Does blowing on hot soup really cool it down?

This question brings to mind Aesop's fable about a cold, hungry man who was lost in the woods. A kind satyr took pity on him and invited him into his home. At one point, the man blew on his hands to warm them, and later, when the satyr served him dinner, the man blew on his soup to cool it.The satyr kicked the man out, stating "I will have nought to do with a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath." (Hence the expression about an unpredictable person "blowing hot and cold.") But we digress, so let's get to your question. Did the man give up his nice warm accommodations for "nought," or did he know what he was doing when he blew on his soup to cool it?It appears blowing on your soup does have a valid scientific effect. According to the light-hearted transcript from a scientific radio show broadcast by Indiana University, it's caused by evaporation.When you sit down to that steaming bowl of soup, the faster-moving, hotter particles "leap off the surface," evaporating and leaving the slower-moving, cooler particles behind. But these evaporated particles form a little cloud of vapour above your bowl, saturating the air and preventing any more evaporation. When you blow on your soup, you disperse the vapour cloud. This clears the air, so to speak, for more hot particles to evaporate, thus cooling the soup.Of course, just 'cause it works doesn't mean it's considered proper or polite.

When and why did women start shaving their legs?

Lather up, dear readers! It's time to shave off unsightly ignorance and replace it with silky-smooth wisdom.The Straight Dope answered a similar question several years back with help from an article entitled "Caucasian Female Body Hair and American Culture" by Christine Hope. According to Hope's research, businesses began "encouraging" American women to shave their underarms around 1915, when sleeveless fashions became popular. Harper's Bazaar featured an ad stating: "Summer Dress and Modern Dancing combine to make necessary the removal of objectionable hair." Yet another revenue stream made possible by human insecurity.The war against nature's leg warmers came a bit later, as changes in clothing allowed women to display more than just an ankle. According to Hope, convincing women to shave their legs was more challenging, so advertisers pulled out all the stops. "Some advertisers as well as an increasing number of fashion and beauty writers harped on the idea that female leg hair was a curse."The Straight Dope offers another theory for the surge in leg shaving in the 1940s -- Betty Grable. The pin-up's epic legs may have started a trend. Flaunting one's gams was suddenly "in." Since short shorts and woolly limbs don't mix, it was goodbye to hairy legs and hello to something equally pleasant -- razor burn.

Why does your skin wrinkle up when you've been in the bathtub for a long time?

Your skin is comprised of two layers -- the epidermis and the dermis. The epidermis produces an oily protein called sebum, which is effective in repelling water. It's also the material that causes fingerprints.Inevitably, a nice long soak in a bathtub sloughs off the excess sebum from your epidermis. As a result, your skin starts to take on water. The top layer of the epidermis is known as the stratum corneum, which is Latin for "horny layer." These are the tough, dead skin cells that are constantly being sloughed off your body in your clothes, your bed, and in the form of dandruff. Disturbing, but true.Your fingers and toes have especially thick layers of stratum corneum. Once deprived of sebum, they swell up with water, causing wrinkles. This osmosis effect is harmless and temporary. One you get out of the tub, the extra water evaporates, leaving your skin even drier than before because there is no sebum to help retain moisture. This is a good time to apply lotion or oil to help your skin retain some of the water.