This summer's low rainfall and high heat have the Stupid staff feverish — and thinking a lot about liquids. Later, when we went to the Stupid mailbox, it appeared some of our readers had been in and out of the same think tank.

How about soap

        Q: “Believe me. This is stupid. I have always noticed that a new bar of soap will lather quicker (sic) and easier (sic), and have a lot more suds than an older bar. Is it just me, or is it true?”

        A: We noticed the same thing after a recent keg party. We also noticed that, when rinsing, water works better than beer.

        For better information, we went to Soap Central, a k a Procter & Gamble.

        “We're assuming that by "old' this person means a bar that is nearly dissolved and completely used versus an "old' bar that has been in the linen closet for a few years,” says Tracey Long, beauty communications manager. “With that in mind, our best explanation follows:

        “When a bar of soap is first introduced to water, it tends to lather quickly because the most soluble ingredients are present and available to create lots of suds. Over the "life' of that bar of soap, the soluble ingredients tend to be used more quickly than the insoluble ingredients (because the bar "lives' in a wet environment), which is why by the time the bar gets down to a sliver, it doesn'tcreate as many bubbles.

        On a less-scientific slant, she adds: “Of course, it could also be that you can't hold it as well to create the lather!”

        The wise Stupid staff cleaned up with complicated theorems of solid geometry and determined that newer soap bars tend to be bigger, with wider rubbing surfaces with which to create lather.

Hand washing

        Q: Doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose to make restaurant employees wash their hands after using the restroom and then make them grab the door handle to leave? Almost all doors entering rest rooms swing in and require you to grab the "dirty' handle upon exiting.”

        A: While it “does seem counterproductive,” it is not, says Dr. Malcolm Adcock, health commissioner, Cincinnati Health Department.

        “The transmission of infectious disease is truly a numbers game,” he says. “The smaller the numbers of infectious agents you come in contact with, the smaller the risk of acquiring a disease.”

        And the more you wash your hands, the fewer the contacts.

        The public-health principle at work here, he says, is commonly known as: “Dilution is the solution.”

        Under the worst conditions, “These surfaces (door and faucet handles) will have far fewer numbers of infectious agents than contaminated hands,” Dr. Adcock says. Most disease travels through primary contact (person-to-person), not secondary contact with inanimate objects.

        Washing your hands “also removes infectious agents unrelated to your use of the restroom such as cold and flu viruses,” he said.

        “It is impossible to eliminate germs from our environment, and it is not necessary to do so in order to prevent disease. Healthy individuals are able to resist small numbers of organisms that could otherwise cause illness in people exposed to higher concentrations of the same agent.”

        If you're concerned, he suggests using a paper towel to turn off faucets and open the door to avoid recontaminating your hands.

        “For employees of restaurants, good sanitation practices also require hand washing procedures in the kitchen prior to preparing food,” the commissioner says. “This is not only important to prevent the potential contamination of food by the employee, but also to prevent cross-contamination from one food to another.”<

Sweat weather

        Question: “If our internal body temperature is 98.6 degrees, why does any external temperature over 72 degrees feel so warm? You would think that if the external temperature was less than 98, our bodies would be cold, and 98 would be the optimal temperature. Not 72.”

        Another hot reader wants to know the same thing: “Shouldn't our bodies feel “cold” at any temperature below 98?”

        Answer: “Good questions,” says Dr. Karl Schmitt, of the Family Practice Center at St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Edgewood. “The answer is not as complicated as it might seem.”

        Two key things to remember, he says: Our skin temperature is much lower than our core body temperature (98.6). And our bodies are continually producing heat.

        Because the body uses the atmosphere for cooling, there is a direct relationship between air temperatures and comfort levels.

        “If you raise that (air) temperature up to, say, 80, suddenly the body can't get rid of heat as quickly as it can at 70,” he says.

        “When the outside temperature rises a little, the body realizes it will be harder to get rid of the extra heat, and kicks in control mechanisms, like sweating.”

        Further, he explains, this is the reason dry air is more comfortable than humid air, where, “It's harder to evaporate your heat into the atmosphere.”

        And, of course, some of us are just hotter — or cooler — than others.

