The Wise Book of Whys (11 page)

Why Soap Operas are Called “Soap Operas”

This all started in the 1920s; a simpler time where Jazz was swell; the Soviet Union was in its infancy; Robbert Goddard became the first rocket man; and the world only existed in black and white… apparently.

In this bustling time, radio was the Bee's Knees
. On the radio was a series of serials aimed at women, aired during the day time. Dame's thought these were the cat's meow and ate up every second of them.

To fund the shows, t
he radio networks began seeking out certain companies to sponsor the episodes. Now these dolls were no dumb Dora's, so the networks particularly sought to match the advertisements closely with their target audience to get a good response, and make a few more clams from the deal. This campaign hit on all sixes and made these shows extremely profitable.

Among the first major sponsors of these serials were soap manufacturers Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and Lever Brothers
. Because so many of the sponsors were soap manufacturers, the media started calling these shows "soap operas."

Why Popcorn Pops

First a little background.
Popcorn or "zea mays everta" is a special kind of Flint corn, also known as "Indian corn" and sometimes "Calico corn.” Flint corn is readily recognizable as the kernels have a hard outer shell, likened to flint, hence the name. This hard outer shell is essential in making popcorn kernels pop. In fact, popcorn is the only type of corn that will pop.

So why does popcorn pop
? There are three main elements of popcorn that have to come together to produce popcorn kernels that are good for popping. Those three elements are: the percentage of water content; a hard, undamaged, water impermeable shell; and a starchy center.

When the kernels are heated up, the water inside begins to steam
. Assuming the water impermeable shell doesn't have any cracks in it to let the steam escape, this creates a simple little steam/pressure cooker. If the kernels aren’t heated too quickly to their bursting point, the starch inside the kernel will turn into a kind of gel-like substance. At around 350-450 degrees Fahrenheit, the pressure of the steam gets so great that the hard shell bursts, with the needed pressure typically around 135 psi. When this happens, the steam rapidly expands, which results in the gel expanding out and hardening into airy foam.

Specifically, as the gelatinized starch expands, it forms thin airy bubbled jelly
. These jelly bubbles will fuse together and then solidify very quickly as they are exposed to air and cool off. The cooling sets the starch and protein polymers into the white puffy flakes we all know and love.

Why the Hottest Part of the Summer is Called the “Dog Days”

The earliest reference to some aspect of this expression goes all the way back to the ancient Egyptians. They noted that the heliacal rising of the star Sirius heralded the hottest part of the summer. However, it isn't exactly known why the ancient Egyptians associated this star with a dog (the star's hieroglyph is a dog). Sirius would appear in Egypt, after about a 70 day absence, just before the season where the Nile typically floods. So it is thought the star's hieroglyphic symbol being a dog symbolized a "watchdog".

On the other hand, it's very possible
that it was for the same reason the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans would also eventually associate this star with a dog. Namely, that it is the brightest star in what is now known as the Canis Major (Latin for "Greater Dog" or "Big Dog") constellation. This constellation simply looks a little bit like a dog, and Sirius is the brightest star in the constellation. So the star got named the "Dog Star," and its heliacal rising marked the start of the hottest part of the year, which then became the "Dog Days."

The Roman'
s expression for Dog Days was diēs caniculārēs (Latin for "Dog Days"). The Greeks also had a similar expression that literally translated to "Dog Days.” They both believed that when Sirius rose around the same time as the Sun, it contributed to that time of year becoming hotter. As such, they would often make sacrifices to Sirius, including sacrificing dogs, to appease Sirius with the hope that this would result in a mild summer and would protect their crops from scorching.

Sirius-A is the brightest star visible to the naked eye from Earth, being almost twice as bright as Canopus. Sirius-A and Sirius-B combine to form a binary system and appear as one star to the naked eye, though the vast majority of luminosity to the naked eye comes from Sirius-A, Sirius-B being a white dwarf that is only around 30 AU (astronomical units) away from Sirius-A. It is also theorized that there is a Sirius-C; but to date, this has not been proven. Sirius A and B (and possibly C) combine to form a bright point known as Sirius. If you’re wondering, yes, Sirius Black, in Harry Potter, is thought to have been named after the white dwarf, Sirius B. The relationship is further extended by the fact the character Sirius Black was an animagus that could change into a dog.

Why Men’s Bikes Have a Horizonta
l Crossbar and Women’s Usually Don’t

It would seem that having a slanted crossbar like on women's bikes would make much more sense for men's bikes, decreasing the chance of racking the guy if he does something like slip off the pedals. However, there is actually a really good reason to have a horizontal crossbar on a bike; namely, the horizontal crossbar ends up adding quite a bit of strength to the frame of the bike. This was particularly important in some of the early bikes, which were often made of significantly weaker materials than modern day frames, occasionally even being made of wood.

