by Mark De Roo, Advisor
Do certain things stick in your mind? Sure they do. Here’s a headline from my hometown newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch that has stayed in my mind since high school: Sneezing in St. Louis Causes a Thunderstorm in Shanghai. As a weather-wannabe, that headline grabbed me.
In reading the article, it was all about how the pressure exerted when sneezing (obviously, the person has no manners and didn’t cover his/her mouth!) can change the molecular structure of the immediate molecules in the area-which impact the air molecules in the St. Louis area-which then alter the molecular composition of water particles in Missouri-which then change the air environment of the entire Midwest-which then adjusts things for the entire North American continent-which travels ¾ of the way around the world with such force that a thunderstorm is created over the Himalayas and eventually dumps a ton of water on Shanghai. Now, that’s some type of sneeze! Read the rest of this entry »