Good Questions: Snooze Alarms, Fruit Flies, & Wet Lawns
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Every Friday, Heather Brown takes a look at some of the burning questions our viewers have. This week, Heather Brown hits the snooze button, waters the lawn and swats away a pesky household pest.
Colleen from Cottage Grove wants to know: "How do fruit flies suddenly appear?"
According to Jeff Hahn, a professor of entomology at the University of Minnesota, they come in from outside. They smell ripe fruit and make their way into homes through tiny spaces. They are small enough to fly through screens. Sometimes, people can also bring them home from the grocery store or outdoor gardens.
Six-year-old Liam from Minneapolis asks: "Why are our lawns wet in the morning?"
"Overnight, the ground gets cold and the air around it is warmer," WCCO meteorologist Matt Brickman said. "If there's enough moisture in the air, you'll see some moisture 'condensating' on the ground."
When the air reaches a certain temperature, the dew point, the water in the air can no longer hold that much moisture. The air's water vapor will turn into liquid faster than it will evaporate. When the sun comes up, the water absorbs into the ground.
Josh from Rochester asks: "Why is the snooze button set at 9 minutes?"
According to the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, the current -- and best -- theory comes a time from before digital clocks. With mechanical clocks, it was a matter of what size gear meshed properly with the clock's other internal gears. Clockmakers didn't want to mess up the clocks regular internal motion and nine or nine-and-half minutes apparently worked better than ten. By the time digital clocks were invented, nine minutes was the standard.