Serious scientific observations

You never know when my blog entries can be taken seriously, so it’s good to stay on your toes and not be too trusting. I made some observations while in Death Valley that may be interesting to you. But you’ll have to figure out which are true.

When it’s cold here, it’s the coldest cold you’ll feel for a given temperature anywhere in the United States. I noticed that when we were walking outside at night at the Furnace Creek Ranch, it was downright chilly even though the temperature wasn’t anything to write home about. When the air is 45°F, 7°C, it’s no big deal at my normal elevation of 1,600 feet, 487 meters. That’s because air is not a very efficient heat conductor, and is thinner at my place. But when you’re nearly 200 feet, 61 meters, below sea level, the air is packed more tightly and is a better conductor of heat. Your skin loses heat faster.

I remember reading about a person who lived in Denver and was surprised by how much colder it felt in San Francisco at the same temperature. Same reason—Denver’s high-elevation air is much less dense than San Francisco’s sea-level air.

Unlike my last visit to Death Valley, this time I remembered to add a little air pressure to the tires before going below sea level. I’m sure you’ve heard of submarines going below their rated depth and getting crushed. Well, the same thing happens to your tires. So I pumped them up a little to keep them from getting flabby. (Oddly, the National Park Service has not put up any warning signs about this anywhere in the valley.)

But I couldn’t do anything about another effect of increased air pressure—slowing of the vehicle due to greater wind resistance. I noticed that I had to use more pedal to the metal in order to maintain speed. It was subtle, but it was there. Streamlining the truck might help, but I soon discovered that retracting the radio antenna made no difference. Same for folding the outside rear view mirrors against the body, removing the windshield wipers and all external decals, duct taping all the body seams and shrink-wrapping the entire truck in wet Teflon. Not wanting to attract the attention of the Highway Patrol, I decided to put everything back the way it was. Besides, the increased accelerator pressure could be offset by the increased amount of oxygen available to the engine, so maybe it’s a wash.

In conclusion, some of this is true. Some isn’t. I’ll leave it to my dear readers to decide what, if any, to believe.