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|---|---|---|
Does "thinking hard" burn more calories than normal thought? | [
"Here's some previous answers: _URL_0_ _URL_1_ _URL_3_ _URL_2_"
] | [
"I'm sorry that I'm no expert, but I remember reading about this the last time a similar question was asked: _URL_0_ Basically, you percieve time faster after your run because of endorphines released during the work out, which means that the music seems slower. This is apparently also why a lot of rock musicians pl... |
Extra Credits just finished another series about history. This time about the events leading up to World War 1 and I'm curious what you all think of it. | [
"/u/notamacropus did an analysis of the first three parts of this series [here](_URL_0_) over a week ago. I hope that he/she (or another qualified expert) is able to come around and analyze the fourth and final part for historical accuracy."
] | [
"Hi - we as mods have approved this thread, because while this is a homework question, it is asking for clarification or resources, rather than the answer itself, which is fine according to [our rules](_URL_1_). This policy is further explained in this [Rules Roundtable thread](_URL_3_) and this [META Thread](_URL_... |
Monday Methods| Reading Historical Fiction | [
"> Will a good author tell us this information in the ~~foreword~~ *preface*? Two of my favourite authors, Conn Iggulden and Bernard Cornwell, both write on the interpolations and intentional deviations from history and reasons for them in the afterword and give non-fiction book recommendations on the subject. I ... | [
"Not against the rules at all! While I don't want to discourage further recommendations, I'll direct you towards the Crusades section of our booklist as a start. You can access that by scrolling down on [this page](_URL_0_)."
] |
How do fruit and vegetables ripen after they’ve been removed from their original plant/tree? | [
"They are still alive. Their biologic processes continue to function, albeit without the supply of food and water they had before they were picked."
] | [
"Do you mean for example a steak will go red to brown when opened? Yes the sealed trays contain a 'modified atmosphere' to make the meat stay red, as it is exposure to oxygen which turns the meat from red to brown. I've done a quick Google but can't find specifics for which gases are used. The colour on its own ha... |
If I anally ingested alcohol would it show up on a breathalyzer? | [
"The presumed route of alcohol in a breathalyzer sample is blood- > lungs- > breath- > breathalyzer. So, anything that increases your BAC would show up in a breathalyzer."
] | [
"when you get your license, you agree to consent to all BAC testing. if you dont, they take your license. driving isnt a right, its a privilege."
] |
Flavoured condoms, what makes them taste like that? And why would it taste like that and not the material itself? | [
"They are covered in flavored lube in the package. Latex itself does that much of a flavor."
] | [
"Wet things usually have a higher heat transfer coefficient then the dry version. Also their heat capacity generally increases so it takes more heat to raise their temperature. For a coin, it will feel wet at first while it sucks the heat out of your skin quickly (metal is a bad insulator), but gradually its temper... |
How Do I find out who is buried on my parents' old property when some of the graves are marked only with stones? | [
"Not asking you to dox yourself at all, but depending on the county it might be worth contacting the county historical society and/or the local newspaper, to see if they have archives going back to the early era of when the area was settled. If I remember correctly, UNC in Chapel Hill has a newspaper archive, and s... | [
"The strongest motivators are civic pride and identity. A town that has grown large might consider itself successful on that account alone. There were many towns that were founded but did not grow, and disappeared. Sometimes the town grew due to the civic leadership, sometimes it was environmental factors, but the ... |
Do theoretical physicists represent observation abstractly in mathematics? If so, how? | [
"Yes, the mathematical operation indicating observation of a quantity is given by the corresponding Hermitian operator. For example, with appropriate assignment of axes and such, the (one dimensional) position operator is just x, the momentum operator is -i * hbar * d/dx, and you can directly show that momentum and... | [
"For an interesting academic read on the subject, see Painter and Lotz's book *Phenomenology and the Non-Human Animal*, which is the most oft cited resource on the subject of animal interiors. [You can read the fulltext here and download as a PDF.](_URL_2_) People who study this, Phenomenologists (in the realm of p... |
The organization and hierarchy of the U.S. military (Ex. Regiments, divisions, companies, etc.). | [
"Squads into Platoons into Companies into Battalions into Divisions. Sizes vary, but as an example: 9ish Soldiers = 1 Squad 4ish Squads = 1 Platoon 4ish Platoons = 1 Company 4ish Companies = 1 Battalion 8ish Battaliions = 1 Division"
] | [
"Is this a homework question? It says in our [rules](_URL_0_): Our users aren't here to do your homework for you, but they might be willing to help. Remember: AskHistorians helps those who help themselves. Don't just give us your essay/assignment topic and ask us for ideas. Do some research of your own, then come t... |
Why is it that some people consistently look great in pictures, even if they are unattractive in real life, while other people consistently look horrible in pictures even if they are attractive in real like? | [
"The length of the lens and distance from the person [can warp the way your face looks](_URL_0_), it's a matter of perspective. Most cheaper cameras aren't the 'right' length and that's why when people go to professionals the pictures are usually more flattering."
] | [
"When you talk normally, you're generating the words, tone, and rhythm from your head before you open your mouth; when it's time to read, you have to look at the words manually and recite them one at a time, and you may not be able to anticipate how the entire sentence or line is supposed to sound. If you get a cha... |
Why is the word "HANDICAPPED" considered more offensive than "DISABLED"? | [
"It is a phenomenon called the creeping euphamism: 1. term is used to describe some segment of the population (crippled, retarded, midget) 2. term starts to be used to derisively in a broader sense 3. the segment of the population objects, and invents new term to describe themselves (handicapped, developmentally di... | [
"If somebody hacks your credit card & runs up charges, calling the card issuer & telling them will allow you to simply NOT pay for those fraudulent charges. If somebody hacks your debit card, that money is already out of your bank account and you have to fight to get your money BACK. Given that little tidbit, I'm ... |
What are these chains of tiny circles I see moving in my vision while looking at a light? | [
"[Floaters](_URL_0_), little bits of the jelly in your eyeball that clump together and become visible."
] | [
"UPDATE! A colleague with superior google skills figured it out. It's caused by many nocturnal species of birds that tend to migrate southward behind cold fronts. Their nocturnal migration appears around radar locations as a circular formation with radars that are behind a cold front showing larger, darker formatio... |
Why famous people seem to date and marry other famous people. | [
"People marry into their peer group. If you're middle class, it is extremely likely that the person you marry will also be from a similar background. The idea of a princess marrying a pauper (poor person) or vice-versa is an extreme outlier. So famous people tend to marry other famous people. Because that's their ... | [
"Many high end restaurants (or restaurant suppliers) get first pick. Particularly when it comes to meats and other things that spoil quickly. How many people at your supermarket are willing to pay top dollar for prime or whagu steak? Vs people going to a steak house."
