What Does the Moon Smell Like?: 151 Astounding Science Quizzes by Eva Everything Page B
Authors: Eva Everything
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toes
AL
ANA
TOMY
CORRECT ANSWER:
b) big toe longer than second toe
A long, strong big toe can work to a sprinter’s advantage. Leaning his or her full body weight into a robust, firmly planted big toe lets a sprinter accelerate more quickly than runners with smaller, weaker piggies. A strong big toe is also a plus in skiing. You can’t cut an edge without planting your big toe. The bigger and stronger it is, the better, for some sports anyway. For non-athletic types the big piggy’s edge may cut in a whole other way. According to my unofficial survey, the longer the big toe, the more quickly it pokes holes in your socks.
SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 88
SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 89
Significant Digits?
Take a look at your fingers. Which is longer — your Q
index finger, or your ring finger? If you’re female, chances are that both are about the same length. If you’re male, your ring finger is probably longer than DIGIT
your index finger. In both sexes, finger length is influ-AL
enced by exposure to male hormones in the womb
ANA
before birth. Finger length has been studied more in TOMY
men than in women, and some researchers believe that the relative length of a male’s fingers may be subtle clues to his mental and physical makeup.
Men with a significantly longer ring finger are more likely to be . . .
a) better at reading maps
b) better athletes
c) physically aggressive
d) all of the above
89
Significant Digits?
Men with a significantly longer ring finger are more A
likely to be . . .
a) better at reading maps
b) better athletes
DIGIT
c) physically aggressive
AL
d) all of the above
ANA
TOMY
CORRECT ANSWER:
d) all of the above
On average, men whose ring fingers were a lot longer than their index fingers were found to be all of the above, in various studies. How seriously should we take this stuff? At this point, probably not too seriously. If the studies are to be believed, males with ring and index fingers closer to the same length are more prone to depression, but women with the same finger ratio are not. Some studies have found that men and women with longer ring fingers are more likely to be gay, but in other studies, no correlation between finger length and sexual orientation was found. My vote for the most amusing finding goes to this little gem: women with longer ring fingers slammed the phone down harder when they were
frustrated. I think we need a study to determine the relative finger lengths of the people who come up with studies like that!
SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 90
SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 91
GERMyNATION: ON THE JOB
A Steaming Hot Cup of . . .
Hot on the trail of working germs, The Germinator, Q
a.k.a. microbiologist Dr. Chuck Gerba, with his tire-less team, collected 7,000 samples from a variety of offices. One of the items that they tested were coffee mugs. Everyone’s mugs were sampled, from the presi-dents and higher ups, down to the lowliest workers.
There turned out to be more in the mugs than just steaming hot coffee, and it wasn’t sweet or white.
Whose mugs contained the most fecal bacteria?
a) data processors
b) middle managers
c) technical support
d) top executives
91
A Steaming Hot Cup of . . .
Whose mugs contained the most fecal bacteria?
A
a) data processors
b) middle managers
c) technical support
GERMyNA
d) top executives
TION:
CORRECT ANSWER:
ON
d) top executives
THE
JOB
The higher up in the company they were, the more fecal bacteria in their coffee mugs. It seems counterintuitive to find the poopy germs associated with toilets in the mugs of the most pampered workers in the corporate world. Dr. Gerba thinks it’s because the top executives had people to clean their mugs for them. The ones doing the washing up, and serving coffee to the boss in a “fresh” mug, were using sponges or dishrags contaminated with fecal bacteria.
They washed the mugs, but not the dishrags,
AL
ANA
TOMY
CORRECT ANSWER:
b) big toe longer than second toe
A long, strong big toe can work to a sprinter’s advantage. Leaning his or her full body weight into a robust, firmly planted big toe lets a sprinter accelerate more quickly than runners with smaller, weaker piggies. A strong big toe is also a plus in skiing. You can’t cut an edge without planting your big toe. The bigger and stronger it is, the better, for some sports anyway. For non-athletic types the big piggy’s edge may cut in a whole other way. According to my unofficial survey, the longer the big toe, the more quickly it pokes holes in your socks.
SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 88
SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 89
Significant Digits?
Take a look at your fingers. Which is longer — your Q
index finger, or your ring finger? If you’re female, chances are that both are about the same length. If you’re male, your ring finger is probably longer than DIGIT
your index finger. In both sexes, finger length is influ-AL
enced by exposure to male hormones in the womb
ANA
before birth. Finger length has been studied more in TOMY
men than in women, and some researchers believe that the relative length of a male’s fingers may be subtle clues to his mental and physical makeup.
Men with a significantly longer ring finger are more likely to be . . .
a) better at reading maps
b) better athletes
c) physically aggressive
d) all of the above
89
Significant Digits?
Men with a significantly longer ring finger are more A
likely to be . . .
a) better at reading maps
b) better athletes
DIGIT
c) physically aggressive
AL
d) all of the above
ANA
TOMY
CORRECT ANSWER:
d) all of the above
On average, men whose ring fingers were a lot longer than their index fingers were found to be all of the above, in various studies. How seriously should we take this stuff? At this point, probably not too seriously. If the studies are to be believed, males with ring and index fingers closer to the same length are more prone to depression, but women with the same finger ratio are not. Some studies have found that men and women with longer ring fingers are more likely to be gay, but in other studies, no correlation between finger length and sexual orientation was found. My vote for the most amusing finding goes to this little gem: women with longer ring fingers slammed the phone down harder when they were
frustrated. I think we need a study to determine the relative finger lengths of the people who come up with studies like that!
SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 90
SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 91
GERMyNATION: ON THE JOB
A Steaming Hot Cup of . . .
Hot on the trail of working germs, The Germinator, Q
a.k.a. microbiologist Dr. Chuck Gerba, with his tire-less team, collected 7,000 samples from a variety of offices. One of the items that they tested were coffee mugs. Everyone’s mugs were sampled, from the presi-dents and higher ups, down to the lowliest workers.
There turned out to be more in the mugs than just steaming hot coffee, and it wasn’t sweet or white.
Whose mugs contained the most fecal bacteria?
a) data processors
b) middle managers
c) technical support
d) top executives
91
A Steaming Hot Cup of . . .
Whose mugs contained the most fecal bacteria?
A
a) data processors
b) middle managers
c) technical support
GERMyNA
d) top executives
TION:
CORRECT ANSWER:
ON
d) top executives
THE
JOB
The higher up in the company they were, the more fecal bacteria in their coffee mugs. It seems counterintuitive to find the poopy germs associated with toilets in the mugs of the most pampered workers in the corporate world. Dr. Gerba thinks it’s because the top executives had people to clean their mugs for them. The ones doing the washing up, and serving coffee to the boss in a “fresh” mug, were using sponges or dishrags contaminated with fecal bacteria.
They washed the mugs, but not the dishrags,
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