BUBBA'S
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Please go to Page 3 to see newer answers.

**************Beginning with question 12, newest questions will be at the top.*************

53. (received on 12/09/2007 and answered on 12/13/2007)

Breanna and Rachel asked, "Who invented gymnastics? "

There is a man who is called the "Father of Gymnastics". His name is Friedrich Ludwig Jahn and he is known for developing what we call modern gymnastics. However, the ancient Greeks are said to have originated them more than two thousand years ago, even though the Chinese and Indian people were do some gymnastic exercises and using some gymnastic equipment even earlier than that.

52. (received on 12/07/2007 and answered on 12/13/2007)

Amber asked, "What is the most popular song? "

I cheated on this one. I asked Mr. Baker's son, Jared. He knows everything! He said it was "Happy Birthday to You". A check on the Internet verified that for songs in english. Jared says he read it in one of his many books of world records from Guinness.

51. (received on 11/30/2007 and answered on 11/30/2007)

Abigail asked, "What was the name and year of the first on air show? "

I wasn't really sure what you were asking, Abigail. If you wanted to know the first radio broadcast "over the airwaves", the answer would be a music broadcast in Austria in 1904, according to Internet sites. That show did not have a particular name. If you are talking television, that would be during 1928 when a man named Charles F. Jenkins started broadcasting regular shows for general audiences. Once again, these shows were un-named.

50. (received on 11/21/2007 and answered on 11/30/2007)

Amber asked, "Is there any book with more than 1,000,000 pages? "

My answer is going to be "NO". After reviewing many sites, I learned that books with 1,000,000 words are rare. It is doubtful any exist with one word per page.

 

49. (received on 11/14/2007 and answered on 11/16/2007)

Yvonne asked, "Is it true that the harder to play note on a piano the better it sounds? "

I guess this is all subjective, Yvonne. I spoke with my friend Stanley Grosbeck (he used to play the piano at my favorite salloon many years ago), and he says there, "Ain't no such a thing as hard to play notes. Besides, who just plays one note other than that Johnny fella?"

48. (received on 11/14/2007 and answered on 11/16/2007)

Amber asked, "Why are my blood veins blue? "

This is a funny thing, Amber. When I was a boy in school, they taught me that blood was blue. We even had charts thaty showed vein blood as blue and artery blood (it picked up oxygen in the lungs) as red. Supposedly when it touches air, it instantly turns bright red. Modern day doctors all know that's hogwash. Blood is red. It gets brighter when it hits the air, but it is red. A quick review of the Internet helped me understand that the bluish appearance of our veins is caused by looking at the veins through our skin. The red blood does not reflect light very well so, it appears blue, even though it is red.

47. (received on 11/08/2007 and answered on 11/13/2007)

Ashlee asked, "How many people have gone to the moon in the last 10 years ? "

I already knew the answer to this one, Ashlee, and that's "zero". The last time we sent a manned mission to the moon was in December of 1972. That was Apollo 17.

46. (received on 11/09/2007 and answered on 11/13/2007)

Ethan asked, "Were people around in the time before dinosaurs? "
Boy, Ethan. This is a fine can of worms you are opening. This is evidently a topic of debate. The Internet shows many different viewpoints about this. The modern scientists say, "no way!" A common thread among several sites with that view point claims that man "evolved" 70,000,000 years after dinosaurs were extinct. Then there is a whole big group of people called "creationists" who say that man has existed since the beginning of creation. What is my answer based on my research? Maybe there were people then. Maybe there weren't. I'll have to ask Mrs. Woodruth, my high school Math teacher if she saw any dinosaurs walking around when she was a girl.

45. (received on 11/07/2007 and answered on 11/08/2007)

Sofia asked, "Who is the only person/animal who doesn't call Big Bird, Big Bird.  And why?"

Sofia, I'm going to give you more than one answer which kind of points out that your question is formed poorly since it implies there is only one answer. Answer 1) My dog, Nickie, is an animal. I have never heard him call Big Bird "Big Bird", so he is one answer. His reason is that he doesn't talk. Answer 2) Aloysius Snuffleupagus ("Snuffy") is some kind of an animal. He always calls Big Bird "Bird" because he is his best friend, and best friends have special names. Answers 3) Millions of children around the world call him Abelardo, Da Naio, Bibo, Poupas, Pino, Gallina Caponata, Minik Kus, Gariboldo, and NimNim in their countries. You can read more about him on his Wikipedia reference page.

