Why does humidity make heat feel hotter?
| Summary: How hot is hot? The type of humidity indicates how your body will react to the heat and how fast it will cool off. |
Back in the late 80s I took a trip to Phoenix, Arizona with a friend who grew up there. Nothing noteworthy really, except that the trip was to take place over the 4th of July holiday. I kept thinking to myself, “The desert in July? 105F at 7 a.m.? 5 a.m. tee times just to beat the heat? Am I nuts?” Clearly, the answer was a resounding, “Yes!” (although my friends will tell you it has little to do with my vacation choices). I kept thinking to myself that I had to be mad, and yet all of my coworkers chided around me, mimicking each other like mina birds: “But it’s a dry heat.” Dry heat or no, when the central air’s pumping out at full force 24/7 and you’re still sweating like a farm animal, hot is hot. Nonetheless, by the time my ten days of arid temperatures were up (never once dropping below the upper 101F in the shade) I had come to learn a few things about humidity and what all of those do-gooders were trying to make me feel better about. Read more
How are hurricanes Measured? (Saffir Simpson Hurricane Scale)
| Summary: What exactly is a hurricane and how are they measured? Are you brave enough to fly into a hurricane as the hurricane hunters do? |
The past events surrounding the devastation of New Orleans, due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina have no doubt touched us all. How many of us could have imagined that the images that we have seen on the news could happen here: muddy, contaminated flood waters waist-high; people without adequate food, shelter, or bathroom facilities; families being split apart, not knowing if their loved ones are alive or dead; children taking care of children, people looting stores not for expensive electronics, but for milk and diapers for their infants who are crying from the heat; the dead being dragged off into corners because there’s nothing else to do. And there are those who just don’t know what else to do, so they leave the shelters and wander with no real idea of where they’re going or what’s going to happen. There’s a name for all of these folks: refugees. Right here in our own country. Read more
How much Caffeine in Coffee, tea and soda?
Filed under: About Numbers and Measurement, Technology
| Summary: How does caffeine work? Caffeine shows up in many unexpected places, so be careful or you could end up missing out on important sleep. |
If you’re like many people all over the world then you start your day with a steaming mug of coffee to get you on point. But it’s not really the coffee itself you’re after – although a good cup of coffee is a wonderful thing. Read more
Telephone Keypads versus Calculator Keypads
Filed under: About Numbers and Measurement, Technology
| Summary: If you’ve ever worked at a job that required you to switch off between a calculator and a telephone every now and again then no doubt you’ve noticed that the key pads are backwards: on the phone the number “1″ is in the upper left and on a calculator it is in the lower left. So what gives? |
The first keypads were created for cash registers and had the “1″ in the lower left. When calculators were invented they followed suit. Enter the telephone system. When Alexander Graham Bell, the man who invented the telephone, came up with the idea, operators were used to connect people – you didn’t simply pick up your phone and dial with reckless abandon. But reach into the dark recesses of your memory – or your basement – and I’ll bet that somewhere back there there’s a rotary telephone. Not that cool, antique telephone of the candlestick variety that’s probably worth some money. I’m speaking of the big clunky kind that was frequently used to hit the bad guy over the head with on 1970s detective shows. Read more
Body Fat
| Summary: BMI is an important measurement to indicate your risk of hypertension, heart disease and premature death. Do you know your Body Mass Index? |
The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number that represents our body weight adjusted for our height and is used world wide to calculate obesity.
BMI is broken down into four categories: underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. The formula for calculating adult (20 years old and over) BMI is not a difficult one: simply divide your weight by your height squared and multiply by 703. Even easier – just go to the Center for Disease Control and plug in your height and weight into their BMI calculator. Read more
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