Do you have a question about the news? The Q&A Team will try to get an answer. Email q&a (AT) ajc.com (include your name and city). Sorry, individual responses are not possible.
Q: Are the deadly blue-ringed octopuses found anywhere in the United States coastal waters?
A: Thankfully not! The blue-ringed octopus lives in the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Australia. It is found in shallow reef and tide pools and is the most toxic known sea creature.
About the size of a golf ball, a single bite from the octopus can paralyze breathing muscles and induce death within minutes. The poison is not injected but comes from the octopus' saliva. Its venom contains maculotoxin, which is 10,000 times more potent than cyanide. There's no known antidote. A victim must receive artificial respiration for about 24 hours while the poison passes from one's system.
Q: I change my own oil. Are there any auto part stores that collect the used motor oil?
A: Yes, there are. Go to the Web site earth911.org and search motor oil in your ZIP code or city. Be sure to call first to determine if the store is still accepting oil. Earth911.org offers recycling drop-off locations for paper, plastic, paint and other products. According to its Web site, Earth 911's free public service is made possible by partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state and local governments, and private companies including Monsanto, Staples and BP also sponsor this free public service.
Q: Randy Pausch, the author of "The Last Lecture," was only given a few months to live. Can you give an update on his health?
A: In September 2006, Randy Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the deadliest of cancers. The Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist and professor delivered his last lecture in September 2007. The lecture, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," was made into the best-seller "The Last Lecture," co-authored with Wall Street Journal writer Jeffrey Zaslow and published in April.
In the meantime, Pausch underwent surgery and participated in an experimental, highly toxic radiation and chemotherapy regimen. Initial tests showed him cancer-free, but by August 2007, the cancer had returned and by May had spread to his lungs and some lymph nodes in his chest. Pausch died July 25.
Q: Barack Obama is often described as having once worked as a community organizer in Chicago. I'm curious as to what he did as a community organizer. What was the name of the organization?
A: In the late 1980s, future U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) directed the Developing Communities Project in Chicago. He worked with poor families, mobilized residents and organized black churches for improved public housing, student summer jobs and a drop-out prevention program. His starting salary was just over $10,000 plus enough money to buy a used car. DCP is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), faith-based grassroots organization that organizes and advocates for social change. In 1992, he worked with "Project Vote," registering nearly 150,000 black voters.
Q: How many former presidents did not serve in the military, and what are their names?
A: Thirteen, according to "Facts About the Presidents," 7th edition, not including service in state National Guards. They were John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Bill Clinton.
Q: Is it true that the original G.I. Joe doll was modeled after an actual WWII Medal of Honor winner, and if so, who was he and what battle was he involved in?
A: The original G.I. Joe, who reported for duty in 1964, wasn't modeled on anyone in particular. The name came from the 1945 movie "The Story of G.I. Joe." The film was a biography of real-life World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle, played by Burgess Meredith, as he followed a platoon fighting its way through Italy. The platoon leader was played by Robert Mitchum.
Hasbro, G.I. Joe's maker, has issued limited edition G.I. Joes that resemble actual Medal of Honor winners such as Roy P. Benavidez (near Loc Ninh, Vietnam, 1968) and Mitchell Paige (Solomon Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean, 1942).
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