44. (received on 11/04/2007 and answered on 11/07/2007)

Ashlee asked, "What is the average number of girls who buy NIKE shorts in a year? "

This is not an easy question to answer for many reasons. First of all, girl's shorts might be bought by other people besides the girls themselves. Also, NIKE, like most corporations is a little closed-mouthed about exact sales figures. However, for only 535 Euros and 50 more Euros to cover shipping and handling, you can order a complete financial report for NIKE at http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/353528/financial_analysis_nike_inc.htm. Until you get that report, let's consider this a stump!

43. (received on 11/02/2007 and answered on 11/07/2007)

Tyler asked, "If there was gravity in space, which way would you fall? "

Sorry to bust your chops, Tyler, but whoever told you there was no gravity in space told you a whopper. You might be thinking of "zero gravity", which is defined as the feeling of weightlessness astronauts feel in space.

42. (received on 10/29/2007 and answered on 10/31/2007)

Dave asked, "What is the second grade record for AR points earned in one school year? "

This was easy. I just asked Ms. Pais in the library. She tells me the answer is the 351.3 points earned by a boy named Matthew during the 2005/2006 school year.

41. (received on 10/26/2007 and answered on 10/30/2007)

K. D. asked, "Which star is farthest from the sun? "

I spent quite awhile looking for this one. As of the time I am giving this answer, most sources on the Internet agree that it is PSR B1620-26 located in M4. However, more stars are being discovered all the time.

40. (received on 10/17/2007 and answered on 10/19/2007)

Courtney asked, "When was Hadyes born? "

I spoke with Courtney and asked her to be more specific. There aren't a whole lot of people with the surname Hadyes, but they are out there. She told me that she was referring to Hadyes, the god of the dead, from Greek mythology. I started by using the search words "birth of Hades" (the more commonly accepted spelling). That led me to lots of articles about the Titans. Therefore, I can tell you what is handed down from the ancient Greeks. Hadyes is one of six children of the Chronos and Rhea. He was the fourth child, but his dad swallowed him the second he was born. His brother, Zeus, is the only one of the six that didn't get swallowed. He made Chronos upchuck his brothers and sisters.Then they formed an alliance and went to battle with the Titans. It was a battle that they one.

39. (received on 10/17/2007 and answered on 10/19/2007)

Zane asked, "When was the first book published? "

I had to labor over this question for awhile, Zane. I kept getting conflicting things when I searche the web using your actual question in Google. First, I made a list of the sites that gave the answers. Then I crossed out the ones I thought were a little less "trustworthy". Then I tallied them up and one answer was the clear leader. Therefore, I can tell you that the majority of trusted sites on the Internet agree that the first book was published in China in the year 808. It was called The Diamond Sutra and was hand printed on a seven-page scroll with wooden blocks.

38. This question stumped Bubba. Read about it at the Bubba Stumper Hall of Fame.

37. (received on 10/15/2007 and answered on 10/15/2007)

Amber asked, "Why do you get pruney when you stay in the water too long? "

This was something I always wondered about, Amber. I also wondered if there was a correlation to life-long water exposure and old-age wrinkles. Anyway, I learned that there is a substance called sebum that helps stop water from soaking into your skin. When you stay in the water too long it washes off and your skin gets waterlogged, just like a sponge. The wrinkles are a result of parts of the sking being attached down under and other parts being loose. To find this out, I used the search terms "skin +wrinkled +waterlogged". One of the sites I found might be a good source for other health related questions you might have. It is called KidsHealth.

36. This question stumped Bubba. Read about it at the Bubba Stumper Hall of Fame.

35. (received on 10/08/2007 and answered on 10/09/2007)

Catena asks, "Can you tell me what was the first person to envent the first math problem? "

My answer would be that the first person on Earth invented the first math problem. Math problems do not just exist in math class rooms and textbooks. They are ordinary situations in life that involve numbers. That first person, for example, would have looked at his pile of 3 birds and used math to estimate how long his food supply would last. My research on the Internet to find the first person on Earth, indicates that many people believe it was many different people. We'll just leave it at that.

