question stringlengths 3 301 | answer stringlengths 9 26.1k | context list |
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Were there any British monarchs who could speak a native British language such as Welsh, Scottish, or Cornish? | Might I add a question?
How long after the Norman invasion before the monarchs even spoke English? | [
"BULLET::::- 1531: From the court of King Henry VIII, the Italian diplomat Lodovico Falier writes in a letter that \"The language of the English, Welsh and Cornish men is so different that they do not understand each other\". He also claims it is possible to distinguish the members of each group by alleged \"nation... |
When digging straight through the Earth, at what point does the gravity change? | Everyone here is forgetting one *very* important feature of the planet Earth. The density *is not constant as a function of radius.* The Earth is much more dense the deeper you go and the gravitational acceleration you experience actually [***increases the deeper you go to a point.***](_URL_1_) This is called the Preli... | [
"BULLET::::- The gravity changes as we move away from the surface of the Earth. For this reason, we must compensate with the free-air anomaly (or Faye's anomaly): application of the \"normal gradient\" 0.3086 mGal/m, but no terrain model. This anomaly means a downward shift of the point, together with the whole sha... |
Why does a helicopter (specifically a Huey) coming towards you make a womp womp womp sound, but when it travels away from you makes a continuous humm? | As the helicopter comes towards you, you are hearing the main rotor noise. As it is moving away, you are hearing the tail rotor noise.
The tail rotor spins at a much higher RPM than the main rotor, so it sounds like a constant hum. You also don't really hear the tail rotor as the helicopter is flying towards you beca... | [
"While most noise from a helicopter is generated by the main rotor, the tail rotor is a significant source of noise for observers relatively close to the helicopter, where the higher-frequency noise of the tail rotor has not yet been attenuated by the atmosphere. Tail rotor noise is particularly annoying to the hum... |
how did "free bird" become the go-to shout-out at every live music event? | I wasn't aware it was? I've actually never heard that said once. In the UK Wonderwall gets shouted out a fair bit but its kind of a joke now because that song overplayed to hell. | [
"It has become something of a humorous tradition for audience members at concerts to shout \"Free Bird!\" or \"Play Free Bird!\" as a request to hear the song, regardless of the performer or style of music. For example, during the Nirvana 1993 MTV Unplugged in New York show, a shout-out for \"Free Bird!\" eventuall... |
how do websites know when i am logged in? | To ELI5 /u/FrancescoRizzi's explanation. The website generates a unique token, which is generally stored in a cookie on your computer. Each time you access the site it sends the cookie which identifies your connection as you. | [
"Some users may be tracked based on the IP address of the computer requesting the page. The server knows the IP address of the computer running the browser (or the proxy, if any is used) and could theoretically link a user's session to this IP address.\n",
"When a user opens a web page, his or her IP address and ... |
why is there a limit on how strong a human can get | It is extremely hard to reach that limit. You have to dedicate decades of your life just training every day, and the time you're not training you're pretty much just constantly eating food. And then as you get closer to the world record weights, the risk of career-ending injury increases dramatically.
At a certain poi... | [
"Records describe instances of people going beyond \"normal\" strength in specific circumstances without taking any specific measures, as in the case of Tom Boyle, who was able to lift the front of a car in order to rescue a person trapped beneath it. Penn State professor of Kinesiology Vladimir Zatsiorsky stated t... |
A question about the nature of medieval kings being vassals of other kings, example given in the thread. | The simple answer is that feudalism, lordship, vassalage, homage, and fealty can be quite a bit more complicated than most people realize.
