Mid-Mensan The Newsletter of Mid-Hudson Mensa	January/February 2000
Cover: Millennium Muddle (21Kb)

A Happy New Year to one and all! We've been predicting and expecting the Y2K bug for the past 2 years; now that's it's upon us... well... I'm expecting the New Year to start with a couple of glitches, and then settle back into the familiar routine we all expect... SNOW and COLD!!

Several people asked me what I wanted for Christmas-- a bright orange cap to wear while driving. You know, something to scare the deer away!! Oh, in case you hadn't heard, my car hit a deer and/or vice versa. This happened just before Thanksgiving, but after I wrote my column last month. I'm fine, but the car needed some work. So I think this is a wonderfully appropriate gift, and practical too!

On the Mensa front, Mid-Hudson has been approached by our RVC, Deb Stone, to host a Local Officer Training Workshop this year. We're looking into finding a hotel, and more info will follow concerning this.

I'd like to extend a big thank you to Bibi Sandstrom for her publicity work, and as gift wrapper extraordinaire!! Her work is behind the scenes; we read about it in the local papers, or hear on the radio, but we often don't know how it got there. Well, it got there because Bibi put it there! A great big Millennium Hug for you from everyone in Mid-Hudson Mensa.

On the dog front, Casper is recovering from his accident very rapidly. Perhaps a bit too rapidly for his owner, Ms. Betsy, who now has to run after him in order to stop him from running upstairs. The vet said he isn't supposed to be doing that, even though he wants to.

Our Local Scholarship Co-ordinator, Betsy Burke, is looking for more people to serve as judges. I hope everyone is familiar with MERF's annual scholarship contest. After receiving the essays locally, they are judged and the best essays go on to compete that the next higher level. We are always looking for more people to help us judge the essays at the local level. If you're willing to commit a day or two, or an evening or two or so, please contact Betsy and tell her you want to help.

FINAL REMINDER. Entertainment® 2000 books will soon be gone!! If you still want one, you need to call me NOW!! January 4th is the deadline!! We've been advertising them, and you've been warned. Call now!

Offer not valid in Colorado, Texas and New Jersey. Bichon attention optional. Dog yummies WILL be consumed, and the donors licked.

And with what profound comments do I begin my first column of 2000?

"Creatively" wrapping your Gimme- Grabbee Gift with back issues of the newsletter does not score brownie points with ye editor. Though I must admit, the idea of using last April's "To Serve Man" cover for a cookbook was a nice touch (especially since ye editor, who likes to cook, got it).

I've given this month's cover, which is by Alan Hauck, the nickname "Battling Babies." The theme, "2000 vs. 2001: Which starts the new Millennium?" is a common item of discussion in many Mensa newsletters right now. Me? I don't care. I'd rather watch everybody else discuss it.

The January/February issue is always one where I feel like Dr. Who from the British TV series. Most of the columnists write their columns in mid-December, before the holidays. But I have to think about things like newsletter deadlines and calendar event planning, so I'm constantly "time-traveling" between the past, present and future.

It's also hard to believe that with this issue, I've completed three years as editor of Mid-Mensan. Just as I said several years ago, when I was nearing the end of my second term as locsec, four years in a job seems like a good time to move on. So now I'm looking for someone to follow in my footsteps in 2001, or sooner if interested.

(From Science, Vol. 286, 10/28/99, pp. 913-914.)

Almost 600,000 people a year die from cancer in American, making it the second most common cause of death after heart attacks. "Cancer" is a generic term covering many types of cancer with many causes and different outcomes. A common feature of many tumors is uncontrolled pro liferation (production of new cells). As new cells are produced, they disrupt the normal function of the surrounding tissues; or, if they metastasize (move to other sites), of other tissues.

You can get lung cancer, which arose from a lung cell, or cancer in the lung that originated in another tissue and they are different cancers. Eventually the organ filled with cancer cells fails and if the organ is essential to life, the person dies. A common strategy in chemotherapy is to take advantage of the fact that cancer cells proliferate faster than most normal tissues and develop drugs that interfere with the cell's reproductive cycle. These drugs can also interfere with normal cell reproduction in hair cells, the intestinal lining and bone marrow, causing the side effects of chemotherapy.

(From Science, Vol. 286, 10/22/99, pp. 707-710.)