34. (received on 10/04/2007 and answered on 10/09/2007)

Mikaela asked, "What musical instrument was used to make scary sound effects in 1950’s science fiction movies? "

Well, Mikaela, my search through the Internet suggested many different musical instruments. The one that received the most mention was the organ. I guess this makes sense since early movies were accompanied by pipe organs in the theaters when they were still silent.

*Addendum to question 34 (posted on 10/12/2007): Mikaela came to me about this and told me she had forgotten to mention that the musical instrument she was referring to did not require the player to "pluck strings, hit keys, or blow in or around it". I told her to give me another 5 days and I would get back to it. I started thinking of a wacky instrument that I saw being played once an a show about the Beach Boys. For that reason, I searched on Google using the search terms "sound effects +1950 horror pictures + Beach Boys" and found a web site right on the top of the list called Monster Music. When I got there, it talked about an instrument called the theremin. When I put that in google it led me to a Wikipedia entry about the theremin , sure enough, it was what I had remembered seeing! Anyway, this might not be the one Mikaela, but it meets your criteria. Consider the question down for the count.

33. (received on 10/01/2007 and answered on 10/02/2007)

Spencer asked, "What caused the first dinosaur to die? "

The answer to your question was easy for me to get. I called Mrs. Woodruth, my highschool math teacher since she was there when it happened. She says it just fell over gasping for air and died. Seriously, however, there is truth to what she said. The cause of all death is lack of oxygen to the brain, although there are many different things that cause that lack.

32. (received on 10/01/2007 and answered on 10/02/2007)

Allison asked, "Why did the dinosaurs die? "

Assuming that you are really asking, "Why did dinosaurs go extinct?", a review of websites found with that question in Google, indicates that the most widely accepted theory involves an asteroid's impact on the earth near the Yucatan Peninsula and the problems it caused.

31. (received on 10/01/2007 and answered on 10/02/2007)

Josiah asked, "How do they put the letter "M" on M&M candies ? "

I found that answer by putting your question in Google and then reviewing the sites I found. One of them was an official site of the Mars, Incorporated which you can check out here. Between that site and a few others the process became very clear to me. They use a method similar to off-set printing. They print a candy image of the "M" on a smooth roller which gently rolls over the candy leaving the "M" on it. One source claims it goes on as a "W", but I couldn't back that up on another site.

30. (received on 09/28/2007 and answered on10/01/2007)

Someone (I'll post the name when I know it.) asked, "Why is Zeus the god of the sky? "

A lengthy review of the Internet indicates that, in ancient Greek mythlogy, Zeus was believed to have control of the weather, especially rain and lightning. That would explain the "god of the sky" bit. However, he was better known as the "King of the gods".

29. (received on 09/26/2007 and answered on 09/27/2007)

Laney asked, "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody's there, does it make a sound? "

What a fun old question that is. I remember arguing about that one many times out at the ranch. Now, however, I have researched it and learned the answers. That's right... ANSWERS. You see, in order to answer the question, you have to understand what sound is. If you go by the definition in Websters , " the sensation perceived by the sense of hearing", the answer is no since there are no ears to perceive the sensation. If you are going by definitions that mention the vibration of molecules moving in waves, then obviously the answer is yes. Check out this very simple page about the physics of sound.

28. (received on 09/26/2007 and answered on 09/27/2007)

Paul asked, "Who was closest person to Mars? "

Well, Paul, that depends on which Mars you are asking about. If you are talking about Laura Mars, the answer is her boyfriend. If you are talking about the Mars Candy Company, that would be the man in the blue house across the street. However, if you are in fact piggy-backing off of Katrina's stumping question, "Who has gone closest to the sun?", as I think you are, the answer is very easy. All of my Internet research indicates that the farthest any human has gone is to the moon. I am going to say that the answer to your question is the crew members of various Apollo missions. If you can find a better answer, let me know.

