A couple of weeks ago, we got an innocent enough sounding call from a mom trying to figure out the best design for her son's Pinewood Derby contest. For those of you who don't know about the Pinewood Derby, it's supposed to be a race between Cub Scouts, using little five ounce cars they've built from a block of wood. What it turns into, however, is a battle to the death between parents, using Cray supercomputers, wind tunnels, and all the physics known to modern man.

And we went and stuck our big fat mouths right in the middle of this ritual, just about starting WWIII in the process. We got letters about kinetic energy, gravity, the mass of falling objects. We got hate mail from irate parents, three-time Pinewood Derby winners-- even a tome that outlined the dreaded PEF, or Parental Ego Factor. Phew! All that-- for a dinky little race with a bunch of five ounce toys. Holy Guacamole.

While you're here, take a listen to the call, and then add your two cents to this melee, already in progress.

And we promise, if we even end up back in Physic 8.01, we'll pay closer attention next time.

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