Do Penguins Have Knees? (26 page)
Read Do Penguins Have Knees? Online
Authors: David Feldman
Submitted by Garnett Budd of Eldorado, Ontario. Thanks also to Jason Gonzales of Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Why
Are There Legless Ducks in the Crest of Cadillacs?
Jil McIntosh, who writes for several automotive magazines and owns a 1947 Cadillac, told us that two rumors abound about the ducks on the Cadillac crest: that the six ducks signify the original founders of the Cadillac company; and that each duck stands for one of the six cylinders.
These rumors are wrong on all counts. Cadillac was founded by one person, a Civil War riflemaker, Henry Leland, in 1902. After selling the company to General Motors, Leland proceeded to introduce the Lincoln, which later became Cadillac’s main luxury rival.
McIntosh laughs off the cylinder theory:
The first Cadillacs were one-cylinder, and then four-cylinder. In 1915, Cadillac brought out their first V-8 engines…. No six-cylinder engine was ever used until the Cimarron of the mid-1980s (and I hope some Caddy stylist rots in hell for
that
one!). So the cylinder theory is out; and since Leland was the main brain, the partnership theory is out. The crest is actually a coat of arms.
But not just anybody’s coat of arms. The Cadillac is named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the French explorer who founded the city of Detroit in 1701. McIntosh told
Imponderables
that “the Cadillac coat of arms crest is a version of Cadillac’s family crest, which had been in his family for 400 years prior to his birth.”
Those aren’t ducks in the crest—they are merlettes, heraldic adaptations of the martin (a kind of swallow). The merlettes on the Cadillac crest have no beaks or legs. When merlettes appear in threes, they refer to the Holy Trinity.
The Cadillac division receives many queries about the birds, and has even explained why the merlettes are missing legs:
The merlettes were granted to knights by the ancient School of Heralds, together with the “fess” [the wide, dark horizontal band separating the two upper birds from the one on the bottom of the quarterling], for valiant conduct in the Crusades. The birds shown in black against a gold background in this section of the Cadillac arms denote wisdom, riches, and cleverness of mind, ideal qualities for the adventurous and zealous Christian knight.
Of the merlette, Guillaume, an ancient historian, says: “This bird is given for a difference, to younger brothers to put them in mind that in order to raise themselves they are to look to the wings of virtue and merit, and not to the legs, having but little land to set their feet on.”
The Cadillac crest has graced every Cadillac ever built, often in several places. The crest has changed cosmetically from time to time—it has been lengthened or thinned, adorned with laurel leaves, etc. But the heraldic design has remained the same.
We hope we have answered the Imponderable once posed by Chico Marx: Viaduct(s)?
The definitions are easy. A sunrise is defined as occurring when the top of the sun appears on a sea-level horizon. A sunset occurs when the top of the sun goes just below the sea-level horizon.
But how do scientists determine the times? No, they do not send meteorologists out on a ladder and have them crane their necks. No observation is involved at all—just math. By crunching the numbers based on the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, the sunrise and sunset times can be calculated long in advance.
Richard Williams, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, explains that published times are only approximations of what we observe with our naked eyes:
The time of sunrise and sunset varies with day of the year, latitude, and longitude. The published sunrise and sunset times are calculated without regard to surrounding terrain. That is, all computations are made for a sea-level horizon, even in mountainous areas. Thus the actual time of sunrise at a particular location may vary considerably from the “official” times.
When we observe sunset, the Sun has already gone below the horizon. The Earth’s atmosphere “bends” the Sun’s rays and delays the sunset by about three minutes. Likewise with sunrise, the sun makes its first appearance before it would on a planet with no atmosphere. We actually get five to ten minutes of extra sunlight due to this effect.
Submitted by a caller on the Larry Mantle show, Pasadena, California
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In
Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?
, we discussed why we have pubic hair. But you weren’t satisfied. So we will continue our nonstop exploration of what seems to be an insatiable North American interest in body hair.
If you want to know the anatomical reason why pubic hair is curly, we can help you. Dr. Joseph P. Bark, diplomate of the American Board of Dermatology, explains:
Pubic hair is curly because it is genetically made in a flat shape rather than in a round shape. Perfectly round hair, such as the hair seen on the scalps of Native Americans, is straight and has no tendency to curl. However, ribbonlike hair on the scalps of blacks is clearly seen to curl because it is oval in construction. The same is true with pubic hair….
But answering what function curly pubic hair serves is a much trickier proposition. Some, such as Samuel T. Selden, a Chesapeake, Virginia, dermatologist, speculate that pubic hair might be curly because if it grew out straight and stiff, it might rub against adjacent areas and cause discomfort. (Dermatologist Jerome Z. Litt, of Pepper Pike, Ohio, who has been confronted with the question of why pubic and axillary hair doesn’t grow as fast as scalp hair, facetiously suggests that “not only wouldn’t it look sporty in the shower room, but we’d all be tripping over it.”)
