Question: Sure it made for some hot action footage, but from an orbiting body's standpoint, didn't the aliens in the movie "Independence Day" put their squadron of death saucers in foolish, needless peril?Answer: A little calculation shows they blew it, says physicist Lawrence M. Krauss in "Beyond Star Trek." Recall that the Mother Ship, before releasing the squad, pulls into geostationary orbit above the Earth, moving at the planet's spin rate so the craft stays always above the same spot (a favorite trick also of the USS Enterprise).
Newton's law of gravity says this orbit must be around 22,500 miles up, the same for all objects, regardless of size. It's also revealed the Mother Ship is about the mass of the moon. Very interesting, because this means the Mother Ship, at about 1/10 the distance to the moon, exerts a gravitational pull on Earth 25 times that of the moon!
Grab fer yer lifeboats, for the rising ocean tide is about to close down Wall Street and submerge New York City. Meanwhile, the unaccustomed tidal stresses will trigger earthquakes and volcanic eruptions worldwide.
Indeed, if the evil aliens were patient, they might choose to orbit the Earth in the direction opposite to its present direction of rotation, putting brakes on the planet's spin, lengthening the day and eventually getting rid of it altogether! By astute choice of orbit, they could have wreaked vast devastation without doing anything more than being there -- much easier than risking battle with terrestrial aircraft and missiles.
But then, who ever said aliens are supposed to be smart?
Question: Can polluted air choke off a romance?
Answer: Unpleasant background odors have been found to reduce liking for strangers, potentially spoiling boy meets girl, says Florida International University psychologist James Rotton. On Cupid's plus side, unpleasant odors increase liking when individuals think the person they are evaluating is also having to breathe polluted air (We're in this together).
So be creative. On that first date, try to steer to where the air is clearer or if this is impossible, make mention of the foul ambience and try to forge a psychological alliance against the befoulers.
Question: Imagine being confined in prison for many years, then playing a round of golf on your first day free. You'd expect to be way off your game, wouldn't you?
Answer: University of Chicago psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi recounts how a pilot long imprisoned in North Vietnam headed straight for a golf course upon returning home. Though weak and emaciated, he astonished his fellow officers by playing superbly.
His secret, he said, was that during every day of his imprisonment he imagined playing 18 holes, choosing his clubs, driving off the tees, gauging the slope of the greens. He even varied the course from day to day, posing for himself fresh mental challenges.
Question: When did the kiss get added to the human romancing repertoire?
Answer: Actually, kissing is older than humanity itself, says anthropologist David B. Givens in "Love Signals." Many mammals kiss before mating as a way of stimulating a partner's maternal instincts. Dolphins nibble, cats give playful bites, dogs lick faces or nuzzle flanks, and chimps press lips in their courtship.
Lips evolved to create an airtight seal around a nipple, and the sucking reflex gave rise to the kiss.
Every society uses some form of kiss or nuzzle gesture in courtship, including not only lip-to-lip contact but lip-to-tongue, tongue-to-tongue, nose-to-nose, and cheek to cheek, plus an exotic assortment of biting and face-rubbing.
Just as adults feel compelled to press their noses against a baby's buttery face, so lovers touch faces to reassure each other they mean no harm.
Send STRANGE questions to brothers Bill and Rich at strangetrue@compuserve.com.