August doesn’t have any official holidays, but that’s probably a good thing, since most households are too busy throwing birthday parties to celebrate anything else. Birthdays in the United States are not evenly distributed, and August is the number one month for giving birth. July and September are the next two months that keep maternity wards the busiest. Statisticians attribute this to the climate nine months prior to that time; it’s winter, it’s colder (in some areas) and the days are shorter. What better way to while away the hours (or minutes) and keep warm at the same time? There are also some couples who are the types that plan everything, including the estimated date for delivery of their offspring. Teachers and other folks who get the summer months off often time their reproduction accordingly.

Tuesday is the most popular day of the week for birthin’ babies, and Sunday is the slowest day in the Labor & Delivery Department. Actually, this has nothing to do with Nature and everything to do with hospital staffing; elective C-sections and induced labors are naturally scheduled during traditional weekday working hours.

Most of us associate surf music with the 1960s – the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, the Ventures, etc. But that trademark sound actually got its start in the late 1950s, when a young California surfer dude/musician named Dick Dale befriended guitarmaker Leo Fender.

Leo Fender had been designing guitars and amplifiers since 1950, when he introduced the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, the Broadcaster. He continued to tweak and fine-tune his design, and eventually came out with the Telecaster and Stratocaster. Fender gave one of his Stratocaster prototypes to his pal Dick Dale and then laughed when Dale began to strum the right-handed guitar upside down and backwards. Informed of his faux pas, Dale tried to spontaneously transpose his left-handed chords and came up with a unique guitar sound.

Fender also gave Dale one of his amplifiers, which Dale proceeded to blow up in short order. He did the same to subsequent, new and improved amplifiers. Fender finally asked him, “Why do you play so loud?” to which Dale replied that he was trying to give the guitar a “punchy” sound resembling the drum work of jazz great Gene Krupa. Fender went back to the drawing board and designed a higher-power, 85-watt unit that peaked at 100 watts when Dale cranked up his guitar all the way up. Dale was also unsatisfied with his vocal ability – his voice had no vibrato, and he didn’t like the way it sounded when he sustained a note. Leo came to the rescue once again and invented the Fender Tank Reverb, which eventually became a key element in the California “sound” of the Beach Boys and their surf music compadres.

In 2001, The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) determined that English would officially become the standardized language of air travel. It also issued a directive requiring that all aviation personnel – pilots, flight crews, and air traffic controllers – pass an English proficiency test. The mandatory compliancy date is March 5, 2008. Not only must applicants know the appropriate aviation terminology in English, they must also be able to understand English instructions via radio, with no facial cues to prompt them. They also must learn to develop as benign an accent as possible, so that they are “intelligible to the aeronautical community.”

English has been the unofficial language of pilots for many years, but a tragic accident in the Canary Islands in 1977 emphasized the need for a universal aviation language. In this case, two 747 jets – one Pan Am, one KLM – collided on the runway at Tenerife Airport. At one point, the KLM pilot told the tower in a heavy Dutch accent either “We’re now at take-off” or “We’re, uh, taking off.” The tower didn’t understand the message and told KLM to stand by, but a simultaneous communication from Pan Am garbled the instruction. The KLM flight tried to take off while the Pan Am plane was using the same runway to taxi, causing a collision that resulted in more than 500 fatalities. The National Transportation Safety Board review of the cockpit recorder transcriptions determined that the KLM pilot’s use of non-standard English phraseology during the critical moments leading up to the accident contributed to the disaster.

Most of the 185 member countries of the ICAO had no problem with the English language proviso, save for three major airports: Charles de Gaulle in France, and Ottawa International and Montreal-Dorval International, both in Canada. In fact, it was partly because these three hubs wanted to communicate exclusively in French that the ICAO decided that it was time to actually put a law in writing.

30 Rock. King of Queens. Friends. Seinfeld. The Apprentice. Without a Trace. Heroes. Only 2.5 percent of Americans live in New York City. So why does it seem like half of the shows on TV are set there?

By the very nature of the business, most of the folks who get hired as writers for television hail from either New York or Los Angeles. Those who grew up in Gotham naturally write about what they know: riding the subway, rooting for the Yankees, and playing stickball as a kid. They’re comfortable in a crowded environment where citizens may seem a bit indifferent on a larger scale, but who manage to develop tight neighborhood groups and friendships on a smaller one. By contrast, Los Angeles is far more suburban and sprawling, connected by miles of freeway, with folks commuting in their own little microcosms (cars).

Urban dwellers in Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Toronto and many foreign cities can identify more with the daily grind of riding a crowded bus or train and living in an apartment (like New York) rather than a ranch-style home with a fenced back yard (like L.A.). And those same tightly-packed city folks are the ones who watch more TV than their rural counterparts and are the target demographic of advertisers.

New York has the added bonus of being home to some eight million very diverse inhabitants in a small geographic area. The craziness of it all makes for some interesting television. No situation is too improbable in New York, whether it involves finding a Soup Nazi, a psychic pet chiropractor, or a completely impromptu encounter with a bona fide celebrity.

Can dogs see themselves in mirrors or in photographs? Sort of. But that doesn’t mean the image interests them at all.

Canine eyes are set further apart in their skulls than human eyes, and as a rule, they deviate approximately 20 degrees lateral to the midline. (In English, that means there’s an area directly in front of their faces that they can’t see.) Human eyes look straight ahead and have no such deviation. A dog’s total field of vision, however, is approximately 240 to 250 degrees, while homo sapiens only have a 180 degree view of the world. As a result, Fido sees more of the activity going on around him, not right in front of his (rather considerable) nose. They have trouble focusing forward, which is why they tend to cock their heads when you stand in front of them and talk or reach out to them.

Dogs also react more to scent than to visuals, so if that snapshot you’re showing them doesn’t smell like Alpo, they won’t be interested. Likewise he’s not threatened by that “other” dog in the mirror because it’s not giving off any stimulating aroma. Some owners are convinced that Rover can see and admire himself in those family albums, but his reaction is based on their own “oohing” and “awwwing” at the portraits. The pooch tunes in to those happy sounds and hears his name mentioned, and he thinks he’s doing something that pleases you. Cue the doggy smiles and waggy tail.

Think about it. You’ve got the base numbers, one through ten. Almost every number after that, from 12 on, makes obvious sense language-wise because they start with the same letters (two, twelve, twenty; three, thirteen, thirty; four, fourteen, forty, and so on).

And then there’s eleven. “Eleven” is nothing like “one.” So where did it come from?

Some digging revealed that the word is of Old English origin. It came from endleofan, which meant 11, or more literally “one left over.” In fact, twelve is formed in a similar way; it evolved from “two left over” into the Old English twelf. From there on, in the rest of the sequence, teen stands for “ten.”

This begs one question: Why the different references for 11 and 12 than for the teen numbers? It’s very likely due to the fact that England employed a base-12 systems for many common measurements (a 12-hour clock, 12 inches in a foot, 12 pence to a shilling, 12 ounces in a Troy pound, and so on). The numbers 11 and 12 cropped up more often than larger numbers did, so it made sense to refer to them as “left over” from 10.

Many women take the time to employ various techniques to protect themselves from germs in public restrooms. Interestingly enough, however, a lot of those same women don’t think twice about placing their purses down on the floor of the bathroom stall. Not only that, they set them on the floor while riding the bus, or while dining at a restaurant, or while dancing at a nightclub, or on the bedspread at a hotel (they only wash those things about once a year, folks). And then, when they get home, they set that same purse on the kitchen sink or the dining room table while they rifle through the daily mail or check their phone messages.

Recently, Nelson Laboratories of Salt Lake City tested a random selection of ladies’ purses: those belonging to moms, executive-types, and swinging singles. What did they find? Pseudomonas, staphylococcus aurous, salmonella and e-coli. Many of the handbags had fecal contamination, and those belonging to the women that frequented dance clubs also had traces of vomit. In layman’s terms, the pocketbooks were not only coated with bacteria, they were infested with harmful bacteria, the types that can cause all sorts of infections.

Microbiologists recommend treating your purse as you do your shoes – don’t set it on any surface on which you prepare or eat food, including restaurant tables. The same goes for diaper bags. Our opening statement may have been a little exaggerated; a germy purse almost certainly won’t kill you, but it could make you (or members of your family) plenty sick.

The United States was fretting over the possibility of a sneak attack by those pesky Soviets in 1951, so President Harry Truman announced the launch of CONELRAD, or the Control of Electromagnetic Radiation system of emergency notification. One major fear was that the USSR might hone in on American radio signals and use them as beacons for their atomic missiles. Under CONELRAD, all U.S. radio stations would cease broadcasting after an alert from the White House. Listeners were then supposed to tune in to either 640 or 1240 on their AM dials for further information and instruction. (Radios manufactured during this time had Civil Defense logos marked on those dial positions.)

By 1963, the Soviet Union had switched to ballistic missiles, and zeroing in on radio signals was no longer necessary since long-distance attacks were now possible using other techniques. CONELRAD was retired and replaced by the Emergency Broadcast System. The EBS was a relay system: an official alert from Washington first went to primary stations, then to secondary stations, and so on. The primary station sent the Alert Tone, made up of sine waves of 853 and 960 Hz, and then stations across the U.S. automatically switched over to broadcast the emergency information being sent from the source. By FCC law, all radio and television stations were required to perform a random “Weekly Transmission Test of the Attention Signal and Test Script” (“This is only a test. Had this been a real emergency…”).

The EBS was replaced in 1997 by the Emergency Alert Service, which allows broadcast stations, satellite radio, cable systems, DBS systems, participating satellite companies, and other services to receive emergency information automatically, even if their facilities are unattended.

The military is full of confusing terms, and those poor folks in uniform have to memorize all this stuff (on top of things like General Orders and the lyrics to “Anchors Aweigh.”) The Army divides their units up differently than the Navy and the Marines, so while one branch of the service might have a regiment, another will have a fleet.

In the Army, squads are made up of up to a dozen people. Squads can be combined to form a platoon, which consist of 20 to 40 soldiers. Put three to five platoons together, and you’ve got a company. Companies grouped together form battalions, and battalions are grouped together to make a regiment. A regiment can consist of up to 5,000 soldiers, but we’re not done combining yet. Slap together two or more regiments, and you’ve got yourself a division. You’ve probably heard the various divisions being referred to by number on the news, such as 101st Airborne Division, etc. The Army may not always be logical, but it is sequential, and its various divisions started at number one and continued on as they were created. During peacetime, many divisions were deemed no longer necessary and were deactivated. The active divisions kept their assigned numbers rather than being shuffled around to fill in the gaps that were left.

Do folks who’ve been married for a long time tend to die within a short time of one another? “Broken heart syndrome” isn’t just a romantic movie cliché; studies have shown that the death rate for widowed persons is 40% higher than for non-married persons of the same age.

Suicide rates among surviving spouses are higher than for the rest of the population, but that’s not the main reason married folks follow one another’s heels to the great beyond. Grief brings on stress, and stress can compromise the body’s immune system. Add to that the all-too-common tendency of the grieving spouse to numb the sorrow with booze or medications, and now they are candidates for heart or liver disease. This is particularly true for older people who have outlived their friends and relatives and have no outside “support system.” The spouse (when alive) was the lone individual that nagged the other to stop smoking, to go to the doctor, to take medications and prescriptions, and to get some exercise.

The highest mortality rate is among those over age 65 who’ve lost a spouse after a long or chronic illness. Even though the natural assumption would be that the survivor would be relieved to be rid of the burden of being a caretaker, the opposite is often true. Older people prefer a daily purpose of some sort and a routine, and when a spouse has a lingering illness, tending to the loved one’s needs becomes the retiree’s new “job.” Once the sick person is gone, the survivor has lost not only a constant companion, but also the main reason for getting out of bed in the morning.

Who knew that the human eye came with so much baggage? Dark circles and puffiness underneath, we mean, both of which seem to become more pronounced as we age.

The thinnest layer of skin on our bodies lies around our eyes. As a result, the tiny veins and capillaries that run through that area are more visible. The blood in the veins under the eyes drains into the veins of the nose. If your nose is congested due to allergies or a cold, those veins constrict and the flow of blood is blocked. It pools in those under-eye veins, engorging them and making them appear larger and darker.

When you’re sleep-deprived, your circulation slows down and your skin gets a pasty tone to it, which will emphasize any dark circles you already have. Likewise, when you’re extra tired, your facial muscles tend to sag more, so those ol’ bags just pop right out. Have you noticed eye bags in the mirror first thing in the morning? While you sleep, fluid in your body tends to pool in low-lying areas, which includes the orbital cavities. If you had a lot of salt or caffeine during the previous day, the eye bags will be even more pronounced because your body retained that much more water.

Now that we’ve identified the main causes of puffy eyes, what can we do to prevent looking like we’ve just gone five rounds with Mike Tyson? Forget Preparation H. The stuff was re-formulated years ago and no longer contains the eye rejuvenation ingredient that fashion models once swore by. Medicos recommend lowering your salt/caffeine/alcohol intake, seeing an ENT specialist for any allergies, and sleeping with your head elevated. Of course, there’s no shame in seeking additional assistance from Maybelline or Max Factor.

Unless your name is Butch.

Sorry for that mangling of the TLC song, “No Scrubs.” You’re not the only one to complain, though. Patient complaints at hospitals have caused some administrators to revise their facilities’ dress code.

Through the turn of the 20th century, surgeons were still skeptical of Dr. Joseph Lister’s theories about bacteria causing infections. Many doctors didn’t wear any type of protective clothing while performing surgery. By the 1930s, however, it had become customary to use sterile surgical drapes and gowns in the OR. White was chosen as the universal color for doctors’ surgical apparel, as it suggested cleanliness. Unfortunately, the combination of bright operating room lights and stark white uniforms made eyestrain a problem for physicians and nurses alike. In addition, when students or fellow doctors observed procedures in surgical theaters, the white-on-white glare made it difficult to focus on what was happening on the operating table.

