Pointless
Questions...with Aaron Mucciolo
Ever
notice that when the sun comes out, and the weather warms up, and
the birds start chirping, and the flowers growing, its almost
impossible not to smile and relax a bit? Id ask myself the
question Why is that? but I think some things are better
left unexamined
I should write for Hallmark, instead of spending my afternoons hunting
down answers to questions like these:
Why is it that your nose (or my nose, anyway) starts to run when
its cold outside? Or even worse, right after I come into a
warm building from a snowy day? Katie Shilton, college junior
Its called vasomotor rhinitis, says Laura Hieronymus,
Oberlins Health Service Director. That is a fancy name
for the blood vessels expanding and contracting in response to temperature
changes which causes mucus in your nose to be produced.
Rhinitis is an inflammation of the nose (rhin means
nose. Think rhinoceros) and can come in three flavors: infectious
(colds), allergic, and vasomotor. Allergic rhinitis can be seasonal
if youre allergic to pollens, or year-round if dust or molds
get to you. Vasomotor rhinitis is considered by some to cover every
other case of stuffy or runny noses when colds or allergies cant
account for the symptoms. The blood vessels (hence the vaso,
meaning vein) in the nose swell up for a variety of reasons including
temperature changes, stress or anger, and even sensitivity to certain
odors.
Sadly, it looks like youll just have to keep wiping your nose
during the winter since antihistamines tend not to work well. It
is annoying but not really considered a health problem, adds
Hieronymus.
Last
week you talked about the two rocks in Tappan Square. There are
three. What about the third one? Dave Karpf, college senior
That
one (across from King) doesnt have a plaque on it and was
therefore not included in the question as it concerned the plaques
on the rocks.
Pedant.
I
was wondering why some airplanes make jet trails and others do not.
Any ideas? Susan Powell, college junior
Plenty. But my theories about it all just being a capitalist plot
will have to wait. Heres someone who actually knows something:
Vapor trails depend an awful lot on the basic temperature
of the altitude, the humidity, and the heat of the engine of the
plane, says Bob Dreesen, a researcher at the Smithsonian Air
and Space Museum Library.
Its a pretty universal phenomenon, Dressen adds.
Even prop [propeller] planes can create vapor trails.
He mentions that during World War II, Spitfire planes, and even
big, slower moving bombers like the B-17 and B-24, operating at
high altitudes, would create vapor trails in the cold air over Germany
during the winter. Pretty much all thats required is a hot
enough engine.
What
does Sinn Fein mean?
Sinn Fein (pronounced shin fay-n) is a political party in Northern
Ireland, UK, dedicated to Irish peoples self-determination.
The name comes from an Irish Gaelic expression meaning we
ourselves or sometimes translated as ourselves alone
and ostensibly refers to their goal of removing British control
of the region.
If
someone was sick, with a cold, lets say, and had a sore throat,
wouldnt drinking alcohol improve ones health because
it would kill all the nasty bacteria in his or her throat? Allison
Moon, college junior
Back to Ms. Hieronymus for this one: When you are infected
with a virus such as cold or flu it is really a systemic infection,
the virus is in the sinuses, the lungs, and actually in
the tissues of the throat. Therefore a quick exposure to alcohol
in the throat cannot kill the viruses that are making you sick.
And here I was planning on seeing if Robitussin goes well with tequila.
By the way, several people mentioned an inaccuracy in my last column.
The rocks in Tappan Square were actually stripped clean of paint
last Commencement, so they were not unreadable for the last
40 years as I joked. Thanks to Tom Simchak for pointing that
out first.
Spring
has sprung, the grass has riz. Now send me some questions dangit.
Otherwise Ill sing. I mean it. Email aaron.mucciolo@oberlin.edu
or write to Pointless Questions, c/o The Oberlin Review, Wilder
Box 90, Oberlin OH, 44074. Your name will be used only with your
permission.
|