Flying the jet stream

Question: Discovered by airmen during World War II, these move at up to 370 km/hour (230 mph) at heights from 10-15 km (6-9 miles), in narrow bands where the troposphere meets the stratosphere. Their energy comes from the heat differential from equator to poles, bestowing this planetary "free ride in the sky," averaging 100 mph in winter, 50 in summer. What are they, and what was their role in the War?

Answer: They're the "jet streams," generally blowing out of the west, often thousands of kilometers long, hundreds wide. Pilots know them as a potential helpful tailwind, the prime reason it usually takes about an hour longer to fly from New York to Los Angeles than from Los Angeles to New York.

The existence of jet streams became evident during World War II, from trying to understand why propeller-driven military aircraft sometimes reached their destinations well ahead of schedule, and at other times were significantly late, says Warren Blier, Ph.D., of the National Weather Service.

The Japanese military took advantage of the jet streams by wind-floating thousands of "fire balloons" across the Pacific. Some 300 did in fact hit a U.S. target, though with minimal damage. But an expanded program could have had serious effects. "So the U.S. government persuaded the media to make no mention of any of this, to convince the Japanese their efforts were ineffective. Seeing no newspaper stories on the balloons, the Japanese concluded just that and discontinued the program."

Question: Baseball brainiacs, can you name the dozen ways a hitter can get on base. Then add a 13th for a PLAYER.

Answer: A single, double, triple or homer count as #1, then a walk, a fielder's error, a fielder's choice on a ground ball, being hit by a pitch, reaching first after a wild pitch on strike three, reaching first after a passed ball on strike three, a call of catcher's interference, a call of first baseman's interference (impeding the runner), a fair ground ball or line drive that hits a runner (runner is out), a fair ground ball untouched by a fielder and that hits an umpire (scored a hit), and a fielder's throw of his glove or cap that hits a batted ball (ruled a triple).

That's the dozen, though from an official scorer's point of view, a few of these are duplications. For #13, a substitute player gets on base by coming in as a pinch runner. How many did you get?

Question: "In the animal kingdom, feces may either be repulsive or a resource," says one biologist. A resource?