Do Penguins Have Knees?

by David Feldman

  Submitted by Dr. Emil S. Dickstein of Youngstown, Ohio. Thanks also to Lily Whelan of Providence, Rhode Island, and George Hill of Brockville, Ontario.

  Where Does the Moisture Go When Wisps of Clouds Disappear in Front of Your Eyes?

  A few facts about clouds will give us the tools to answer this question:

  1. A warm volume of air at saturation (i.e., 100 percent relative humidity), given the same barometric pressure, will hold more water vapor than a cold volume of air. For example, at 86 degrees Fahrenheit, seven times as much water vapor can be retained as at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

  2. Therefore, when a volume of air cools, its relative humidity increases until it reaches 100 percent relative humidity. This point is called the dew point temperature.

  3. When air at dew point temperature is cooled even further, a visible cloud results (and ultimately, precipitation).

  4. Therefore, the disappearance of a cloud is caused by the opposite of #3. Raymond E. Falconer, of the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, explains:

  As a volume of air moves downward from lower to higher barometric pressure, it becomes warmer and drier, with lower relative humidity. This causes the cloud to evaporate.

  When we see clouds, the air has been rising and cooling with condensation of the invisible water vapor into visible cloud as the air reaches the temperature of the dew point. When a cloud encounters drier air, the cloud droplets evaporate into the drier air, which can hold more water vapor.

  When air is forced up over a mountain, it is cooled, and in the process a cloud may form over the higher elevations. However, as the air descends on the lee side of the mountain, the air warms up and dries out, causing the cloud to dissipate. Such a cloud formation is called an orographic cloud.

  Submitted by Rev. David Scott of Rochester, New York.

  Why Is Frozen Orange Juice Just About the Only Frozen Product That Is Cheaper Than Its Fresh Counterpart?

  Our correspondents reasoned, logically enough, that since both fresh and frozen orange juice are squeezed from oranges, and since the frozen juice must be concentrated, the extra processing involved would make the frozen style more expensive to produce and thus costlier at the retail level. But according to economists at the Florida Department of Citrus, it just ain’t so.

  Although the prices of fresh fruit, chilled juice, and frozen concentrate are similar at the wholesale level (within two cents of the fresh fruit equivalent per pound), they depart radically at the retail level. In the period of 1987-1988, frozen concentrated orange juice cost 24.6 cents per fresh pound equivalent; chilled juice was 35 cents per fresh pound equivalent; and the fruit itself a comparatively hefty 58.5 cents per pound. Why the discrepancy?

  In the immortal words of real estate brokers across the world, the answer is: location, location, location. Chilled juice (and the fresh fruit itself, for that matter) would cost less than frozen if it didn’t need to be shipped long distances. But it does. The conclusion, as Catherine A. Clay, information specialist at the Florida Department of Citrus, elucidates, is clearly that the costs at the retail level are due to distribution rather than processing costs.

  One 90-pound box of oranges will make about 45 pounds of juice. Concentrating that juice by removing the water will reduce the weight by at least two-thirds, so the amount of frozen concentrate in one box would be about 15 pounds.

  So you can ship three times as much frozen concentrated juice in one truck than you can chilled juice, and twice as much chilled juice as fresh oranges. In the space in which one 90-pound box of oranges is shipped, you could ship six times as much frozen concentrated orange juice.

  In addition, fresh fruit can begin to decay or be damaged during transit to the retailer. So while the retailer may have paid for the entire truckload, he may have to discard decayed or damaged fruit. Yet his cost for that load remains the same regardless of how much actual fruit he sells.

  Frozen concentrated juice does not spoil, so there is no loss. The higher price for fresh fruit would compensate the retail buyer for the cost of the lost fruit.

  Clay didn’t add that many juice distributors who use strictly Florida oranges for their chilled juice use cheaper, non-American orange juice for their concentrated product. Why don’t they use the cheaper oranges for their chilled juices? Location. Location. Location. It would be too expensive to ship the heavier, naturally water-laden fruits thousands of miles.

  Submitted by Eugene Hokanson of Bellevue, Washington. Thanks also to Herbert Kraut of Forest Hills, New York.

  How Are the Subscription Insert Cards Placed in Magazines? What Keeps Them from Falling Out As the Magazine Is Sent Through the Postal System?

  Fewer things are more annoying to us than receiving a magazine we put our soft-earned bucks down to subscribe to, and being rewarded for our loyalty by being showered with cards entreating us to subscribe to the very magazine we’ve just shelled out for.

  Why is it necessary to have to clean a magazine of foreign matter before you read the darn thing? Because the cards work. Publishers know that readers hate them; but the response rate to a card, particularly one that allows a free-postage response, attracts more subscribers than a discreet ad in the body of the magazine.

  Those pesky little inserts that fall out are called “blow-in cards” in the magazine biz. We thought “blow-out” cards might be a more descriptive moniker until we learned the derivation of the term from Bob Nichter, of the Fulfillment Management Association.

