Why do Clocks run clockwise? Read Online Free PDF Page B

Officer at West Point, told us, there is nothing wrong with the graduates tossing away a part of their uniform—it’s no longer their proper uniform, anyway. They’ve just been promoted!
    Submitted by Merry Phillips, of Menlo Park, California. Thanks also to: Paul Funn Dunn, of WSOY, Decatur, Illinois .
    Why Does American Electricity Run on A.C. Rather Than D.C.?
    Direct current flows only in one direction. Alternating current flows back and forth continuously. Thomas Edison was a proponent of direct current (he had a financial stake in it), which worked fine in the early days of electric light, because the generators were very close to the lights that used electricity.
    But as demand for electric light increased, D.C. proved inadequate.
    Electric current loses the least energy when traveling at high voltages.
    It was then uneconomical to transform D.C. to the high voltages necessary for long-distance transmissions. Direct current circuits would have required generating stations
    WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE? / 21

    every three or four miles, unfeasible in the sprawling United States.
    In 1885, a young man named George Westinghouse bought the U.S. patent for alternating current from inventor Nikola Tesla. Not only could A.C. transmit higher voltages more cheaply than D.C., the voltages could be raised or lowered by switching only one transformer. With its relative flexibility and lower cost, A.C. quickly became the U.S. standard.
    Submitted by Larry Hudson, of Nashville, Tennessee. Thanks also to: John Brandon, of Davis, California .
    What Is That Sniffing Noise Boxers Make When Throwing Punches?
    Listen carefully to any boxing match, or to any boxer shadowboxing, and you will hear a sniffing sound every time a punch is thrown.
    This sound is known to many in the boxing trade as the “snort.”
    A “snort” is nothing more than an exhalation of breath. Proper breathing technique is an integral part of most sports, and many boxers are taught to exhale (usually, through their nose) every time they throw a punch. Scoop Gallello, president of the International Veteran Boxers Association, told Imponderables that when a boxer snorts while delivering a punch, “he feels he is delivering it with more power.” Gallello adds: “Whether this actually gives the deliverer of the punch added strength may be questionable.” Robert W. Lee, president and commissioner of the International Boxing Federation, remarked that the snort gives a boxer “the ability to utilize all of his force
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    and yet not expend every bit of energy when throwing the punch. I am not sure whether or not it works, but those who know much more about it than I do continue to use the method and I would tend to think it has some merit.”
    The more we researched this question, the more we were struck by the uncertainty of the experts about the efficacy of the snorting technique. Donald F. Hull, Jr., executive director of the International Amateur Boxing Association, the governing federation for worldwide amateur and Olympic boxing, noted that “While exhaling is important in the execution of powerful and aerobic movements, it is not as crucial in the execution of a boxing punch, but the principle is the same.” Anyone who has ever watched a Jane Fonda aerobics videotape is aware of the stress on breathing properly during aerobic training. Disciplines as disparate as weightlifting and yoga stress consciousness of inhalation and exhalation. But why couldn’t any of the boxing experts explain why, or if, snorting really helps a boxer?
    Several of the authorities we spoke to recommended we contact Ira Becker, the doyen of New York’s fabled Gleason’s Gymnasium, who proved to have very strong opinions on the subject of snorting:
    “When the fighter snorts, he is merely exhaling. It is a foolish action since he throws off a minimum of carbon dioxide and some vital oxygen. It is far wiser to inhale and let the lungs do [their] own bidding by