上次我一时冲动，A了一把，收到大量Q，但都不怎么好玩。好多人问我，你说针灸减肥靠谱吗？我觉得这个问题应该问老六。他曾经想出了一个终极问题：蚊子叮你一口，起个包，请问你的体重增加了还是减少了？
刚才看《新科学家》杂志，看到一则好玩的科学QA。他们的Q和A都是读者提供的，民间藏龙卧虎之人真是不少哇。
读者提供的两个A都很有趣，因为英文的很多俏皮话很难翻译，我试着意译一下，让大家欣赏一下人家的科学QA：
Q：我爸老教训我，不让我挖鼻孔，更不让我吃鼻涕嘎巴儿。请问，吃自己的鼻涕嘎巴儿有碍健康吗？
A1：
挖和吃这两个词比较适合用在牙买加黄山药身上。即使你的鼻涕嘎巴儿对你的健康无害，也会对你的人际关系有害，所以我建议你还是改嚼口香糖得了。
从生理学角度讲，吃风干鼻涕没啥害处。假设你嚼得很起劲的那块鼻涕嘎巴儿没有完全被风干的话，它也会通过你的咽喉，进入你的胃部。当然了，除非你用卫生纸把它擤出来，或者用手指悄悄涂在椅子的下面。
鼻涕嘎巴儿里生活的绝大部分细菌都是无害的。它们会被你的胃液烧死，尸体被消化吸收。但是，很可能会有少量顽强的细菌是有害的，而空气中的有毒物质也会附着在鼻涕嘎巴儿上，所以还是别吃的好。
换个角度想想，你之所以进化出鼻毛，挡住小虫子和细菌，显然是有用的。虽然擤鼻涕不能完全挡住细菌通过鼻腔进入你的消化道，但也总比你狂吃鼻涕嘎巴儿强。
Jon Richfield, 南非
A2：
我怀着欣喜的心情告诉你，医学杂志里有很多关于挖鼻孔的论文。首先，挖鼻孔爱好者千万别觉得自己很孤单，更不要为自己的行为感到自卑。美国《临床精 神病学杂志》1995年2月号上有一篇论文，作者调查了100个美国威斯康辛州达内县的成年人，得出结论说，挖鼻孔是人类的一种普遍行为。该杂志2001 年6月号上还有一篇文章，作者调查了印度的成年人，发现印度人平均每天要挖4次鼻孔。
但是，即使干好事，干多了也可能变坏事。听说过Rhinotillexomania这个词吗？它的意思是"强制性挖鼻孔综合症"。这种病会造成Epistaxis综合症，也就是我们通常所说的流鼻血。如果再严重一点，甚至有可能造成隔膜穿孔呢。
Rhinotillexomania这种病到底是怎么得的？无人知晓。但是在极端情况下，这种病很可能会演变成精神病。上面说的威斯康辛州就有一个病人，一天花两个小时清理鼻孔内的每一寸皮肤！
更为严重的是，荷兰科学家在2006年8月份的《传染病控制和医院流行病学》杂志上报告说，越是经常挖鼻孔的人，被一种名叫 Staphylococcus aureus的细菌感染的几率也就越大。大约有四分之一的人类是这种细菌的携带者，虽然其中大部分人都有了抵抗能力，但是少数抵抗力差的人会被这种细菌逐 渐吃掉！
不好意思，我没有查到关于吃鼻涕嘎巴儿是否有害的科学论文，但是我敢肯定，这个选题早晚有一天会引起搞笑诺贝尔奖（Ig Nobel）颁奖委员会的重视。到了那一天，这个对人类公共卫生关系重大的问题就将最终得到解决。
Digbeth D'Marriotti（没地址）
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Who nose?
Q：My dad keeps telling me not to pick my nose and eat it. Will eating my bogeys [boogers] do me any harm?
A1：Picking and eating are for cherries. Even if your bogeys do not affect your digestion, chewing them could affect the health of your social relationships. Try chewing gum instead.
Physiologically, eating your dried snot would not matter much. If that solid bogey that you find so toothsome had not dried out, it would have dribbled down your pharynx and been swallowed anyway, unless you intercepted it with your sleeve or handkerchief or stuck it on the underside of your chair.
For the most part, any germs it contained would be digestible or would otherwise die in your gut, but this is not always the case. Some germs do infect people via the nose, and some toxic dust particles do stick in your phlegm and it is to the benefit of your health to ensure you expel such things.
It is not for nothing that your nose hairs stop bugs and dust from landing in your lungs or gut. Blowing your nose would not stop everything, but it is better than guzzling snot.
Jon Richfield, Somerset West, South Africa
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Q2：The medical literature is a delightfully rich source of information about nose picking. Firstly, nose pickers should not feel isolated or guilty about the activity. A US survey in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry in February 1995 of 100 adults in Dane County, Wisconsin, concluded that the activity "is an almost universal practice in adults". The same publication in June 2001 carried another survey, this time of adolescents in India, which found that the average frequency of pickage was four times a day.
"The medical literature is a delightfully rich source of information on nose picking"However, too much of a good thing can prove to be a problem. Rhinotillexomania, or compulsive nose picking, can lead to epistaxis (better known as nosebleeds) or even septal perforation.
The cause of compulsive nose picking is unknown but in extreme situations may transcend habit and become a sign of a psychiatric disorder. The Wisconsin study identified one individual who spent more than 2 hours a day digitally excavating their nasal cavities.
Perhaps more worryingly, Dutch researchers reporting in the August 2006 edition of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology found that the frequency of nose picking correlated with the presence of nasal Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium carried by about 25 per cent of people but which in its most horrible form can cause lurid "flesh-eating" infections.
Alas I have not been able to find any studies into the effects of eating one's bogeys, but it is almost certain that there is an Ig Nobel award set aside for anyone who is willing to tackle this important medical conundrum.
Digbeth D'Marriotti, By email, no address supplied
博文
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