67. Why don’t spiders get stuck in their own webs? Where do bricks that build houses come from? How long does it take to build a motorway? Ft special guest Charlie Luxton

Full Episode description

This week we answer three questions from Orla, Reuben and Gil with the help of expert Charlie Luxton.

Charlie is an architect who specialises in environmentally friendly homes.

We find out how spiders manage to trap flies in their webs but don’t get stuck in them themselves. To give you a clue it is thanks to the way they use their legs, keep clean and a special way they design their webs.

Charlie Luxton tells us all about bricks, how to make them, who invented them and how long we in the UK forgot about them for. We also find out how many bricks it took to build the Empire State Building.

Finally we discuss motorways and how long they take to build as well as where the first one was built and where you can drive along the longest in the world!

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Twitter: @everythinguts

Facebook: @everythingunderthesunbyMollyOldfield

Website: www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk

Find out how to submit an answer on our website.

Molly Oldfield studied History at Oxford before becoming a QI elf, writing and researching questions for the BBC quiz show for twelve years. She has written three books. They are The Secret Museum, a book about all the things that are in museums that rarely, if ever, go on display; Wonders of the World’s Museums filled with things you can see, and Natural Wonders of the World about all kinds of creatures and places on our beautiful planet we call home. 

This podcast will also be published as Everything Under the Sun – A Year of Curious Questions in September 2021 by Ladybird at Penguin Random House. 

Check out Charlie Luxton – https://charlieluxtondesign.com

With thanks to Ash Gardner, Tyler Simmons Dale and Audio Networks.

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