BRAIN DUMP

Could we create certain elements in a human-made fusion reactor?

Lottie Ackerley

■ A fusion reactor could certainly make some interesting ‘artificial’ elements. The immense amount of energy and a hefty number of atomic collisions would temporarily produce very ‘heavy’ elements that would be too unstable to exist otherwise. JH

Can anything travel faster than light?

Mark Bryant

■ The speed of light has been described as the ‘universal speed limit’ of almost 300,000 kilometres per second. Nothing can move faster than light within a vacuum – that is, when moving through the expanse of the universe. But the universe itself is constantly expanding, pushing galaxies further from one another. As the universe is expanding into literally nothing, there’s no limit as to how fast it can go, and so this can easily exceed the speed of light. JH

How do evergreen plants stay green all year round?

Stephanie Williams

■ Deciduous