Are Lobsters Ambidextrous? (10 page)

Although sleep researchers still do not understand precisely how this works, REM sleep seems crucial to the development of the central nervous system of infants. The NREM “quiet sleep” is far from a waste of time, though, for the pituitary hormones, crucial for growth, are released during this phase of sleep.

Parents will be glad to inform anyone willing to listen that their babies don’t always sleep soundly, yet the cliché persists
that anyone who can withstand interference from sound or light while snoozing is sleeping “like a baby.” The solution to this paradox lies in the unique sleep cycle of newborns. The reason why babies sleep like a log much of the time, as we learned above, is because they are in REM sleep 50 to 60 percent of the time. It can be difficult to rouse an infant during REM sleep; yet the same baby might awaken quite easily when in any stage of NREM sleep.

The proportion of REM to NREM sleep gradually decreases during the first year of life, and babies sleep for longer periods at a stretch. Still, they may be fussier and wake up more easily, especially if they are being weaned from breast milk, which studies show truly does help babies “sleep like a baby.”

 

Submitted by Father Gregory A. Battafarano of Niagara Falls, New York
.

 

What
causes the film that forms on the top of the chocolate pudding I cook? Does this film appear on any kind of pudding?

We went straight to the makers of Jell-O brand pudding. The General Foods Response Center replied:

 

When pudding has been heated and then allowed to cool while directly exposed to air, the starch on the surface releases water. This evaporation hardens the texture of the top and causes a film to form on
any
pudding that requires cooking. Incidentally, if plastic wrap is placed directly on the surface of the pudding, while cooling, it prevents the water vapor from escaping and the film from forming.

 

General food researcher Noel Anderson told
Imponderables
that pudding film is actually a “starch gel,” a combination of sugar and starch that forms a moisture barrier that will not break down unless subjected to intense heat.

 

Submitted by Linda Wiley of Berlin, New Jersey
.

 

Why
does milk obtain a skin when heated, while thicker liquids, like gravy, lose their skin when heated?

Proteins and starch react differently to heat. When heated, the protein in milk coagulates; the fat globules no longer can be suspended in water and, being lighter than water, float to the top. Bruce V. Snow, a dairy consultant, told us that the fat globules “adhere and form a surface skin when the liquid ceases to boil or simmer heavily.”

But when gravy is heated, the starch, which has formed the skin in the first place, breaks down. Since starch is more soluble than protein, the result is that the ex-skin is reabsorbed into the rest of the gravy. The same process can be seen when soup is reheated after a skin has “grown” in the refrigerator.

 

Submitted by Beth Oakley of Ishpeming, Michigan
.

 

Why
do the tags on the left side of the right back pocket of Levi’s jeans come in different colors? What is the code?

If you haven’t noticed the different colors on the tags on the back pockets of Levi’s jeans, you just haven’t been looking at enough rear ends lately, or else it’s time for that eye check-up you’ve been avoiding for the last five years or so. Actually, the folks at Levi Strauss & Co. call them “tabs,” not tags.

Lynn Downey, the company historian, says that tabs were originally created to make Levi’s stand out from the competition. Tabs were the brainchild of an in-house advertising manager in 1936, and have been on all Levi brand jeans ever since. The design of the tabs and their position on the jeans are registered trademarks of Levi Strauss & Co.

There are now four different colored tabs (red, orange, silver, and cream) and they do indeed signify something—the type of construction used to manufacture the jeans. Although the consumer may not be aware of it, Levi Strauss spokesperson Jill Novack told
Imponderables
that many stores place all of the red-
tab Levi jeans together, the orange together, etc. Here, in descending order of sales, are the four different colored tabs and what they mean:

 

1.
Red
. Red-tab Levi’s feature the classic, detailed construction: five high-sloped pockets; six rivets in the front pocket; single-needle work on the top stitching; double stitching on the back pocket, which flares slightly. All 501s have red labels, but so do many other popular styles: 505, 506, 509, 517, 550, 583, 584, etc.

2.
Orange
. Orange-tabs often look superficially like their red-tab counterparts. In fact, some lines, such as the 505 and 550, have both red- and orange-tab versions. But orange-tab jeans have slightly less expensive finishing and tend to cost a few dollars less than red-tab Levi’s. Here’s why: Orange-tabs have five rather than six rivets in front; more gradually sloping pockets; double-needle rather than single-needle work on the top stitching; and their pockets are simpler, with the stitching on the back pockets parallel rather than flared. Most of the 500 series not named above have orange tabs.

3.
Silver
. Levi’s “fashion forward” contemporary jeans line features silver tabs. These jeans are identified by names rather than numbers, and are often available only on a seasonal basis. Baggy jeans, anti-fit, and sport jeans are all placed in the silver line. The silver line tends to contain the most expensive Levi jeans.