] |
What is the biochemical process in seeds that keeps track of cold temperature so that seeds germinate at the correct time? | [
"Depending on the plant, cold may not be required at all, water can also be sufficient to trigger germination and different plants can have different requirements, ex California redwood trees require fire. Putting seeds in the cold also sort of synchronizes and speeds germination which is important for experiments ... | [
"Each parent gives half a chromosome pair to the child, yes, but the range of genetic variations is *huge*: During meiosis the chromosome pairs line up, and during that time they often swap sections randomly in a process called [crossover](_URL_0_). So each individual sperm/egg cell has what's probably a unique com... |
What's the difference between my 2.4 ghz wifi connection and my 5 ghz connection? | [
"Basically everything wireless we use is on a 2.4 ghz frequency. Bluetooth headsets, baby monitors, phones, garage door openers, etc. Basically it's he industry standard as to not interfere with other radio frequencies that are flying around your house. With a 5 ghz wifi connection, you get away from the congestion... | [
"Our eardrums vibrate - but that's not how our brain senses sound. The eardrum only transfers the sound from the outer ear to the inner ear. Within the inner ear is the cochlea, the part that actually senses the sound. The cochlea is filled with a fluid, and the sound is transferred into this fluid. Along the insid... |
Short Answers to Simple Questions | October 24, 2018 | [
"Do we have evidence of ancient cultures performing systematic archaeology and excavating ruins from even older civilizations? Is archaeological science a modern invention?"
] | [
"What exactly is not clear about the quote? Why Conference is dated by July and not by August - if so, Potsdam Conference was held from July 17, to August, 2. Bulk of debates happened in July. **Source** 1. [Potsdam Agreement](_URL_0_)"
] |
How come it is nearly impossible to use fresh wood in a fireplace, but a tree can catch on fire if it falls on power lines during a thunderstorm? | [
"The electricity running through the tree will heat the wood extremely fast, boiling the water out of the wood thereby drying it out enough to catch fire and keep burning. If the tree is dead, it may be dry enough to sustain burning after the electric source is removed. Some woods, like cedar, have enough flammable... | [
"Because they would have either burned or fell at free fall speeds 100's of meters to the ground."
] |
Why were wars like the American Civil War and the American Revolution fought using Volley Fire and not guerilla warfare? Wouldn't it have resulted in less casualties if all soldiers weren't lined up like sitting ducks? | [
"There were guerilla actions in both wars, but in general small infantry groups couldn't bring much firepower to bear. And the armies of both both wars (sans the British regulars) were dealing with a number of poorly trained and motivated conscripts, they didn't have the ability to break them into smalll groups and... | [
"I would recommend reading some of the citations for Victoria Crosses and Medals of Honor - a great many of them are exactly that. For example, Captain (then Lieutenant) George Fraser Kerr earned a Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of the Canal du Nord, which included personally rushing a strong-poin... |
Why does nervous sweat and working out sweat smell different? | [
"There are two kinds of sweat glands, apocrine and eccrine. Apocrine glands are clustered in your armpits and groin and make you smell like an ape when you're afraid! Eccrine glands produce the sweat that cools your body down and are less smelly."
] | [
"A few reasons, first you may remember from high school chemistry the ideal gas law. PV=nRT, where P=pressure, V=volume, n= number of moles, R is a constant and T is temperature. If you spray a pressurized gas (the propellant in the can), which is typically butane or propane, as the gas comes out of the spray nozz... |
What is the simplest venom used by an organism? | [
"Im going to answer based on the assumption that you specifically want formation about venom, and not generally poisons. Off hand most venoms I can think of are mixtures of agents. The primary agent is usually a short protein, more accurately described as a polypeptide of around 20-40 amino acids like iberiotoxin, ... | [
"This does not quite fit the bill of \"rival country\" but in 1989, a self described \"ecoterrorist group\" known only as \"The Breeders\" took credit for the recent infestation of California by medflies, which began destroying crops. Opinion is divided today as to whether it was a real attack, an out of control pr... |
How Much Worse Is Smoking Cigarettes For Your Lungs Than Smoking Marijuana? | [
"Accord to [this article](_URL_0_), it looks like cigarettes are significantly worse for your lungs, but neither one is 'safe' by any means."
] | [
"Anything that damages cells and results in new cells having to replace the damaged ones, increases the times a cell can occur that is mutated and cancerous."
] |
How can some crabs and other animals live in the superheated water around underwater thermal vents while others die when placed in 212°F boiling water? | [
"They have proteins that work at much higher temperatures. Its actually the source of one of the most useful enzymes used in genetics, _URL_0_. Most proteins have a fairly small range of temperatures and conditions they they can function at, if it goes above that they lose their shape and become denatured."
] | [
"Different people do have different levels of sensitivity to different stimuli. People with Asperger's, for instance, tend to be sensitive to light and sound. It has to do with how the nervous system process the information the nerves are feeding it. Mental toughness is also part of it, as well as various technique... |
why is college tuition so expensive? | [
"College tuition is becoming a commodity. Because more and more of the population is actually going to college, the demand for being a college student is increasing. And just as basic economics dictates: Higher demand = higher price."
] | [
"This CGP Grey video does a really good job of explaining it all. _URL_3_"
] |
There's a movie trope of elaborate boobie traps in ancient tombs. Is this something totally made up by hollywood or has something like this ever actually been uncovered? | [
"More can be written, but you might like to start with * [Were the tombs of South American civilizations the booby-trapped nightmare we see in entertainment?](_URL_0_) by *[deleted]* * [Many fantasy/historical computer games and RPGs feature \"dungeons\", ie a large labyrinthian set of tunnels, rooms, traps etc. I... | [
"The sets and props weren't expensive. Foam, plaster, and plywood are cheap. The artisans to build them were expensive. Good people with marketable skills are expensive. That hasn't changed. Now instead of hiring a bunch of set guys and prop guys and costume guys you're hiring a hoard of CGI guys and renting hundre... |
Why is type 2 diabetes so prevalent in American Indian populations? | [
"the demographic is more likely to be poor, which is tied to poor diets, which in turn leads to diabetes. there could be a genetic aspect as well, in terms of an inability to efficiently process sugar efficiently. I would guess that europeans had more sugar in their diets for a long period of history, and may be be... | [
"There are a lot of factors to consider. Portion size, overall diet, typical amounts of daily activity. A culture having a food that is high in calories is a small piece of the puzzle."