At its most basic level vassalage was a mutual obligation between two individuals, wherein one individual - the vassal - provides service (usually military) and the other - the lor... | [
"Even kings (see Richard the Lionheart - compulsory allegiance) and at least in the early Middle Ages, the clergy (see Ottonian-Salian imperial church system) could be vassals of a king or another king.\n",
"A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status simila... |
Mexico has the most emigrants in the world. 97% of all Mexican emigrants reside in the United States . Is there another example in history where there has been such dense immigration of peoples from a developing nation/society to a developed nation/society? | I don't know if the percentage in the US was as high, between famine and emigration, the Irish population fell in half during the 19th century, and is still lower today than it was in the 1830s. And within the US, the first half of the 20th century saw almost half of the black population emmigrate from the old south ... | [
"Emigration from Mexico began timidly about a century ago, but experienced a significant increase since the 1950s. The emigration phenomenon, in the case of Mexico is diverse and varied through the country. This is due to the economic situation that applies mainly to impoverished people, who seek better job opportu... |
Why do finger nails deform after years of biting them? | You are being trolled by your parents, don't bite your nails. | [
"Studies in the 1970s showed that children up to the age of 10 or so who lose fingertips in accidents can regrow the tip of the digit within a month provided their wounds are not sealed up with flaps of skin – the de facto treatment in such emergencies. They normally won't have a fingerprint, and if there is any pi... |
what percentage of a video game does the esrb play before assigning it an age rating? | Zero percent, actually. The ESRB relies on companies to accurately report the content of their games. The companies typically comply, because the consequences of lying can be extreme, potentially including a full recall of the game from all retail stores. | [
"BULLET::::- Classés 18+ – Previews, reviews and news about games that are rated 18+. By law, such games cannot be shown or discussed before 22:30 on French TV, so \"Classés 18+\" is broadcast only by night and is advertised for viewers aged 16+. (2 hours)\n",
"A video game, in the most extreme cases, may be disa... |
how a company like urban outfitters can repeatedly steal work from independent artists and face no consequences? | Legally, they can't. The original designer can sue UO for using their designs without permission.
The issue is that this is a civil matter, not a criminal one - which means the wronged party has to sue. UO has a team of lawyers who would bankrupt an independent designer should they ever file suit, so the designer ju... | [
"Urban Outfitters' products have also been the subject of multiple complaints and criticism, largely from religious, ethical, and ethnic pressure groups including a local chapter of the NAACP, Anti-Defamation League and Navajo Nation for some of their products.\n",
"A work-at-home scheme is a get-rich-quick scam ... |
I am a middle class roman living in Naples. Rome was just sacked, what do i do? | The thing to note about these sorts of "fly-on-the-wall" ideas is that we cannot really know for certain what outcomes of certain events would have been. We have so few sources on 5th century Rome and what we do have would have been from historians of really high class. If you'd asked about a poor citizen, the answer w... | [
"BULLET::::- December 17 – Sack of Rome: After almost a year's siege, the capture of a grain fleet sent by the exiled Pope Vigilius near the mouth of the Tiber, and failure of troops of the Byzantine Empire under Belisarius to relieve the city, the Ostrogoths under King Totila plunder Rome and destroy its fortifica... |
Was Eisenhower tougher on Communism than Truman because of the effects of McCarthyism? | It may have had some effect but one must take the differing international contexts of each presidency into account. Compared to Korea, Truman's war options following WWII were wildly impractical and dangerous and came at a time when we were starting to take on some of the spheres of influence of Western democracies th... | [
"This prevented Eisenhower from openly condemning Joseph McCarthy's highly criticized methods against communism. To facilitate relations with Congress, Eisenhower decided to ignore McCarthy's controversies and thereby deprive them of more energy from involvement of the White House. This position drew criticism from... |
why does minecraft and minecraft only give me motion sickness while i do just fine with more motion intensive games like rainbow six and fortnite? | As someone else said, the field of view can make a huge difference. My son likes to play at an extreme FOV and it makes me sick watching him play. On the flip side I've never had any issues with any other games, including old VR systems (from 30 years ago). | [
"\"Animation and Player Physics\" adds players moving with more natural movements and acceleration. The physical looks of players is also improved. Excessive movement now looks much better, while there is a larger variety of convincing tackling styles. Realistic animation also adds to the atmosphere, as players mov... |
when we sew our skin back together why does the body go along with it? | When you stitch a wound shut, most of the cells are still alive. The stitching just holds them in place while the cells heal the wound. Without stitches, the wound may still heal, but it would take longer and be more prone to infection as well as leave a much larger scar.
Also, the stitching thread itself is not "acce... | [
"In other applications, excess skin is grown purposely by expansion on the back or the buttocks, so that it can be harvested later for transplantation to another site where skin was lost due to trauma, extensive wounds, surgery, burns, etc.\n",
"The Flesh was initially developed as a technology in the form of an ... |
Were Richard I the Lionheart and Saladin really brilliant strategists? | The situation is very complex and hard to answer almost 1000 years after the fact.
I would recommend that you read Asbrige's book „The Crusades“. While it deals with the crusades in their entirety, the 3rd Crusade is given great attention.
