Question:How and what do dolphins see, and how do they tell their "friends" about the sights beheld?
Answer: Just as physicians use high-frequency sound (ultrasound) to "see" inside the body without X-rays, and bats emit ultrasonic squeaks to locate objects by their echoes, dolphins can do both of these tricks and a lot more, says Paul Hewitt in "Conceptual Physics." But whereas sound is a passive sense for us humans, for them it is the primary sense as they send out sounds and then perceive their surroundings on the basis of the echoes that come back.
Perceive what? The ultrasonic waves emitted enable dolphins to "see" through the bodies of other animals and people. Skin, muscle and fat are almost transparent, yielding only a thin outline of the body, though bones, teeth and gas-filled cavities are clearly apparent. "Physical evidence of cancers, tumors, heart attacks and even emotional states can all be 'seen' by the dolphin — as humans have only recently been able to do with ultrasound."
Amazingly, dolphins probably communicate their experience by transmitting the full acoustic image, placing it directly in the minds of other dolphins, speculates Hewitt. No need for a word or symbol for "fish," for example, but just the image of the real thing, just as we might communicate a musical concert via various means of sound reproduction. "Small wonder that the language of the dolphin is very unlike our own!"
Question:What's special about a number like 69,696?
Answer: This is an "undulating number," of the form ababababab . . ., says Clifford Pickover in "Keys to Infinity."
There are any number of such numbers, such as 171,717 and 28,282. A special feature of 69,696 is that it is also a square number — 264 squared — an "undulating square," in fact possibly the largest undulating square. This last point is far from certain, though one numbers hunter in Germany asserts that if there is a larger undulating square, it must have more than a million digits.
Says Pickover, 69,696 is "certainly my favorite of all the integers, a remarkable number" that is almost exactly equal to the average velocity in miles per hour of the Earth in orbit and to the surface temperature in degrees Fahrenheit of some of the hottest stars. And if that doesn't get you undulating with excitement or something . . ..
Question:When it comes to peak sports performance, what's relaxation got to do with it?
Answer: It is key to helping an athlete steer between too much arousal and too little, feeling overstressed or underexcited — the famous Yerkes-Dodson law. And more, the magic mental mantra of "relax, relax" helps shut down the rational mind so the athlete can embrace new visualizations and do so with conviction, says the Southern Methodist University's Wellness Program's "Benefits of Relaxation." Under proper suggestibility, the subconscious mind accepts these visualizations as if they were the real event.
Relaxation training also aids concentration and the screening out of distractions. Overall body awareness improves, giving athletes a better "feel" as they are competing. For example, a marathoner could run "at the edge" or "within herself," a golfer detecting tension might do a brief breathing exercise. Relaxers not only have better control of arousal levels but also "come down" from stress faster, recover better and sleep more soundly. Plus, they are more sociable, able to get along better with coaches, teammates and significant others in life that in turn helps enhance positivity and overall performance.
Send STRANGE questions to brothers Bill and Rich at strangetrue@compuserve.com