] |
How do we differentiate the Earth's magnetic field weakening due to a pending reversal instead of a complete shutdown like is suspected to have happened to Mars? | [
"Loss of magnetic field is a gradual process which results from the cooling and solidification of the liquid outer core. We know from seismic studies we are nowhere near that point - it is still large and molten. Turning off of the magnetic field is *not* a rapid on-off process. The reason we're so far from it happ... | [
"The brain isn't full of electrical impulses. It's full of ions moving between cells, which is not the same thing as electricity, even though electric charges are involved. An EMP works by inducing a large electric current in a conductor. The brain isn't made of metal, and isn't a good conductor of electricity, so ... |
Books detailing the Meiji Restoration? | [
"[Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912](_URL_0_) by former Columbia University professor [Donald Keene](_URL_1_) is quite useful, in my opinion."
] | [
"I haven't read it, but you might want to try Robert Fisk's [*Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War*](_URL_0_)."
] |
How are oxygen levels maintained in winter while most of the trees have no leaves to perform photosynthesis? | [
"Not all of the planet experiences winter at the same time. A lot of our oxygen comes from algae in the oceans. Even were all oxygenating species to die out this very second, there's still a lot of breathable air left."
] | [
"Yes, vitamin D synthesis is impaired, which may also explain higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, and some cancers. This article covers it: _URL_0_"
] |
How are “Artificial” flavors created ? | [
"Flavors are just chemicals that react with the taste buds in your tongue in various ways. Natural flavors are chemicals found in naturally occurring products. Artificial flavors are chemicals that food scientists research and synthesize. It's organic chemistry either way."
] | [
"They hire a guy and record him saying a bunch of popular names."
] |
Why can fish survive so long in air compared to the amount of time most air breathing animals can survive completely submerged in water? | [
"Because fish pull O2 from the water via gills, while lunged animals need to pull in air itself. If the gills are wet, more O2 can get into the system and the fish can \"breathe\" somewhat. Meanwhile, lunged animals drown with one 'breath' of water. And also, we can last a long while without air too. We just get b... | [
"Their internal pressure is the same as the external pressure. Their solid organs are not affected by the pressure. If they generate gas bubbles the pressure is the same. They produce high pressure gas bubbles. It is not a trick. For gas to exist at those pressures the pressure of the bubble must equal the external... |
I am learning basic electronic circuitry, what is the difference between Digital & Analog? | [
"Digital signals have two states, on or off. Analog signals have a continual range of values between their minimum and maximum. A normal light switch is digital, a dimmer switch is analog."
] | [
"The dial on the toaster controls at what temperature the toaster shuts off, it is not a timer. The preferred slot has a sensor in it, so when your bagel is toasting, it can accurately sense the temperature of the bagel and not shut off too early."
] |
Why do books of lists usually have 1001 items instead of just 1000? | [
"Marketing. It's like you get one more for free. Like how things sell for one cent less than the nearest dollar."
] | [
"Imma answer your question, but first let me tell you about this time I watered the lawn on a warm july afternoon, there were clouds in the sky and childrens laughter.... ok seriously, who knows, maybe they just like to hear themselves type, or create an emotional connection to the recipe, perhaps they are just kil... |
How do space rovers emit information back to earth? | [
"It's actually really simple, they just send radio waves back to earth. Mars is so far away that it takes something like 8.5 minutes for the information to get here though."
] | [
"> I think it's just a delay in the OS's process to update the display And you are almost correct. It's not the display (which can be updated immediately), it's the OS that takes a little time trying to reconnect to the network before deciding it is really down. Your roommate doesn't know what he/she is talking abo... |
How fast would you have to fly around the Earth for the Sun to stay 'up'? | [
"At the equator, the Earth is rotating about 1000 mph (circumference is roughly 24,000 miles, 24 time zones). So you will need to go about 1000 mph opposite the direction of its rotation to keep position with a spot in the sky. If you go to different latitudes, the time it takes will decrease (smaller distance to t... | [
"Get a protractor, tape or glue a straw to the straight edge, and tie a weighed down string to the middle. When you get on the plane, look down the straw at a star that you can easily pick out from the night sky (hope you're travelling at night!) and is viewable from both hemispheres, and mark where the string hang... |
How fossil fuels are used to generate energy? | [
"Much of the power generation done in the world is done through thermal turbines. A fuel is burned which generates heat, that heat is used to make pressurized steam is forced through turbines. That mechanical motion is used to spin magnets in the generator which through induction induce electrical current in the li... | [
"Whoever told you fireplaces draw heat out of a room is a dummy who has apparently never sat next to a fireplace. Fireplaces and stoves are an effective (if not terribly efficient) way to heat a home. Edit: Though this is less true of many modern homes whose fireplaces are primarily decorative."
] |
Does biological material encased in Amber fossilise? | [
"Yes it doesn't get replaced with Minerals. But it doesn't stay the same either, biological molecules will slowly break up and degrade. I assume you talk about DNA? It will (like most big molecules) break apart just from the fact that it has thermic energy. Little vibrations in every material that can never be stop... | [
"[this pic](_URL_0_) shows why, if you look basically everything that has similar organs (Fish, amphibians, birds, mammals etc) all branched off together from a root ancestor around the Cambrian explosion. so we have similar structures because we're all related."
] |
When you overwork your body, what triggers it to throw up? | [
"Quite a few things actually. Dehydration can cause nausea by stimulating the production of Vasopressin, the hormone that tells your kidneys to conserve fluids which can cause a sudden drop in sodium levels. Overhydration can also cause nausea by diluting electrolytes. Another cause of nausea is the diverting of bl... | [
"Because a puking person can be a sign that something everyone ate all together is poison (ie gone bad) and thus the people who also felt sick and puked after seeing someone else puke were more likely to survive such an ordeal and reproduce. While the people who balked at hunting animals didn't get meat and thus we... |
How common were child soldiers in the ancient world? | [
"Without gunpowder weapons, individual strength is pretty important in combat, though I can imagine children playing auxiliary roles."
] | [
"On a slightly related, yet mostly different note - where did people keep their money back in those times? For example a Roman solider gets his pay, where does he put it that isn't just easily stolen by somebody walking into their (potentially) unlocked house and taking it?"