To paraphrase, Richard was undoubtedly a brilliant tactician. Several of his vi... | [
"Richard Lionheart bore him a consistent enmity after the Crusade; Philip of Dreux had been one of those relaying the rumour that Richard was responsible for the killing of Conrad of Montferrat. Subsequently Philip had gone to Germany, when Richard was imprisoned, to advocate against setting him free. There, Philip... |
why is multisyllabic rhyming common in rap but not in poetry? | There’s something “on the nose” about it.
When Eminem says “I have an aspirin capsule trapped in my adam’s apple”, it’s bouncy and fun, but there’s something about it that’s a stretch——it often puts syllable over meaning.
So in a medium where the rhyme is the point, it works well. But in a medium where the emotio... | [
"Multisyllabic rhyme is used extensively in hip-hop, is considered a hallmark of complex and advanced rapping, and artists are often praised for their multisyllabic rhymes by critics and fellow rappers. This is in contrast to its use in the majority of other forms of poetry, where multisyllabic rhyme is rarely used... |
Roman Empire and Russia | The area that is now Romania, was conquered by the Romans, under Trajan from 101-106CE. The Romanians speak a Romance language, similar to French/Spanish/Italian, and we can see the Roman influence in the name of the country. The famous Trajan's column in Rome is our best record for the Dacian (What Romania was then ca... | [
"In Russian political discourse, Russia is sometimes affectionately called \"Third Rome\", the second Rome being the Eastern Roman Empire, which outlived its western counterpart at Rome itself, the first Rome, by a thousand years.\n",
"Under the reign of Ivan the Great (1462–1505), Moscow became a major regional ... |
what happens when someone has a fever that “breaks” and you wake up sweating at night. | Your body has a thermostat, called the hypothalmus. It's part of your brain.
When you have a fever, your thermostat gets turned up--this makes you shiver and get chills until you warm yourself up to wherever your body wants you to be.
When your fever breaks, your thermostat gets set back down to normal body temperatu... | [
"While night sweats might be relatively harmless, it can also be a sign of a serious underlying disease. It is important to distinguish night sweats due to medical causes from those that occur simply because the sleep environment is too warm, either because the bedroom is unusually hot or because there are too many... |
Beijing pollution. How will sprinklers on top of skyscrapers help bring down smog/pollution? | the answer is just mass transfer and phase partitioning. It might take me a while to explain but here goes:
most of the contaminants of concern in the air are at least somewhat soluble in water. When a gas encounters a water droplet, if the concentration of that gas dissolved in that water droplet is lower than the pa... | [
"The smog is causing all kinds of harm and putting the public in general danger. The air pollution does directly result in significant impact on the mobility rate of cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease in Beijing. Exposure to large concentrations of polluted air can cause respiratory and cardiovascular p... |
why, when i cut my fingernails unevenly (like so it has straight edges and non-rounded corners), does it grow out to be even? | It's not that they evened out by themselves; it's that over the course of the next few days the sharp edges wore down rubbing against stuff, for example, your clothes/bedding etc. | [
"The most common digit to become ingrown is the big toe, but ingrowth can occur on any nail. Ingrown nails can be avoided by cutting nails straight across; not along a curve, not too short and no shorter than the flesh around it. Footwear that is too small or too narrow, or with too shallow a \"toe box\", will exac... |
The Plague of Justinian (541 – 542 AD) was a pandemic that heavily afflicted the Byzantine empire during the reign of Justinan I; what measures were put in place to help those that were affected in some way by it? | They buried the dead, and prayed.
Procopius' famous description of the plague gives a sense of its magnitude and horror:
"...at first the deaths \[in Constantinople\] were a little more than the normal, then the mortality rose still higher, and afterwards the tale of dead reached five thousand each day, and again it ... | [
"The first recorded epidemic affected the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) and was named the Plague of Justinian after emperor Justinian I, who was infected but survived through extensive treatment. The pandemic resulted in the deaths of an estimated 25 million (6th century outbreak) to 50 million people (tw... |
How far underground can large caves exist on Earth? | Im not sure on depth before it collapses, but im sure that would have to do with its make up and location. Also as to what is considered a "cave". The deepest known cave at this time is Voronya Cave @ 7,208 ft deep & amp;amp;amp; 8.3 miles in length for the whole system.
