Once upon a time I used to teach high school science and so keeping up with current events in science was vital. The thing that upset me most when teaching those lessons were the students that refused to see the relevance of science, old and current, in their lives. I often stopped teaching the lesson to try and persuade them how relevant science, especially current events in science, actually was in everyday life. Think about it, let's just start with the human body... understand how it works and you will have a better understanding of how to look after numero uno.

Here are two of examples from my every day existence where science knowledge helped me out:

I enjoy fishing. A friend and myself were fishing on a farm dam using a two man inflatable boat and things were going well. We had a couple of nice size bass in the bag when my friend hooked into and landed a two kilogram Tilapia. He thing about the Tilapia species of fish that have very sharp spikes on their dorsal fins.

Now any reasonably intelligent person (especially one who is up to date with current events in science, as I was) would quickly figure out that a two kilogram fish with sharp spikes sticking out of it's back which is flapping around in the bottom of an inflatable boat is a recipe for disaster. We were too busy fishing to think logically...

So when the air in the floor panel of the boat started hissing out (because it was trying to establish an equilibrium - a whole new science topic), we snapped back to reality. With the boat folding in around us and the water coming very close to lapping over the rim the scientist in me yelled to my friend,

"Spread yourself wide..."

Yup, pushing the sides of the boat wide and increasing the surface area kept us afloat long enough for me to paddle to the shore.

So you are not into fishing from inflatable two man boats and therefore I have not convinced you yet of the relevance of keeping up with current events in science? OK, how about this one...

Picture yourself on a summer day doing an outdoor activity (apart from swimming), but oh my word, you are sweating buckets. This does not impress the blond daughter of your new neighbors! How are you going to ensure you look as fresh and "un-tired" as possible while still showing your physical abilities to this "o-so-nice" young lady?

Long, long ago, when I was still at school, I took part in what was fondly termed "cadets". This is where you are shown the ropes as to how to march in the army. It built discipline and taught you to listen to instructions and also made you very hot.

The heat I experienced during those sessions was not due to over exercise, I mean sometimes we just stood still for long periods of time, it was because of the dark brown uniform that we wore. I remember the master in charge jumping up and down in front of us for being so lethargic and sloppy in our marching when at his age he was still so full of energy. What I wanted to inform him about was that he always made sure he wore a white cotton shirt during those hours in the sun.

You see, I kept up with current events in science and therefore knew science - and he did not! White reflects the white light that carries with it energy that is converted into heat, brown absorbs a whole lot of white light. A lot of white light being absorbed means lots of energy being converted into heat, which means that by diffusion, heat energy reaches the body that is wearing the brown shirt - my body!