Strange but - True!

Wednesday, 1st August 2012

By Bill Sones and Rich Sones, PhD

Q. Neither heat nor cold can mar it, acid won't attack it, slipperiness is its hallmark, the Manhattan Project (atom bomb) put its uranium-corrosion-resistant powers to use, much later Du Pont spread it on kitchen pans. You'll find it today also stretched into Gore-Tex water-repellent breathable clothing, as well as in dictionaries as "polytetrafluoroethylene." Identify this polymer superstar.

A. Teflon, as detailed by "Newsweek" magazine. As to how something that prevents food sticking during cooking will itself stick to a pan, acid is used to etch tiny pits band grooves in the aluminum, then a teflon emulsion is poured into the irregularities and baked on, says University of Central Arkansas chemist Conrad Stanitski. The heat locks the teflon in place, thus providing the slick no-stick surface cooks the world over have gotten stuck on using.

Q. Do big cats such as lions, tigers and leopards purr like housecats?

A. There's no doubt that big cats can purr... just ask anyone who's ever worked with them in a zoo or circus, says Mark A. Pokras, director of the wildlife clinic at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. "Of course, they purr much louder than your typical household cat - tends to vibrate your whole body if you are close by."

Tiger trainer Sara Houcke, of Ringling Brothers Circus, told the "New York Times" her tigers purr to her and she purrs back. That way, when the tigers aren't purring, she "knows they are in a bad mood and stays away from them."

But being there within earshot when a big cat's in the mood is rare enough that University of Minnesota biologist Craig Packer says he's never heard a purr in 25 years of studying lions in the wild. When lions do purr, it's brief, probably issued only on the exhalation phase. So the lion-sound probably has little social significance.

The same hyoid bone structure that lets a housecat purr in and out hooks up in bigger cats with fibroelastic tissue bat the vocal cords, limiting purring but acting like a slide trombone to unloose those mighty roars, says seaworld.org.

Q "Communications intelligence" has come a long way since the Code Talkers of World Wars I and II, when Native American languages were encoded to befuddle the enemy. How do computers today encrypt secret messages on hard drives, radio, even e-mail, and how likely are these to be broken?

A. Three standard tricks are substitutions, permutations and secret keys, often used in combo, says University of Pittsburgh professor of information science and telecommunications Michael B. Spring.

Substitution: Take "hello how are you" and "rotate" the letters by adding 2 so an "a" becomes a "c," "c" an "e," etc. The message becomes "jgnnqbjqybctgb qw" - note the y rotated to the end space between z and a of the next abc...

To decode you need to figure the rotation and reverse it.

Permutation: You write the message in, say, a 4x5 matrix, then code by reading it out vertically:hell (4 slots across, 5 down)

o ho

w ar

e yo

u

The three spaces after the "u" round out the 4x5 box.

To create the cipher (coded message), you read down the box, getting "howeue lhay loro ". To decode, you write the cipher in a box vertically and read it out horizontally, but you need to know the dimensions of the box that was used.

Now combine these in complex ways, explains Spring, throwing in a "secret key" that randomly reassigns letters, and the code becomes difficult to break. "If it's an encrypted message between you and your buddy about the school dance, who would spend time and money to decode? But if you're selling national secrets, it is probable that with time, the code could be broken."

Q. How much water can be stored in a camel's hump?

A. It's not for water but is a mound of fatty tissue for sustenance when food is scarce, says http://www.Arab.net.

Overtaxed, the 80-pound hump can go flaccid and hang at the camel's side. "Food and a few days' rest will return the hump to its normal firm condition."

The "ships of the desert," Dromedary (one-humped) camels can go for long distances without food or water, averaging 10 mph for 18-hour treks, downing large amounts of water when available, says "Information about Camels" site.

Reducing water loss, their kidneys can concentrate urine to be thick as syrup, with twice the salt content of sea water. Master recyclers, camels can actually extract water from their own fecal pellets, wasting nary a drop.

Q. The old song talks of "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover," such as "Slip out the back, Jack," or "Hop on the bus, Gus." Has psychology tackled this heartfelt issue?

A. When Paul Simon wrote this, he was undoubtedly inspired by another song that correctly claimed "Breaking up is hard to do," says DePaul University psychologist Ralph Erber. On the surface, to slip out the back or hop on the bus seems like a cruel way to end a relationship.

But it has some distinct advantages over the seemingly more compassionate approach of ending the relationship after a frank conversation. Those who are being dumped feel depressed and rejected no matter what the dumper might cite as reasons. Simply being abandoned victimizes the unreciprocated lover and thus ensures him or her the sympathy and social support of many.

Abandonment a la Paul Simon's strategies also helps the leaver avoid those strong feelings of guilt over telling little white lies to protect the other's feelings ("It's not you - it's ME"). "So whether getting out of town is a compassionate way to break up is probably a judgment call.