27. This question stumped Bubba. Read about it at the Bubba Stumper Hall of Fame.

26. (received on 09/20/2007 and answered on 09/21/2007)

Joseph asked, "Who was the person who was given credit for naming the great white shark? "

Wow! I almost kind of new this. I was watching all kinds of shark shows on my new high definition TV. One of the shows talked about how the Great White Shark's real name means "The Jagged Toothed One". I seemed to remember it being named by some lady named Carol. Anyway, to make sure I new the real facts, I searched on Google with the terms name +"great white shark". After a few visits to websites, it became apparent that it was not a lady, but the famous Swedish zoologist Carolus Linnaeus. Check out his Wikipedia page here. He was a pretty awesome dude!

25. (received on 09/20/2007 and answered on 09/21/2007)

Maddison asked, "What part of the brain controls breathing? "

The answer to your question is living right inside my brain, Maddison. I went to Northside schools and evidently learned a lot about the human body in science and health classes. The brain stem is responsible for all of the actions that keep us alive such as breathing, circulating our blood, and digesting our food.

24. (received on 09/18/2007 and answered on 09/18/2007)

Spencer asked, "What was the last living dinosaur? "

The quick answer would be Mrs. Woodruth, my highschool math teacher. She was older than the mountains! Actually though, a review of the Internet points to an African dinosaur called Mokele-mbembe which some people claim still lives on the continent. Actually, nobody really knows for sure which type of dinosaur was the last. T Rex and Triceratops were probably among the last.

23. (received on 09/18/2007 and answered on 09/18/2007)

Biannca asked, "How many planes fought in the Civil War? "

Sorry, Biannca. There were no planes fighting in the Civil War.

22. (received on 09/13/2007 and answered on 09/17/2007)

Jahmaal asked, "What color would grass be if you were color blind? "

The answer to this question is actually "green". Grass is green. Color blindness is a problem with perception of colors. What an actual color blind person sees can vary based on the type of color blindness and the brightness and hue of the object in question. My search of the Internet by asking your question in Google led me to believe that grass being green, would appear pinkish, grayish, or brownish to most color blind people. Although there were numerous sources for information about color blindness, I liked Wikipedia's best. You can visit it by clicking here.

21. (received on 09/13/2007 and answered on 09/17/2007)

Josh asked, "How tall is an average giraffe?"

This was really easy Josh. I typed "average +height +giraffe" in Google and got several good sites with giraffe statistics. All seemed to agree that the average male giraffe is 5.3 meters tall, and the average female is 4.3 meters tall.

20. (received on 09/15/2007 and answered on 09/17/2007)

Brittany challenged, "Name one of the main ingridients used to make Mexican Mole that can also be eaten by itself."

This was especially easy for me. I am one big cowboy. I eat lots of great food. One of my favorite foods is chicken mole. My Mama makes it better than anyone else in the world. We used to have a cook on the ranch who taught Mama a secret recipe. When I called Mama the other day to ask her for you, she said, "Bubba, why haven't you called me. I've been sitting here waiting for you to call. When are you going to come get those weeds out of my flower beds? Mole? Something in it you can eat by itself? That could be a lot of things. That child's probably yammering about raisins or chocolate."

19. (received on 09/16/2007 and answered on 09/17/2007)

Laney asked, "Who was the tallest president ?"

Assuming you are talking about the United States, this is easy. I went to Google and typed "tallest +president". I got lots of pages. There are two answers. The tallest elected president was Abraham Lincoln. The tallest president to take office without actually being elected was Lyndon Johnson. Check out Wikipedia's web page with all kinds of presidential stuff here.

18. (received on 09/06/2007 and answered on 09/11/2007)

Nick asked, "How many brain cells do we lose per day and why?"

There is a range among the web sites I visited on the Internet. Most agree that we lose about 10,000 neurons per day. Major causes of brain cell death are stroke, drugs, disease and trauma. Of course, that doesn't explain why the average adult human loses 10,000 per day. There seems to be some new research coming out of Harvard Medical School that points to a protein that controls the rate of cell death in the brain. They are not sure how or why it works, yet. More research is needed. Another good thing, is that research sited seems to indicate that adults produce new brain cells throughout their lives.

