How Does Aspirin Find a Headache? (15 page)

Vann H. Wilber, director of the safety and international department of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association, the organization that represents the Big Three Detroit automakers, told us that the current experiments with cutting headlamps automatically when the ignition is turned off are part of a long tradition of rolling out “limited introductions” of convenience features to selected models. If consumers prefer the change, automatic headlamp shutoff will join the illustrious list of now standard features that were once introduced only in limited introductions: automatic transmissions; power steering and brakes; radios; and air conditioning.

Why
Do Many Blind People Wear Dark Glasses?

If David Letterman and Mr. Blackwell can do it, so can the Braille Institute: put out a top ten list, that is. Every year, the Braille Institute issues a list of the ten most unusual questions it receives. We are proud to report that this Imponderable made number nine on the 1993 list (edging out number ten: “Do blind babies smile?”).

In our previous research on blindness, several authorities emphasized that the majority of legally blind people do have some vision. The Braille Institute’s answer to this question stresses the same point:

Alberta Orr, of the American Foundation for the Blind, adds, “Many visually impaired persons are extremely sensitive to bright light and glare and wear sunglasses to reduce the amount of light on the retina.”

Some blind persons wear dark glasses for cosmetic purposes, because they are self-conscious about the physical appearance of their eyes. Increasingly, blind people are forgoing dark glasses, but we tend to associate dark glasses with blind people because so many of the high-visibility blind celebrities, such as Stevie Wonder, George Shearing, and Ray Charles, usually wear them. Even this is starting to change—the last time we saw José Feliciano perform on television, he was shadeless, despite the glare of the spotlights.

Why
Do Many Fast Food Restaurants and Convenience Stores Have Vertical Rulers Alongside Their Main Entranceways?

On an episode of “The Simpsons,” Marge was found shoplifting at the local convenience store. Her arrest was made considerably simpler when she passed the vertical measuring scale mounted along the exit doorway. It isn’t often, even in a cartoon, that a suspect can be positively ID’d as an eight-foot woman, with a considerable percentage of that height consisting of bright blue hair.

Police officers we have spoken to over the years have regaled us with stories about how often witnesses supply them with unreliable descriptions of suspects. In particular, frightened witnesses tend to overestimate the height (and weight) of criminals. The ruler is an attempt to remedy flawed guesstimates.

We weren’t able to locate any convenience store or fast food chain that installs measuring scales in all of its branches; obviously, scales tend to show up in urban, high-crime areas. Some chains, like Wendy’s, never use scales. But Kim Bartley, director of marketing at White Castle, says that any White Castle store that wants one can install it; employees at those locations are instructed to view criminals leaving and observe their height as the miscreants take flight. Many White Castles, like convenience stores, are open at all hours, and more vulnerable to late-night stickups than their fast food competitors.

What
Does “100% Virgin Acrylic” Mean?

Acrylonitrile, the chemical substance from which acrylic fibers are derived, was first developed in Germany in 1893, but commercial production didn’t begin until Du pont released Orlon in 1950. Monsanto, Dow Chemical, and American Cyanamid followed, all with their own trade names. Acrylic proved to be a durably popular wool substitute—it can be dyed more easily than wool, can be laundered easily, and is almost as versatile—and like wool, acrylics can be found in carpets as well as garments.

Our correspondent, Shirley Keller, was baffled by the meaning of the oft-found “virgin acrylic” label on many knit labels:

The answer is b. According to Bob Smith, of Cytec, the division of American Cyanamid that manufactures the product, “100% virgin acrylic” means that the material comes directly from the manufacturer and was never used before. Occasionally, acrylic fibers are reprocessed; just as with humans, acrylic fibers can be virgins only once.

The “100%” part of the label is a tad misleading. To be legally classified as acrylic, the fiber only has to be 85 percent acrylonitrile (by weight). According to Roscoe Wallace, chemical engineer for Monsanto, the other 15 percent may be comprised of other fibers, some of which may more easily allow dyeing or change the texture of the finished garment.

Actually, even our acrylic marketers were willing to concede that there is a bit of answer c in “100% virgin acrylic” labels. Sure, Monsanto’s Larry Wallace was willing to concede, 100% virgin acrylic has no additives, it is not reworked after manufacturing, and was never reclaimed or redissolved. But even non-100% virgin acrylic must meet the same specifications as its more innocent brethren.

Do
Snakes Sneeze?

Norman J. Scott, Jr., zoologist and past-president of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, told
Imponderables
, “As far as I know, snakes don’t sneeze with their mouths shut, but they do clear fluid from their throat with an explosive blast of air from the lungs.”

Snakes don’t sneeze very often, though. In fact, a few herpetologists we contacted denied that snakes sneeze at all. But John E. Simmons, of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Information Committee, insisted otherwise:

Why
Do Cookbooks Often Recommend Beating Egg Whites in a Copper Bowl?

We don’t know whether any cookbook writers have received kickbacks from copper bowl manufacturers, but this advice always struck us as unnecessary and fussy. But then again, our cakes compare unfavorably to the offerings of school cafeterias.

We consulted our pals at the American Egg Board and United Egg Producers, and we learned there really
is
something to this copper bowl theory. The copper in the bowl reacts to a protein (the conalbumin, to be precise) in the egg whites, and helps stabilize the eggs and may actually increase their volume when whipped. Cream of tartar combines with egg whites in a similar fashion, working to keep the whites from separating from yolks. One reason why some cooks prefer to stabilize the whites with cream of tartar rather than the “no-cost” copper bowl is that if you leave the egg whites in the bowl for too long (sometimes, for as little as five minutes), the whites will turn pink.

Cooking is an art rather than a science, and we seem to see the prescription for the copper bowl less often these days. Kay Engelhardt, test kitchen supervisor for the American Egg Board, waxes philosophical:

How
Does Aspirin Find a Headache?

When we get a minor headache, we pop two aspirin and
voilà
, the pain diminishes within a matter of minutes. How did those little pills find exactly what ailed us instead of, say, our little right toe or our left hip?

We always assumed that the aspirin dissolved, entered our bloodstream, and quickly found its way to our brain. The chemicals then persuaded the brain to block out any feelings of pain in the body. Right? Wrong.

Willow bark, which provided the salicylic acid from which aspirin was originally synthesized, had been used as a pain remedy ever since the Greeks discovered its therapeutic power nearly 2,500 years ago. Bayer was the first company to market Aspirin commercially in 1899 (“Aspirin” was originally a trade name of Bayer’s for the salicylic acid derivative, acetylsalicylic acid, or ASA). The value of this new drug was quickly apparent, but researchers had little idea how aspirin alleviated pain until the 1970s. In their fascinating book
The Aspirin Wars
, Charles C. Mann and Mark L. Plummer describe the basic dilemma: