Archive for December, 2008
Question Asked: How Long Do I Cook A Turkey?
Since today’s Christmas (Merry Christmas, by the way), I’ll try to keep this short, since I’ve got food cooking in the oven.
There’s two things to consider when cooking your turkey, 1) making sure it’s done, and 2) making sure it’s not over-done.
A turkey generally has to cook for 10 minutes per poud (if stuffed), at 425 degrees. Unstuffed is slightly less, at 8 minutes per pound.
So, if your turkey is 15 pounds, it should cook for 2.5 hours, give or take.
The important part is to check the temperature. Your bird should be in the 160-170 range, but not any more or less. Any less will cause bacteria to grow, any more will have a dried out bird.
Once you take it out of the oven, let it sit for about half an hour before cutting into it. This will allow it to “finish” cooking, and settle into itself. After that, you’re good to go. Enjoy.
Once again, Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you and your families get to be together today, and enjoy each other’s company.
Note: Ask MJ will not be updated for the remainder of the year. While I do my best to answer a question a day, I’ll be visiting my in-laws, and have little access to a computer. (And I’m ill-prepared, and didn’t answer a bunch of questions ahead of time.) So Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. I’ll resume answering all your questions in 2009!
Question Asked: What Is The Moon Made Of?
The short answer is: rock. The longer answer is a bit more complicated, and with less of a satisfying result.
The composition of the Moon is a actually unknown. Although we know a lot about what the surface of the Moon is made of, we can only guess at what the internal composition of the Moon is, because we’ve yet to go up there with massive drills and find out.
Like the Earth, the Moon has layers. The innermost layer is the lunar core. It only accounts for about 20% of the diameter of the Moon. We think that the lunar core is made of metallic iron, with small amounts of sulfur and nickel. Astronomers know that the core of the Moon is probably at least partly molten, possibly from an underground volcano that erupted hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Outside the core is the largest region of the Moon, called the mantle. We believe that the mantle of the Moon is largely composed of the minerals olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene. It’s also believed to be more iron-rich than the Earth’s mantle.
The outermost layer of the Moon is called the crust. This is the layer of the Moon that scientists have gathered the most information about. The crust of the Moon is composed mostly of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminum. There are also trace elements like titanium, uranium, thorium, potassium and hydrogen.
So there you have it. While we know relatively what’s on the surface of the moon (from bringing pieces back and testing them), we don’t really know what’s underneath that, and probably never will.
Question Asked: How Many Plane Crashes Are There Per Year?
According to the National Transportation and Safety Board, there’s been 1729 incidents with aeronautical vehicles since January 1st of this year. This number, however, includes privately owned planes (single engines, bi-planes, jets, helicopters, etc.) as well as commercial flights.
Of those 1729, only 1182 were airplanes (commercial, and private.)
Of those 1182, only 226 of them included fatalities.
That may seem like a lot of fatalities. But let’s compare the risk of flying, to the risk of traveling other ways. (These statistics provided by the National Transportation and Safety Board):
Cars & Trucks:
Deaths per year: 36,676 (5 year average)
Risk of dying: 1 out of 7,700
1.3 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles.
Motorcycles:
Deaths per year: 3,112
Risk of dying: 1 out of 91,500
31.3 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles.
Trains:
Deaths per year: 931
Risk of dying: 1 out of 306,000
1.3 deaths per million vehicle miles.
Bicycles:
Deaths per year: 695
Risk of dying: 1 out of 410,000
Airplanes:
Deaths per year: 138
Risk of dying: 1 out of 2,067,000
1.9 deaths per 100 million aircraft miles
So you see, while it may seem like a lot of airplane crashes, you’re actually more safe flying, than any other means of transportation.
Question Asked: How Many People Are Attacked By Bears Each Year?
Surprisingly, not as many as you’d think. When I got this question, I started doing some research on the subject, and was astonished that it wasn’t as many as I initially thought.
Thus far in the current decade, there’s only been 27 reports bear attacks. Given, there’s got to be more that aren’t reported. After all, men who are attacked by bears are likely to “man up” and not report it, unless it’s serious.
The number of attacks per decade has been increasing steadily over the years.
Going all the way back to 1910, there were only 4 reported attacks between 1910 and 1920.
If you’re in the woods, and facing a bear, stay calm. Don’t panic, don’t run, and don’t try to climb a tree. Stay as still as possible, and don’t taunt the bear. It will hopefully leave you alone, just as you should do to it.
Question Asked: How Many Cabs Are There In New York City?
The latest stats I could find were from June of 2008. Those stats indicate that there were 13,653 licensed yellow cabs in the city of New York.
There were, also, 12,723 livery cars. (Sedans, limos, vans, etc.)
Some other interesting cab related facts:
- There are 1,106,842 people in America licensed to drive a cab.
- The average fare in New York is $9.51
- The average distance taken in a New York cab, is 2.4 miles (approximately 50 blocks)
- Cab drivers take home an average of $201 per shift