Re: [Phys-l] "Ask Marilyn"

["Pete Lohstreter" <plohstreter@mail.hockaday.org>]

Forum for Physics Educators <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu> writes:
> Did anyone see the "Ask Marilyn" column in this week's Parade 
> Magazine? I used to always tell my students that there are no dumb 
> questions, but this week she proved me wrong with a sample of 10 of 
> the dumbest questions I have ever heard. What was even dumber, was 
> her statement that they were unanswerable. Most of them were so 
> trivial that they should be answerable by any adult who completed 
> grammar school.
>
> I'll admit that I might have trouble keeping from laughing if I was 
> on the receiving end of any of them, and I'll admit that a couple of 
> them would require a minute or two to think about how to answer them, 
> but unanswerable? I don't think so.
>
> Hugh
> -- 
Here are the question.  Not her best list, but a good one.

 

The city of Toledo, Ohio, is urging its residents to lose weight to the
tune of one million pounds. With that much weight exiting our planet from
such a small location, could it alter the Earth's orbit around the
Sun?—Swanton, Ohio

In movies, when someone gets out of a car at night, why doesn't the dome
light ever go on?          —Sebring, Fla.

I notice that global warming increased after daylight saving time started
in 1974. Well, duh! More daylight is going to make the world hotter, isn't
it?—Pasadena, Calif.

If a person on television held up a mirror facing a camera, could someone
at home see his reflection in it? —Colorado Springs, Colo.

As I travel the highways, I notice signs that read "Deer Crossing." How do
the deer know to cross at those signs?—Ovilla, Tex.

Why are the Three Musketeers always depicted with swords? Why not
muskets?—Burbank, Calif.

Why do the eyes of life-size cardboard figures of people appear to watch
and fellow you as you pass by?    —Tyler, Tex.

I've heard that the Earth's magnetic poles are reversing. Will the strip
in my credit card still work? Will my refrigerator repel my
magnets?—Portland. Maine

Why don't eggs taste like chicken?    —St Louis, Mo.

Do I have more of a chance of catching a cold if I am chewing gum and
blowing bubbles? In other words, can airborne germs be caught by my bubble
and then ingested after it has deflated and the gum is back in my
mouth?—Saddle Brook, NJ.




Pete Lohstreter                           "Happy is he who gets to know 
The Hockaday School                 the reasons for things. "
11600 Welch Rd                          Virgil (70-19 BCE) Roman poet.
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plohstreter@mail.hockaday.org

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