterloo were grabbed back into the field. 40:33 So if you were to excavate at Culloden or Waterloo or anywhere like that, then you would find probably bones, an abundance of bones. 40:42 Or in battle. 40:44 Or indeed in battle, yeah, which is in the news at the moment, isn't it? 40:48 Yes. With the tapestry arriving in town. Wow. Qualifications? Yes. 40:53 I was a Navy chaplain, and I researched it when I was asked to do a remembrance Sunday service for the Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Good Lord. 41:03 And do we know what they did in the Second World War? Was it the same there? 41:08 After the Boer War, they started to keep records of those that had died. Yes. 41:16 It wasn't until the First World War... 41:19 and lutchins and the all the war graves commission and whatever that they started to bury them even if they didn't know who they were and put up a tombstone so that's a brilliant answer thank you so much um a round of applause feels a little inappropriate in the circumstances but it's all we've got 41:41 Thank you. Thank you, Richard. That's pretty cool as well. A bloke rings in to answer a question about battle, and he's in battle. Nick's in Hertford. What would that be appropriate to us? No idea. Question or answer? 41:53 Answer, James. Carry on. 41:55 Okay, so the big margarine mystery. 41:57 Come on. It's not the fridge. She's been back in touch. 42:01 Well, you were on the right track because it's to do with the melting point of the fat... which is in the margarine. So margarine is a recipe of vegetable oil, probably sunflower, water and air. 42:19 And they make an emulsion which then solidifies. Now, depending on the recipe normally driven by cost of oils compared to water and air, they may reduce the percentage of oil or fat in the margarine. So therefore, the consistency is therefore softer. 42:40 So when oil is expensive, it gets slippery. 42:42 Yes, yes. 42:44 So it's more likely to be down to Donald Trump than a new fridge. 42:47 Well, it's an interesting point, James, because actually, because of the increase in price of crude oil, a lot of vegetable oils have been going into the manufacture. Of biodiesel. 43:00 Which is why olive oil has gone up at a rate of knots recently as well. 43:03 Well, yes and no. That's the crop as well, isn't it? The olive oil market's gone up because of the crop of olives have failed in, I think, in Spain and Greece and Cyprus. But I know this because I'm heavily involved in the manufacture of peanut butter. 43:19 Oh! 43:20 And if you notice, the trend at the moment is like some brands do 100% peanuts. 43:27 Yeah. 43:28 And when you open the jar, you get a little reservoir of oil. You do. 43:32 And that's because they don't add another vegetable oil into the recipe so that that particular vegetable oil has a lower melting point than peanut oil, so it stays what they call stable. 43:48 Good Lord. 43:50 Christine was actually, she got back in touch to say the fridge is actually two years old. She'd forgotten when she got the kitchen done, so it couldn't be what I said it was. It predates the margarine. 43:58 But you were on the right track. 43:59 Yeah, I thought it would be linked to temperature in some way, but the temperature of the environment it was being kept in rather than the melting point of the actual margarine. And loads and loads of people have reflected or described a similar experience. I know you've told us, but tell us officially. Qualifications? 44:14 I am a peanut importer that's involved in the development of peanut butter for all the main brands and supermarket brands. And my nickname is Nick the Nut. Nick the Nut. 44:26 I'd gone with Nutty Nick first, actually, but Nick the Nut. How much difference is there? I mean, I don't want you to get into any trouble with your clientele, but how much difference is there between brands? 44:37 Well, there's two different types of peanut butter. One is what they call 100%, which is just made with just peanuts, which is the one which has got the fat. And the other brands, the supermarket brands, are pretty much, the recipes are pretty much the same, but they are all different. 44:52 There's a third type. 44:54 There's a third type, go on. 44:55 The roasted peanut one. No, they're all roasted. Why do the Manny Life ones taste more roasted? 45:01 Well, Manny Life is an interesting story, actually. He's built a story on... I mean, effectively, he takes them to the edge of being burnt. 45:08 Yeah, they're my favourites. 45:10 Well, there you go. But when you get it, you have to really give it a good mix, right? 