_URL_0_
Now when I say what's considered a "... | [
"Caves are found around the world. The largest form in areas of karst landforms whose rocks erode easily. Preferable conditions for cave formation are adequate precipitation, enough plants and animals to produce ample carbon dioxide, and a landscape of gentle hills which drains slowly. The highest concentrations of... |
Why does steam and hot 'irons' remove creases from clothes so quickly and efficiently, and what is the science behind what's happening on a molecular level? | Steam is great for transferring heat, much better than hot air (hence why getting scalded by steam is so serious), as is a heavy metal object pressing on the fabric.
Heat beaks down the weak-cross chain bonds in the fabric, allowing creases to be straightened. And then as it cools, those bonds reform and you have som... | [
"Ironing is the use of a machine, usually a heated tool (an iron), to remove wrinkles from fabric. The heating is commonly done to a temperature of 180–220 °Celsius, depending on the fabric. Ironing works by loosening the bonds between the long-chain polymer molecules in the fibers of the material. While the molecu... |
What was the "fancy footwear" worn by Roman Patricians? | She's talking about a particular type of the *calceus*, [the public footwear of the Roman citizen.](_URL_0_) The *calceus* was not at all, however, the prerogative only of the patrician order. It was primarily worn by *equites* and higher, as these were the men engaged in public business, but by definition these are no... | [
"Romans used a wide variety of practical and decorative footwear, all of it flat soled (without heels). Outdoor shoes were often hobnailed for grip and durability. The most common types of footwear were a one-piece shoe (\"carbatina\"), sometimes with semi-openwork uppers; a usually thin-soled sandal (\"solea\"), s... |
why is it such a big deal to talk on a cell phone and drive but not for truckers to talk on cb radios? | For one, truckers won't have long, drawn out and potentially serious conversations on their radios.
It's more the things you talk about on the phone that distracts you more than holding the phone itself. Focusing on what's being said in one ear can take your mind off the road. | [
"Often older truck drivers speaking over their CB radios are frustrated at new-school truck drivers' lack of understanding of the trucking slang of the '60s, '70s and '80s, and grudgingly resort to standard English when communicating with them. However today the slang is mostly gone, and some companies such as Swif... |
Hydrogen filled balloons | According to Wikipedia the autoignition temperature of hydrogen is about 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the first google hit, bullets are about 500 degrees Fahrenheit. So I'd say no. There may be some factors I'm not taking into account. | [
"A balloon is a bag filled with a gas with a lower density than the surrounding air to provide buoyancy. The gas may be hot air, hydrogen or helium. The use of buoyant gases is unknown in the natural world.\n",
"Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers launched the world's first hydrogen filled balloon on August 2... |
good friday and easter sunday end up on different dates each year. why is christmas or birth of jesus in general on a fixed date then? | Christmas is set to the Gregorian Calendar, the solar calendar that most of the world uses. Good Friday and Easter Sunday are times to coincide with Passover, which is set to the Jewish Calendar, which is a lunar calendar, and does not match up with solar calendars. So, the dates shift a little each year. | [
"Although the month and date of Jesus' birth are unknown, the church in the early fourth century fixed the date as December 25. This corresponds to the date of the solstice on the Roman calendar. Most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, which has been adopted almost universally in the civ... |
What is the difference between hydrogen and anti hydrogen? | Anti-hydrogen is made of an anti-proton and a positron instead of a proton and an electron. If you drank anti-water it would annihilate with the regular matter in your face and, as Randall Monroe puts it "you would obviously die pretty quickly. You wouldn't really die of anything, in the traditional sense. You would ju... | [
"Antihydrogen () is the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen. Whereas the common hydrogen atom is composed of an electron and proton, the antihydrogen atom is made up of a positron and antiproton. Scientists hope studying antihydrogen may shed light on the question of why there is more matter than antimatter in the o... |
why do we get bored of things? | Well, our brains need to be entertained(we call this entertainment for the brain, stimuli) and once stimuli get repetitive or uninteresting, we have a drive to search for more stimuli (that are more entertaining) and that feeling is boredom.
source: (I have exams next week, and have been subject to boredom for hour... | [
"and there are idlers who disguise their idleness with pointless bustling. There are those who occupy themselves by making plans that will never come about. Then there are those who prefer \"to fill the day with petty business, to have always something in hand which may raise curiosity, but not solicitude, and keep... |
how does electricity work (ohms, voltage, amps, continuity, grounding, & watts, ac, dc, current)? | Electricity is a form of energy. I'll use the circuity in your home as an example since this sounds like what your fooling around with.
