Do Elephants Jump?

by David Feldman

  But this is not so for the upper crust. If you want to spring $5,000 for a top-of-the-line Jenn-Air or Sub-Zero refrigerator, you can have precise temperature controls. We prefer to spend $4,000 less and be stuck with the 1–9/ “cold” to “coldest” controls on our humble GE.

  Most of the appliance experts we spoke to thought putting in an expensive thermostat in an oven or refrigerator was much sillier than installing a lightbulb in the freezer. Dick Stilwill, of the National Appliance Parts Suppliers Association, observed:

  When you set an oven or refrigerator to the proper temperature, the unit will maintain that temperature until turned off. Adding a thermometer is a placebo to tell the individual that “Yes, my unit is at the temperature I have specified.” On newer ovens, they even beep at you to tell you that the prescribed temperature has been reached. Oven thermometers serve the function of [soothing the owner who feels]: “I don’t trust my thermostat.”

  More than a few bakers have good reason not to trust the accuracy of their thermostats, which is why most serious cooks own oven thermometers and instant-read thermometers to measure the internal temperature of food.

  Unless there is an obvious malfunction, refrigerators are much less worrisome than ovens. Amana’s Ron Anderson points out that a “looser” control works almost as well as a thermostat in a refrigerator, as temperatures vary within the unit anyway: “It would be misleading to track the temperature in just one spot.”

  While a ten-degree discrepancy in an oven might affect the results of a leg of lamb or a pastry, slight variations in temperature are unlikely to raise safety issues in a refrigerator or freezer. As Anderson puts it,

  There’s enough thermal mass that the body of the food product will stay nearly the same temperature all the time. You might see short-term temperature swings in the refrigerator between the low thirties to forties. This really doesn’t make any difference to the inside of a watermelon or the jar of pickles, because their average temperature is going to be right where you want it. If you place the thermometer in the wrong spot, consumers might get nervous.

  The consensus of our experts is that a more precise thermometer/thermostat is likely to be more of a “satisfier” than a “delighter.” The cheap dial on the lower-priced refrigerator is a mechanical connection instead of the much more costly line-voltage thermostat necessary for more precise temperature control. Frugal consumers are unlikely to want to pay up hundreds of dollars for built-in thermometer/thermostats when they can go to the hardware stores and buy stand-alone thermometers for a few bucks.

  Submitted by Warren Harris of Carmichael, California.

  Do Skunks Think Skunks Stink?

  Skunks can dish out a foul scent. But can they take it?

  If, like us, most of our education about skunks comes from animated cartoons, you might be surprised to learn that skunks don’t spray their noxious scent cavalierly. According to Skunks Scentral’s counselor Nina Simone,

  Skunks only spray as a form of defense. It is the last action they will take when frightened. Each skunk has its own level of what degree of fear will trigger a spray. Some will stomp three times as a warning before “firing,” which will give the “perpetrator” a chance to depart.

  What exactly happens when a skunk sprays? We asked Jerry Dragoo, interim curator of mammals at the Museum of Southwestern Biology in Albuquerque, who is quite the mephitologist (an expert on bad smells):

  A skunk’s scent glands are at the base of the tail on either side of the rectum. The glands are covered by a smooth muscle layer that is controlled by a direct nerve connection to the brain. The decision to spray is a conscious one. The smooth muscle makes a slight contraction to force the liquid through ducts connected to nipples just inside the anal sphincter, which is everted [turned inside out] to expose the nipples. The nipples can be aimed toward the target.

  When a skunk is being chased by a “predator” and is not exactly sure where the pursuer is located, the skunk, while running away will emit a cloud of spray in an atomized mist. The mist is light and takes a while to settle to the ground. A predator would run through this cloud and pick up the scent and usually stop pursuit. I call this the “shotgun approach.”

  When the skunk is cornered or knows exactly where the predator is located, it emits the liquid in a stream that usually is directed toward the face. This intense spray will sting and temporarily blind the predator. I call this the “.357 Magnum approach.”

  Perhaps cartoons aren’t far off the mark. Dragoo’s description of the “shotgun approach” is not unlike Pépé le Pew’s “cloud of stink bomb” method of foiling enemies.

  But does the spray repulse other skunks? Our experts agree: “Yes.” Simone mentioned that when other skunks smell a whiff, they become agitated. It is unclear whether this is a chemical reaction to the smell, or if it signals danger to them. She compared skunks’ uneasy behavior when they smell other skunks’ sprays to “a dog before an earthquake.”

  Considering that skunks don’t like the smell of other skunks, it’s surprising that they don’t use their “weapon” more often during “intramural” battles. One skunk expert e-mailed us:

  Skunks actually don’t like the smell of skunk, either, and unless one is accidentally in the line of fire, it would never get sprayed by another skunk. It’s kind of like a skunk pact that they won’t spray each other.

  If only humans were as accommodating!

