December 8, 2000

Strange But True!

Q. What will happen if Dr. Evil (Mike Myers movies) succeeds in drilling a hole and exploding a nuclear bomb in the middle of the Earth, causing every volcano to erupt? Surely he can’t do this with his stated 50-kilowatt warhead. What if he used some real mega-pop?

A. Subterranean meltings would flow to the surface in sizzling plumes, but only after thousands of years, and Dr. Evil wants to be alive to rub his hands with glee, says California Institute of Technology’s William A. Wheaton.

So forget those. More to the point, the pressure wave would hit the surface within minutes, likely shaking and breaking loose rock enough to let magma escape. Trigger energy for a typical volcano is wildly uncertain, but assume 1/1000-th that of the eruption. Taking Mt. St. Helens as typical, and guessing 400 megatons equivalent released over the trigger area of 100 square kilometers, this computes to ..004 MT per square kilometer necessary to pop it.

Thus worldwide, to start the whole volcanic shebang would take 2-million-MT, or about 35,000 times the largest bomb ever exploded. Such a device would weigh approximately 200,000 tons and be at least 100 feet in diameter. Pooling the entire stockpiles of the US and former Soviet Union would probably just about do it.

“Conclusion: Barely conceivable, but Dr. Evil can forget using a normal size bomb or a small drill hole.”

Q. Let’s play stump the techies: If a mirror reverses left-to-right so your right hand looks like your left hand, etc., then why don’t you also appear reversed top-to-bottom, making you seem to be standing on your head?

A. Not one in a hundred people know this, but a mirror actually reverses front/back, making things SEEM to reverse left/right. To prove this to yourself, hold a pencil before a mirror, first pointing it right-to-left, then up-and-down.

Either way, the pencil’s mirror image points in the same direction as the actual pencil. But if you point the pencil straight into the mirror, its image will point back out at you, i.e., reversed front-to-back.

For a fuller explanation, enroll at The Advanced Mirror Institute.

Q. In the musical classic “The King and I,” we’re told that when we’re afraid it helps to “whistle a happy tune,” fooling not only others but ourselves as well. Good psychology?

A. Try a few body-and-mind experiments, suggests David Myers in “Social Psychology.” Force yourself to smile while watching a comedian and you’ll probably think the person’s funnier. Force a frown and the fun will slowly slip away.

Also, something about pressing palms upward feels better to most people than pressing downward, as if pushing somebody away. Who knows why. But you can feel it. Is this one reason people seem to feel better at parties while holding food or drink — palms typically upward?

Another experiment: When listening to someone, try nodding your head up and down, then shaking back and forth. Doesn’t nodding make you feel more agreeable?

Finally, walk around briefly with long strides, arms swinging and looking straight ahead. Don’t you just somehow feel happier than when walking around with short, shuffling steps, eyes downcast?

Rodgers and Hammerstein got it right. “Going through the motions can trigger the emotions,” says Myers.

Q. Back from your trip, you’ve been experiencing palpitations, rapid heart rate, dizziness, fatigue, and cold clammy skin when you stand up for very long. Oh, well, goes with the territory. Where’ve you been?

A. These are common symptoms of astronauts after space travel, due to insufficient blood flowing to the brain after time away from Earth’s gravity, says Vanderbilt physiologist David Robertson. Lengthy standing will bring on gray outs or black outs, usually helped by lying down. “Fortunately for the astronauts, the symptoms disappear in a few days.”

Previous columns:

• Strange But True!, 11-17-2000
• Strange But True!, 11-03-2000
• Strange But True!, 10-27-2000
• Strange But True!, 10-20-2000
• Strange But True!, 10-13-2000
• Strange But True!, 10-06-2000
• Strange But True!, 09-29-2000