Simple put, electricity is the flow of electrons through a conductor (wires). It needs three things to work. Source, current and resistance.
A source can be though of as a bat... | [
"In electrical engineering, the power factor of an AC electrical power system is defined as the ratio of the \"real power\" absorbed by the load to the \"apparent power\" flowing in the circuit, and is a dimensionless number in the closed interval of −1 to 1. A power factor of less than one indicates the voltage an... |
Why didn't armies just fire their cannons at the gate of the castle during sieges ? | Are there any specific instance you're thinking of? Classic medieval castles lost most of their defensive value by the time of cannons; in the early 15th century, [bombards](_URL_1_) like 'Lazy Grete' were smashing even the strongest castles held by local nobility, like the infamous Quitzows of Brandenburg.
Generall... | [
"With the advent of siege cannons, however, the fortifications became obsolete, but their massive size still provided effective defence, as demonstrated during the Second Ottoman Siege in 1422. In the final siege, which led to the fall of the city to the Ottomans in 1453, the defenders, severely outnumbered, still ... |
why is linear algebra important in computer science | It's almost too hard to enumerate all of the uses. Linear algebra has many, many uses in relation to signal processing, and discrete states (which CS is heavily into).
For example, one notable use was Google's pagerank algorithm, which used properties of vector-matrix transformations to assign rankings to page popular... | [
"Numerical linear algebra is the study of how matrix operations can be used to create computer algorithms which efficiently and accurately provide approximate answers to mathematical questions. It is a subfield of numerical analysis, and a type of linear algebra. Because computers use floating-point arithmetic, the... |
Politics in Vienna at the the beginning of the 20th Century? | Oh man, I've got a bunch, so hold on to your hat. Some of these deal more with Austria or the Habsburg Monarchy as a whole, but most have a focus on Vienna or political situations that came out of Vienna. I've tried to include a bit about the book in parentheses after the citation to help. All except the first two are ... | [
"Vienna is today considered the center of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ). During the period of the First Republic (1918–1934), the Vienna Social Democrats undertook many social reforms. At that time, Vienna's municipal policy was admired by Socialists throughout Europe, who therefore referred to the city as \"Re... |
. how did anders breivic (norwegian guy who murdered 77 people) get only 21 years? | Norwegian law does not allow people to be sentenced to more than 21 years in jail.
However, Norwegian law *does* allow for jail terms to be extended if someone is judged to still be a menace to society. Because of this, most experts think he will still end up serving a life sentence. | [
"After 36 years in jail, Berger committed suicide by hanging himself in Straubing prison on 20 November 2003. The appropriateness of Berger's 36 years in jail was questioned in his obituary by the \"Sueddeutsche Zeitung\", as he never killed anybody and even murderers in Germany tend to be released after much short... |
Why do berries have such a short shelf-life? | This kind of shelf life in most fruits (and plants) is mostly dictated by the structural integrity of the cell walls in the fruit. The stronger the cell walls the more resistant they are to microbes (bacteria and molds) and this better protects the cells inside those walls.
When fruits first form on a plant (before ri... | [
"The berry contains ascorbic (70-100 mg%) and benzoic acids, rich in flavonoids and other P-active compounds, also tannins and various microelements. Under- and overripe berries have significantly lower percentage of useful chemical components. \n",
"Berries are perishable fruits with a short shelf life, and are ... |
how can i have a fever and be freezing cold at the same time? | There reason you have a fever is BECAUSE you're feeling freezing cold. When you're feeling freezing cold, you tend to shiver, snuggle up with a blanket, and try raise your body temperature.