45:14 You certainly do, yeah. That's why I buy it in the big tubs, because it's easier to mix it up. 45:17 So here's a tip for you. Go on. When you get it the first time and you've got the big reservoir of fat on top, give it a really, really good mix and then put it in the fridge. 45:27 Oh. Oh, there you go. 45:28 Because then the peanut oil stays solid, basically. 45:31 Consolidated. That's brilliant. Oh, wow. Yeah, you enjoy your work, don't you? I love it. If you ever need any help eating, you know where I am. Have a round of applause. 45:40 All right. I flummin' love peanut butter. 45:43 At my boarding school, it was worth more than its weight in gold peanut butter because you could fill yourself up on toast, but if you had peanut butter, it was actually a pleasure rather than just a question of fuel. Alex is in Nottingham. Alex, question or answer? 45:56 It's an answer for you, James. Carry on, Alex. So, it's about the question of time and why it's in base 12 and not base 10 maths. 46:06 Go on. So, it comes down to the ancient Sumerians. Not the Babylonians? The Babylonians. 46:13 Well, which one was it? The Sumerians or the Babylonians? 46:16 Well, it comes from ancient Mesopotamia. You can't really pin it down to either one. But basically, if you hold out your left hand and have a look at it, you've got three bones in each finger, right? 46:27 Yeah. 46:28 And if you count along with your thumb, you've got 12 altogether, 12 finger bones. 46:33 Yeah. 46:34 So that gives you the 12. Are you serious? Yeah. 46:38 That's amazing. 46:39 And then on your other hand, what you do is you put each finger out. So you do one 12, count one 12 on your left hand, put your thumb out, count another 12, another finger out on your right hand. Then you've got five 12s, that makes 60. That's why you get 60 seconds in an hour. 46:55 And you get two sets of 12, make 24. 46:58 Because you're a human abacus. 47:00 Yes, basically. 47:01 And that's why it became the units of measurement of time. 47:05 Yes, because they used to use base 12 maths. We now use base 10. 47:09 Qualifications? 47:11 I listen to a lot of history podcasts. I drive a lot. 47:13 That'll do. That'll do. Love it. Round of applause for Alex. That's brilliant. That's absolutely brilliant. Lovely. Thank you. I love that. Well played. Mark's in Barrow. Mark, question or answer? 47:23 It's an answer about the sun and the moon. Go on. It's not like you. It's normally word questions for you. 47:28 Oh, well, yes, you see. 47:29 You're a renaissance man, aren't you, Mark? You've got a man of many talents. Go on, what is it? The sun and the moon. 47:34 Well, the sun is only behind the moon during an eclipse, like the one we recently had. 47:39 Yeah. 47:39 But when the moon is near to the sun in the sky, other than that, you can't actually see it typically because the sun is so much brighter. 47:47 Yes. 47:48 And before and after an eclipse, you can't see the moon. 47:51 the moon then comes onto the disk of the sun. 47:53 Yes. 47:54 But at other times, the moon could be anywhere if it's above the horizon because of the movements of the three bodies. 48:00 That's what I was trying to say. That's what I was trying to say. If it's above the horizon, there's the bit missing. 48:05 And it may or may not be reflecting the sun. It may not be in a position to reflect the sun. Obviously, at full moon, it's very much reflecting the sun. It's got high albedo, reflecting power, and that's why the moon is as bright as it is. 48:19 There it is. 48:19 Of course, it might be below the horizon. So his physics was wrong. 48:23 The physics in his head was wrong, wasn't it? 48:25 I guess so. 48:27 The angles and things were wrong in his head. 48:29 The idea that the sun is behind the moon, that's only true during an eclipse. 48:34 Yes. 48:35 Qualifications? 48:37 Keen astronomy fan, currently chairperson of the Barrow Astronomy Society. 48:42 Wow. We get all the big names on here, Mark. The chairperson of the Barrow Astronomy Society. Have a round of applause. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. Always a pleasure. 48:51 He is a genuine Renaissance man. 48:53 That's it for today. 48:55 I've got to pick a winner or two. Oh, I don't know. 49:00 Oh, it's got to be Blimmin' Christine with the Marge, hasn't it? Margarine, Christine. Christine Margarine. 49:07 That's it from me for today. If you missed any other show, you can listen back on our free Global Player app or the LBC app, and indeed listen to a range of podcasts, including mine. So do download the official LBC app for free from your app store now. Coming up at four on LBC, it's Tom Swarbrick, but now it's time for Sheila Fogarty. 49:22 This has been a Global Player original production.