Chemosensation in higher organisms consists of taste and smell. These senses have different anatomical locations. Terrestrial animals like humans smell airborne chemicals, typically small fat soluble organic molecules. In mammals, olfactory sensory neurons (nerve cells for smelling) have cilia in the olfactory epithelium (outside layer of skin) of the nasal cavity and a single axon which reaches to the olfactory bulb in the brain.

A large family of genes, the largest known to exist in any animal genome (all the genes in the cell), has been identified that are selectively expressed in the olfactory epithelium. A diverse selection of receptors are necessary to detect and identify the many different chemicals that we smell. There are an estimated 1000 genes in rats, 500-750 in humans and 100 in zebrafish and catfish. A puzzle is the large number of pseudo-genes (nonfunctional genes) in hu mans between 38 to 76% of the olfactory genes. Pseudogenes are rare in other vertebrate species. Could the pseudogenes lead to perceptual diversity in humans, as not all humans can smell the same odors, or is that why our sense of smell is inferior to that of other animals? Does that reflect that humans rely more on visual and sound clues or did the loss of olfactory genes force us to depend more on other senses?

Usually multigene families cluster on one or a few chromosomes, but most chromosomes have at least one small cluster of olfactory genes, which makes for more difficult gene regulation.

The olfactory system has similarities to the immune system. Both are molecular recognition systems that detect an extremely broad range of different chemicals. Both are probabilistic systems, recognizing unpredictable combinations of molecules that each have no intrinsic biological meaning. We can smell a substantial fraction of the millions of chemicals floating in air.

Taste can be distinguished anatomically from smell. The neural pathways from the oral cavity end in different regions of the brain than those from the nasal cavity. Taste is much less physically complex than smell, but the molecular knowledge of taste is much less than that of smell.

Here's another pun from Dave Raften, a friend from Wappingers Falls, NY.

One of the pups in a breeder's litter of collies had a strange appetite-- fos tered, no doubt, because the dog fancier's kennel was deep in the southern United States. The odd youngster spurned regular dog food; no meaty tidbits could tempt him, and he hated dog biscuits. Just in time to save the little dog's life, the owner found he would eat nothing but watermelons. He doted on them.

His brother pups could not understand this and they teased him unmercifully. He became the butt of their pranks until his tail would droop and he would whimper and shiver in a corner. His mother, trying to comfort him, called him to her.

She said, "Come to me, my melon collie baby."

Send your favorite groaner to PUNS c/o Jim Jelacic.

The newest game in my inventory is a Mensa "Mind Select" game from a couple of years ago, Spy Alley™, produced by SPY ALLEY Partners, L.I.P., ©1992, William Stephenson. Spy Alley is a game for two to six agents of espionage.

The object of Spy Alley is to be the first spy to acquire the password, disguise, codebook and key of the country you represent and land on the appropriate embassy square on the board, or to be the last player left after all others have been eliminated.

As spies move around the board, they may purchase the items they need to win the game. However, each player gets to see what each other player has purchased, so you probably want to buy more than just your own equipment, to cover your own identity.

Besides moving around the outside of the board, players can (and some times must) enter Spy Alley in the center of the board. This route contains all the embassies plus a couple of interesting additional squares. If you have all your equipment and land on your own embassy, you win.

Players can also be eliminated if their identity is guessed by another player. You may guess a player's identity instead of taking your turn, or if you land on the "Free Guess" square on Spy Alley. If you are right, the other player is out of the game. But if you're wrong, you're out. Whoever remains confiscates the eliminated player's inventory and may also assume the identity of the other spy instead of their own identity.

I got this by e-mail earlier this month. It's the "best" virus alert I've seen in a while. There's just enough close-to-accurate information in it to make many people wonder. I've inserted footnotes in various places for which I've added my own thoughts at the bottom:

This was forwarded to me from corporate this morning.¹

THERE IS A NEW VIRUS BEING SENT via EMAIL CALLED "IT TAKES GUTS TO SAY JESUS"²

If you receive an email titled "It Takes Guts to Say Jesus" DO NOT OPEN IT. It will erase everything on your hard drive.³ This information was announced yesterday morning from IBM;⁴ AOL states that this is a very dangerous virus, much worse than "Melissa", and that there is NO remedy for it at this time.⁵ Some very sick individual has succeeded in using the reformat function from Norton Utilities causing it to completely erase all documents on the hard drive.⁶

It has been designed to work with Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.⁷ It destroys Macintosh and IBM compatible computers.⁸ This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it.⁹ Pass this warning along to EVERYONE in your address book¹⁰ and please share it with all your online friends ASAP so that this threat may be stopped.

1. Of what company? Notice that there is never an originator of the note.
2. No, there isn't. This title is an urban legend.
3. E-mail does not erase everything on your hard drive. However, a file included as an attachment to an e-mail, which you executed, could contain a virus. Some e-mail clients ARE unintelligent enough (or can be set that way) to trust and run programs attached to your e-mail, and that IS dangerous.
4. No, it wasn't. Trust me, I work there. Besides, if a legitimate virus is a big enough concern, it still makes the newspapers and television. Did you see this one on either?
5. AOL doesn't make these kind of announcements either.
6. From an e-mail? See number 3.
7. Really? Even if you don't use them? These products were just thrown in to make the warning sound technically more dangerous to the new user.
8. One program can destroy two incompatible types of computers? Define "destroy." I thought it just erased everything on your hard drive.
9. Maybe because it doesn't exist?
10. The "forward this to everyone you know" bit IS the propagation method of the malicious entity-- which is the hoax e-mail itself.

I suppose, since I covered cooking tips for the November column, I have to continue now with the inevitable January column - getting back in shape, or at least losing a few pounds. It's possible many of you will disagree with some of the things I'll say in this month's column. I'll begin with my most interesting opinion:

Don't Diet!

Think about it: a diet is usually a drastic change in your eating habits you go on to lose weight, and when you've lost sufficient weight (or are tired of it), you go off it. But after you go off it, what do you do? Go back to your old eating habits? Numerous studies have shown that a significant portion of dieters who lost weight this way gain much of it back - sometimes more. Studies have also shown that it's even more dangerous in the long term to have your weight fluctuate frequently than to be overweight but relatively stable in your weight.

Okay, So Instead What?

Instead adopt a style of eating what you would/should eat if you were at your ideal weight (i.e. eat healthy). It's not glamorous - you don't lose weight nearly as fast. But you know what? Your body handles it better! Your body doesn't go into the mode of "I'm not getting as much nourishment, so I'd better slow down," so your energy level remains constant. And by losing weight a bit more slowly and sensibly, your skin has time to react and contract without sagging (exercise helps here too).

What About Those High-Protein Diets?

DUMP THEM NOW!!! Want some incentive? Find a medical book and read about ketosis. Isn't it interesting that this diet is almost 100% the opposite of what is considered one of the healthiest eating styles, The Mediterranean Style? How about a few other points that are rarely mentioned, such as:

• You can get protein from sources other than meat.
• Your body can absorb only so much protein at a time. What happens to the rest of it? It gets converted to fat!
• Studies have shown that an excess of protein in the diet causes sluggishness. When was the last time you heard of sluggishness helping you lose weight?

Don't believe me? Try reading some other articles. The most recent one I read was called, "Don't Have A Cow", in the December issue of Men's Health magazine.

Still don't believe me? Have you seen me recently?

"Love is in the air" and no better time than in February and its special St. Valentine's Day. For all of you who are, who have been, or who want to be in love, try to find the following TV shows that have "love" or "loves" in its title.

1. TV's all time favorite sitcom: a wacky redhead drives her Cuban husband crazy.
2. The trials of an Irish Catholic bride and a Jewish groom with their respective in-laws. The two leading characters were husband and wife in real life (at that time).
3. Short, comic skits made up this 70's look at love in America. "Happy Days" grew from a sketch here.
4. Speaking of "Happy Days", this spin-off featured Richie Cunningham's sister and Fonzie's cousin.
5. This typical 60's teenager tried to obtain the love of his dreams each week; hard to do with his good buddy beatnik friend Maynard G. Krebs hanging around.
6. A New York sports writer trying to maintain his sanity in the confrontations between his wife and his parents who live across the street.
7. A&E's series of a British antique dealer solving crimes.
8. The object of this game show was to choose your partner for a blind date. Sometimes the connection didn't work out.
9. The cruise ship was a perfect 'meet market' for singles to find new partners and marrieds to rekindle their romance. (Two answers)
10. Action series about a black, female Los Angeles police detective.

Answers near the end of this newsletter.

Many female singers who have successful solo careers have also typically had big hits when paired with successful male singers. For each group of men, identify the diva who has had one or more big hits with each one of them:

1. Peabo Bryson, Clive Griffin, R. Kelly
2. Joe Cocker, Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers
3. Neil Diamond, Barry Gibb, Bryan Adams, Don Johnson
4. Michael Jackson, Herb Alpert (lead vocals on one of his instrumentals)
5. John Travolta, Andy Gibb, Cliff Richard
6. Tom Petty, Don Henley, Kenny Loggins (accompanying vocals)
7. Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie, Julio Iglesias
8. Johnny Mathis, Luther Vandross, Jeffrey Osborne, and as a quartet with Elton John and Stevie Wonder (and Gladys Knight)
9. Peabo Bryson, Aaron Neville
10. George Michael, Elton John

Answers near the end of this newsletter.

Easy:

JEYFY'H SLGQ SLY OTQ JS ETMY T

ETAAQ BTFFDTWY TLX TH HSSL TH D

GYTFL OETJ DJ DH, D'GG WYJ BTFFDYX

TWTDL. VGDLJ YTHJOSSX

Hard - no punctuation, grouped in 5:

VYAUH LMCZE QCOKZ YRMUH EQMZM PCZEM

OKMTY NEQMH YWZTY FMTEU OPMTH YZZ

Answers near the end of this newsletter.

Greetings, Fellow Trivians! Here are the answers to November's questions:

Q66: True or False: Reno, NV is east of Los Angeles, CA.
A66: False.

Q67: What actor played a single dad the most times on prime time TV?
A67: Robert Urich in 4 different shows (American Dreamer, Cross roads, It Had To Be You and Love Boat, the Next Wave.)

Q68: Did the South have a working government by the time Ft. Sumter was fired upon on April 13, 1861?
A68: Yes; the Confederate States of America had an elected president and vice-president and produced a Consti tution (with strong "states' rights") by March 11, 1861.

Q69: List these art periods in order from oldest to newest: Baroque, Classicism, Cubism, Impressionism, Pop.
A69: Baroque (1600-1750), Classicism (1750-1850), Impressionism (1860-1890), Cubism (1907-1914), Pop (1960-1970)

Q70: What is the meaning of the Latin expression "E Pluribus Unum?"
A70: "Out of many-- one".

Q71: True or False: If you dug a hole in the US deep enough, you'd come out in China.
A71: False. Actually, you'd be swim ming in the Indian Ocean.

Q72: True or False: Jupiter is more massive than all the other planets in our Solar System combined.
A72: True.

Q73: What is the only US state which allows individuals under the age of 18 to marry without parental consent?
A73: Mississippi. It allows men to marry w/o consent at 17, women at 15.

Q74: What is the oldest National Park in the US?
A74: Yellowstone.

Q75: What is the oldest National Park in the world?
A75: Yellowstone.

The winner is Dave Cardall with 9 correct answers. Les Herring had 8, Frank Wolfe had 7 and Ed Quinn and Tom Rankin both had 6 correct an swers.

This is the last batch of questions for this year's contest. I am cleaning out most of the submitted questions. Have fun and good luck:

Q86: Most people remember that Alaska and Hawaii were the 49th and 50th states admitted to the Union. What was the 48th?

Q87: True or False: Back in Shakespeare's time, when she asks "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" Juliet is asking where he is.

Q88: When Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, there were five living ex-presidents Van Buren, Tyler, Fillmore, Pierce and Buchanan. Which other president, when inaugu rated, had five living predecessors?

Q89: Which Scottish poet glorified the wilds of the Yukon with the po ems The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee?

Q90: Before Julius Caesar decreed that the year should begin with Janu ary, which month (whose name is Latin for "purification") was accepted as the last month of the year?

Q91: Which is the longest, a fathom, a furlong or a meter?

Q93: Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky as viewed from Earth. Name the 2nd. (Submitted by Tom Rankin)

Q94: Which constellation covers the South Celestial Pole? (Submitted by Tom Rankin)

Q95: According to the folks at Disney, the cartoon character most recognized by small children visiting the theme parks is Mickey Mouse. That's not surprising. Who is the second most recognized character? (Submitted by Bill Zigo)

Q96: The 2,000,000 books in the NYC public library (42nd St) requires how many miles of book shelves (±5)? (Submitted by Dave Cardall)

Q97: On June 8, 1932, at the lowest point of the Great Depression, at what level did the Dow-Jones average close (±10 points)? (Submitted by Dave Cardall)

Q98: In France in the 1500s and 1600s, approximately how many were tried for being werewolves? (Submitted by Dave Cardall)

Q99: The US Army spent $700,000 on a trainer airplane in 1996. How much did they spend on the first one purchased from the Wright Brothers in 1909? (Submitted by Dave Cardall)

Q100: What scale is HO? (Submitted by Dave Cardall)

Send your answers (and questions with answers and references) to TRIVIA CONTEST c/o Jim Jelacic by January 31.