Before we get carried away with our theories, though, we might keep in mind a salient fact—not all pubic hair is curly. Early in puberty, it is soft and straight. And Selden points out that if this book were published in Japan or China, this Imponderable likely would never have been posed. The pubic hair of Orientals tends to be sparser and much straighter than that of whites or blacks.
Submitted by Suzanne Saldi of West Berlin, New Jersey
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Why
Are There Tiny Holes in the Ceiling of My Car?
For the same reason there are tiny holes in the ceiling of many schools and offices. They help kill noise. Chrysler’s C. R. Cheney explains:
The headliners in some automobiles and trucks have small perforations in them to help improve their sound-absorbing qualities. The perforated surface of the headliner is usually a vinyl or hardboard material and it is applied over a layer of foam. The holes serve to admit sound from inside the vehicle and allow it to be damped by the foam layer to promote a quieter environment for passengers.
To some, the patterns made by the tiny perforations were also pleasing to the eye, so perhaps the perforations served double duty.
Let’s not stretch it, C.R.
Submitted by Garland Lyn of Windsor, Connecticut
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What
Does the “YKK” Emblazoned on My Zipper Mean?
It means that you are the proud possessor of a zipper made by YKK Inc. (That
is
why you bought that pair of pants, isn’t it?) Now perhaps YKK’s emblem is a little less picturesque than an alligator or a polo player, but then, who except
Imponderables
readers busy themselves by reading their zippers, anyway? And the subdued logo hasn’t seem to hurt YKK’s business; Izod and Ralph Lauren would kill for the 75+ percent share of their market that YKK commands.
YKK, the largest zipper manufacturer in the world, stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha (now you know why they call themselves YKK). Yoshida is the last name of the founder of the company, Tadao Yoshida. In English, YKK is translated as Yoshida Industries Inc.
Submitted by Juli Haugen of West Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Thanks also to Gwen Shen of San Francisco, California; M. Sullivan of Miami, Florida; Becky Wrenn of Palo Alto, California; Tisha Land of South Portland, Maine; Anne Daubendiek of Rochester, New York; Chris Engeland of Ottawa, Ontario; and many others
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Why
Do VCR Manuals Advise You to Disconnect the Machine During Storms?
If lightning strikes your home and your antenna or AC power line is not properly grounded, you can find yourself with a busted VCR. William J. Goffi, of the Maxell Corporation, explains:
…the electrical surge will find its way through your home’s wiring and into your VCR, and consequently cause much damage to your unit. This is true, however, for any electrical appliance you have. A surge of lightning can blow out your television monitor, your stereo, etc.
Purchasing a surge protector will protect your investments.
As Mark Johnson, a spokesperson for Panasonic, points out, an electrical surge can blow out an electrical appliance even if it is off, which is why the manual recommends disconnecting the plug.
Another potential threat to a connected appliance is a sudden surge of power from the local electric power utility. Surge protectors will also usually solve this problem.
Submitted by Richie, a caller on the Dan Rodricks show, Baltimore, Maryland
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In
Baseball, Why Is the Pitcher’s Mound Located 60′6″ from Home Plate?
The answer comes from Bill Deane, senior research associate of the National Baseball Hall of Fame:
The pitcher’s box was originally positioned 45 feet from home plate. It was moved back to 50 feet in 1881. After overhand pitching was legalized, it was moved back to 60’6” in 1893.
Why was the mound moved back? For the same reason that fences are moved in—teams were not generating enough offense. Morris Eckhouse, executive director of the Society for American Baseball Research, told
Imponderables
that around the turn of the century, batters were having a hard time making contact with the ball.
But what cosmic inspiration led to the choice of 60′6″ as the proper distance? Deane says there is evidence indicating that “the unusual distance resulted from a misread architectural drawing that specified 60′0″.”
Submitted by Kathy Cripe of South Bend, Indiana
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Why
Does Grease Turn White When It Cools?
You finish frying some chicken. You reach for the used coffee can to discard the hot oil. You open the lid of the coffee can and the congealed grease is thick, not thin, and not the yellowish-gold color of the frying oil you put in before, but whitish, the color of glazed doughnut frosting. Why is the fat more transparent when it is an oil than when it is grease?
When the oil cools, it changes its physical state, just as transparent water changes into more opaque ice when it freezes. Bill DeBuvitz, a longtime
Imponderables
reader and, more to the point, an associate professor of physics at Middlesex County College in New Jersey, explains:
