When Do Fish Sleep? Part 9

Obviously, if it were cost-effective for most banks to be open longer, they would do it. Automated teller machines have effectively opened the doors of many banks twenty-four hours a day anyway. Unlike bank employees, ATMs don't complain when they aren't excused to leave for the golf course at 3 P.M.

Submitted by Dorio Barbieri of Mountain View, California. Thanks also to Herbert Kraut of Forest Hills, New York.

Speaking of ATMs...When They Were Introduced, ATMs Were Supposed to Save Labor Costs for the Banks and Ultimately Save Money for the Customers. Now My Bank Is Charging Money for Each ATM Transaction. What Gives?

The banking industry is being squeezed from two sides. On the one hand, customers now demand interest on checking accounts and money-market rates on savings accounts. Yet they also want services provided for free.

While it is true that an ATM transaction generally is cheaper for the banks than the same transaction conducted by a teller, banks have spent a fortune buying and installing these machines. As David Taylor, of the Bank Administration Inst.i.tute put it, "As the customer gets more and more convenience and control of his banking options, he will have to pay for each option one at a time." The alternative would be a return to having no service fees but also to customers getting lower interest rates on CDs and checking and savings accounts, which banks know would be suicidal for them. As bank deregulation accelerates and banks are allowed to compete with brokerages and other financial inst.i.tutions, expect to see increasing service charges.

Most banks do not charge for ATM transactions. If there are two big banks in a town, each knows that if it charges for ATM transactions, the other bank will advertise that its machines are free. So the choice between free and pay ATMs is left to what the banking business calls "compet.i.tive reasons," which is fiduciary lingo for "if we think we can get away with charging for it, we will."

Why Does Granulated Sugar Tend to Clump Together?

It ain't the heat, it's the humidity. Sugar is hygroscopic, meaning that it is capable of absorbing moisture from the air and changing its form as a result of the absorption. When sugar is subjected to 80% or higher relative humidity, the moisture dissolves a thin film of sugar on the surface of the sugar crystal. Each of these crystals turns into a sugar solution, linked to one another by a "liquid bridge."

According to Jerry Hageney, of the Amstar Corporation, when the relative humidity decreases, "the sugar solution gives up its moisture, causing the sugar to become a crystal again. The crystals joined by the liquid bridge become as one crystal. Thus, hundreds of thousands of crystals become linked together to form a rather solid lump."

Although we can't see the moist film on sugar exposed to high humidity, it won't pour quite as smoothly as sugar that has never been exposed to moisture. But when it dries up again, the liquid bridge is a strong one. Bruce Foster, of Sugar Industry Technologists, told us that the technology used to make sugar cubes utilizes this natural phenomenon.

To make sugar cubes, water is added to sugar in a cube-shaped mold. After the sugar forms into cubes, it is dried out, and voila! you have a chemical-free way to keep sugar stuck together.

Submitted by Patty Payne of Seattle, Washington.

Why Do Two Horses in an Open Field Always Seem to Stand Head to Tail?

Horses, unlike people, don't bother to make the pretense of listening to what companions have to say. And also, unlike humans, horses have tails. Rather than stand around face-to-face boring each other, figures the horse, wouldn't it be more practical to stand head to tail? This way, with one swish of the tail, a horse can rid its body of flies and other insects while knocking the bugs off of the head of the other horse.

In cold weather, horses are more likely to stand head-to-head, so they can help keep each other warm with their breaths. In this one respect, horses are like people-they are full of an inexhaustible supply of hot air.

Submitted by Mrs. Phyllis A. Diamond of Cherry Valley, California.

Why Does Your Whole Body Ache When You Get a Cold or Flu?

When a virus enters your bloodstream, it releases several compounds that mount your body's defense against infection. Interferon, interleukin, and prostaglandins are among the body's most valuable compounds. They raise a fever, shift the metabolism, and increase blood flow to areas of the body that need it.

Frank Davidoff, of the American College of Physicians, suggests that although science hasn't yet precisely defined their function, there is much evidence to suggest that these compounds are responsible for the aching feeling that accompanies colds and flus. More of the compounds are usually found in the bloodstream during the aching phase than before any symptoms start. And when doctors inject a purified form of each compound into a patient, many of the symptoms of a virus, including fever, sweating, and aching, occur without actually causing the entire illness.

These compounds are effective without anyone knowing precisely how they work, but there are logical explanations for why they work. Davidoff sums it up well: the aching and other symptoms seem to be the "price" that's paid for mounting a defense against the infection. Whether the price is inseparable from the defense isn't clear. Thus, on the one hand, the symptoms might actually be a holdover from some mechanism that was important earlier in evolution but that is unnecessary now in more complex creatures. On the other hand, symptoms like aching may be part and parcel of the defense; I don't believe anyone knows for sure.

Submitted by James Wheaton of Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York.

How Did Romans Do the Calculations Necessary for Construction and Other Purposes Using Roman Numerals?

Our idea of a good time does not include trying to do long division with Roman numerals. Can you imagine dividing CXVII by IX and carrying down numbers that look more like a cryptogram than an arithmetic problem?

The Romans were saved that torture. The Romans relied on the Chinese abacus, with pebbles as counters, to perform their calculations. In fact, Barry Fells, of the Epigraphic Society, informs us that these mathematical operations were performed in Roman times by persons called "calculatores." They were so named because they used calcule (Latin for pebbles) to add, subtract, multiply, and divide.

Submitted by Greg c.o.x of San Rafael, California.

Why Do Some Ice Cubes Come Out Cloudy and Others Come Out Clear?

A caller on the Merle Pollis radio show, in Cleveland, Ohio, first confronted us with this problem. We admitted we weren't sure about the answer, but subsequent callers all had strong convictions about the matter. The only problem was that they all had different convictions.

One caller insisted that the mineral content of the water determined the opacity of the cube, but this theory doesn't explain why all the cubes from the same water source don't come out either cloudy or clear.

Two callers insisted that the temperature of the water when put into the freezer was the critical factor. Unfortunately, they couldn't agree about whether it was the hot water or the cold water that yielded clear ice.

We finally decided to go to an expert who confirmed what we expected-all the callers were wrong. Dr. John Hallet, of the Atmospheric Ice Laboratory of the Desert Research Inst.i.tute in Reno, Nevada, informed us that the key factor in cloud formation is the temperature of the freezer.

When ice forms slowly, it tends to freeze first at one edge. Air bubbles found in a solution in the water have time to rise and escape. The result is clear ice cubes.

The clouds in ice cubes are the result of air bubbles formed as ice is freezing. When water freezes rapidly, freezing starts at more than one end, and water residuals are trapped in the middle of the cube, preventing bubble loss. The trapped bubbles make the cube appear cloudy.

Why Are Most Pencils Painted Yellow?

Pencils came in various colors before 1890, but it was in that year the Austrian L & C Hardtmuth Company developed a drawing pencil that was painted yellow. Available in a range of degrees of hardness, the company dubbed their product Koh-I-Noor.

In 1893, L & C Hardtmuth introduced their Koh-I-Noor at the Chicago World's Colombian Exposition, and Americans responded favorably. Ever since, yellow has been synonymous with quality pencils.

Monika Reed, product manager at Berol USA, told Imponderables that although Berol and other manufacturers make pencils painted in a wide range of colors, yellow retains its great appeal. According to Bill MacMillan, executive vice president of the Pencil Makers a.s.sociation, sales of yellow-painted pencils represent 75% of total sales in the United States.

Submitted by Robert M. Helfrich of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Thanks also to Beth Newman of Walnut Creek, California.

Why Do You Have to Use #2 Pencils on Standardized Tests? What Happens If You Use a #1 Pencil? What Is a #2 Pencil?

If only we could blame our SAT scores on using #1 or #3 pencils! But it's hard to find any other besides #2s anyway.

All-purpose pencils are manufactured in numbers one through four (with half sizes in between). The higher the number, the harder the pencil is. Although the numbers of pencils are not completely standardized, there is only slight variation among compet.i.tors.

The #2 pencil, by far the most popular all-purpose pencil, is considered medium soft (compared to the #1, which is soft; to #2.5, medium; to #3, medium hard; and to #4, hard). Pencils are made harder by increasing the clay content and made softer by increasing the graphite content of the lead.

Why do some administrators of standardized tests insist on #2 pencils? Because the degree of hardness is a happy compromise between more extreme alternatives. A hard pencil leaves marks that are often too light or too thin to register easily on mark-sensing machines. Too soft pencils, while leaving a dark mark, have a tendency to smudge and thus run into the s.p.a.ces left for other answers.

Even some #2 pencils might not register easily on mark-sensing machines. For this reason, Berol has developed the Electronic Scorer. According to Product Manager Monika Reed, "This pencil contains a special soft lead of high electric conductivity," which eases the burden of today's high-speed marking machines.