Last time, I mentioned the planets and the Geminids. Did anyone see any of these events?

In January, Mars will still be visible in the Southwest after sundown. Jupiter and Saturn are both up in the Southeast and easily visible most of the night. In the morning, Venus is still a brilliant object in the East.

In February, the Moon and Venus will be very close together on the morning of the 2nd. You'll be able to see Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all lined up on the 14th after sunset.

Other January/February Events:

01/04 - The latest sunrise of the year occurs
01/20 - The moon will be eclipsed by the Earth's shadow around 11:00 PM. This should be visible from your own backyard!

Astro News:

The Leonids were a bust here, but up to 3,000 per hour were seen in Eu rope!

Astronomers have observed the most distant (to date) object in our solar system, a small chunk of rock and ice about 100 km across. The orbit is not yet known.

The recent failure of the Mars Polar Explorer is disheartening, but this doesn't mean that we should give up exploring Mars. (While there have been several Mars-related spacecraft failures in the last few years, I seriously doubt that there are Martians sabotaging our spacecraft just before they arrive.) There are many things we can learn about ourselves by studying a world very much like ours. And even if it was a total failure, the cost of this mission was less than $1.00 per person in the USA.

A nova has been discovered in Aquila. This "new star" should be visible in the West after sundown. It's not really bright, but only the second nova this year to reach naked eye brightness. For a map of how to find this star, see: www.skypub.com

Did you notice a letter to the Editor in the Poughkeepsie Journal recently that talked about "light pollution?" I'm sure you're all aware that the night sky is not as dark as it used to be. It doesn't have to be this way! Lots of money could be saved, and the sky made darker, if designers would just follow the simple rule of aiming the light DOWN at the ground where it is needed. A new Astronomy Club is forming within the bounds of our Chapter! If you live in Monticello, Liberty, or the surrounding area, and are interested in joining the Catskills Astronomy Club, let me know!

Upcoming MHAA Events (for Southeastern New York State):

Jan 18 - SUNY New Paltz 07:30 PM - Indoor Meeting - Topic: "'Reflections' on Amateur Astronomy" by Ed Forrest
Jan 28 - Wilcox Park 07:30 PM - Jupiter and Saturn
Feb 15 - Suny New Paltz 07:30 PM - Indoor Meeting - Topic: "Geologic Evidence of Ancient Supernova" by Anthony Zito
Mar 3 - Wilcox Park 07:30 PM - Saturn and Galaxies

Call (914) 485-5669 for the MHAA Hotline: Information, Astronomy News, etc. Would you like to borrow a telescope from the Club for a month? Let me know. We've got several “loaner” scopes that are very easy to use. We have lots of other Astro stuff to lend as well.

Next Time: March brings the Messier Marathon! Clear skies!

Tom Rankin

MHAA Home Page: http://jump.to/mhaa

Cryptogram Answers:

Easy:

There's only one way to have a happy marriage, and as soon as I learn what it is, I'll get married again.
Clint Eastwood

Hard:

Joy is wealth and love is the legal tender of the soul.
Robert Ingersoll

“Love is in the Air(ways)...” TV Trivia Answers:

1. "I Love Lucy"
2. "Bridget Loves Bernie"
3. "Love, American Style"
4. "Joanie Love Chachi"
5. "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"
6. "Everybody Loves Raymond"
7. "Lovejoy"
8. "The Love Connection"
9. "The Love Boat" and "The Love Boat: The New Wave"
10. "Get Christie Love"

“Great Duets” Music Trivia Answers:

1. Celene Dion
2. Jennifer Warnes
3. Barbra Streisand
4. Janet Jackson
5. Olivia Newton-John
6. Stevie Nicks
7. Diana Ross
8. Dionne Warwick
9. Linda Ronstadt
10. Aretha Franklin