Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 10, 1995 TAG: 9509080137
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: G-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A: The White House Office of Correspondence says a letter is required to nominate a person for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The address: President Bill Clinton, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500.
Q: What is the symbolism for the colors of the U.S. flag? Red stands for the blood shed by those who fought for freedom, but what about blue and white?
A: The Continental Congress never recorded why it chose red, white and blue. But in 1782, the Congress of the Confederation chose the same colors for the newly designed Great Seal of the United States. In its resolution explaining the choices, it said red was for hardiness and courage; white for purity and innocence; and blue for vigilance, perseverance and justice. .
Q: A TV program said Noah's Ark had been found preserved under the ice in Turkey and would be excavated. What exactly happened?
A: No, the ark has not been found. ``Quest for the Ark,'' produced by Channel 4 in London, was shown on the Learning Channel. Channel 4 had nothing further to add, but the Turkish Embassy in Washington said ark expeditions have been mounted numerous times over the years, always with no results. He said most searches have been around Mount Ararat and another mountain 20 miles away, but those areas are off limits now ``because of troubles in the area.'' If the ark is ever found, you'll hear about it.
Q: What was the outcome of hearings into the crash of USAir Flight 427 in Pennsylvania last year? A government agency was investigating the Boeing 737's tail rudder section.
A: The investigation is continuing. ``The public hearing helped us gather a significant amount of facts,'' said Michael Benson, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB plans further tests and will reconvene the public hearings later this year ``to consider additional information in this very difficult and complex accident,'' he said. The investigation has been hampered by what Benson called ``inadequate'' cockpit recorders.
Q: What was the longest trial ever heard by a jury in the United States?
A: It was a case concerning a chemical spill in Sturgeon, Mo. The trial started Feb. 6, 1984, and ended Oct. 22, 1987, according to the Guinness Book of Records. After that, the jury deliberated for two months. Sturgeon residents were awarded $17.2 million, but in 1991 the Illinois Appellate Court overturned the award because the jury in the original trial had not found that the spill caused any damage.
Q: In the movie ``Apollo 13,'' how was the effect of weightlessness created? It looked so realistic.
A: The moviemakers didn't want the fakey ``Star Wars'' look. So they did the real thing, using a Boeing 707 from NASA's fleet. To train astronauts, the NASA plane flies to 30,000 feet and then dives into an arc. In the open cargo bay, astronauts - and in this case, actors playing astronauts - go into a gravity-free state for just over 20 seconds before the plane pulls out of the dive. More than 500 such dives were required to get enough footage for the film's out-of-this-world scenes. . .
Q: I've heard about a simple way to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. What is it?
A: For a rough estimate, double the Celsius number and add 30. For example, if you were in Montreal in February and you saw a sign flashing -15, that would mean minus 15 degrees Celsius. Double that, and you get minus 30; add 30 and you get zero. But it's not perfect. The accurate (but harder to remember) way to convert from Celsius is to multiply by 1.8 and add 32; to convert to Celsius, subtract 32 and divide by 1.8. In our example, Montreal's minus 15 Celsius actually would be 5 degrees above zero Fahrenheit.
Q: Do egg whites have any nutritional value?
A: Yes. The white of one egg has only 17 calories, zero grams of fat, 31/2 grams of very high-quality protein, low sodium and some potassium and B vitamin, said Connie Crawley, food nutrition specialist with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service. In an egg yolk, there are 213 milligrams of cholesterol and five grams of fat. However, because of the low volume of an egg white, you don't get much of anything, she said. Eat two egg whites and you'll get the same amount of protein as you would in a whole egg, and eliminate the fat and cholesterol.
Q: I always thought it was Mount Vesuvius that erupted and destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy. But a tour guide in Naples said it was Mount Cumis. Which is correct?
A: Vesuvius, which occasionally still threatens its surroundings, gets the blame. When it erupted on Aug. 24, 79 A.D., it destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum and another settlement, Stabiae. A vivid eyewitness report is preserved in two letters written by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus, who had inquired about the death, just after the disaster, of Pliny the Elder.
Q: I was asked recently to donate to the U.S. Humane Society to ``free Willy.'' What happened to the money the moviemakers collected?
A: You're talking about Keiko, the subject of the film ``Free Willy'' and a sequel. Keiko's Mexican owner keeps him in a marine park in Mexico. The Free Willy Foundation wants to raise money to free Keiko and move him to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, under construction at Newport, Ore. Several organizations, including the Humane Society of the United States, are trying to raise $10 million. The moviemaker, Warner Bros., donated $2 million. The foundation wants to move the whale to Oregon, restore him to health and perhaps train him to live on his own, said Kathy Bauch of the humane society. The aquarium also would be used for research into whale and dolphin behavior. Bauch said donations are still needed. Checks can be written to HSUS/FWF. Mail to the Humane Society of the United States, 2100 L St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037.
Q: After seeing ``Waterworld,'' I wonder about the icecaps. It they were to melt, would the Earth be covered with water?
A: A ``Waterworld'' scenario would not occur. Naturally, coastal populations and low-lying islands would be severely impacted, but the melting of the ice sheets wouldn't cause the Earth's land surface to disappear under water. That is the premise for ``Waterworld.'' Steve Gill at the National Ocean Service in Washington said the rise in sea level would be about 230 feet, representing the volume of water contained in the ice. That would inundate ``a lot of land'' along coastal zones, he said. But new areas of land, compressed by the weight of the ice, would emerge. William J. Fritz, professor of geology at Georgia State University, said that 2 million years ago, sea level was as high as it would be now if the icecaps melted. Then it dropped back to 200 miles offshore, compared to where it is today. From 10,000 to 13,000 years ago, sea level was about 600 feet lower than at present, Fritz said, and for the past 500 years, it has been rising about a foot a century.
Q: I would like to contribute to Pat Buchanan's campaign. What is his address?
A: Buchanan for President, 6862 Elm St., Suite 210, McLean, Va. 22101.
by CNB