  But seriously, folks, we must delve into the seamier side of skunk behavior, for internecine spraying isn’t that unusual. The most common perpetrators of skunk-on-skunk abuse are juveniles. Janis Grant, vice president of North Alabama Wildlife Rehabilitators, wrote us:

  The only situation in which I have observed skunks exchanging liquid insults has been when I have mixed different litters of young skunks together. They proceed to have a “fire-at-will stink-off” for about four to six minutes, including growls, chirps, and foot stomping, then gradually settle down to cohabitation. I can’t say if this is to establish alpha status or just to make everybody smell the same, but none of them runs away from the encounters — they just spray a few times, retire to their corners, and let it go.

  Dragoo notes that just as juveniles display the stomp, chirp, and spray behavior, sometimes a weaker skunk will spray a stronger young rival “if it feels it is being bullied.” But they have been known to spray unknown adult skunks, too, “because adult males are known to kill young skunks.”

  Dragoo describes skunks’ reaction to being sprayed as “the same behavior as other animals when they are sprayed”:

  They will slide their face on the ground to attempt to wipe the odor off. They will also groom themselves [lick hands and rub face] to help remove the odor.

  Are skunks, like humans, more tolerant of their own stench than others? According to Dragoo, skunks are not as egocentric:

  The skunk can spray without getting a drop on itself. Skunks are actually clean-smelling animals. It is what they hit that smells, well, like “skunk.”

  If a skunk is in a situation where it would get its own spray on itself, the skunk’s chances of survival are usually low. An animal hit by a car will often get the liquid on itself, but usually after death. If a skunk is caught by a predator and in the midst of a fight, it can get some of the liquid on itself. But in those situations the predator likely has already been sprayed and has not been deterred. The skunk will spray to defend itself even if it gets spray on itself.

  The chemical composition of the spray is the same from one animal to another with some potential individual variation, but the “smelly” components are the same. Their own spray is as offensive as another’s. The difference is that they are likely not to get their own spray near their face, whereas they would aim for the face of a “rival.”

  I have approached live, trapped animals and covered the trap with a plastic bag. This usually keeps the animal calm. However, on a few occasions, I have approached high-strung animals that spray multiple times at the ba
g. They are then covered by the same bag. They are still agitated when covered, but this may be a result of their already being wired.

  On one occasion, I peeked under the bag and did observe the animal rubbing its face along the bottom of the trap as if it were trying to “get the odor off.” Then it sprayed me…in the face.

  Submitted by Robert Brown of Millerton, New York.

  Why Do Ice Trays Function Better When Put in Their Designated Area in the Freezer? Or Do They?

  Even low-end freezers have a spot designated for ice making, while expensive freezers feature automatic ice makers that promise everything but frozen margaritas. We’ve often wondered whether there is a reason for the location of the ice section of the freezer. Our experts say: Yes!

  If heat rises, why are the ice compartments usually on the top? On most freezers, the evaporator, the metal tubing that converts a liquid refrigerant into cold vapor, is located on the top of the freezer. The ice trays then benefit from actual contact with the cooling source, and thus chill partly via conduction. The ice section of the freezer is usually located in the coldest possible spot.

  A freezer is supposed to provide a cold temperature throughout the entire unit. But in practice, folks at home tend to jam freezer shelves with frozen waffles, ice cream, mysterious Ziploc bags, and leftover meat that will never be seen and certainly not eaten again. Dick Stilwill, of the National Appliance Parts Suppliers Association, implores us to unstuff our freezer:

  The airflow in a freezer gets restricted when you jam in all the items you can and still get the door closed. Folks want ice to be formed now, dammit! So [manufacturers] position the ice process where the airflow is unrestricted and will make ice the quickest.

  What’s so important about airflow in a freezer? When you place an ice tray with cold water in the freezer, the temperature of the water is obviously higher than the rest of the freezer. So as the water in the tray starts to freeze, there is some evaporation. This evaporation creates a thin layer of air just above the cubes that is slightly warmer than the rest of the freezer compartment. If the air in the freezer doesn’t circulate, this little layer of warmth will slow down the progression of ice formation. The solution is to blow away the warmer air and bring in the ambient temperature of the freezer.

  In the ice tray department, there is plenty of space for air circulation. But if you crammed the same-temperature water in the same ice tray and wedged it in between, say, your Weight Watchers frozen dinner and your gallon of Häagen Dazs chocolate chocolate chip, there is nowhere for the warm layer of air above the cold water to go. You didn’t know it, but every time you fill your ice tray with water and place it in the designated area, you are proudly exhibiting the powers of convection, as physicist John Di Bartolo, of Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, New York, explains:

  How can the temperature that the water “feels” be lowered? Mix the air up. Allowing the air to flow distributes the heat energy emitted by the water evenly throughout the cabin so that the temperature of the air in the immediate vicinity of the water is lower.

  The rate at which heat leaves the water is proportional to the difference between the water’s temperature and the surrounding air’s temperature. Therefore, the lower the temperature of the surrounding air, the faster heat leaves the water and the faster the water reaches freezing-point temperature.

  I have a “quick freeze” option on my fridge, and it’s creepy how fast it works. All it does is increase airflow across the ice cube trays.

  A fan not only circulates the air but also increases evaporation in the water — if there is less water to chill, ice will be formed more quickly.

  Barring serious malfunctions, ice trays will “work” anywhere in the freezer, but with the power of conduction and convection on your side, why not do the right thing?