        “When you are sitting quietly, your body is not generating as much heat, so a warmer room temperature is comfortable,” says Dr. Harrison Weed, Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus. “Many people find 78 degrees ... comfortable at rest. If you are running around, then your body generates a lot of heat and a lower air temperature feels best.

        “The rate at which heat is lost from a body depends upon the surface area of the body and the difference in temperature between the body and the surroundings,” he says. “Therefore, a baby, which has much more surface area, relative to its total body mass, is more susceptible both to getting too cold and to overheating. That's why it is so dangerous to leave an infant alone in a car, even for a few minutes.

        “Other factors that affect how fast our body can lose heat include movement of the air over the skin and evaporation.

        And “We can lose heat from the body ... by breathing,” he says. “The humidified warm air that we breath out can carry away a lot of heat. That's why, in the hot weather, my dog and I both use short pants.” The kind you breathe, not the kind you wear.

In the swim

        Cutting to the chase here, at least two local readers have been wondering how hot it gets under swimmers' Speedos. Well, maybe not literally.

        Q: “Do people sweat when they swim?” asks Molly from Hyde Park. “My friend Jim says no, because the purpose of sweating is to cool the body, and if you're in water, your body is already cool. I disagree.”

        From Al, in Forest Park: “Do swimmers sweat while they are racing during competition?”

        A: Although “One does not necessarily notice sweating while in the water, sweating definitely does occur,” says Monty Hopkins, head swimming coach at the University of Cincinnati. “Sweating to control body temperature is a function of both internal and external temperatures. If sweating were only a function of the environment, then shoveling snow would never cause sweating.”

        Apparently, the pool-water temperature will have some effect.

        “Extended exercise sessions and a warm environment (such as a pool) can increase fluid loss," says Deb Whitney, a research assistant at USA Swimming, Colorado Springs, the national governing body for the sport. That's why, she says, hydration is crucial.

        The good news for thirsty swimmers is they don't have to wait for a break in the game or a friendly fan along a marathon route for a splash of H2O. The bad news: The water they gulp in the pool would be part chlorine, part perspiration.

        Drinking during the swim is a matter of personal preference, Mr. Hopkins says. “Some do; some don't. When I was competing, I often would swallow little amounts of water throughout the workout. Pretty disgusting when you think about it. . . .

        “Work hard, sweat hard and drink plenty of fluids,” he recommends. “Just remember to shower before you come to watch the Bearcats swim.”

Dashing in the rain

        Q: A Blue Ash PhD. who is not all wet puts himself in this hypothetical situation at the end of a long day: “It is raining hard. I do not have an umbrella. It is a hundred feet from my office building to my car. Do I get more wet or less wet if I run to the car instead of walking?”

        A: We're assuming the valet is off duty again, in which case you can absorb a little less moisture by sprinting, according to the experts — unless you work up a major soaking from the inside.

        “Physicists and meteorologists have studied this all-important question in sufficient detail to conclude that running will keep you drier when caught in the rain,” says Chris Curran, visiting assistant professor of biology at Raymond Walters College, Blue Ash.

        “Trevor Wallis and Thomas Peterson at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., did a comparison study using similar cotton sweat suits and a 100-yard track. Wallis ran while Peterson walked. When they weighed the sweat suits, there was a 40 percent difference between the runner's and the walker's.”

        Steven Herbert, associate professor of physics at Xavier University votes for running and says, "You won't hit as many rain drops going fast and won't be out in the rain as long.”

        To calculate your wetness in the rain, go to www.dctech.com/physics/features/0600.php, where physicist Doug Craigen considers your height and width, the speed and direction of the rain, your speed, and distance to shelter to determine “the amount of rain which will hit you.

        “You stay the driest by running at about the same speed as the wind (basically turning it into vertical rain so you only get wet on the top.”

        Mr. Herbert agrees, suggesting that, if you run too fast, you'll collide with too much rain from the side.

        “Having said all that, if you have to go very far to find shelter, eventually you will get totally soaked,” says Ms. Curran. “In that case, it doesn't matter if you were walking or running. You're still all wet, quite literally.

        “So the not-so-stupid question should always be, “Did you remember your umbrella, Dear?”
        If you have a stupid question, e-mail mpulfer@enquirer.com.

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