The Polar Bear's Amazing Fur

The polar bear is a beautiful, agile creature that roams the land, sea, and ice or the Arctic regions. It remarkably calls the frigid landscape home, and yet the most amazing thing about this creature isn't what it appears to be. In this week's edition of expendablenlightenment, we are going to look at what the polar bear's fur and skin. Is the fur white? What color is it's skin? Can you see one if you use an infrared? Why do some polar bears turn green?

First, the polar bear's skin. Believe it or not, the polar bear's skin is actually black. If you remember from your science classes, the color black will attract more heat than any other color. Any light/heat that makes it to the bear's skin will be absorbed by the black skin. This is part of where the amazing polar bear's ability to survive in the frigid temperatures comes from, but it's not the whole story. The fur is the really amazing aspect of this animal.

The polar bear's fur isn't white, even though it appears to be. The fur is actually colorless (clear). The polar bear has an undercoat and more coarse guard hairs to protect the undercoat, both of which are colorless. But why do we see white? You'd have to go back to an earlier posting of expendablenlightenment to fully understand the next part. The light is scattered by the clear fur, and when the entire spectrum is reflected, then we see white. At first it was thought that their fur was hollow, and while there are air pockets in the fur, it isn't all entirely hollow tubes.

This leads us to the question that has popped up on many trivia websites and quizzes and most people can't fathom if it could be true or not. Can you see a polar bear if you use an infrared camera on it? It seems to defy logic to say no, but the true answer is you can't really see a polar bear using the infrared camera. Why? Because the polar bear is so well insulated (nearly 4 inches of blubber, black skin absorbing heat, and the thick coats of fur) that the beat gives off no heat for you to see on the infrared camera. The only part which would be visible would be the warm breath that it would give off, but the bear itself wouldn't.

Polar bear turning green in Japan, 2008.

The polar bear's fur is trule a wonder of the natural animal kingdom. The fur's color will usually change as it gets older. A nice clean white color when they are younger, and a more yellow color as they age. But what would you call a green polar bear? In the 1970's, researchers started noticing a number of polar bears began to turn green in a number of zoos across the world. It took awhile to figure out why, and the answer is somewhat disgusting. In captivity, polar bears have to deal with conditions they would not find in the wild, such as higher temperatures, higher humidity, and pond water that isn't as clean. The researchers found that this pond water would deposite algae inside the polar bear's fur (remember those hollow air pockets inside the fur?). The higher temperatures and humidity would cause the algae to grow rapidly and would actually change the polar bear's fur to a green. It still sometimes happens, but at least it's known why and how to prevent it even though it still happens to this day.

Bet you didn't know that!

Disney World, St. Louis, and the Spanish Pavilion

Go back in time to the 1960's. Travel to St. Louis, MO. Busch Stadium was being built downtown as was the Gateway Arch. Both were to become great symbols of the historic city on the Mississippi. Another historic attraction was negotiated to come to St. Louis around that time. What was it?

Believe it or not, Disney negotiated with the city of St. Louis to open their next theme park in downtown St. Louis. There was a good chance that what's now known as Disney World in Florida might have been in the Gateway City. But something hung up the negotiations and the talks failed in 1965.

What hung up the talks? The answer depends on who you talk to. One possible explanation is size of the park. Fitting into a major metropolitan area isn't realistic. A second possibility (and what most people think) actually has to do with the powerful St. Louis-based company of Anheuser-Busch. The reason why this theory is so popular is because AB was very powerful in the city of St. Louis, yet Disney (being the family-oriented company that it is) refused to carry any form of beer in it's theme park. AB wouldn't allow a public attraction to be in its turf that wouldn't carry its product. Both theories, but logical ones.

But the story doesn't end there. Alfonso Cervantes was the mayor of St. Louis at the time and he wanted some new attraction to come to St. Louis to help draw more patrons to the downtown region. That's where the Spanish Pavilion comes in. The Spanish Pavilion was an attraction at the 1964 World's Fair in New York, and Mayor Cervantes was impressed by it. It was a building on loan from the Spanish government which housed restaurants, exhibits, and shops. Mayor Cervantes was able to buy it from the Spanish government and have it moved completely from New York to St. Louis for a total cost of $6 million.