There are some clear benefits for both, but it is also clear that the balance of the benefits are enjoyed by the dumper."

Q. Neither heat nor cold can mar it, acid won't attack it, slipperiness is its hallmark, the Manhattan Project (atom bomb) put its uranium-corrosion-resistant powers to use, much later Du Pont spread it on kitchen pans. You'll find it today also stretched into Gore-Tex water-repellent breathable clothing, as well as in dictionaries as "polytetrafluoroethylene." Identify this polymer superstar.

A. Teflon, as detailed by "Newsweek" magazine. As to how something that prevents food sticking during cooking will itself stick to a pan, acid is used to etch tiny pits band grooves in the aluminum, then a teflon emulsion is poured into the irregularities and baked on, says University of Central Arkansas chemist Conrad Stanitski. The heat locks the teflon in place, thus providing the slick no-stick surface cooks the world over have gotten stuck on using.

Q. Do big cats such as lions, tigers and leopards purr like housecats?

A. There's no doubt that big cats can purr... just ask anyone who's ever worked with them in a zoo or circus, says Mark A. Pokras, director of the wildlife clinic at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. "Of course, they purr much louder than your typical household cat - tends to vibrate your whole body if you are close by."

Tiger trainer Sara Houcke, of Ringling Brothers Circus, told the "New York Times" her tigers purr to her and she purrs back. That way, when the tigers aren't purring, she "knows they are in a bad mood and stays away from them."

But being there within earshot when a big cat's in the mood is rare enough that University of Minnesota biologist Craig Packer says he's never heard a purr in 25 years of studying lions in the wild. When lions do purr, it's brief, probably issued only on the exhalation phase. So the lion-sound probably has little social significance.

The same hyoid bone structure that lets a housecat purr in and out hooks up in bigger cats with fibroelastic tissue bat the vocal cords, limiting purring but acting like a slide trombone to unloose those mighty roars, says seaworld.org.

Q "Communications intelligence" has come a long way since the Code Talkers of World Wars I and II, when Native American languages were encoded to befuddle the enemy. How do computers today encrypt secret messages on hard drives, radio, even e-mail, and how likely are these to be broken?

A. Three standard tricks are substitutions, permutations and secret keys, often used in combo, says University of Pittsburgh professor of information science and telecommunications Michael B. Spring.

Substitution: Take "hello how are you" and "rotate" the letters by adding 2 so an "a" becomes a "c," "c" an "e," etc. The message becomes "jgnnqbjqybctgb qw" - note the y rotated to the end space between z and a of the next abc...

To decode you need to figure the rotation and reverse it.

Permutation: You write the message in, say, a 4x5 matrix, then code by reading it out vertically:

hell (4 slots across, 5 down)

o ho

w ar

e yo

u

The three spaces after the "u" round out the 4x5 box.

To create the cipher (coded message), you read down the box, getting "howeue lhay loro ". To decode, you write the cipher in a box vertically and read it out horizontally, but you need to know the dimensions of the box that was used.

Now combine these in complex ways, explains Spring, throwing in a "secret key" that randomly reassigns letters, and the code becomes difficult to break. "If it's an encrypted message between you and your buddy about the school dance, who would spend time and money to decode? But if you're selling national secrets, it is probable that with time, the code could be broken."

Q. How much water can be stored in a camel's hump?

A. It's not for water but is a mound of fatty tissue for sustenance when food is scarce, says http://www.Arab.net.

Overtaxed, the 80-pound hump can go flaccid and hang at the camel's side. "Food and a few days' rest will return the hump to its normal firm condition."

The "ships of the desert," Dromedary (one-humped) camels can go for long distances without food or water, averaging 10 mph for 18-hour treks, downing large amounts of water when available, says "Information about Camels" site.

Reducing water loss, their kidneys can concentrate urine to be thick as syrup, with twice the salt content of sea water. Master recyclers, camels can actually extract water from their own fecal pellets, wasting nary a drop.

Q. The old song talks of "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover," such as "Slip out the back, Jack," or "Hop on the bus, Gus." Has psychology tackled this heartfelt issue?

A. When Paul Simon wrote this, he was undoubtedly inspired by another song that correctly claimed "Breaking up is hard to do," says DePaul University psychologist Ralph Erber. On the surface, to slip out the back or hop on the bus seems like a cruel way to end a relationship.

But it has some distinct advantages over the seemingly more compassionate approach of ending the relationship after a frank conversation. Those who are being dumped feel depressed and rejected no matter what the dumper might cite as reasons. Simply being abandoned victimizes the unreciprocated lover and thus ensures him or her the sympathy and social support of many.

Abandonment a la Paul Simon's strategies also helps the leaver avoid those strong feelings of guilt over telling little white lies to protect the other's feelings ("It's not you - it's ME"). "So whether getting out of town is a compassionate way to break up is probably a judgment call.

There are some clear benefits for both, but it is also clear that the balance of the benefits are enjoyed by the dumper."