Tests revealed that green was easiest on the eyes, so by the late 1950s, “surgical green” became the color of choice for scrubs. The color was tweaked a bit in the 1970s, when it became routine to videotape surgeries for training purposes; ciel blue (a light green-blue shade) photographed better than traditional green. By the 1990s, many hospitals had stopped providing their staff with scrubs as a cost-saving measure. When doctors, nurses and aides were forced to spend their own money on clothes, designers quickly moved to attract their business by offering scrubs in a myriad of colors and styles.

Hospitals are always looking at the bottom line, though, and that means attracting more patients. Recent studies have shown that most patients feel more secure at a facility where they can identify personnel by their uniforms. As a result, many health facilites now enforce color-coded dress codes, where staffers in different departments wear different colors.

Of course, such a policy also avoids the problem of receiving bad news about a loved one from a doctor wearing a Spongebob Squarepants scrub shirt. And that’s important.

Today, infants riding in vehicles must be securely strapped in backward-facing safety seats, while older children travel in larger safety seats in the back of automobiles. Just 40 years ago, however, kids not only rode in the car on Mom’s lap, they also sat three-in-the-front-seat on family outings. (To be fair, larger, heavier vehicles helped to keep occupants safe back then, not to mention the fact that there were fewer autos on the road overall.)

While the concept of seat belts had been around for years, most automakers didn’t begin offering them as an accessory until the 1950s. (Interestingly enough, prior to that time, it was not uncommon for physicians – who were well familiar with crash statistics – to special order vehicles equipped with lap restraints.) By 1964, 23 states had passed a law that required new cars to have lap belts installed in the front seats of vehicles. Four years later, automobile manufacturers made lap belts standard equipment in the back seat as well. 1968 was also the year that American autos first offered three-point restraints (the shoulder/lap belt combo in use today) in the front seats of vehicles. But these rules and regulations were foisted strictly on the auto manufacturers, not the consumers.

Public service announcements were full of “buckle up for safety” warnings throughout the 1970s, because at that time, it was up to the discretion of the driver and passengers whether or not to make use of the installed restraints. It wasn’t until 1984 that New York enacted the first statewide mandatory seat belt law. Now, most states require belt usage for front seat passengers, and many for rear seat occupants as well.

Guns are everywhere, and unfortunately, there have been far too many stories about gun violence in the news lately. But reading them did make us wonder what’s it like to be shot with a handgun.

Yes, we know it’s no fun, but beyond that… 

• Unlike what you’ve seen in the movies, a person shot at point-blank range by a handgun will not be lifted off the ground and sail through the air. If a handgun packed that much velocity, the shooter would be propelled backwards in a similar fashion.
• Being shot by a pistol wouldn’t drop you in your tracks, unless you faint. The only gunshot wounds that are immediately incapacitating (where the victim slumps to the ground and cannot move) are those to the brain or upper spinal cord. Even if the victim receives a direct wound to the heart, it’s not an immediate “lights out.” It may take minutes for complete circulatory collapse. In the meantime, the brain is still sending out “fight or flight” messages.
• When the shooter is far away (or is using low-caliber ammunition), the entry wound takes the brunt of the tissue damage. Most internal organs are rather elastic, which helps in these situations. The slug uses up most of its kinetic energy piercing the flesh to enter the body, and internal organs may bend and stretch a bit to avoid being pierced by the projectile.
• Time is of the essence in surviving any gunshot wound, of course, not only because of the resulting blood loss, but also due to the potential for infection. A shooting victim whose bowel or intestine gets nicked runs the risk of leaking fecal matter, which can cause deadly peritonitis.

It started popping up in recent years as a popular wallpaper on web pages (especially those that have a pop culture theme). Just the sight of it made Baby Boomers all nostalgic and asking “What is that design? I know I’ve seen it before…” Where you saw it was probably in your parents’ bathroom or on your grandma’s old kitchen table.

It was originally called “Skylark,” but most folks refer to it as the “boomerang” pattern, and its recent surge in popularity surprises Formica, the designers of the kitschy laminate. Formica got its start in 1912 when the company’s founders developed a way to coat mica with resin, cure it, and then press it flat. The product was used as an insulator for automobile components, radio parts and other industrial gizmos. When Westinghouse began marketing a similar type of insulation, Formica decided to find another niche.

It came in the form of the post-WWII housing boom. Formica patented a rotogravure printing process that produced decorative designs on sheet laminate that could be used on tables and counter tops. In the early 1950s, Milwaukee designer Brooks Stevens came up with a pattern of interlocking “boomerangs” in blue, pink and yellow against a gray background. Skylark, as it was named, appeared in restaurants and on passenger trains and soon became one of Formica’s most popular patterns.

As times and tastes changed, Formica dropped Skylark from its product line and added more subtle, earthy colors and designs instead. In 1988, the company re-released Skylark in updated “punk” colors, but it quickly became clear that customers were clamoring for the original. As of 2005, the original Skylark returned in all its aqua and charcoal-gray glory.