The Spanish Pavilion opened with a huge parade and much fanfare in 1969. Unfortunately, the only impact the Pavilion made was the initial opening. After that, hardly anyone visited, and it was closed a year later.

However, the building is still standing in it's original position downtown at the corner of Market and Broadway. What is it now? Two towers have been added since them for hotel space and it is now part of the Marriot Hilton.

The bottom part under the two towers was the Spanish Pavilion.

Bet you didn't know that!

Time for a Holiday Break!

The expendablenlightenment blog has made it through its first full calendar year! I want to thank all those readers who have learned a little something from this informational, trivial, yet fantastical source of facts and stories.

I hope that you take it easy this holiday season and come back in January to read more interesting stories. As we take a short break to recharge our batteries and find other interesting information, remember that we are always looking for stories, supposedly true facts, and other things that you want to know about.

Starting in January, we will be changing some things. The Friday video will be eliminated, and our time slot on Monday mornings will move to Wednesday. Also look for other exciting changes to the blog!

Come back in January for more expendablenlightenment!

Krampus, the Scary Christmas Tradition

Christmas is a time for giving, joy, and family. But your version of what Christmas means changes depending on which country you are in. The American version of Christmas isn't necessarily the same all around the world. Each country has its own elements that they have added on to the holiday. For example, in Japan, it is customary to go to a KFC (yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken) on Christmas Day; they are usually so busy that you usually have to make reservations. In Norway, the tradition is that witches and evil spirits come out on Christmas Eve, so it is customary to hide the brooms and for men to shoot shotguns in the air to scare the spirits away. In the Ukraine, it is tradition to put a spider and spider's web somewhere hidden in the tree. (The tradition dates to a poor woman who couldn't afford ornaments, and woke the next morning to find a spider had woven an intricate web on the tree.) It is considered good luck for anyone who can find the hidden spider web. Each country has it's own interesting and sometimes strange traditions, but one of the most bizarre comes from the countries around the Alps, specifically parts of Slovenia, Hungary, Germany, and especially in Austria.

In this region of the Alps, there is the old and strange custom of Krampus. We are all familiar with St. Nicholas (and some of us have even pieced together that the origin of Santa Claus is based off the real St. Nicholas), but we are less familiar with his sidekick named Krampus. Today, St. Nicholas will visit houses and businesses, but he will only pay attention to the good children and give them gifts. Who pays attention to the bad children? Krampus. Krampus will give the bad children coal and has been known to spank them. The tradition is clearly meant to scare children into being good.

The origin of Krampus goes back a very long time and actually has similarities with creatures from Ancient Greek mythology. The Krampus creature looks demonic in shape, usually furry and animal-like, as well as having horns growing out of his head. During the time of the Inquisition, the church tried to cut off any acknowledgement of Krampus, but it didn't work. By the 1600's, Krampus and St. Nicholas were paired together. In the 20th Century, the Austrian government has tried to discourage celebration of the scary beast. After their 1934 civil war ended, celebrations involving Krampus were banned. In the last twenty years, a massive resurgence of celebrations involving Krampus have become very popular, but naturally a debate has risen as to whether it is appropriate or good for children to be a part of.

St. Nicholas and Krampus at a Krampuslaufen.

On December 6, the Feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated across Europe, but in these areas of the Alps, the night is called "Krampusnacht" (Krampus Night). Anytime between then and January 6, there can also be what's called the Krampuslaufen, which is a run through the city with people dressed up as Krampus. The unusual feature of this (as if the whole thing isn't unusual already) is that when they run through the city, the participants are usually drunk. It is custom to offer schnapps to the Krampus runners on their trek through the cities.