] |
Why do you sometimes feel tired after a long night of rest? | [
"this can be caused by a variety of things, but the most notable, and most well-understood, is sleep cycles. Essentially, when we sleep, we transition between deeper and lighter sleep in cycles. The exact length of the cycles varies from person to person, but roughly speaking, you will be sleeping lightly 90 minute... | [
"Evolution. People who didn't get that weird feeling when dangling their limbs from the trees they were sleeping on were killed by cheetahs."
] |
How did the minority Alawites (Assad family) come to power in Syria where there is a Sunni majority? | [
"Like other colonial powers, the French used a type of \"divide and conquer\" strategy in Syria. In their case, they elevated the minority Alawites to important positions over the majority Sunnis. _URL_0_ The French treated the Alawites relatively well and helped them get into high positions in the army. This led ... | [
"Hi, I've approved the post, but just a note to you and potential respondents: this subreddit has a 20-year rule against discussing current events, so any answers will have to cut off at 1997. If you're looking for answers that can include 1998-2012, do consider x-posting elsewhere, eg. a foreign affairs sub like /... |
Why can’t a type of plastic be invented that is biodegradable? | [
"They have actually. Using hemp and other plant based fibers they can make biodegradable plastics. They are much more expensive and time consuming to produce though."
] | [
"It takes a while to implement the changes. How would you like it if the law changed overnight and you had to pay fees/go to jail next day without having a chance to adapt yet."
] |
Deformity of cars, good or bad? | [
"Short answer: It's a good thing. Longer answer: Because the car deforms, the time it takes for the vehicle to go from being in motion to being at rest is increased. Therefore, the acceleration that the passengers experience during an accident is decreased. Ideally, what would have been a fatal impact becomes survi... | [
"**For the Consumer** They get a new thing at a discounted price and don't have to worry about getting rid of the old thing. **For the Company** They can resell the old thing for more money than the discount they gave on the new thing, or they can otherwise use it for parts or raw materials to reduce costs on build... |
Why is Separation of a nation's Military and Police so important? | [
"The military and the police in theory are supposed to have very different philosophies. For example, the police should have philosophies like \"innocent until proven guilty\", while the military have philosophies like \"shoot first, ask questions later.\" Police officers want to \"protect innocents\", while milita... | [
"Greetings everyone. In the few minutes this sub has been up, it's attracting sub-standard responses. Just a reminder of a few of the rules: * no responses covering events/conditions post-1994, per this sub's \"20-year rule\" prohibiting discussion of current events * no anecdotes * no speculation OP: your question... |
When sunscreen washes off in the oceans and lakes, does it harm living organisms or the local ecosystem? | [
"Yes. It's a problem in Australia especially, and some surfers don't wear it specifically because it can damage the reefs by making the coral & algae unable to photosynthesize sunlight, which is essential for them to live."
] | [
"Water we use to bathe, shower, drink, cook with, etc. is all water that has been filtered, processed, and otherwise tinkered with. Yes, it all goes back to the water cycle, but there are costs involved with getting the water to your home in a sanitary state. The less you use, the less water needs to be processed i... |
What happens in our body when we vomit , and how do we vomit? | [
"Your body takes a series of specific actions to prepare for vomiting and then to actually vomit: First your mouth fills with spit to protect your teeth from the acid & you take a deep breath (to keep from needing to inhale while vomit is in your throat and sucking it into your lungs). Then the muscles that move di... | [
"Many times they have adaptations, like [very acidic stomachs](_URL_1_) that help kill bacteria in the food. They can also have other weird adaptations--scientists are trying to figure out how vultures can manage to eat literal rotting meat without getting sick, and it looks like they might actually have [commensal... |
What positive deeds or personality traits are attributed to Muhammad by his followers? | [
"This isn't an explanation of a concept, but rather a straightforward request for answers."
] | [
"If you are interested in a serious and comprehensive look at this issue - read the section on Russia in Volume 2 of *Strange Paralells* by Victor Lieberman. I don't remember all that much from my reading of it two years ago, but in general - the golden horde was formative, in some ways it provided templates for f... |
Will successive plastic surgeries across generations make future generations more beautiful ? | [
"Nope. These changes do not affect the persons genotype, and are not heritable. A plastic surgery patient's child will still get their ugly genes. The scenario you're asking about is called Lamarckian inheritance, and it was disproved a long time ago. For example, if your dad has a scar he got when he was young, do... | [
"Very hard to judge because its so subjective a question. 'people from the 1500s', for example, is a wide sample. which class? from which country / area? gender? Perhaps interesting (although undoubtedly difficult) research to undertake would be to try and find signs of depression or other related mental illnesses ... |
How did the first humans discover metals and how were they able to work with it, since they didn't have hard metal tools? | [
"Copper was one of the first because it can be found in large chunks above ground. Stone or even wood can be used to hammer it into shapes. Also, clay can be moulded by hand into crucibles which can be used to melt ad mix metals."
] | [
"Most people copy ideas. If the tribe A comes up with a good idea, then tribe B next door will copy it. Or tribe A's good idea may make it powerful enough to conquer tribe B and force them to adopt their idea. Isolated communities may not be exposed to outsiders' ideas (like modern technology) so they don't copy th... |
Why did the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes all become English? | [
"hi! not discouraging other responses to your questions (especially the last one, which I don't think has been addressed directly), but FYI there have been a few related posts that you may find worthwhile: * [In Anglo-Saxon England, would people distinguish between Angles, Saxons and Jutes? When did this distinctio... | [
"_URL_0_ Of all places, this thread has the answer. Their names are long and foreign: they are shortened and localized for ease of use. Mark Antony is probably the single most Anglicized name."
] |
Hypothetically, could a download make the PS4 backwards compatible? | [
"No. Yes, it could potentially read the discs (I don't know what copy-protection is on the PS3 discs, someone correct me if a DRM scheme would prevent it), but it couldn't interpret all the instructions in the PS3 game code to parts of the PS3's hardware. Previous generations that were backwards compatible (PS1 on ... | [
"You'd still need to connect yourself to the Internet. This is kind of like saying you can go buy a bunch of pipes and become a water company. You still need the water, not just the delivery system."
