Q: My friend turns his air-conditioning off when he goes to work, goes on vacation or plans on being out of the house for more than a few hours. It gets up to 100 degrees in his house. Is he really saving money on his electric bill? A: Coincidentally, as this is written, the air-conditioning is ...

Q: The other day when it was raining, it made me wonder about this: Is it possible to have more than 100 percent humidity or less than zero percent? My husband thinks I am odd. A: He may be right. I don’t know. If he is just basing that on your question, you probably aren’t ...

Q: On a cross-country trip, my husband and I started wondering about those “pool of water” reflections on the road ahead. What causes that? A: These travelers have seen, as we all have, a very common mirage. There are two kinds of mirages: inferior and superior. Inferior means the object is displaced downward. Superior is the ...

Rocks on the roof? Who to call but the estimable Max Underwood, professor of architecture at Arizona State University, a specialist in Valley architecture, and hail-fellow-well-met. Underwood says your native friend is correct. Rocks on the roof can be traced to the Native Americans who lived here long before anyone dreamed of professional hockey and were ...

The Arizona desert is known for its summer scorchers. "It's hot" is probably among the most uttered phrases this time of year, and when the mercury hovers over 110 degrees, "it's f***ing hot" seems a bit more appropriate. That's when neighbors start to fry eggs on the pavement and bake cookies on their car dashboards. ...