Does a piece of buttered toast tend to fall more often buttered side down on the floor?
Do cats really land on their feet all of the time?
Does birth order or cuteness correlate to the amount of cavities in a child?
Such deep pondering questions to start off the New Year!
My newest article for the Japanese newspaper Daily Sun is another fun read. I do try to avoid writing "heavy" articles for both Weekly Biz as well as Daily Sun. Most newspapers are already filled with enough tragic, sad, upsetting news. Obviously I'm addressing the last question listed above in my article. BUT I did do some online searching and while my birth order/ cuteness/ cavities informal observation did not involve research money, there was money pumped into the cow farts, buttered toast, and cat research. Hmmm, maybe next time I should apply for a grant somewhere, somehow.
BTW, ......Global cow farts DO significantly contribute to the greenhouse effect. The US being the top country and Texas being the top state for producing cow farts.
- A piece of buttered toast DOES tend to land buttered side down but that's because of the general height from which it falls (waist height). Ways to overcome this.... higher kitchen counters and kitchen tables, shorter counters and tables, or just hold onto your toast better!
- Cats DO tend to land on their feet majority of the time but that also depends on the height of the fall. I also came upon some pretty old film segments (government films?) in which a cat was held by it's legs upside down and dropped. They did this comparison to a cat dropped the same way but in zero gravity. Poor cats, the ones in zero gravity had no idea what was going on!
For your reading enjoyment!
Dear Diary…. Does
Cuteness or Birth Order Determine Amount of Cavities?
Going into
the field of dentistry, I had to read a lot of scientific articles. It’s boring
because of the way it’s written. The reports were very properly written with
numbers and statistics and just, well… boring. But all these reports and
numbers mean something and that’s what helps the field of dentistry advance and
change for the better. Even after graduating from dental school, there is a
need to keep up with the reports and articles so I can be a better dentist than
I was yesterday. I’ve gotten used to the
boring reports and information so I don’t mind them but why couldn’t the
reports be less dry? It’s because all the information that is collected needs
to be very accurate and precise.
Over the
years, I’ve also done some informal information collecting of my own in my
office but of course, not as accurate and precise compared to the scientific
magazines! I’ve observed that “birth order can somewhat determine the amount of
cavities a child may have”. My reasoning maybe wrong but I think that the first
child has the least cavities. That may be that the first child is the one that
parents are the most careful with. They have the cleanest clothes, the best
haircuts, the healthiest eating habits, the best brushing habits as well. The
first child is everything that the parents can hope for. Things are fine as a new
family of 3. Things are under control.
By the time
the 2nd, 3rd or 4th child comes along, parents
are more tired, the house is a little messier, more meals are fast food, and
perfect night time brushing habits are just not as perfect anymore.
I mentioned
this theory with my friend who is also a dentist. He says he has a similar
observation except his theory is that “cuteness determines the amount of
cavities”. (I didn’t ask him how he determined which kids are cute). He says
cute kids get more candy given to them even without asking and cute kids get
more candy when they ask. After all, who can resist a cute smile that comes
along with the question? Grandparents will spoil a cute kid more. And when it
comes to night time brushing, parents are more willing to pass on brushing when
they see those big eyes fill with tears in protest.
I really
don’t think there is a way to test both our theories but if both of us are
correct, parents with cute kids that are not firstborn may have to work a lot
harder to keep their little mouths cleaner and cavity free!
