The Straight Dope 07/08/2005

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 07/08/2005

Dear Cecil:

Why don't trees grow on the Great Plains? If there's
enough rain and sun to grow grass, what's stopping the
forest from taking over, say, Kansas? --workerant, via
e-mail

~~~~~~
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:

Persons of the urban smarty-pants persuasion are now
thinking: Duh. Everybody knows that if you have a little
rain, you can grow little plants; if you have a lot of
rain, you can grow big plants. The Great Plains are dry,
so of course all that grows there is grass.

Except it's not that simple, you knuckleheads. True, the
plains themselves--anything west of Omaha, say--are too
arid to support trees. But that doesn't explain the
"prairie peninsula." 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050708.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

I'm a pilot and I work for an aircraft manufacturing
company. Just like every other pilot and many non-pilots,
I've learned that aircraft fly because of the low
pressure created on the top of an airfoil. However, I'm
not sure that's the whole story. I recently read a book
called Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche, and he
argues that the primary thing that keeps planes in the
air is the downward force created by the wing--that the
aircraft mostly pushes itself into the sky instead of
pulling itself by the top of the wings. I've been
thinking (perhaps too much) that he may be right. Perhaps
lift is created by both effects. Maybe one is stronger
than the other but I think that most people haven't been
told the real story about what keeps an airplane in the
air. It's got to be more than the low pressure on top of
the wing. I want to know the real story. --Bill Rehm 

Guest contributor aerodave replies:

You'd think that after a century of powered flight we'd
have this lift thing figured out. Unfortunately, it's not
as clear as we'd like. A lot of half-baked theories
attempt to explain why airplanes fly. All try to take the
mysterious world of aerodynamics and distill it into
something comprehensible to the non-technical
audience--not an easy task. Nearly all of the common
"theories" are misleading at best, and usually flat-out
wrong. 

A couple of the ideas you mention provide part of the
answer, but are incomplete in fundamental ways. To hear
some tell it . . .

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

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 04/04/1986

Dear Cecil: 

During a recent chat about freezing the body after
death--cryogenics, I believe it's called-- somebody said
Walt Disney's body was frozen until they develop a cure
for lung cancer. Disney supposedly is still technically
alive, though terminally ill. I said freezing somebody
alive is probably illegal, and if they waited for Uncle
Walt to actually die, it would take too long to get him
from hospital bed to Kelvinator--if you're dead more than
five seconds they can't bring you back, right? Finally,
how can cryogenics work at all? --Ted L., Los Angeles 

Cecil replies:  

Your skepticism gladdens my heart, Ted;
obviously my years of patient effort are starting to pay
off. First things first: (1) Walt Disney, as near as can
be determined, was cremated on December 17, 1966, two
days after his death. Admirable work in this regard was
done by William Poundstone, author of a ground-breaking
volume called Big Secrets. Poundstone heard not only that
Walt was on ice, but that the body was stashed below the
Pirates of the Caribbean exhibition at Disneyland. Disney
was known to have been preoccupied with death, his
funeral services were held in secret, and the cause of
his demise was never formally announced. Poundstone,
however, was able to get a copy of the death certificate,
which says Walt died of cancer of the left lung and was
cremated at Forest Lawn cemetery. The certificate was
signed by an embalmer named Dean Fluss, a real guy who
really worked at Forest Lawn. Forest Lawn would not
disclose the location of the remains, but after a search
Poundstone found the grave site in the cemetery's Court
of Freedom section. There is nothing remarkable about it.
Conclusion:  . . .

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_331.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]