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This week’s new questions

Are there health benefits to eating different types of cheese, not just one? And why do people view colours as contrasting or complementary?

22 April 2026

A. Tamboly/Westend61/Alamy

Do different cheeses contain different bacteria and, if so, are there benefits to eating a range of cheeses?

John Offord,
Bicester, Oxfordshire, UK

 

Guy Corbishley/Alamy 3

Why do people view colours as clashing or complementing each other? Is this a learned behaviour or something more fundamental?

Larry Stoter,
Monmouth, UK

 

Last Word is New ÒÁÈ˾þÒs long-running series in which readers give scientific answers to each other’s questions, ranging from the minutiae of everyday life to absurd astronomical hypotheticals. To answer a question or ask a new one, email lastword@newscientist.com

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

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