Suggestions??? OT

[Dave Nereson]

----- Original Message -----
From: <A440A@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 4:47 PM
Subject: Re: Suggestions??? OT


> Greetings,
>     Woodpeckers?  We want to talk about Woodpeckers?  Ok,  The net is a
> wonderful thing, no?  I found this on google, and figured the only place I
> could post it to good effect would be here.
>
> >>The woodpecker survives this head-bashing and these exceptional forces
> because of the design of the head, beak, and neck in a special way.
> For starters, the woodpecker has greatly reinforced  skull with bone. This
is
> necessary if the head is not going to break into pieces. The woodpecker
has a
> stronger bill than most birds. It must be strong enough to dig into a tree
> without folding up like an accordion. The bill is chisel-tipped, and when
the
> woodpecker is chiselling away there is a lot of sawdust. Normally in
birds,
> the sawdust would enter the nostrils, but the woodpecker has been designed
> with slit-like nostrils covered by fine wiry feathers to prevent the
sawdust
> from entering.
> Also, the beak and brain itself have been cushioned against impact. In
most
> birds, the bones of the beak are joined to the bones of the cranium—the
part
> of the skull that surrounds the brain. But in the woodpecker the cranium
and
> beak are separated by a sponge-like tissue that takes the shock each time
the
> bird strikes its beak against a tree. The woodpecker’s shock-absorber is
so
> good that scientists say it is far better than any that humans have
invented.
> For added protection to its brain, the woodpecker has special muscles
which
> pull its brain-case away from its beak every time it strikes a blow. But
this
> is only part of the story. If the woodpecker’s head were to twist even
> slightly while hammering the tree, the rotation of its head, combined with
> the force of pecking, would tear away the bird’s brain. But God, the
ultimate
> Designer, has created the woodpecker with superbly co-ordinated neck
muscles
> to keep its head perfectly straight. Thus the bird can withstand the
enormous
> shock it inflicts on itself year in, year out, many thousands of times a
day.
 >
> There is a lot more, but this oughta be enough for a Friday with the beer.
,
> Regards,
> Ed Foote, (who sometimes wishes he had more sponge-like tissue around my
> brain....)

    Now if only God had designed piano tuners with sponge-like schock
absorbers in their key-pounding fingers and wrists, and special eardrum
flaps that contracted at the initial attack of loud sounds, to withstand the
shock inflicted on them year in, year out, many thousands of times a day.
:-)     --Dave Nereson