  Submitted by Kevin Bragdon of Houston, Texas.

  Why Are Fraternities and Sororities and Most Secret Societies Named with Greek Letters?

  The history of fraternities in the United States goes back before there was a United States — to colonial Williamsburg. We could understand it if social clubs were named after English letters, but why Greek, when few if any of these societies’ members were of Greek heritage?

  When you think of fraternities, three words spring to mind: Greek, secrecy, and beer. The first college social club for men, the Flat Hat Club, was formed in 1750, and embraced secrecy and beer, but left out the Greek. The Flat Hat Club was a secret society (with a name like that, who could blame them?), formed at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Members met at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, and although the club seems to have had no academic pretensions, its members were far from ne’er-do-wells — one Flat Hatter was a young Thomas Jefferson. The Flat Hat Club did have a secret badge and secret handshake.

  Not long after, “literary societies” started popping up in several colleges. Literary societies ostensibly helped students with academics, but often were excuses for students to talk about issues that were proscribed in classes. Curricula tended to focus on the “classics” (for example, both Latin and Greek languages were required for all undergraduates at William and Mary), but many students wanted to discuss what they considered to be more pressing and immediate problems, such as the impending break with England. The Flat Hat Club seems to have died within two decades, but the P.D.A. Society at William and Mary seems to have taken its place, and its letters were taken from the Greek alphabet (Phi Delta Alpha, presumably).

  John Heath, a young Greek scholar, was denied admission to theP.D.A. Club at William and Mary and, undeterred, decided to form a secret society of his own where scholarship, as well as social interaction, would be prized. On December 5, 1776, the first meeting of Phi Beta Kappa was held at the ubiquitous Raleigh Tavern. PBK started with a nucleus of Heath and four of his friends but, influenced by Free masonry, soon built chapters on other campuses (for example, Phi Beta Kappa’s Yale chapter started in 1780, and Harvard’s one year later). In the beginning, PBK’s activities were secretive. This was because, like the literary societies, Heath and friends wanted to talk about issues that couldn’t be discussed in the classroom, and also because secret rituals, handshakes, mottoes, and membership badges were ways to bond the members (and perhaps to feel superior to students denied access to the symbols of PBK).

  Virtually all of today’s Greek societies borrowed elements of Phi Beta Kappa. Why did PBK’s founder choose its name? John Churchill, secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, wrote to us:

  In an age when Greek and Latin were learned languages, it’s quite natural that Greek and Latin should have been the naming languages. PBK actually had designations in both: the familiar Phi Beta Kappa, which stands for the phrase philosophia biou kybernetes, which means “love of learning, the guide of life,” and societas philosophia, which is Latin for “philosophical society.” That’s why there is the legend SP on the back of the PBK key.

  The three Greek letters that formed PBK’s name were the letters that formed the initials of its secret motto — a choice that would be echoed by virtually every long-lasting Greek organization, even if the phrase itself remains secret to outsiders.

  As the decades rolled on, Phi Beta Kappa distinguished itself from other societies by focusing on academics, and in the 1830s, when much opposition was waged against secret societies, PBK abandoned its tradition of secrecy. William Morgan, a disgruntled Royal Arch Mason, threatened to expose all of the secrets of the Freemasons. Morgan disappeared and many believed that the Freemasons killed him. In this atmosphere, Phi Beta Kappa decided to voluntarily abandon its underground rituals and has become an academic honorary society — membership is earned by achievement rather than invitation.

  The Kappa Alpha Society, formed at Union College, in Schenectady, New York, in 1825, is the oldest of the remaining secret social societies. Clearly patterned after Phi Beta Kappa, KA established a beachhead at Union College in 1817 — indeed, KA’s two founders were Phi Be
ta Kappas. Imponderables has been unable to wangle how KA chose its name, but we’ll wager the society boasts a two-word Greek motto starting with K and A.

  Delta Phi opened up for business in 1827, and is noteworthy for at least one reason. DP was the first secret society to call itself a fraternity. Most subsequent social societies also dubbed themselves fraternities, but in the 1830s, there was constant turmoil about whether new social societies should be secret or “open.”

  The original purpose of secrecy at the societies founded at William and Mary wasn’t just to exclude non-members. Brothers wanted to avoid the censorship of discussion topics in classes, and to avoid outside interference by any officials at the school.

  But many college students, especially during a climate of anti-Masonry, felt that secret societies were unnecessary. Two fraternities, founded ten years apart, illustrate the tension within the Greek movement. Delta Upsilon, formed at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1834, was created specifically to be an anti-secretive society. Its name was derived from the motto Dikaia Upotheke (“justice our foundation”). Members were chosen from the top 10 percent of their class.

  In 1844, Delta Kappa Epsilon was formed at Yale, and from the beginning, the fraternity was cloaked in secrecy. DKE announced that it was seeking members who were “in equal proportions the gentleman, the scholar, and the jolly good fellow.” DKE shied away from emphasizing academics, possibly because its founding members were rejected from scholastically oriented societies on campus. We will refrain from any jokes about Gerald Ford and Dan Quayle being two proud DKEs.