Unfortunately, even the Electronic Scorer doesn't come with a guarantee of high marks, only accurately scored answers.

Submitted by Liz Stone of Mamaroneck, New York. Thanks also to John J. Clark of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Gail Lee of Los Angeles, California; William Lush of Stamford, Connecticut; and Jenny Bixler of Hanover, Pennsylvania.

Why Do Fish Eat Earthworms? Do They Crave Worms or Will Fish Eat Anything that Is Thrust upon Them?

We have to admit, earthworms wouldn't be our first dining choice. What do fish see in worms that we don't see (or taste)?

R. Bruce Gebhardt, of the North American Native Fishes a.s.sociation, emphasizes that just about any bait can entice a fish if the presentation is proper. Human gourmets may prefer a colorful still life on white china, but fish prefer a moving target. And they are a little less finicky than humans: A pickerel, for example, will attack a lure before it's. .h.i.t the water. It must instantly a.s.sess the size of the bait; if it's a pine cone, it will worry about spitting it out after it is caught.

Most fish are attracted to food by sight, and prefer live bait. Fish are often attacking and testing as much as dining: It is unnecessary to completely convince the fish that the bait is alive. Most fish encountering anything strange will mouth it or closely examine it as potential food; the less opportunity it's liable to have, the more vigorously it will attack.

While the fisherman might think that every pull on his line means the fish finds his worm irresistible, the fish may well be nibbling the worm to determine the ident.i.ty of the bait-by the time it finds out it has caught a worm, it's too late: It is hooked.

Our Imponderable also a.s.sumes that fish may go out of their way to eat earthworms, but Gerry Carr, director of Species Research at the International Game Fish a.s.sociation, a.s.sures us that given a choice, most fish will go after food native to their environment: Nature is const.i.tuted in a way that everything has its place and is in ecological balance. Fish eat the foods that nature provides for them. The fly fisherman is acutely aware of this. He or she knows that trout, for example, at a certain time of year, seem to crave and feast on the type of nymphs that are hatching and falling into the water at that moment. Any other kind of artificial fly will not work, only the one that best imitates the hatch.

Of course, not all fish are that finicky. Catfish eat anything that stinks. Logical! Their purpose in nature is to clean up the bottom, eliminating dead, rotting carca.s.ses that rob water of oxygen and might cause all the fish to die. Nature's vacuum cleaner! And they survive because they have carved out or been given an ecological niche in the system that is not overly in compet.i.tion with other species.

But why will worms attract even finicky fish? Carr continues: Worms, actually, are probably more of a side-dish in the diets of some fishes, a sort of aperitif. Worms look tasty, so the fish eats them. I do not think fish go looking for worms, specifically, unless they have got their appet.i.te whet up for them by an angler conveniently drowning them.

Even if worms aren't native to a fish's environment, they fulfill most of the prerequisites for a favorite fish fast food. The size and shape are good for eating, and the fact that worms are wiggling when alive or look like they are moving even when dead adds to their allure. Carr mentions that barracudas cannot resist any appropriately sized bait or lure that is long and slender or cigar-shaped and moving at the right speed. "But offering them a worm that just sits there would be tantamount to a human asking for jelly instead of 'All-Fruit.'"

One other point needs to be stated. The popularity of earthworms as bait is undoubtedly enhanced by the cheapness, easy availability, and convenience of them. As Gebhardt put it, "It's probably anglers' convenience that has given earthworms their reputation for delectability rather than pet.i.tions signed by fish."

Submitted by Roy Tucker of Budd Lake, New Jersey.

Why Are Stock Prices Generally Quoted in Eighths?

In Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? and Other Imponderables we discussed the derivation of our expression "two bits." In Spain, a bit was one of the "pieces of eight," an actual pieshaped slice of a peso. Two bits were one-quarter of a peso.

Spanish coins circulated freely in the New World before and during colonial times for at least two reasons. There weren't enough native coins to go around, and Spanish gold and silver specie were negotiable just about anywhere in the world (like in the good old days when foreign nations sought American dollars) because they were backed by gold.

Was it a coincidence that two bits of a peso happened to equal two bits of a dollar? Not at all. Peter Eisenstadt, research a.s.sociate at the New York Stock Exchange archives, told Imponderables that when U.S. currency was decimalized in 1785, the U.S. silver dollar was established with a value equivalent to the Spanish silver peso. Though the official divisions of the dollar were in decimals, many continued to divide the new U.S. dollar into eighths and this practice was followed in securities trading.