17. (received on 09/06/2007 and answered on 09/11/2007)

Maddie asked, "How tall is the Eiffel Tower?"

This was another really easy one. The websites on the Internet agree that it is 324 m (1,063 ft). That is from the ground to the top of the radio antenna.

16. (received on 09/06/2007 and answered on 09/11/2007)

Maddie asked, "Why do I close my eyes when I sneeze?'

The simple answer is that it is a reflex action. Nobody really knows the cause of it, but a review of the Iinternet suggests it is meant to protect the eyes from the powerful force caused by the sneeze. There is some reference to a belief that it is actually to hold your eyes in your head. Personally, I don't really care. I just wish that people's hands would automatically fly to their mouths so their sneezes won't travel so far and get me!

15. (received on 09/06/2007 and answered on 09/11/2007)

Kimmi asked, “How many people are in the world?” 

Please go here to see your answer, as the number changes every second: worldpop.

14. (received on 09/06/2007 and answered on 09/11/2007)

Kimmi asked, “How hot is the sun?”

A review of the Internet leads me to believe that the sun’s core is 27,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit. You better buy some sunscreen before you visit, Kimmi.

13. (received on 09/06/2007 and answered on 09/11/2007)

Carolina asked, “How much does the school weigh?”

Easy. The school weighs the sum of all people and objects in it added to the sum of all structural elements. Remember, how much questions will no longer be answered.

12. (received on 09/06/2007 and answered on 09/11/2007)

Fallon asked, “Why are there so many computers at Carson?”

Easy again! Mr. Baker says that the number of computers at Carson is decided by district policy and funding from the state.

 

 

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1. (received on 08/28/2007 and answered on 08/29/2007)

Karthik asked "How much does the Earth weigh ?"

I had a good time researching this one. I began by asking that exact question in the Google search window and exploring the sites it listed for me. A review of the sites indicates to me that it is generally agreed that you are really asking "What is the mass of the earth" since weight is actually the earth's gravitational pull on an object. Most of the sites reviewed estimate the earth's mass to be about 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms. A good explanation for how the mass of the earth is calculated was found at the Enchanted Learning web site.

2. (received on 08/30/2007 and answered on 08/31/2007)

Leyla asked, "Name two reasons why both children and labrador puppies get so many ear infections".

This was an interesting one. I have never had a labrador before, so I typed this into Google: labrador +children +"ear infection". A review of the sites indicated that labrador's have more problems with ear infections because of their big floppy ears. I went up to Carson and looked a bunch of kids and only saw one boy named Edgar Wilowski who actually had big floppy ears. After visiting several more sites, I found two reasons that were listed as "frequent causes" for both children and labrador puppies. One was swimming, as labradors evidently like swimming more than most other dogs. It seems they were bred to swim out and get ducks for hunters. The other was allergies, especially food allergies. Leyla, since you seem to like labradors, you might want to visit Labrador Harbor which is "non-profit corporation formed in late 2005 to provide charitable funds to private citizens or non-profit rescue organizations that directly benefit the immediate physical well-being of Labrador Retrievers."

3. (received on 08/30/2007 and answered on 08/31/2007)

Amber asked, "What does "f" stand for in piano ".

That was way too easy for me, Amber. Since I used to perform with Slim Waddle and the Yodeling Cow Clipppers, I know that an “f” in music stands for "forte". That means to sing or play loud and strong.

4. (received on 08/30/2007 and answered on 08/31/2007)

Noel asked, "How much does the whole universe weigh with all the planets? "

Great question, Noel. My first thought was to tell you nobody knows, but after typing your question in Google, I found lots of interesting information about the universe. Now to make sense of anything to do with the weight of the universe you have to realize we are talking about mass again just like Karthik. Also, you have to buy in to that BIG BANG theory for the creation of the universe. Personally, I get a little nervous thinking about how it all started, so we'll just move on and look at what the scientists seem to agree on. Don't forget that some scientists thought the world was flat a long time ago, so they may be as clueless about this, too. Anyway, a review of the web sites found on Google indicates that most scientists agree that the mass of the universe is the sum of all mass created at the time of the Big Bang I mentioned earlier. They also claim to have some tools like the High Resolution Echelle Spectrograph. You might want to visit the NASA site or Science Notes to read more about it.

