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answering the unanswered
Dec. 23rd, 2006 03:21 pmSlate's Explainer column listed some of its unanswered questions of the year. Some of these seem more suitable for the Straight Dope, or for what in Britain is called an agony aunt (Dear Abby, etc.), but a few I can shed some light on.
What comes after 999 trillion?
Uh, 999 trillion and one? You were expecting a different answer?
Why is smooth peanut butter cheaper than nutty?
When I first bought "natural style" chunky peanut butter and looked at its rough-ground texture, I realized that the previous "chunky" peanut butter I'd known, Skippy's, was not actually chunky at all, but was smooth peanut butter with chunks of peanut added. That could be relevant to the cost.
If we taught animals to talk, how would that affect the world?
Read Saki's story "Tobermory" about a talking cat, and you'll find out.
When we are approaching another person, like in a hallway, why do we step to our left? That is, try and pass right-shoulder-to-right-shoulder.
We do? I mean, I wish we'd pick something. I detest the hesitancy dance, and when caught in it will often just stand still and let the other person pick something. (I realize this wouldn't work if they tried the same thing.) Usually in case of doubt I usually try to pass on the right, as that reflects how we're supposed to drive in this country (and I do the opposite when walking in Britain). Usually picking my right first works, but on occasion I've had some odd squeezes past people determined to pick their left.
If a group of passengers on a hijacked plane wanted to, could they bring a plane down by all of them using their cell phones at the same time?
Probably not. The "interference with navigation equipment" excuse for banning cell phone use on planes has only faint validity and is mostly a cover. The real reason is to keep passengers from driving each other crazy in an enclosed space by yakking on their cell phones. As such, I'm in favor of the ban. (Recent reading has suggested that most of the passenger calls on 9/11 were made from seat-back phones, not cell phones. I'm not even sure if they'd work properly on a plane flying at altitude.)
Hi, how does nature make water?
Well, nature looks for the next gas station and ... Oops, wrong question. Questioner continues:
How does nature combine one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms to make water? If we knew how nature makes water, then perhaps we can then find an efficient way of separating hydrogen from oxygen, thus creating the ultimate source for energy.
Seriously, why didn't they answer this one? A little basic high-school chemistry could have corrected the misassumptions here.
Can a state in the United States split into two or more states? If so, how? I think Texas has a special provision for being able to divide into up to five states. But I am wondering about the others.
In the case of Texas, yes. This link doesn't say, but I think the idea is that Texas has the right to divide itself without congressional permission. Other states may be divided by Congress with the consent of the state government, and this has actually happened three times (at least). Trivia question for you all: name them.
What comes after 999 trillion?
Uh, 999 trillion and one? You were expecting a different answer?
Why is smooth peanut butter cheaper than nutty?
When I first bought "natural style" chunky peanut butter and looked at its rough-ground texture, I realized that the previous "chunky" peanut butter I'd known, Skippy's, was not actually chunky at all, but was smooth peanut butter with chunks of peanut added. That could be relevant to the cost.
If we taught animals to talk, how would that affect the world?
Read Saki's story "Tobermory" about a talking cat, and you'll find out.
When we are approaching another person, like in a hallway, why do we step to our left? That is, try and pass right-shoulder-to-right-shoulder.
We do? I mean, I wish we'd pick something. I detest the hesitancy dance, and when caught in it will often just stand still and let the other person pick something. (I realize this wouldn't work if they tried the same thing.) Usually in case of doubt I usually try to pass on the right, as that reflects how we're supposed to drive in this country (and I do the opposite when walking in Britain). Usually picking my right first works, but on occasion I've had some odd squeezes past people determined to pick their left.
If a group of passengers on a hijacked plane wanted to, could they bring a plane down by all of them using their cell phones at the same time?
Probably not. The "interference with navigation equipment" excuse for banning cell phone use on planes has only faint validity and is mostly a cover. The real reason is to keep passengers from driving each other crazy in an enclosed space by yakking on their cell phones. As such, I'm in favor of the ban. (Recent reading has suggested that most of the passenger calls on 9/11 were made from seat-back phones, not cell phones. I'm not even sure if they'd work properly on a plane flying at altitude.)
Hi, how does nature make water?
Well, nature looks for the next gas station and ... Oops, wrong question. Questioner continues:
How does nature combine one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms to make water? If we knew how nature makes water, then perhaps we can then find an efficient way of separating hydrogen from oxygen, thus creating the ultimate source for energy.
Seriously, why didn't they answer this one? A little basic high-school chemistry could have corrected the misassumptions here.
Can a state in the United States split into two or more states? If so, how? I think Texas has a special provision for being able to divide into up to five states. But I am wondering about the others.
In the case of Texas, yes. This link doesn't say, but I think the idea is that Texas has the right to divide itself without congressional permission. Other states may be divided by Congress with the consent of the state government, and this has actually happened three times (at least). Trivia question for you all: name them.
