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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1999
> May
> May 7, 1999:
Hour Two: Tornadoes / Y Chromosome
This week, unusually powerful clusters of tornadoes
struck in Oklahoma and Kansas, destroying hundreds of homes
and killing over 40 people. Storm experts said that one of
the tornadoes may have reached the level of F5, the
strongest level ever observed (however, the tornado had not
yet been officially classified.) One twister was reported to
have been as wide as a mile across.
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What made these storms so powerfull? It's
somewhat hard to say. A massive updraft of moist
air into cooler air can create an ordinary storm.
But add in sizable differences in wind speed
between the top and bottom of that column of air,
and you can make a supercell -- which, sometimes,
can spawn a tornado. Where tornadoes form and the
length of time that they last is an unpredictable
phenomenon. In this case, scientists say, extremely
bad luck conspired to produce a group of tornadoes
that were above average in size, strength, and
destructiveness.
We'll talk about the science behind tornado
formation and about protecting yourself against the
effects of powerful storms.
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image courtesy NOAA Photo
Library,
NOAA Central Library.
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Then...
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What makes men men and women women? Is it all genetics? Is
it all social influences? In this segment of Science Friday,
the second of two programs on the science of gender, we'll talk
about the Y chromosome and what it does.
Some scientists say that the Y-chromosome helps code for much
more than just larger size, hairier faces, and other external
sexual characteristics.
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They point to genes as the source of many behaviors, including mate
selection and aggression. Are these scientists out on a limb? Tune in
and find out on this hour of Science Friday.
Guests:
Harold Brooks
Meteorologist
National Severe Storms Laboratory
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
Norman, OK
David Page
Professor, Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator
Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research
Cambridge, MA
Michael Ghiglieri
Author, "The
Dark Side of Man: Tracing the Origins of Male Violence" (Perseus Books)
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
- National Severe
Storms Laboratory
Tornado
Information from the Red Cross
Scientific
American: Turn! Turn! Turn!
Discovery
Channel Online: Tornado Warning!
This segment produced by:
Annette Heist
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist
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