  Originally, blow-in cards were literally blown into the magazine by a fan on the printer assembly line. Now, blow-ins are placed mechanically by an insertion machine after the magazine is bound. Nothing special is needed to keep the cards inside the magazine; they are placed close enough to the binding so that they won’t fall out unless the pages are riffled.

  Why do many periodicals place two or more blow-in cards in one magazine? It’s not an accident. Most magazines find that two blow-in cards attract a greater subscription rate than one. Any more, and reader ire starts to overshadow the slight financial gains.

  Submitted by Curtis Kelly of Chicago, Illinois.

  Why Do We Put Thermometers Under Our Tongues? Would It Make Any Difference If We Put Them Above Our Tongues If Our Mouths Were Closed?

  Anyone who has ever seen a child fidgeting, desperately struggling to keep a thermometer under the tongue, has probably wondered why this practice started. Why do physicians want to take our temperature in the most inconvenient places?

  No, there is nothing intrinsically important about the temperature under the tongue or, for that matter, in your rectum. The goal is to determine the “core temperature,” the temperature of the interior of the body.

  The rectum and tongue are the most accessible areas of the body that are at core temperature. Occasionally the armpit will be used, but the armpit is more exposed to the ambient air, and tends to give colder readings. Of course, drinking a hot beverage, as many schoolchildren have learned, is effective in shooting one’s temperature up. But barring tricks, the area under the tongue, full of blood vessels, is almost as accurate as the rectal area, and a lot more pleasant place to use.

  So what are the advantages of putting the thermometer under the tongue as opposed to over it? Let us count the ways:

  1. Accuracy. Placing the thermometer under the tongue insulates the area from outside influence, such as air and food. As Dr. E. Wilson Griffin III told Imponderables, “Moving air would evaporate moisture in the mouth and on the thermometer and falsely lower the temperature. It is important to have the thermometer under the tongue rather than just banging around loose inside the mouth, because a mercury thermometer responds most accurately to the temperature of liquids or solids in direct contact with it….”

  2. Speed. The soft tissues and blood vessels of the tongue are ideal resting spots for a thermometer. Dr. Frank Davidoff, of the American College of Physicians, points out that compared to the skin of the armpit, which is thick, horny, and nonvascular, the “s
oft, unprotected tissues under the tongue wrap tightly around the thermometer, improving the speed and completeness of heat transfer.”

  3. Comfort. Although you may not believe it, keeping the thermometer above the tongue would not be as comfortable. The hard thermometer, instead of being embraced by the soft tissue below the tongue, would inevitably scrape against the much harder tissues of the hard palate (the roof of your mouth). Something would have to give—and it wouldn’t be the thermometer.

  Davidoff concedes that in a pinch, placing the thermometer above the tongue might not be a total disaster:

  In principle, you could get a reasonably accurate temperature reading with a thermometer above your tongue if you hadn’t recently been mouth breathing or hadn’t recently eaten or drunk anything, if you held the thermometer reasonably firmly between your tongue and the roof of your mouth, and if you kept it there long enough.

  Do Penguins Have Knees?

  They sure do, although they are discreetly hidden underneath their feathers. Anatomically, all birds’ legs are pretty much alike, although the dimensions of individual bones vary a great deal among species.

  Penguins, like other birds, have legs divided into three segments. The upper segment, the equivalent of our thigh, and the middle segment, the equivalent of our shinbone, or the drumstick of a chicken, are both quite short in penguins.

  When we see flamingos, or other birds with long legs, they appear to possess a knee turned backwards, but these are not the equivalent of a human knee. Penguins, flamingos, and other birds do have knees, with patellas (knee caps) that bend and function much like their human counterparts.

  We spoke to Dr. Don Bruning, curator of ornithology at the New York Zoological Park (better known as the Bronx Zoo), who told us that the backwards joint that we perceive as a knee in flamingos actually separates the bird equivalent of the ankle from the bones of the upper foot. The area below the backwards joint is not the lower leg but the upper areas of the foot. In other words, penguins (and other birds) stand on their toes, like ballet dancers.

  Penguins are birds, of course, but their element is water rather than sky. Penguins may waddle on land, but their legs help make them swimming machines. Penguins use their wings as propellers in the water, and their elongated feet act as rudders.

  So rest assured. Even if you can’t see them, penguins have legs (with knees). And they know how to use them.

  Submitted by John Vineyard of Plano, Texas. Thanks also to Ruth Vineyard of Plano, Texas.

  How Do They Make Hot Dog Buns That Are Partially Sliced?

  Now that we solved the Imponderable of why there are ten hot dogs in a package and only eight hot dog buns in a package (see Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?), we can tackle a few less challenging bread Imponderables without guilt.

  Barbara K. Rose, manager of consumer affairs at Continental Baking Company (the folks who bring us Wonder Bread and Twinkies), answered this question with ease:

  The hot dog buns are removed from the baking pans and placed on a conveyer-type system. These buns slide past circular blades that are mounted on rotating vertical shafts. Two buns are allowed between each blade: the bun on the right is sliced on the right side; the bun on the left is sliced by a blade on the left. These blades are set to slice only a specific distance into the bun and will not slice through. The tops of the buns hold them together.

