Good Questions: Wind Chills, Whistling & More

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Every Friday, Heather Brown takes a closer look at some of the Good Questions that came her way that weren't selected for earlier segments. This week, she's looking at the mechanics of whistling and what it means to say "natural causes."

Justice Antonin Scalia, author Harper Lee and comedian Garry Shandling have all recently passed away from natural causes. So, Sharon from Andover asks: "What are natural causes?"

"That is simply confirmation that there is no reason (based on history, scene findings, medical records, conversations with family, etc.) to suspect the death was anything other than from natural diseases," Dr. Andrew Baker, Hennepin County Medical Examiner, said.

Baker says the term is used when the medical examiner or coroner has no concern the cause of death was external, like an overdose, homicide or suicide.

Jerry from Winona wants to know: "What's the difference between 'wind chill' and 'feels like' temperature?"

"There's not really any real difference between them," WCCO Meteorologist Matt Brickman said. "They mean the same thing and all that is how cold it feels on exposed skin."

Brickman said he believes the two terms exist because "wind chill" can be hard to understand. The two temperatures are measured using an equation that involves wind speed and air temperature.

Steph from Shakopee asks: "Why can some people whistle and others can't?"

"We don't know," Dr. Christine Shadle, an expert of turbulent airflow acoustics at the Haskins Laboratories and Yale University, said. "It's kind of a question that is hard to prove one way or another."

Shadle said, to whistle, people need to be able to control their lip aperture and their outward flow of air. She says some people might not be able to modulate airflow and others might not be able to open their lips properly.

"Whistling is highly nonlinear and sensitive to small geometric difference, which is part of why it's hard to learn how to whistle," she said.