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Spinning Earth Dizziness
Posted by Dr. Science on 01/14/2013
If the earth spins on its axis while it rotates around the sun, why don’t Iget dizzy more often?
———- from Star Wholethumb of Eugene OR
You can only get so dizzy and then you break through the other side, and progress towards undizziness. This process usually reaches its peak in the first year of life, which is why babies fall down so often. If the earth were to stop spinning and circling the sun, even newborn babies would be able to walk just fine, but the rest of us who have adapted to this amusement park ride would suffer horribly from motion sickness. So it’s a trade-off, us or them. Until newborns get the political clout to do something about it, I imagine the planet will continue on its present course. Toddlers will toddle and we’ll continue to march, tall and erect, towards a bright future.
Socks and Laundry
Posted by Dr. Science on 01/11/2013
I know that if I put a red sock in with my white laundry, all the laundry turns pink. What would happen if I put a white sock in with colored laundry?
———- from Kyle DeWees of Muncie, IN
It would, as you’ve probably already surmised, suck all the color out of your clothing. This is how they bleach blue jeans, without resorting to expensive and environmentally dangerous chlorine bleaches. It’s actually a form of osmotic pressure, bland substances leaching the essence of their more colorful neighbors. This is why so many Minnesotans visit places like Mexico, or New Orleans. Like blind albino trout in a cave, they know they’re missing something, even if they can’t define what that something is.
Alcohol Effects
Posted by Dr. Science on 01/09/2013
Why is it that when I meet my co-workers after work for a drink I get a buzz off just one beer, but on weekends it takes me a six pack before I feel the effect?
———- from Alisa Loberg of Great Falls, MT
Do you have a copy machine at work? The carbon molecules emitted by the toner cartridge greatly amplify the malt/hopps interaction in beer, accelerating your body’s ability to absorb alcohol. In fact, if you’d like to go whole hog on this, soak a copy machine toner cartridge in a pitcher of beer overnight. It won’t affect the cartridge much, but the beer will be transformed into a jet black brew that’ll have you buzzing for months. Of course, beer manufacturers would rather keep you in the dark about this exciting discovery and your employer would probably rather I keep mum as well. But that’s not my problem, is it?
Are Spiders Our Friends?
Posted by Dr. Science on 01/07/2013
Are spiders really our friends?
———- from Mary Rawcliffe of San Luis Obispo, CA
Most arachnids are generous to a fault, self sacrificing and compassionate, except when it comes to web entangled insects. Then the spider becomes heartless and dispassionate, much like an eight-legged version of the IRS. Legend has it that spiders guide lost children home and, when possible, knit sweaters at night for sleeping old ladies. One spider, known to posterity as “Mr. Jinx”, saved a wayward schoolbus from certain disaster by biting the driver awake as he nodded off. Mr. Jinx was stomped to death for his efforts, but the children were safe and that’s all that matters to a spider.
Sleight of Mind
Posted by Dr. Science on 01/04/2013
I’ve heard a lot about “sleight of hand”. Is there such a thing as “sleight of mind”?
———- from Lewis MacLeod of Boulder, CO