The way fever works is that your body is saying "you'r now at 98 degrees F. You need to be at 104F. You're colder than what you n... | [
"Cold has numerous physiological and pathological effects on the human body, as well as on other organisms. Cold environments may promote certain psychological traits, as well as having direct effects on the ability to move. Shivering is one of the first physiological responses to cold. Extreme cold temperatures ma... |
What happens when two or multiple sperm fertilize a single egg simultaneously? | It is called a [Polyspermy](_URL_2_) The most common outcome is an inviable zygote, but not always. For some species (chickens...) it is required for fertilization. In humans, getting extra chromosones tends to have effects ranging from [bad](_URL_3_) to [very bad](_URL_0_) to [fatal](_URL_1_). | [
"If the chromosome pairs fail to separate properly during cell division, the egg or sperm may end up with a second copy of one of the chromosomes. (\"See\" non-disjunction.) If such a gamete results in fertilization and an embryo, the resulting embryo may also have an entire copy of the extra chromosome.\n",
"Aft... |
why is there great disagreements about the so-called 'copenhagen interpretation 'among physicists?is this dispute amenable to experimental resolution? | There is great disagreement because there are several interpretations that fit with our current knowledge of the quantum world and it's not, at this time, possible to deduce which interpretation is correct, if any. | [
"The Copenhagen interpretation is the oldest and probably still the most widely held interpretation of quantum mechanics. Most generally, it posits something in the act of observation which results in the collapse of the wave function. How this could happen is widely disputed. In general, proponents of the Copenhag... |
What causes some people to react violently upon being woken up from anesthesia? | It happened to me too first time I had surgery. I remember some of it. Apparently it took 4 nurses and a doctor to restrain me. As for why it happened - no idea. Sorry I can't help you in that regard. But it appears to be a fairly common reaction.
_URL_0_
> A young man may wake up combative and in "fight" mode.... | [
"The experiences of patients who have experienced anesthesia awareness vary widely depending on why they became aware, and whether they were paralyzed. Patient responses and sequelae vary widely as well. It is unusual for someone having experienced awareness without pain or suffocation to suffer bad sequelae. The e... |
How do capillaries line up again after a cut? | They don't! When a capillary is first severed, circulating clotting factors begin the cascade that walls off that vessel with fibrous material in an attempt to minimize blood loss. A protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulates a process called angiogenesis, which is the process of new vessel gro... | [
"The capillary length is a length scaling factor that relates gravity and surface tension, and is directly responsible for the shape a droplet for a specific fluid will take. The capillary length stems from the Laplace pressure, using the radius of the droplet.\n",
"The capillaries are blind-ended, and the valves... |
Biotechnology vs Biochemistry Engineering | Biotechnology can deal with nanotechnology, making medical devices, along with several other facets, while biochemistry focuses mostly on how chemistry interacts with the body. Given, this is just a general statement, and depending on where you study each major will have specific sets of courses which will give you a ... | [
"Biotechnology and biochemical engineering are closely related to each other as biochemical engineering can be considered a sub-branch of biotechnology. One of the primary focuses of biotechnology is in the medical field, where biochemical engineers work to design pharmaceuticals, artificial organs, biomedical devi... |
If you poured a carbonated beverage into a perfectly smooth container, would any bubbles form. | Poured? Yes. The agitation of pouring is enough to prompt carbon dioxide to escape from solution. A very gentle pour (down the side of the glass, minimize pouring distance) can reduce the number of bubbles formed, but you're unlikely to eliminate them entirely. | [
"Nucleations are needed to stimulate the formation of bubbles because carbon dioxide has to first diffuse from the wine solution before it can rise out of the glass and into the air. A poured glass of sparkling wine will lose its bubbliness and carbon dioxide gas much more quickly than an open bottle alone would. T... |
how can the universe be a 3d hologram | It seems likely that sometime soon, we might be able to build a machine (a computer) that does a really really good job of simulation a realistic version of our universe inside it.
Let's pretend you believe it is possible that we can build this machine. Can you now not believe there is at least a possibility that may... | [
"Creating a 3D image for display consists of a series of steps. First, the objects to be displayed are loaded into memory from individual \"models\". The system then applies mathematical functions to transform the models into a common coordinate system, the \"world view\". From this world view, a series of polygons... |
Why did the gypsies of Europe remain seemingly stateless for hundreds of years? Were they ever welcomed anywhere? | Hi there,
Can you please resubmit your question, but use "Roma" or "Romani people" in the title? "Gypsies" is essentially a racial slur when it's referring to the ethnic group. (Although it's so common that a lot of people don't realize.)