] |
Why do many people motion with their hands when speaking? | [
"Human communication relies on much more than just words and tone of voice. Body language is important and hugely telling what someone's true feelings are. Gesturing reveals a level of openness, relaxation, or intensity. Standing perfectly still with your arms at your side comes across as robotic and awkward, becau... | [
"Imma answer your question, but first let me tell you about this time I watered the lawn on a warm july afternoon, there were clouds in the sky and childrens laughter.... ok seriously, who knows, maybe they just like to hear themselves type, or create an emotional connection to the recipe, perhaps they are just kil... |
If diamonds have such a low resell value, why don't 2nd hand diamonds massively undercut the price of new diamonds? And in turn driven up the price of second hand diamond or destroyed the price of diamonds? | [
"I have a friend that's a diamond wholesaler. He buys diamonds in bulk from different places and resells them either alone or placed in a setting. Usually at prices 1/3 - 1/2 of retail. One thing he said to me that always stuck is \"there is no such thing as a used diamond\". Diamonds don't have mileage or age issu... | [
"In the magical world of ideal classical approximations and fantastical physical properties, the ball would never stop bouncing. Classical mechanics carries no notion of a quanta of energy, so you could continue to cut it in half indefinitely. Bisecting the bounce height will never get you to zero height until you ... |
Would the horizon look any different on a considerably larger planet? | [
"It would look flatter, but because the curvature of the earth is undetectable by the human eye until you are a few miles up, it would look pretty much the same. On a much smaller planet, the horizon would have a noticeable curve to it."
] | [
"This probably depends on composition, speed, and other factors, but it's not unheard of. There's the [Theia Hypothesis](_URL_0_) which suggests that the Moon is actually the result of this exact thing."
] |
I've been told that the banjo is an African instrument. How did it make it from Africa to the U.S., Ireland, etc.? And how was it traditionally played? | [
"hi! more input is always welcome, but do check out this post from a few months ago * [How did the banjo, an instrument of African descent, become a staple of Anglo folk music?](_URL_1_) also, you may want to keep an eye out for a music documentary film that did the festival circuit a few years ago, *Throw Down You... | [
"There are authors who claim the practice began during the colonial period as an early \"mens\"/ \"ladies\" designation for an illiterate populace (the sun and moon being popular symbols for the genders during those times). The book : *The Little Red Schoolhouse: A Sketchbook of Early American Education* has the fo... |
With the proposed budget increases and simultaneous tax cuts, how will the proposed measures be funded? | [
"There haven't been any realistic plans proposed, so you're asking for speculation. Most likely, most of the changes are rhetoric and will be dropped once the administration realizes just how hard it is to cut other things. There's basically 4 ways to pay for spending increases: Cutting something else Economic grow... | [
"Short answer, [the war on drugs.](_URL_2_) Longer answer, [mandatory sentencing](_URL_1_). The US drug trade is quite financially lucrative, since there are so many willing or easily convinced buyers. This motivates large-scale dealers to grow a criminal network within the US to sell their product at the retail le... |
If correct, does the 'Entropic Force' of gravity remove the need for gravitons, allowing us to consider GUTs as ToEs? | [
"When the source of a gravitational field shifts, the gravitational field around it changes and that change propagates outward as gravitational radiation. If the change in the source is quantized, then the gravitational radiation must also be quantized, and we need a quantum model of gravity to explain that."
] | [
"Every one I've ever seen has been either: A) a slight nuance to add to something in the book (it isn't perfect of course) B) an argument that is actually addressed in the book itself, indicating that the person making the argument probably didn't read GGandS very closely C) poorly researched bs meant to get attent... |
Why do video game patches always increase the game size? | [
"Usually, when you change something in a program, whether it's a video game or not, you don't take out code and replace it. You just put in new code. This new code will have instructions to ignore the original parts of the code that are buggy, and to instead use the newly written stuff."
] | [
"Profit. Microsoft can charge you for a whole new version much more easily than for just an update"
] |
How can we know the value of absolute zero (-273.15 Celsius) when it’s impossible to actually reach absolute zero? | [
"If you have a graph with energy on one axis, and temperature on the other. You can draw the straight line down to when energy is equal to zero. Which is the coldest anything can be."
] | [
"In a word: Cold. The land in the antarctic is almost entirely inside the 66th parallel south. The majority pf the land in the arctic is outside the 66th parallel north. You can see that by comparing these two pages: [arctic](_URL_0_) [antarctic](_URL_1_). While humans live in latitudes in the north of greenland co... |
On a thermal power station , do they evaporate and condense the same water forever ? | [
"Yes, they recirculate the water. No, they don't use rhe same water *forever*. The steam water is subject to small leaks and loss during mainentence and testing, and therefor has to be topped off ocasionally. This in turn means a very slow replacement of water over a long enough timeline. Water doesn't really \"go ... | [
"During WWII, the US needed a lot of aluminum for building bomber and fighter planes. The process to refine aluminum from bauxite uses huge amounts of electricity. To generate enough electricity, dams were installed through a large part of the Tennessee Valley. Water flowing through the dams turns generators to pr... |
While reading a Sherlock Holmes story, I came across the mention of using a "spirit lamp" to make coffee. What is this device, and how exactly would coffee be made with it? | [
"It's an alcohol lamp. A device that burns alcohol to make heat. _URL_0_"
] | [
"Basically, instead of responding to your argument, I make up an easier argument to fight, pretend that it's what you mean, and respond to that instead. Typically the fake argument (the \"straw man\") is a more extreme version of the original argument, but not always. So if you said something like \"I think we shou... |
Disregarding microscopic life forms, why is it so difficult for us to find intelligent extraterrestrial life when so many planets, stars and universes exist? | [
"You're talking about something that has been labeled the [Fermi paradox](_URL_0_) You can click the link for the full definition, but summarized it's \"With so many stars that would have planets that are similar to Earth's size and orbit, why hasn't interstellar life found us yet?\" There's all sorts of hypothetic... | [
"Three things: There’s a phenomenon where people have a hard time telling people of a race different than their own apart, because their brain hasn’t practiced seeing those types of faces. I would assume this is also the case with animals. Basically, we’re good at identifying human features because we see them a lo... |
A question about how modern(ish) authors treat history | [
"Speaking from personal experience, I would say he's the same. My parents' gave me his bio of Madison because my mother loved it so much and I had to stop because he never really critiques his sources, randomly drops quotes without context, and is overly concerned with telling his story than actually getting at his... | [
"Just finished *What is Microhistory? Theory and Practice* by Magnusson and Szijarto. I was really intrigued about the discussions on the impact of postmodernism and poststructuralism on different histiographical methods. Anyone have other books that go into that on fields other than microhistory?"
] |
Other than homonyms, what is the point of asking for the definition in a spelling bee? | [
"1. How does one spell what one doesn't understand? 2. It gives time to think amidst the stress. 3. Homophones."
