The Straight Dope 03/11/2005

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

You are subscribed as: [[email protected]]

To unsubscribe CLICK on the URL below this line:
mailto:[email protected]
If you can't "click" above, then send a blank email to:
[email protected]
____________________________________________
THE STRAIGHT DOPE 03/11/2005

Dear Cecil:

I've often read that if you jump off the Golden Gate
Bridge, you will accelerate to the point where hitting
the water will be like hitting concrete. But my little
brain keeps saying, "Yeah, but it's WATER!" Could you
jump off a bridge like the Golden Gate and contort your
body in such a way that you'd survive? --Paul, Ann Arbor

Dear Cecil:

I've heard that if you jump off a tall enough building,
you'll pass out before you hit the ground due to falling
so fast. My friend tells me this is not true. He argues
that skydivers free-fall and hit terminal velocity and
are just fine. I told him that they haven't fallen long
enough. Can you help me prove him wrong? --Katie,
Bellingham, Washington

~~~~~~
Looking for the perfect gift for that wedding, birthday,
or bar mitzvah? Straight Dope books are the very thing! See
http://www.straightdope.com/store.html
~~~~~~

Cecil replies:

Of course not, numbskull. Your friend is right. Skydivers
in free fall routinely reach terminal velocity, i.e., the
speed at which air resistance and weight balance out and
acceleration stops, which often exceeds 120 mph. During a
typical plunge they may drop 10,000 feet in 60 seconds,
remaining conscious throughout. (The free-fall speed
record, incidentally, is 614 mph, set in 1960 by Joseph
Kittinger, who stepped out of a balloon gondola into the
exceedingly thin air at 103,000 feet.) Nonetheless the
belief persists that anyone leaping or falling from a
great height blacks out, has the breath sucked out of
them, etc. Fact is, some pass out, but not all. We know
this because--you knew we'd get around to your question
eventually, Paul--people have in fact survived a leap off
the Golden Gate Bridge, and staying alert is one reason
they did.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050311.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

How do pay-per-play pool tables know which ball is the
white ball and return that one to you when you scratch?
It can't be a difference in size, mass or density because
that would alter how the balls react after they make
contact with the cue ball. The only thing I can think of
is some sort of metallic load built into the ball with
the same properties as the material it is displacing
(sort of like casino dice which are the same weight on
all sides despite the different number of divots on each
side) I'm assuming that this would enable the pool table
to use magnetism to identify the cue ball. If so, is
there any difference between how cue balls with and
without the load react? How are they made? Do you have to
buy a certain kind of cue ball in the event that the one
you have is stolen? Are they more expensive? Then again,
I'm probably way off track . . . sorry, I'm a philosophy
major. --Sal 

SDSTAFF Una replies:

I recently pondered this myself after my lady and I used
a coin-operated table for the first time, and she was
surprised that after I scratched (as I frequently do) the
cue ball would return to play. So I did a little
investigating, and it turns out that you've guessed the
answer--both magnets and different-sized cue balls are
used, depending on the table.

For those not familiar with coin-operated pool tables,
all the balls are held inside the table until the coins
are inserted, after which they all fall out. As each ball
is hit into a pocket, it rolls down a simple system of
chutes that return it to a storage area, where it's
retained until the game is over and more money is
inserted. However, since it's common to scratch by
sinking the cue ball, there has to be a system for
returning just that ball. Otherwise, the game would be
over the first time anybody scratched, which, if you're
playing against me, means within about 30 seconds.

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcueball.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 01/04/1985

Dear Cecil: 

An Australian friend claims that the expression "kangaroo
court" was in fact an American invention of the
mid-nineteenth century. What's the straight dope? By the
way, how do kangaroos court? --Hurst H., Arlington,
Virginia  

Dear Hurst:  

Sorry, amigo, but it's ixnay on your last request. Cecil has 
been informed that if he favors this newspaper with one more 
essay on lust among the animals his next job will be busting
suds at the Dairy Queen. So it's Bourgeois Proprieties 1, the
Public's Right to Know 0.  I can offer only the usual
speculative mishmash on the origin of "kangaroo court,"
meaning any extralegal judicial assemblage, such as those
established by prison inmates or vigilante committees.
There's some argument over whether the term is of
American or Australian origin. It appears to have come
into common usage around the time of the California gold
rush in 1849, when some say miners established kangaroo
courts to deal with claim jumpers (get it?). Others argue
that the term is a sly metaphorical comment on the
frequent leaps of legal logic seen at such conclaves. 

Those arguing for the expression's Down Under origins say
it sprang up in the Australian outback, where the
homesteaders periodically used to convene "hopper's
court." This usage derived from the supposed fact that
when kangaroos see a man for the first time they
typically stop dead and eyeball him for five minutes,
then suddenly turn and scoot. The practice of staring
idiotically into space for long periods followed by a
rash and inexplicable jump to conclusions was thought to
closely resemble the behavior of a jury or judicial
panel, hence kangaroo court. Trouble is, no published
instances of this usage in Australia have ever been
adduced. Finally, we should note that kangaroo in English
slang at one time meant anything unusual or eccentric,
which would obviously lend itself to the application at
hand. Take your pick. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_236.html

____________________________________________
Here's how you can get your OWN FREE Subscription:
Send a blank mailto:[email protected]
____________________________________________
Copyright 1995 - 2005 Chicago Reader, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
You may forward this document by email ONLY if you
include the entire document INCLUDING the information
at the bottom of this publication
____________________________________________
Visit our good friends at Joke A Day
http://www.jokeaday.com
They're kind enough to mail THE STRAIGHT DOPE for us.
Join the World's Largest Daily Humor List and receive
daily laughs in your email by sending mailto:[email protected]