Thanks! | [
"Gypsies have historically been criticized and persecuted in Western countries. This article describes a particular instance of this phenomenon in early twentieth century Austria and its historical significance in Nazi Germany.\n",
"In 1990, while most of the family was serving prison time, Polykarp's grandson Ma... |
how does stabilized aqueous ozone work for cleaning? | This is the first I have heard of it, so I did some research and applied my (very limited) knowledge of chemistry. On its surface, most of the links I found regarding this process were sales links in some form or another. Immediately, I would take this info with a grain of salt. Further research was not able to dire... | [
"Ozone treatment is a process in which ozone gas is injected into waste streams as a means to reduce or eliminate the need for water treatment chemicals or sanitizers that may be hazardous, including chlorine.\n",
"Refrigerants such as ammonia (R717), carbon dioxide and non-halogenated hydrocarbons do not deplete... |
what is story pacing? | Story pacing refers to the speed at which events happen. Some shows benefit from a long buildup to a particularly energetic climax (think some seasons of *The Walking Dead*) and others have action sequences nearly every episode (think *24*). The writer/director/showrunner have to manage that pace to keep the audience e... | [
"In literature, pace, or pacing is the speed at which a story is told—not necessarily the speed at which the story takes place. The number of words needed to write about a certain event does not depend upon how much time the event takes to happen; it depends upon how important that moment is to the story. The pace ... |
What colour is the COVID-19 virus? Can things that small even have colours? | Unfortunately, the notion of color does not make sense when talking about something that small. The German physicist Ernst Abbe originally advanced the theory which today is known as the Abbe limit. In microscopy, it tells us how small of a feature a microscope can resolve based on the wavelength of light being emitted... | [
"Red and blue slaadi reproduce by infecting living hosts. The red do so by implanting eggs beneath their victim's skin which grow into a baby blue slaad that eats the host from within. The blue infect the host with a lycanthropy-like disease that slowly transforms them into a red slaad. Despite being the means of p... |
the math in this article about microsoft buying minecraft. spending 2.5 billion and breaking even on 25 million in interest or whatever makes no sense to me. | If Microsoft didn't buy anything with its cash and just let it sit in something that gained interest, it would have made $25 million on that $2.5 billion (savings accounts typically are around 1% return).
They're saying that the purchase of Mojang and Minecraft is worth the $2.5 billion, and that as long as it's worth... | [
"Hal Singer of the \"Micro-8 Newsletter\" published an open letter to Ed Roberts of MITS. Hal pointed out that MITS promised a computer for $395 but the price for a working system was $1000. He suggested a class action lawsuit or a Federal Trade Commission investigation into false advertising was in order. Hal also... |
why is vaping nicotine supposedly better for your health than smoking cigarettes? | Forget the nicotine, that is not what is bad about smoking. smoking is bad for you because of the chemistry that happens when you burn stuff. It's why people die from smoke inhalation during house fires. Smoking causes you to ingest all sorts of toxic chemicals. Not because they are put into cigarettes, but because the... | [
"Pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and the elderly are more sensitive to nicotine than other individuals. There are safety issues with the nicotine exposure from e-cigarettes, which may cause addiction and other adverse effects. Nicotine is regarded as a potentially lethal poison. Concerns exist that vaping ca... |
Why did France decide to give the US the Statue of Liberty? | The [wikipedia entry](_URL_0_) on the Statue of Liberty is actually fairly extensive and very well cited. There you can find most of the story in good detail.
The idea of giving a Statue to the US was not originated by any French official, but rather private citizens who were liberal and committed republicans (in that... | [
"In this timeline's New York City, there is no Statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island, nor does the name get changed to Liberty Island – as relations between the United States and France are poor, due to France's support for the Confederacy, and there is no question of the French donating such a statue to the America... |
Are there any examples of leaders/governments/countries taking actions to help others for the sheer moral good of it? (pre WWI) | Perhaps someone can provide better sources, or can expand on this more, and suggest if it counts as sheer moral good, but there is famous example of international aid to Ireland in the time of The Great Famine 1845-49 from the Ottoman Sultan.