] | [
"Kind of like if you're looking through some legos for a number of different parts, you usually come across one that you need so your search goes quickly until there's one last part you need. It might take you awhile to find that last specific part. That explanation is probably wrong but that's what I would say to... |
Why do some lamps make you turn the nob twice to turn the light on? | [
"Those types of lamps require a 3-way bulb. One that runs at a low wattage, medium wattage, and a high wattage. When you put in a bulb that doesn't support the lowest voltage and turn it on, nothing happens. You have to turn it on again to get to a high enough voltage that the bulb can run on."
] | [
"Have you ever gone to open a file on your desktop? Open up a file in your hard drive? All of those require double clicks. And now that I said that, I think you might be referring to then constantly clicking something after the first double click. My suggestion? They're just old and don't realize they already click... |
If I take a photo out of focus, could I take a picture of the blurry photo in a different focus to give it clarity? | [
"On normal cameras? No. The film or sensors in standard film or digital cameras simply records what light is on them. The recording medium needs to be at precisely the correct distance from the focal point of the camera lens, or else the picture will be out of focus. To focus the picture, we move the lenses towards... | [
"Provided it was in the purse, or you had reasonable grounds to suspect it was in there. In the US you have a lot of grounds to do a lot more than that in order to protect your property. In other places, you would probably have the grounds to, so long as your purpose was only to retrieve your own property. Legally ... |
WhenJFK made his "Moon Speech" in 1962, he said that "We choose to go to the moon in this decade". At the time he said it, was his claim that the USA would reach the moon in a decade simple rhetoric or did his claim actually seem feasible among experts at the time? | [
"Ted Sorensen was one of Kennedy's closest advisers, and he wrote in his JFK biography that after Gagarin's flight, the President was presented with several options including a two-man spacecraft, dual spacecraft rendezvous, orbiting laboratory or waystation, EVA, and moon landing (there may have been others, but t... | [
"To get from Earth to Pluto in 2 weeks would require a ship able to sustain an acceleration of ~1.6 G for the whole trip, with a total delta-V of 20000 km/s. If we devote a full 90% of the ship's mass to fuel, our engines will need a specific impulse of 885412 s. Chemical engines have specific impulses in the 200 t... |
Why do people scream when afraid? | [
"Social animals (like humans) are adapted to group defense, so we may give signals of alarm that can bring aid or at least warn and protect others. But that's only under some circumstances, such as if you're wide open and have nowhere to hide. Staying silent is another instinctive response to fear, usually if you h... | [
"Generally, it's done in a minor key where the tune is altered, so anything can be spoopy when done that way (Have you seen the Teletubby episode in black and white that plays a Joy Division Song over it?). Also, one of the early films to do this was Nightmare on Elm Street where kids are jumping rope and singing ... |
Were there bars in Egypt and/or Israel in the first century? | [
"Do you mean taverns and inns in general when you say bars?"
] | [
"Hello prospective respondents. Everyone loves to talk about food (and drinks!), so just a reminder of which sub we're in: it's /r/AskHistorians so *no personal anecdotes, urban myths or conjecture*. Respondents here are expected to have *expertise* in the subject, offer *in-depth information* and cite *reputable s... |
Would it be possible to protect space explorers from high energy radiation by generating an (electro)magnetic field around the spaceship, just like earth's magnetic field protects us? | [
"It wouldn't be able to protect you from gamma radiation. Deflecting charged particles away from you would also cause high energy photons to be directed at you due to synchrotron radiation."
] | [
"It can be done a number of ways. Chemical thrusters work just fine, especially small thrusters spinning up a big station. If you have two counterrotating sections, they can be driven by electric motors of any sort. Flywheels could also work, but it seems needlessly complex compared to simple exterior thrusters. If... |
How is your stomach able to make noise, and why does it do so? | [
"That's air and digestive gases, like methane, moving through your intestines."
] | [
"Basically you are hearing the muscular waves or [peristalisis](_URL_1_). More detailed explanation here at [Discovery Health](_URL_0_)."
] |
How do we measure ocean wave direction, speed and intensity? | [
"It's a mixture of all of those things. Mainly there are bouys all over the planet off the coasts that measure a whole mess of things, wave height, wather conditions, current patterns, temperature, salinty. NOAA has a map of all of them _URL_0_ . Apart from that ocean currents are mapped and calucated with data fro... | [
"There are two ways: Pile Driver: Big machine that shoots giant metal rods from the surface, through the water, and into the seabed. Coffer Dam: Workers build a wall around the site and then pump out all the water. Then they climb down and pour concrete in the seabed."
] |
Why Virginia and South Carolina are completely green on the gas price heat map | [
"It's a combination of low gas taxes and close proximity to southern states with oil refineries."
] | [
"Not all of them do that. My first car was a 1980 Mustang, and going up hills my low fuel light would come on, and going down hills it would go back off."
] |
what is the difference between a kraken and a leviathan | [
"A Kraken is a mythical monster that is basically a gigantic squid or octopus. A Leviathan is a mythical monster that is most often described as an extremely fast sea serpent. It is also mentioned in the bible."
] | [
"[The Straight Dope covered this](_URL_0_). Basically, they started out as being made by two different production teams, but after a certain point, they became essentially interchangeable, but they kept both names going."
] |
Assuming shares traded on a public market are numbered and not infinite, why do we never get a scenario of "out of stock" or "no one at this time wants to sell"? | [
"Think of it this way: The stock price is the price at which you will convince at least one person to sell one share of their stock. So by definition, it's impossible for there to be a situation in which no stock is available. The most that can happen is that the price will go up until it hits a price where someone... | [
"That depends on where you shop. Walk into a souk in Marrakesh and every shopkeeper will negotiate on the price of every item. It's easier in a store where there are cash registers to just hire workers to scan the barcodes and have the shopper pay the total. In order to set the price through negotiation, you need w... |
What happens the calorie energy when food spoils/goes bad? | [
"When food spoils, it's because microorganisms have moved in. Many bacteria and fungus create toxic byproducts, which is what makes us sick. The calorie energy is mostly still there, except for what has been consumed by those organisms."
] | [
"* A \"Sell-By\" date tells the store how long to display the product for sale. You should buy the product before the date expires. It is a stock control system for the stores. * A \"Best By (or Before)\" date is recommended for best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date. It is a guarantee for the ... |
Why can't water become a crystal under pressure? | [
"Water *can* be crystallized under sufficient pressure. If you check out a [phase diagram](_URL_0_) for water you'll see that, at a given temperature, a sufficient increase in pressure will cause it to crystallize."
