When the cap doesn’t fit . . .
QUESTION How do Roman Catholic clerics fix
skullcaps, or zucchetti, to their head? The zucchetto (meaning ‘small gourd’), is a skullcap that may be worn by members of the Catholic clergy.
All ordained members of the Church may wear the black zucchetto, while the amaranth (a shade of magenta) and red
zucchetti are reserved for higher prelates. The Pope may choose the colour of his
zucchetto, but often favours white. The zucchetto is traditionally made of silk, but modern versions are often polyester. They are constructed from eight triangular panels and lined with a thin chamois or cloth for comfort. The top stem, known as the stirpis or
stirpes, distinguishes the zucchetto from the Jewish skullcap, the kippah.
The zucchetto is a form-fitting cap that sits naturally on the head — there are no clasps or pins. The material has a bit of give to it and is kept snug by the natural tension of the material pulling against the head.
There is usually a small strip of velvet running around the inside bottom rim of the cap, which makes it a little stickier on hair and skin. Some head shapes clearly support the
zucchetto better than others. Pope Francis has had a number of welldocumented incidents with his zucchetto, which has been caught by the wind at many inopportune moments.
Mark Francis, Cardiff. JewS who wear a kippah generally know where to place it on their head and will own a tried-and-tested one that is a natural fit.
Sometimes, a hair clip may be employed to fasten the fabric to any available hair. however, such devices are eschewed by traditionalists.
The ultimate kippah secret is a small strip of one-sided Velcro that sticks to the hair. Bald kippah- wearers might use one with a suede lining and utilise friction to keep it in place. Liz Green, London E17. QUESTION Are some chemical elements becoming so scarce that there may soon be gaps in the periodic table? elemenTS don’t become extinct like living creatures, which leave gaps in the biological record. An element’s place in the periodic table represents the scientific fact that an element will exist with the relevant atomic number (the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom).
In the periodic table, elements are arranged in order of increasing atomic number in groups with similar chemical and physical properties.
The number of protons in a nucleus determines which element the atom is, but most elements also have isotopes, which have the same number of protons in their nucleus as the original element, but a different number of neutrons. This can affect its stability and its properties.
Several scientists contributed to the development of the idea of the periodic table, but Dmitri mendeleev was the first to publish in 1869. his table enabled him to predict the existence of elements that had not yet been identified, because he recognised that certain missing places couldn’t be assigned to known elements.
he could predict the chemical and physical properties the missing elements should exhibit when they could be found and isolated.
For example, he predicted the existence of eka-silicon and eka-aluminium, which were later discovered and named germanium (found in 1885) and gallium (1875). even if the supply of some rare elements on earth becomes exhausted, they will still exist somewhere in the universe.
moreover, the law of conservation means the original quantity of the element on earth will remain in existence in elemental form as compounds with other elements, or they will have been converted by atomic processes into other elements.
new elements are discovered from time to time, but, so far, virtually all those with atomic numbers beyond uranium’s 92 are unstable and decay rapidly into other elements of lower atomic number, so they are difficult to study and have no known practical uses.
no one has yet proposed a theory setting an upper limit on the atomic number of elements that might exist. The heaviest reported element to date is Oganesson (atomic number 118).
A. R. Cater, Grays, Essex. QUESTION Floating pennywort is clogging up our waterways. How is it being dealt with? FlOATIng pennywort, Hydrocotyle
ranunculoides, is an aquatic plant native to north and South America.
It has a fleshy stem with kidney-shaped leaves that float on the water. As an invasive species, H. ranunculoides quickly outcompetes native plants.
Introduced to Britain as an ornamental plant for ponds, it was first recorded in the wild in essex in 1990.
It has since colonised canals, ditches, dykes, lakes and slow-moving rivers around london, essex, Suffolk and norfolk, and has been recorded in the midlands and Cheshire.
H. ranunculoides can grow up to 45 ft from the bank at an incredible rate of 8 in a day.
while it does respond to herbicides such as glyphosate, the accepted method of control is mechanical harvesting.
Dredging followed by vigorous handpicking four times a year is recommended. The plant is then composted or sent to landfill.
Shredding is not acceptable as this leaves viable pieces of rhizome that can quickly repopulate the area.
Dean Collins, Ipswich, Suffolk.
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