Articles Written by:    C. CLAIBORNE RAY     

Q & A: Trills and Thrills

Q. Why do some people’s singing voices have more vibrato than others? Can it be taught? A. Carl E. Seashore, who died in 1949, did pioneering research in audiology and the psychology of music. He analyzed vocal vibrato in modern Western classical ...

From C. CLAIBORNE RAY, The New York Times,  31 Aug 2009

Q & A: A Little Hard of Hearing

Q. Does loss of hearing with age afflict men and women to the same degree? A. From 20 to 69, men are about twice as likely as women to suffer hearing loss, said Howard J. Hoffman, an epidemiologist with the National Institute on Deafness and Other ...

From C. CLAIBORNE RAY, The New York Times,  24 Aug 2009
Related Topics: New York Times Company

Q & A: Silent Nights

Q. Usually our summer nights just outside Philadelphia are filled with sounds of crickets and other insects. It is already mid-July and there are no chirps, peeps or squeaks. Why? A. It is very likely that the silence was related to cool summer nights, ...

From C. CLAIBORNE RAY, The New York Times,  17 Aug 2009
Related Topics: New York Times Company

Q & A: Red Hot Chili Peppers

Q. If I eat a raw jalapeño pepper, my mouth is afire, my eyes water and my nose runs. How can some people eat pepper after pepper without pain? Have they destroyed the sensory receptors in their mouths and throats? A. No receptors are destroyed, said ...

From C. CLAIBORNE RAY, The New York Times,  10 Aug 2009

Q & A: The Opposite of Sea Legs

Q. After a five-day cruise, I felt the ground ashore rolling under my legs for days, as if I were still at sea. What’s going on? Most people suffer for a month or less, though the subjects of the study had it for months or years. Mal de débarquement ...

From C. CLAIBORNE RAY, The New York Times,  3 Aug 2009
Related Topics: New York Times Company

Q & A: Baby Bird Alert

Q. When you find a baby bird on the ground, what should you do to rescue it? A. In many or most cases, nothing, bird authorities agree. Well-intentioned rescue attempts often prevent such “orphans” from surviving. First, determine whether the bird is ...

From C. CLAIBORNE RAY, The New York Times,  27 Jul 2009

Q & A: Cool, Clear Water

Q. Does the temperature of drinking water matter? I have heard that lukewarm water is absorbed more quickly and that cold water helps burn calories. Is that true? The study found a very small difference, “well below the theoretical energy cost of ...

From C. CLAIBORNE RAY, The New York Times,  20 Jul 2009
Related Topics: New York Times Company

Q & A: Volcanic Cooling

Q. Could an increase in volcanic eruptions counter global warming with the resulting dust, smoke and debris? A. Recent massive volcanic eruptions like those at El Chicón, in Mexico in 1982, and Mount Pinatubo, in the Philippines in 1991, undoubtedly ...

From C. CLAIBORNE RAY, The New York Times,  6 Jul 2009
Related Topics: Columbia University,  Barack Obama,  New York Times Company

Q & A: The Earth’s Paunch

Q. I know the earth bulges at the equator. Does this include the oceans? A. There is an oceanic bulge, said Arnold L. Gordon, associate director of the division of ocean and climate physics at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia ...

From C. CLAIBORNE RAY, The New York Times,  29 Jun 2009
Related Topics: Columbia University,  New York Times Company

Q & A: What a Sweat I’m In

Q. How can you distinguish between night sweats that indicate a serious medical condition and those that don’t? A. There is no easy way for a layperson to do so, but there are some clues, said Dr. Shari R. Midoneck, an internist at Iris Cantor Women’s ...

From C. CLAIBORNE RAY, The New York Times,  22 Jun 2009

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