] | [
"[They do freeze. They just don't normally freeze solid. In the more extreme climates, like North Dakota, engineers incorporate heating systems into the tank design...](_URL_0_)"
] |
The importance of The Möbius strip. | [
"It is a type of non-orientable surface -- a surface with only one side. It's quite special because it can be realized in three dimensions -- whereas the Klein bottle cannot. Try to imagine that a Möbius strip has no thickness, and that a flatland creature with his heart on the left side lived in the surface. If he... | [
"What would help you to learn about this (and is one of the big problems of trying to do relativity on reddit) is learning how to do [Minkowski Diagrams](_URL_1_). When you have these down, you can easily see how the overall relationships of events in space-time are laid out, and how they change from observer to ob... |
Whose idea were the Normandy landings (1944)? | [
"OP can you maybe clarify a little about what it is you are looking for an explanation of? Whose idea it was to launch an invasion into NW Europe across the English Channel? Whose idea it was to do it in the Summer of 1944? Whose idea it was to do it specifically in Normandy?"
] | [
"In the 1832 Supreme Court case Worcester v. Georgia, Chief Justice John Marshall, in the majority opinion, ruled that the Cherokee nation was its own distinct community and not subject to the laws of a particular state. How, Andrew Jackson chose not to enforce that ruling, thus paving the way for the Trail of Tear... |
Why is Li-po batteries much safer than 18650 batteries? | [
"Both batteries are safe if they are used within their specifications. If you go outside of their specs, the chemical reaction inside the battery would reach critical level (i.e. explosion or burst into flame). Now, 18650 batteries are being produced in large quantity for the vaping industry. This means that more ... | [
"It's all about relativity. If the Hulk ran for a quarter mile, he'd only appear to be moving a few dozen widths of his body size. If a dragonfly then traveled the same distance and speed, it'd appear to be moving thousands of widths of its body size. So they cover the same distance but relative to their body size ... |
The controversial terms of service change on Facebook | [
"They just changed their terms. They've done it a lot. People who don't read the terms thinks it means they can use anything you upload for anything anywhere, but it only applies to things that are uploaded publicly. Their new terms state that they're allowed to (for example) not delete your message you sent to som... | [
"Even more murders have been related to the telephone, and yet those are still around. Just because there's a very small subset of people who misuse something, that doesn't mean that the whole needs to be shut down."
] |
Why does being drunk make you feel hungry? | [
"It might actually be legitimate hunger depending on when you last ate, but it's most likely dehydration. Our bodies didn't develop different cues for thirst and hunger, sure your throat can get dry, but even not drunk, your body will \"signal hunger\" right after you've eaten to say \"I need water.\""
] | [
"The vast majority of ethanol is converted to acetate in your liver. The metabolism of the acetate then takes preference over the metabolism of fat, carbohydrates, and protein. So ethanol doesn't turn into (much) fat, but anything you eat while acetate is in your system - that you don't burn - will."
] |
How does scratch-and-sniff work? | [
"Glass microbeads are filled with the scent desired, perfume or whatever. The beads are mixed in with a \"glue\" and painted onto the card. When you \"scratch\" you deform the beads, causing them to break and release the smell."
] | [
"First and foremost, some (most) people have thin blonde hairs running all over their body that you might not see but would still be touched. If the finger is genuinely not touching anything, it's body heat as Jimbobsammy said. The face is impressively sensitive, especially at close range."
] |
If every cell on your body changes eventually, how are tattoos permanent? | [
"Tattoos are not really permanent. When you get tattooed, you get pigments inserted under your skin. Your body will fight to get rid of them. The reason why your body doesn't succeed is because pigments are too big for it to handle. UV radiation and other factors will end up breaking down the pigments and allow the... | [
"Because one is charged and judged for each crime - not all together. Best example: Someone in jail (life sentenced) murders. Now he will have a new court case + judgement"
] |
why can hardly eat one baked potato, but can eat multiple potatoes as french fries? | [
"Have you ever made French fries? I think you’d be shocked how many fries one large potato makes. Because the fries don’t stack up evenly to make a solid block, they take up more space. From my experience making my own fries, the largest fast food fry size is likely just one potato’s worth. A Five Guys paper bag fu... | [
"Think of a rare baseball card. If there's only 10 of them in existence, then everyone would want them and they would be willing to trade hundreds of chocolate bars for it. Now think if they printed 990 more of that rare baseball card. Now everyone has one, and no one is willing to trade a chocolate bar for it."
] |
How does a calculator know what addition/subtraction is? Likewise, how does a digital clock know exactly what a second/minute is? | [
"digital clocks have a quartz crystal inside shaped like a tuning fork. When an electrical voltage is applied to it it vibrates at a certain frequency; conversely, when the crystal is deformed it creates a small current. These fluctuations in current are counted to see how much time has elapsed."
] | [
"This has been asked before but it is hard to search for. Reddit as a whole has a lot of people visiting the website at any given time. That many people would be too much for just one computer, so there's a special computer that moves each visitor to another computer (in a bank of computers) so each individual com... |
How did the stigma around sex come about? | [
"Much of it came about due to sex being a sin in the middle ages. Many forms of pleasure where seen as sins because the various churches thought to be morally upright, you had to live a very stark lifestyle. Gradually people became more and more aware of sex as something to be done for reproduction and pleasure. Ju... | [
"Hi OP, this is a cultural question, so it would greatly assist anyone considering answering if you could specify which culture you're asking about. For example, the name of a cultural group / country / geographic region, plus a rough time period. Otherwise, this question is simply too broad, as it encompasses almo... |
Why does reading a book in a moving car cause nausea? | [
"When reading a book, normally, the book doesn't move very much relative to your eyes. Sure, the car might bump up and down, turn, accelerate and so on, but you usually hold the book fairly still - again, relative to your eyes. When reading, you usually focus only on the text - which you see as stationary. Your eye... | [
"On a toilet, all your weight is supported on a thin strip of porcelain, while on a flat surface it is distributed evenly. So the thin strip will put more pressure on your nerves."
] |
What's a restrictive enzyme? | [
"Restriction enzymes are a major part of the toolkit of any researcher working with DNA or RNA. They cut DNA at known nucleotide (base) sequences. If you know that the healthy and diseased alleles have a sequence difference at a particular locus, then the restriction enzyme may cut the normal allele but not the mut... | [
"No expert, but I would think that it keeps us from eating things that are bad for us more often than it keeps us from eating things we need."
