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This week’s new questions

Why do trees not rot in the ground, while wooden structures do if they are not built properly? And if humans needed to hibernate, how would civilisation have developed?

8 January 2025

H3NTB2 Woman by giant trees in snow-covered forest, Sequoia National Park, California, USA

Peter Amend/Connect Images/Alamy

Why don’t trees rot in the ground, while wooden structures do if they aren’t built properly?

Caroline Deforche,

Lichtervelde, Belgium

Medium shot of a young female astronaut sleeping in a glass pod in a space station; Shutterstock ID 1526690303; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock

If humans needed to hibernate, how would civilisation have developed?

William Strudwick,

Grayshott, Hampshire, UK

To answer this question – or ask a new one – email lastword@newscientist.com.

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