E: 17/11 Win a brain upgrade in our competition (books)

weeowens

guardian.co.uk

• Metal objects feel cold when you touch them because
  
  • They tend to be smooth and shiny so their surfaces radiate heat away
  • Their temperature is lower than the surroundings
  • They're good thermal conductors
  • Their atoms are arranged in crystal lattices so have low energy
• Whales are most closely related to
  
  • Porpoises
  • Hippopotamuses
  • Walruses
  • Sharks
• The most abundant element in the human body by mass is
  
  • Oxygen
  • Iron
  • Carbon
  • Nitrogen

Any help with the answers is welcome as I'm a bit busy atm.Cheers

Only one entry per person. Entries on behalf of another person will not be accepted and joint submissions are not allowed.

Thanks to misslinda for the formatting

Gemsie

1. They're good thermal conductors
2. Hippopotamuses
3. Oxygen

All my knowledge, so please feel free to check!

Edit for sources:
1. http://www.physlink.com/education/askexperts/ae680.cfm
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_cetaceans
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_of_the_human_body

beehummingbird

My suggested answers:

1 They're good thermal conductors http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/cold_metal/index.html
2. Porpoises http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetacea They are in the same order as whales, so I would say porpoises.
3: Oxygen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen

captain_davegeorge

my answers are
(1) they're good thermal conductors
(2) porpoises
(3) oxygen

Daphne01

I agree with Gemsie for question 2

This is why scientists long believed that whales evolved from a form of mesonychid. But more recent molecular phylogeny data suggest that whales are more closely related to the artiodactyls, specifically the hippopotamus.

edthomas7

I went with Hippos, because they are mammals too but the same could be said for porposies, I dunno

pa2539

The traditional theory of cetacean evolution was that whales were related to the mesonychids, an extinct order of carnivorous ungulates (hoofed animals), which resembled wolves with hooves and were a sister group of artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates). These animals had unusual triangular teeth similar to those of whales. This is why scientists long believed that whales evolved from a form of mesonychid. But more recent molecular phylogeny data suggest that whales are more closely related to the artiodactyls, specifically the hippopotamus.[
I'm going with hippos aswell