Is it true that drinking alcohol through a straw will cause more rapid inebriation? If so, why?
To suck liquid up through a straw requires that one creates a partial vacuum, using the same muscles in the diaphragm and ribcage that allow one to draw air into the lungs. It is possible (just) that rather more alcohol will vaporise in this momentary partial vacuum than in normal sipping. The alcohol vapour so formed may be rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, possibly in the lungs or nasal passages, and could then bypass the liver and so reach the brain more quickly, producing inebriation. But there are a lot of “ifs” in this argument
Colin Berry,
Antibes, France
Films taken many years ago show everyone with covered heads. When and why did people stop routinely wearing hats?
With regard to John Graham’s comments regarding the first hatless American president John F. Kennedy (Q&A, February 14), the precedent for not wearing a hat may well have been set by a British king. John Betjeman’s poem on the death of George V concludes with the arrival of the new monarch, in these words:
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Betjeman was an astute observer and knew well the significance of a king arriving without a hat.
Tony Keable-Elliott,
Ibstone, Buckinghamshire
My football team, Brentford, are currently in a play-off position in League One, yet have a goal difference of minus two. Without wishing to tempt fate, has any football team ever been promoted with a negative goal difference?
Burnley came third in what was then the First Division back in 1898-99, having scored 45 goals and conceded 47. This position was matched by Norwich City in the Premiership (1992-93), with a goal difference of minus 4 (61-65). They qualified for the Uefa Cup as a result.
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North of the border, Clydebank were 3rd in the Scottish First Division in 1987-88, having scored 59 goals, and conceded 61.
Tim Mickleburgh,
Grimsby