The problem with this horizontal crossbar was that women all used to wear dresses
. So when a woman wanted to get on a bike, she'd have to lift her leg over the bike frame's crossbar, which was quite scandalous for the time as it often exposed a bit of leg and possibly some underwear under her dress. Thus, bike makers began making bike models just for women that slanted the top crossbar down so that the women could mount and dismount the bikes without lifting their legs very high. Modifying the crossbar like that significantly weakened the frames of the bicycles, but this was considered acceptable as it wasn't very lady like for women to ride their bikes as roughly as some men anyways.

This tradition has continued to this day, even though most women don't go around riding bikes in dresses or skirts anymore
. For the most part on modern bikes this weakening of the frame by slanting the crossbar isn't significant enough to cause any concern for the bike’s structural integrity, even on rough terrain, given modern materials that the frames are made of. Indeed, many BMX bikes for men are now designed with the slanted crossbar to reduce the chance of injury while doing tricks.

Among high-
end bikes made for women, this tradition of not having a horizontal crossbar is starting to go away, even though the added strength from a horizontal crossbar isn't typically necessary anymore, particularly with carbon fiber frames. Although, in extremely high end bikes where every gram counts, this can be a factor in illuminating some material. On these high-end bikes, the differences between the men's and the women's bikes now tend to be reflected in the design by accounting for the shorter torsos and arms on most women, modified hip placement, modified seat design, and things of this nature.

Why Potatoes are Also Called “Spuds”

Among other definitions, a “spud” is a “sharp, narrow spade” used to dig up large roo
ted plants. Around the mid-nineteenth century (first documented reference in 1845 in New Zealand), this implement of destruction began lending its name to one of the things it was often used to dig up, namely potatoes. This caught on throughout the English-speaking world and this slang term for a potato is still common to this day.

A false origin you might
hear of how potatoes first began being called “spuds” is that it came from the nineteenth century group “The Society for the Prevention of an Unwholesome Diet” (SPUD), who, among other things, felt potatoes shouldn’t be eaten. Besides that the real origin is known and well documented, previous to the mid-twentieth century, while abbreviations were prevalent in text, pronouncing them as words was not something people typically did, being something of a very modern phenomenon. In fact, according to linguist David Wilton, “There is only one known pre-twentieth-century [English] word with an acronymic origin and it was in vogue for only a short time in 1886. The word is “colinderies” or “colinda,” an acronym for the Colonial and Indian Exposition held in London in that year.”

No surprise then that the word “acronym” didn’t pop up until 1943.

Beyond referring to potatoes, the ultimate origin of the word “spud” isn’t known, first showing up in English around 1440 referring to a short dagger, possibly from the Dutch “spyd”, the Old Norse “spjot” (spear), or the Latin “spad-” (sword). Whatever the case, after the fifteenth century, the word expanded from meaning “a short dagger” to also referring to various types of digging implements and eventually to those tubers we all know and love: potatoes.

Why Beans Give You Gas

It’s the job of your digestive system to break down the foods you take in, allowing the nutrients to “cross-over” into the different body systems and organs for use as fuel. Each different part breaks these foods down differently. For example, the mouth chews it up into smaller parts, and the stomach uses enzymes and acids to further break it down. The food then goes to the small intestine where most of the nutrients that come from our food (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates) get absorbed into the bloodstream by a process called diffusion. What is left over is then passed to the large intestine whose main job is the absorption of water that remains in the indigestible residue of food. A smaller role of the large intestine is also to break down polysaccharides (fiber) that gets passed into it. One type of fiber prevalent in beans is oligosaccharides.

Oligosaccharides are basically sugar molecules that are made up of several different types of monosacc
harides (usually 2-10) to form a polymer. An enzyme that would break these molecules down does not exist anywhere inside the human body. Therefore, when they pass into the large intestine, they serve as food for the countless microbes present. While the microbes are processing these substances, they release several different types of gases, mainly hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Don’t be concerned about these particular gases, they are stench-free! Your fetid flatulence affliction is from a different source. Specifically, about one-third of the microbes end up producing methane as a result of breaking down these sugars. Once the methane builds up to the point that it begins to produce pressure on your anal sphincter… That’s when the smelly magic happens…

Microbes breaking down these otherwise indigestible substances is important for our health as one of the by
-products of this is the creation of various vitamins that get absorbed into the body, as well as for the production of antibodies that help fight off certain types of infections. The downside is that the gaseous side effect of these bacterial processes tends to clear rooms everywhere.

You might have resigned yourself to the fact you can never eat beans before going on a first date, but fret not! There are some methods to prevent your noxious abdominal expulsions. For instance, there is a type of mold called Aspergillus niger that contains an enzyme (Alpha-Galac
tosidase) that will break down oligosaccharides, preventing your large intestinal bacteria from creating gas. You can buy it at stores everywhere under the auspicious name “Beano.” If you don’t want to be seen sprinkling your beans with this product, you can always try soaking your beans in water for several hours before you make your food. This softens the beans and allows them to ferment. The yeast produced can consume the offending oligosaccharides and help leave your dinner date vapor-free!