The Straight Dope 01/26/2007

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

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 01/26/2007

Dear Cecil:

Last weekend I watched the classic 1954 film The Caine Mutiny, which
sparked the question: Have there been mutinies aboard U.S. naval
vessels, and if so, what were the outcomes?--Jeff P., via e-mail

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Cecil replies:

The Caine Mutiny opens with the words, "There has never been a mutiny in
a ship of the United States Navy." This may be narrowly true--so far as
I can determine, nobody has ever been formally charged with committing
mutiny aboard a commissioned U.S. naval vessel. But let's not bandy
words. There have been mutinies in the U.S. Navy, including one
conspiracy aboard a ship at sea; U.S. Navy personnel have been formally
charged with mutiny and punished for it; and a few poor sods hanged.
We've just never had a case where all these things applied at the same
time. 

Here's how it all sorts out:

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/070126.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #1 - 02/26/1993

Dear Straight Cecil:  

A few of us were discussing those booming megawatt sound systems have
nowadays--a bane of urban existence if ever there was one. We fantasized
about being able to send an electronic signal that would defeat, override,
distort, or blow out an offending car stereo, without blowing up the
driver unless absolutely necessary. Could this be done with available
technology? --Jonathan Jensen, Baltimore

Dear Jonathan: 

Well, there's always electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. EMP has the drawback
of requiring you to detonate a nuclear bomb, which may deter the
squeamish. But it does work, no small thing in an age of halfway
measures.  

Scientists got their first hint of EMP in 1962 after a hydrogen bomb test
high over the Pacific. In Hawaii, 800 miles away, 300 street lights
failed, burglar alarms rang, and circuit breakers popped on power lines.
Investigators concluded that the exploding bomb had unleashed a brief but
intense burst of energy that, by means of various atmospheric reactions
that we need not go into here, poured a killer dose of juice into every
hunk of unshielded metal for hundreds of miles around and fried the
electrical and electronic devices connected thereto.

According to one writer, "a nuclear burst over the United States would
produce an electromagnetic pulse that could cause widespread damage
or disruption to electronic communications equipment, commercial power
and telephone lines, and especially to digital computers." I know: sounds
like a dream come true. Solid state electronic gear is particularly
vulnerable, so if you do it right there won't be an operative boom box (or
computer) in the entire state. You'll be a national hero.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_294.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #2 - 11/20/1992

Dear Cecil: 

How come the U.S. is practically the only country in the world where
household electricity is 110 volts instead of 220 volts? -- Mark,
Berkeley, California  

Dear Mark:  

The penalty of leadership, champ. While inventors in many countries
contributed to electric power technology, the U.S. was way out front
in putting that technology to practical use. In the early days, lower
voltages were the most practical for electric lights-- higher voltage 
burned out the bulbs. So the hundreds of power plants built in the U.S.
prior to 1900 adopted 110 volts (or 115 or 120 volts) as their de facto
standard.

Trouble was, power transmission at higher voltages was more efficient--
you didn't have to use so much copper in the wires. By the time most
European countries got around to making big time investments in
electricity, the engineers had figured out how to make 220-volt bulbs
that wouldn't burn out so fast. So, starting in Germany around the turn
of the century, they adopted the 220- volt (or 230- or 240-volt) standard.
But the U.S. stayed with 110 volts (today it's officially 120 volts)
because we had such a big installed base of 110-volt equipment.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_292.html

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