Another element of Krampus is the use in postcards and holiday cards. It has been customary since the 1800's to send holiday cards and postcards that feature the grotesque beast in them with the phrase "Gruß vom Krampus" (Greetings from the Krampus). It is notable that the older cards are rather disturbing and scary, while the newer ones have become funnier and made the Krampus to appear more like a cuter Cupid-like creature. The newer Krampus cards show an element of dark humor as well as his trouble with ladies.

A newspaper illustration with St. Nicholas and Krampus from 1896.

Either way, it is a strange tradition that has raised some debate, but there appears to be no slowing down this popular tradition in the Alpine regions.

Bet you didn't know that!

The Foam in Hydrogen Peroxide

Remember to the last time you cut your hand and applied some hydrogen peroxide to the wound. You see it foam and bubble. Have you ever wondered what made it do that?

Typical bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

Before we explain how that happens, first you should know what hydrogen peroxide is. Hydrogen peroxide is an chemical name for a molecule that contains two atoms of hydrogen and two atoms of oxygen (H₂O₂). When you buy a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, it's actually 97% water and only 3 % hygrogen peroxide, but even if it was 100% hydrogen peroxide, the end result would still be the same.

Contained inside blood and skin cells is an enzyme called 'catalase'. This protein is very important to living things that are dependent on oxygen for reasons that are very complex to answer here, so take my word for it. Your blood and skin cells are full of this enzyme. When your skin is cut, then catalase is exposed to the air. If you pour hydrogen peroxide over the wound, it will bubble and foam because of a chemical reaction that's taking place. The catalase literally will convert the hydrogen peroxide into two compounds: water and oxygen. How? You'll have to go to a chemistry class to fully understand the details of this process, but the easiest way to explain is that it will take two molecules of H₂O₂ and change them into two molecules of H₂O and one molecule of O₂, which are water and oxygen molecules. This doesn't work when you just pour it on your skin because your skin isn't broken and no catalase is exposed to the hydrogen peroxide.

This is specifically happening because the catalase is in your cells, and if the cells are damaged, then the reaction can occur. But this isn't just humans that this reaction can take place in. Any living creature that has catalase in their system will have the same reaction to hydrogen peroxide. So, for example, an interesting experiment is to take a potato and slice it. If you pour hydrogen peroxide over this "wounded" potato, it will foam and bubble too. Another interesting note is that the reaction is very fast; one molecule of catalase can have reactions with as much as 5,000 hydrogen peroxide molecules, which is why it will bubble and foam so much.

Bet you didn't know that!

Friday Song #22 - King Crimson

"Ladies of the Road" - King Crimson, from the album "Islands"
Released: 1971

Where Did the 'Pigskin' Name Come From?

In American football, the most timeless part of the game is the ball itself: the brown oval made of leather. The present version of the football has changed little since the early days of the NFL. But what's the story with the oddly shaped ball? And most importantly, why is it called a 'pigskin'?

Modern American football dates back to the 1800's when variations of European football (soccer) and rugby football were played at college campuses. Some colleges used their own house rules, and as the rules began to mix, the rules of the game were set down. The first official football game on a college campus was between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1869.

At the time, the ball was very different. It was literally a pig's bladder that was inflated. It was a sphere, not an oval, and it had to be reinflated several times during the game (by the players, of course). Because the players were re-inflating the ball (and they would get out of breath from the game itself), some wouldn't be able to breath as deeply, so the ball was often misshapen. Charles Goodyear patented his rubber technologies in 1844, so it is possible that there were actually rubber footballs around at the time, but the first instance of a 'rubber bladder' was in 1871.

A deflated early 1900's football. It's an oval, but not pointy.

The misshaping of the ball became an advantage because then you could actually grip the ball. The forward pass was introduced in the rules in 1906, so teams preferred the ball to have a narrower area on opposite sides of the ball. In the 1930's, the shape was changed to have much narrower points, which made it much easier to grip the ball for throwing.

Today the football is made of leather (cows) and there are no more pigs in use, but the name 'pigskin' still pops up. It's in reference to the original footballs of the 1800's: pig bladders.