5. (received on 08/30/2007 and answered on 08/31/2007)

Lauren asked, "How many licks does it take to the middle of a tootsie roll pop? "

Wow! I have been wondering about this ever since 1970 when that kid asked Mr. Turtle. Mr. Turtle didn't know the answer, so he sent him to Mr. Owl. Mr. Owl cheated and bit his tootsie pop. Now, 37 years later, Lauren, you are asking the same question. Fortunately for you, it is easier to research the question now than it was for that other kid. I went straight to the Tootsie Roll Industries web site to see if they had any answers. Then I reviewed some other web sites and came up with the answer I am going to give you. The answer is somewhere between 100 and 5,800 according to the many boys and girls who have sent letters to Tootsie Roll Industries reporting on their own experiments, Me? I agree with Mr. Owl. I lick a few times and crunch right in there!

 

6. (received on 09/01/2007 and answered on 09/06/2007)

Amber asked, "What is a blue stripe in Taekwondo? "

My Internet search on Google with your question led me to believe that there are different forms of Taekwondo out there. Most of them refer to the blue stripe as something that is added to a green belt with the label “6th kup”. There were a few that spoke of a yellow belt with a blue stripe that signifies “light-weight” when “sparring”. It all sounds really complicated to me. Check out these sites for more information:

Green with blue stripe**********************Yellow with blue stripe

7. (received on 09/01/2007 and answered on 09/06/2007)

Grant asked, "How far away is the closest galaxy? "

Thanks for the question Grant. I typed your question into Ask.com. It gave me leads to several related questions. I chose, “What is the closest Galaxy to ours?”, and got 41,800 hits. A review of several of the sites led me to the answer. The closest galaxy to us would be the Canis Major dwarf galaxy which is approximately 42,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. This is a new discovery, and has only been known since 2003. Even one of the NASA educational sites still lists the previous title holder, called the Large Magellan Cloud.You can click here to see some pictures.

8. (received on 09/01/2007 and answered on 09/06/2007)

David asked, "How much money is in the world? "

Okay, David. This is almost a “how many” question, but I’ll cut you some slack since it is interesting. There is no real answer for the question because world economies are not based on actual money in circulation, but gross product. Gross product is the total value of all goods and services produced by a nation. Unfortunately, this view does not take into account other values such as tax income, property values, and general holdings of the people and governments. The answer I am going to give you is the one commonly agreed on by several websites. It goes back seven years to an estimate of the “global gross product” of  43.6 trillion US dollars from the year 2000.

9. (received on 09/01/2007 and answered on 09/06/2007)

Travis asked, "Of the people that fought at the Alamo do you know who was related? "

First, I have to make some assumptions about what you are actually asking since obviously, everyone at the Battle of the Alamo was related to someone. If you are asking your question on the lines of actual relationships between soldiers fighting in the battle, that is fairly easy to answer in part. A review of the Internet tells me that we have a lot of documentation about the “defenders” of the Alamo, but not as much about the Mexican army. We know for example, that there were the Taylor brothers (George, James, and Edward), the Walker cousins (Asa and Jacob), and the Nelson brothers (Edward and George). A great site with what appears to be a complete list of all known defenders is The Alamo Site .

10. (received on 09/06/2007 and answered on 09/11/2007)

Lindsay asked, “Why don’t people fall out of roller coasters?”

The most common answer on the Intenet is "centripetal force". That is the force that is needed to make something follow a course at constant speed. The force pushes inward, perpindicular to the original course. That would push you into your coaster seat.

11. (received on 09/06/2007 and answered on 09/11/2007)

Spencer asked, "Do frogs sleep?"

Great question! I searched for answers using Ask.com. A review of the web sites I found indicates that frogs do not really sleep like we do. They do rest, but they don’t have the same sleeping brain activity that we do. Sometimes low body temperature makes them hibernate, which is a like sleep.

 

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