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Search results
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Dude, What's with the (Recycled) Pencils? (for the Week of Sept. 21, 2008)
September 19, 2008 Q. Dear Twig: I know something else they make pencils out of. It isn't plastic, either. It's paper! A. Excellent! You're right. There are companies that make pencils out of recycled paper. (The part of the pencil you ho ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Don't Waste That Food Waste, or When Good Things Happen to Bad Doodles (for the Week of Aug. 17, 2008)
August 13, 2008 Q. Dear Twig: OK, so what's a better thing to do with food waste — be it old fish tacos, be it stale Cheez Doodles, be it bags of muffin stumps — than bury it in a landfill? A. "Be it"? OK then. The answer is it be way bette ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Does Tomato Juice Stop Skunk Stink? (for the Week of March 18, 2007)
March 12, 2007 Q. Dear Twig: Does tomato juice work to get rid of skunk stink? A. No. Lots of people swear that it does. But scientists actually say that it doesn't. Why do people think that it works? A thing called olfactory fatigue ("ohl-FAK-t ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Do Skunks Spray Other Skunks? (for the Week of April 8, 2007)
April 2, 2007 Q. Dear Twig: So... do skunks ever spray each other? A. I've looked. And I've asked. And so far the answer, though cloudy, is this: Usually not. But maybe, once in a blue moon, sometimes. Stan Gehrt, a skunk expert at Ohio State, s ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Deer! (Snort, Bleat, Grunt) (for the Week of April 12, 2009)
April 12, 2009 Q. Dear Twig: Do deer make sounds? A. They crunch leaves, snap twigs (not me) and whack their antlers on trees. They make sounds, too, with their mouth, nose and throat. Q. Really? A. Scientists call it vocalizing. One study found that th ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Dead Tree Standing (for the Week of Sept. 30, 2007)
September 27, 2007 Q. Dear Twig: What good are dead trees? There's one in the woods behind our house. My dad says he won't cut it down. A.: Good for him! A dead tree actually does lots of good. (As long as there's no risk of it falling on s ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Deer Me: Where to Sleep? (for the Week of Jan. 5, 2009)
January 5, 2009 Q. Dear Twig: Where do deer sleep during winter? A. In two kinds of places. The choice depends on if it's daytime or nighttime. (I assume here a cold, snowy winter where the deer is. Are.) At night, deer tend to sleep near coniferou ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Dandy, Yes, But Not Before Bed (for the Week of April 15, 2007)
April 10, 2007 Q. Dear Twig: Why are dandelions called dandelions? A. The name comes from the French word dentdelion. "Dentdelion" means "tooth of the lion," which has to do with the shape of the leaf. The edge of the leaf looks like i ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Cuya-who-ga? (for the Week of April 27, 2008)
April 27, 2008 Q. Dear Twig: "Cuyahoggily"? I don't get it. A. "Cuyahoggily"? Last week? Eh? Eh? OK, it's a made-up word. But I sure do like it anyway. Say it 20 times in a row and see, just see, if you don't start to la ...
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Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick: Cool Cold Kiwis (for the Week of Feb. 22, 2009)
February 22, 2009 Q. Dear Twig: OK, here's your kiwifruit. So how can I grow my own kiwifruit? A. Thank you. Chomp. OK, here's your answer: It depends on where you live. If where you live has mildish winters — Oregon, say, or California or the ...