  Submitted by Laurie Hutler of Boulder Creek, California. Thanks also to Robert Chell of Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Deb Graham of Mt. Vernon, Washington.

  How Do They Fork Split English Muffins? What Causes the Ridges in English Muffins?

  English muffins also run past circular blades, actually two blades, which slice only one-quarter inch or so into the muffin. But each muffin is also “forked,” passed through two spinning wheels with Roman spear points. These spears penetrate into the muffin anywhere from one to one and one-half inch, depending upon the baker’s preference.

  Tom Lehmann, director of baking assistance at the American Institute of Baking, told Imponderables that the initial one-quarter-inch slice of the outer edges of the muffin yields a smooth consistency. The forking doesn’t sever the muffin into two separate pieces but does produce the perforations by which they slice the muffin and the ridges, nooks, and crannies that provide the rough texture for which English muffins are famous.

  Continental Baking’s Barbara Rose reports that her company found that fork splitting didn’t work on their Raisin Rounds, which are sliced all the way through the muffin: “Raisin Rounds must be sliced because the raisins will accumulate on the fork splitting machinery causing several mechanical breakdowns and halting production.”

  Submitted by Donna Burks of Gilroy, California. Thanks also to Ruth Mascari of Monkton, Maryland.

  Why Do Cat Hairs Tend to Stick to Our Clothes More Than Those of Dogs or Other Pets?

  A cat’s hair is the most electrostatic of all pet hairs, which may be the main reason why cat hairs stick to clothes. But the physiology of cat hair also contributes to kitty cling. Dr. John Saidla, assistant director of the Cornell Feline Health Center, explains:

  The hair coat in the cat consists of three different types of hair: primary or guard hairs within the outer coat: awn hairs (intermediate-sized hairs forming part of the primary coat); and secondary hairs (downy hair found in the undercoat).

  The guard hairs are slender and taper towards the tip. The cuticles on these hairs have microscopically small barbs that are very rough. This is the main reason cat hairs stick to clothing, and it is this hair that is found most commonly on clothing.

  The awn hairs have broken or cracked cuticles that are rough and would aid in their clinging, also. The secondary hairs are very thin and are wavy or evenly crimped. These hairs are caught and held in more roughly textured clothing.

  Submitted by an anonymous caller on Owen Spann’s nationally syndicated radio show.

  Why Are You Never Supposed to Touch a Halogen Light Bulb with Your Fingers?

  Conventional light bulbs use soda-lime glass, which is perfectly functional. But tungsten-halogen bulbs are made of much more durable quartz glass because they must withstand much higher temperatures, a minimum of 250 degrees Centigrade.

  Rubin Rivera, of Philips Lighting, told Imponderables that quartz halogen lamps must not be touched with the fingers because the natural oils from the skin, in combination with the high temperatures reached by the bulbs when illuminated, will cause the crystalline structure of the bulb glass to change.

  Caden Zollo, product manager of The Specialty Bulb Co., adds that contact with human oils can cause the glass to crack and leak. Air can then get into the filament and, in extreme conditions, can cause the bulb not only to leak but to explode.

  To avoid this “explosive” situation, some halogen lamps come with a separate outer bulb so that the lamps can be touched. If your hands have come in contact with the bulb, or you need to clean the bulb, wiping it with denatured alcohol will reverse the effect of your greasy hands.

  Submitted by Gail Lee of Dallas, Texas.

  Why Is There an “H” Inside of the “C” in the Hockey Uniform of the Montreal Canadiens?

  The “H” stands for hockey. When the team was founded in 1909, it was known as “Club Canadien” and its sweaters sported a big white “C.” This tradition lasted all of one year, when the club switched to a red uniform with a green maple leaf and a Gothic “C.” Not content to rest on its fashion statement, the team changed its look again, adopting a blue, white, and red “barber pole” symbol featuring the letters “CAC,” which stood for Club Athlétique Canadien.

  In 1917, the Club Athlétique Canadien folded, but owner George Kennedy replaced the “A” inside the large “C” with the letter “H,” to signify “hockey.” The letters then stood for “Club de Hockey Canadien,” the official name of the team for more than seventy years.

  Submitted by Bob Tatu of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

  Why Don’t Radio Shack Stores Use Cash Register
s?

  Have you ever noticed that most of the time when you make a purchase at Radio Shack, salespeople ask you for your address? Clearly, the Tandy Corporation likes to compile as much information about its business as possible, and no figures are of more interest than how their individual stores are faring in sales and inventory control.

  Befitting a retail business that specializes in high technology, cash registers don’t impart enough information to satisfy the Tandy Corporation. Ed Juge, Radio Shack’s director of market planning, explains:

  Radio Shack does not use cash registers. They’re decades-old technology. Every company-owned Radio Shack store is equipped with state-of-the-art electronic point-of-sale terminals, which are really “diskless” Tandy 1000 SX computers, tied to a multi-user Tandy computer in the office area.