] |
In 1918 Iowa Governor William Harding banned foreign language usage in public spaces, including religious sermons. How did this apply to Catholic mass that was in Latin at the time? | [
"I am not familiar with Harding's proclamation, but the 1918 date would make it far more likely to be part of the general anti-German activity at the time ( which included changing the names of streets that had German names, stopping schools from teaching German, etc). Is there any indication it was really directed... | [
"The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis is conventionally seen as one of, if not the, closest time the US and Soviet Union came to nuclear war. There’s tons of literature available online on the topic if you’re interested. One more obscure event you may be interested in, however, was an incident in 1983 when the Soviet Uni... |
How do potholes happen? How do some get 4-5inches deep? | [
"So, if you know that things like water expand & contract due to heat & cold, then you should also know that it doesn't happen with just water - everything expands & contracts a bit because of heat & cold, including asphalt & concrete. That happens enough times and the structure of the road gets cracks in it, crack... | [
"It's due to the size of cities. They can go through download areas, but you have to realize that downtown areas are very very small in comparison to the size of tornado alley. [List of downtown tornadoes](_URL_0_)"
] |
what is ‘proof-of-work’ and ‘proof-of-stake’ and what is the difference | [
"Proof of work: I trust this because it was \"carved in stone\" and accepted by the community. The work involved in crafting it makes it near impossible to tamper with it. Proof of stake: I trust this because it was created by, and signed by people who have a a personal stake in it."
] | [
"Say you live in the US. You make $100,000 a year. Now say you live in China, but you make $50,000 a year. You could say that the person living in the US is twice as rich as the Chinese person in absolute terms. But consider that lunch (a sandwich) costs $10 in the USA. It costs $1 in China. So an American can buy ... |
Why didn't the asteroid belt coalesce into a planet, like elsewhere in the solar system? | [
"The gravitational pull of Jupiter is sufficient enough to disrupt the formation of anything that gets too big and simply rips it apart. And if you think about it, there's actually not that much material in the asteroid belt. [Ceres](_URL_0_), a object that has not even 2% of the Moon's mass, is 25% of the total ma... | [
"The rays (called [crepuscular rays](_URL_0_)) **are** parallel. Their appearance of not being parallel is simply a trick of perspective. It's the same concept as how parallel train tracks will look like they converge in the distance if you're standing between them. **Edit:** [This image from the ISS](_URL_1_) show... |
Why homosexuals refer to the person they're together with as partners instead of a wife/husband? | [
"Partner is not gendered and therefore can easily be used to talk about women and men at the same time. So, general statements are much simpler. Also, as mentioned, loads of people (including heterosexuals) aren't married. If anybody understands how unimportant it is to somebody's relationship to have that sheet of... | [
"Horse meat isn't rare at all. You can get it in many parts of europe. Tastes ok too. Anyway, that's culture. The same reason we think that bacon and eggs is a breakfast food, and don't eat grasshoppers."
] |
Why do deficits matter? Why can't a country just keep lending indefinitely? | [
"If a country is running a deficit, it's not lending, it's borrowing. Borrowers don't get to decide whether money will be lent - the lenders do. As deficits get bigger and bigger, confidence in the ability to repay shrinks, and you have fewer and fewer people who are willing to lend. When you hear about a country's... | [
"Think of it like a balloon you are trying to blow up. You can start huffing and puffing with great abandon as the balloon isn't going to pop. but when it gets to certain size you start to worry, You want the balloon bigger but you worry it might go bang. So you have to slow your puffing down."
] |
would the screen rotation function work in space? | [
"Phones have devices called accelerometers which feel the pull of gravity similar to how we do. Take one of these devices on a bungee jump, and it will record the increased force that you feel at the bottom of the cord. In orbit, everything is in constant free-fall, so there is very little apparent gravity for peop... | [
"Zero-g is very bad for certain kinds of injuries. Internal bleeding is pretty much a death sentence since blood just pools in the area and clots up, and things can't drain properly. This came into play in a recent episode of the television series The Expanse. You can see the clip here: _URL_0_ The ship had just un... |
The practices/beliefs of the Jewish religion. | [
"A summary of many Jewish holidays: \"They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat!\""
] | [
"/r/AskHistorians has policies which limit our willingness to help with homework questions. If you are looking for areas of fertile study, I recommend you look into Mit'a. The changes to Mit'a during the Spanish occupation of the Inca Empire embodied the fundamental reordering of Peruvian society."
] |
How does freeway traffic form?? | [
"It's a ripple effect. When one car has to slow down because of someone in front of them, all of the cars behind that car have to also slow down to avoid crashing. When that front car is able to start speeding up again, the line behind them takes awhile to return to regular speed on account of human reaction time a... | [
"Your internet connection isn't one big pipe where data can go either way--it's several 1-way pipes. Given that most consumers download more than they upload, it makes sense to have far more download pipes than upload pipes in the standard connection."
] |
Why did human babies evolve to be so loud and demanding? Wouldn't a constantly screaming baby be an extreme problem for the safety/hunting of our ancestors? | [
"Your question may be unduly influenced by western ideas of what babies do. In many cultures babies are securely strapped to a family member 95% of the day, fed on demand, and never left alone. As a result, they aren't \"loud and demanding\" nearly as much. **EDIT**: my most popular comment and Gold. Also controve... | [
"Hi OP, this is a cultural question, so it would greatly assist anyone considering answering if you could specify which culture you're asking about. For example, the name of a cultural group / country / geographic region, plus a rough time period. Otherwise, this question is simply too broad, as it encompasses almo... |
Why do humans enjoy patting/ scratching animals? | [
"Grooming behaviors are widely used in social animal species for group cohesion purposes. If you enjoy spending time with people then you'll spend time with them. Laughter is also used in this manner but it is much more limited. Humans are AFAIK the only species to laugh naturally. The key feature of joking around ... | [
"Some have suggested that it causes dopamine responses. Similar brain mechanics to forms of addiction (alcoholism, smoking, drug abuse etc). _URL_0_"
] |
Have the Gestapo, the Evidenzbüro, the NKVD, etc. used the same literature to educate their operatives? Is it still used by their modern colleagues? | [
"Well, we need to know more of what you are looking for. Are you looking specifically at what is often considered \"Clandestine Service\" or \"Analyst\"? They are two very distinctively different jobs within the intelligence community. To clarify, \"Clandestine Services\" would be the classic image of \"the spy in ... | [
"* What specifically differentiates genomic data vs typical data? More specifically, is genomic data not ergodic? * What similarities does reference based compression share with Slepian-Wolf (or Wyner-Ziv) coding? * Since there has been a large push towards machine learning, could you elaborate on the role you for... |
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