4.
Cream or Natural
. The rarest of the tabs is the so-called natural tab, with a cream color that is the untreated natural color of the tab fabric, with brown lettering. The natural tab can be found only on Levi’s “Naturals” line, jeans that are, appropriately enough, naturally colored. Levi Strauss spokesperson Brad Williams told us that Naturals are softer to the touch than all their other jeans because they are the only ones that contain no dye. For technical reasons, starch must be used when applying dyes to jeans. As the consumer continues to wash most jeans, the starch gradually is eliminated from the garment. This lessening of the starch content is the reason why jeans get more comfortable after repeated washings.

 

Or course,
we
knew nothing about this color coding before we started researching this Imponderable. So the next time we
are in the market for 501’s, we will undoubtedly become paralyzed with self-consciousness. Do we buy the red-tabs and prove that we are fashion snobs of the worst order, demanding construction details that we never noticed in the first place? Or do we try orange-tabs, and advertise to the rest of the world how cheap we are?

 

Submitted by Cathy Pearce and Heather McCausland of Lakeland, Florida
.

 

How
did Levi’s 501 jeans get their number?

Levi Strauss (yes, there
was
a real Levi Strauss) was a dry goods merchant in California and sold a wide range of products. The original Levi jean was the 501, and this number was simply its arbitrary stock number, according to Levi Strauss & Co. spokesperson Brad Williams.

Strauss disliked applying the word “jeans” to his garment, so he promoted the 501 as “waist-high overalls.” Just think, if his company kept that name into the 1970s, chances are that high-fashion designers like Gloria Vanderbilt and Calvin Klein wouldn’t have foisted “designer waist-high overalls” on a gullible public at triple the prices of Mr. Strauss.

 

Submitted by Sharon Michele Burke of Los Altos, California. Thanks also to John Hyatt of Boise, Idaho
.

 

Why
do the bricks used in constructing houses come with three holes in them?

We have the feeling that when Lionel Richie and the Commodores sang “Brick House,” this wasn’t what they had in mind. In
fact, we didn’t even know there were holes in bricks until reader Sandra Sandoval brought this to our attention.

When we get a brick Imponderable, we know where to head—to the Brick Institute of America and its director of engineering and research, J. Gregg Borchelt. He informed us that these holes are known to brickophiles as “cores,” and that there can be zero to twelve cores in a “unit,” or individual brick. The main reason for the cores, according to Borchelt,

 

is to improve the drying and firing process of the unit. The clay dries more easily and reaches a more uniform firing temperature with the cores present. Tests were conducted to show that the presence of cores does not reduce the overall strength of the brick.

 

But the cores serve many other purposes. Construction writer and consultant E.E. Halmos, Jr., of Poolesville, Maryland, told
Imponderables
that one of the main benefits of cores is that they provide a way for the mortar to penetrate the brick itself,

 

thus making a better bond between layers (or courses) of brick, without the need for metal ties or other devices. A brick wall derives virtually no strength from the mortar—which is only to tie courses together. That’s why the so-called Flemish or Belgian bonds were developed, to tie the outer and inner columns of brick (called “wythes”) together in early construction—resulting in the interesting patterns you see in Williamsburg and older structures in other cities. The little holes provide a better vertical bond between the bricks.

 

Borchelt enumerated other advantages of cores: They lower the weight of the bricks without sacrificing strength; they are a receptacle for steel reinforcement, if needed; they make it easier to break units into brick bats; and they can aid in lifting large units. Bet you never guessed three holes could be so talented.

 

Submitted by Sandra Sandoval of San Antonio, Texas
.

 

Why
do dogs eat standing up, while cats often eat sitting down?

No dog or cat would volunteer to answer this Imponderable, so we were forced to consult human experts. All agreed that the answer goes back to the ancestors of our pets, who lived in the wild.

Our most interesting response came from Dr. James Vondruska, research veterinarian and senior developmental scientist for pet food giant Quaker Oats Company. Vondruska reminds us that dogs are by nature pack animals. In the wild, they hunted in packs. In homes, they adopt the household as their pack and their owners as dominant members:

 

In their prehistoric years, dogs lived with others of their type, and hunted or scavenged for food together. Many of their type, such as the African Cape Hunting Dog and the hyenas, still do. Scavenging dogs must compete with the pack members for their food, which often leads to fighting. For this reason, dogs will eat standing up, so that they can better protect their food. Even though they usually don’t have to fight over their food anymore, the behavior persists in modern dogs.

 

Vondruska contrasts the dog’s behavior in the wild with that of our house cat’s ancestors. Most cats, even in the wild, are solitary creatures, and are hunters rather than scavengers. Susie Page, of the American Cat Association, compares the eating posture of cats to that of other hunting predators who “hunch” over their prey while devouring it.

With the exception of African lions, who live in prides, cats rarely had to contend with eating companions/rivals in the wild. This probably explains not only why cats today would feel secure eating in a more relaxed crouched or sitting position but also why cats eat languorously, while dogs eat at a pace that suggests that any meal might be their last.

Of course, cats as well as dogs often eat standing up, even while eating in comfortable surroundings from a bowl. Von
druska points out one big advantage to eating in a crouched position for both dogs and cats: “This is the only way in which they can use their paws to hold their food, and this is sometimes necessary when chewing bones.”