Questioning co-worker’s red snow story

Q: I work with one of the biggest liars ever. He claims he and his girlfriend were hiking the Sierra Nevada this summer in the upper elevations where there was still snow on the ground. Up to this point, I believed him. Then his story gets weird. He said when you walked in the snow the print left behind was red and the snow on their boots was red! He insists it’s true, but no one believes him. I was assigned to write to you and ask. — F.N.J., Pensacola, Florida

A: He’s telling you the truth. The snow is known as “blood snow,” “red snow” or “watermelon snow,” and it is caused by a species of green algae that contains a secondary red pigment. Disturbing the snow damages the membranes of the algae and makes the snow red.

This type of snow is common during the summer in alpine and coastal polar regions worldwide, not only the Sierra Nevada of California.

Q: I have a few questions about Stephen Hawking: When was he born? I know he’s famous for things that I don’t understand. Is he a mathematician? Is he still married? Did he have any children? — H.N., Brockton, Massachusetts

A: Stephen William Hawking was born Jan. 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. He is an physicist, cosmologist and author. He married Jane Wilde in 1965 and they had three children: Robert, Lucy and Timothy. He and Jane divorced in 1995. That same year, he married his home care nurse Elaine Mason; that marriage lasted until 2006.

DID YOU KNOW? Dan Rowan, half of the Rowan and Martin comedy team, auditioned for the original version of “The Hollywood Squares” (1965) but lost out to Peter Marshall.

Q: I was recently watching the Green Bay Packers play, and it sounded like there is a player named Ha-ha. Is that true? — D.C.L., Annapolis, Maryland

A: Ha’sean “Ha Ha” Clinton-dix was born Dec. 21, 1992, in Orlando, Florida; he is a first-round draft safety for the Green Bay Packers. His grandmother gave him the nickname Ha Ha when he was 3 or 4 years old.

Clinton-dix recently signed a fouryear contract worth more than $8 million with a signing bonus in excess of $4 million. Yep, Ha Ha’s laughing all the way to the bank.

You live where? New Dorp, Staten Island, New York. The name is an Anglicization of Nieuw Dorp, which is Dutch for “new village.” Over time, the village became a small neighborhood in Staten Island.