> At a time when Ireland was enduring the terrible loss of a million dead... | [
"After World War I, and with another European war looming, leaders from the historic peace churches met to strategize about how to cooperate with the government to avoid the difficulties of World War I. Holding a common view that any participation in military service was not acceptable, they devised a plan of civil... |
the difference between subjective and objective thinking | It depends somewhat on the context you are using those terms, but subjective means based on your own personal opinion, while objective means it can be agreed to by an independent 3rd party. | [
"Some have argued that the distinction between objective and subjective assessments is neither useful nor accurate because, in reality, there is no such thing as \"objective\" assessment. In fact, all assessments are created with inherent biases built into decisions about relevant subject matter and content, as wel... |
Frost Wedging in the Grand Canyon? | Perhaps you're thinking of Bryce Canyon? [This link](_URL_0_) says that it's the most important form of erosion at Bryce:
> Snow in the winter melts a little every day and flows into joints. At night it freezes and expands, breaking the rock into smaller pieces. This is called frost wedging. Bryce Canyon expe... | [
"\"Before the Frost\" was directed by Charles Martin. Filming started in Ystad on 12 October 2011. The first days of shooting were stunts and scenes with an animal trainer as Kenneth Branagh did not arrive until 17 October. Scenes were also shot at The Chemistry Hall at the Macklean School in Skurup Municipality. W... |
how soap is both hydrophobic and hydrophilic at the same time without one taking over | Soap is an emulsifier. One end of the molecule is hydrophilic and the other end is hydrophobic. One can't "take over" the other unless there is way more oil than water or vice versa. | [
"Hydrophilic molecules (and portions of molecules) can be contrasted with hydrophobic molecules (and portions of molecules). In some cases, both hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties occur in a single molecule. An example of these amphiphilic molecules is the lipids that comprise the cell membrane. Another example... |
a lot of building now seem to have 10-20 foot (3-6 meter) high ceilings, why? | Probably just the current aesthetic.
Realistically, it'd cost more to heat and cool. It's not more efficient, but it does make for a more inviting and comfortable space, which can be good in most public or business settings. | [
"The height of each storey is based on the ceiling height of the rooms plus the thickness of the floors between each pane. Generally this is around total; however, it varies widely from just under this figure to well over it. Storeys within a building need not be all the same height—often the lobby is taller, for e... |
When electrons leap from one orbit to the next are they in between orbits ? | To elaborate on REC's answer, when quantum systems are able to jump from between states, and say emit a photon and drop an orbit, the electron actually exists partially in both states at the same time. We call this superposition.
The jump, so to speak, never needs to happen because the electron already included the fi... | [
"Electrons do not have definite orbits, or sharply defined ranges. Rather, their positions must be described as probability distributions that taper off gradually as one moves away from the nucleus, without a sharp cutoff. Moreover, in condensed matter and molecules, the electron clouds of the atoms usually overlap... |
how can you overdose on vitamins (pills)? | It depends on the vitamin. Most things available over the counter tend to have pretty large margins of safety between the recommended dose & what's harmful - somebody taking 2-3 is *generally* not particularly harmful.
Some will harmlessly pass through you, even in ridiculous quantities. For reference, a standar... | [
"Vitamin overdose can be avoided by not taking more than the normal or recommended amount of multi-vitamin supplement shown on the bottle. and not ingesting multiple vitamin-containing supplements concurrently\n",
"Toxicity results from ingesting too much preformed vitamin A from foods (such as fish or animal liv... |
how do companies like turbo tax and h & r block that do tax returns for you make it's profit since people only use their services once a year? | Actually a lot of people file their taxes 4 times a year. Anyone working a 1099 job and any business that surpasses a certain minimum revenue level | [
"Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, has lobbied extensively against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) creating its own online system of tax filing. As part of an agreement with the IRS, TurboTax allows individuals making less than $66,000 a year to use a free version of TurboTax; a 2019 ProPublica investigation reveal... |
Would it be possible to split atoms by spinning them fast enough? | In principle... I think so? Large nuclei do have "rotational modes", where there is some collective motion of the protons and neutrons. These rotational modes typically decay by emitting gamma rays and returning to lower energy levels, but maybe there is some small probability the nucleus could split instead.
In gen... | [
"Spin-exchange collisions preserve total angular momentum of a colliding pair of atoms but can scramble the hyperfine state of the atoms. Atoms in different hyperfine states do not precess coherently and thereby limit the coherence lifetime of the atoms. However, decoherence due to spin-exchange collisions can be n... |
why aren't nootropics encouraged enough for research (and why is the government trying to ban it? wouldn't nootropics accelerated society for growth and development?) | > Why aren't nootropics encouraged enough for research
There is research done on nootropics, and the research doesn't show that they work. Until there is some good reason to think that pouring money into researching a specific substance is likely to yield results it seems sort of a waste of time.
> and why is the... | [
"AFMA also wants to see medical research funding directed to more relevant areas of research that are often forgotten and not used. Some examples of scientific fields that AFMA believes are not applied enough when researching and creating drugs include complexity science, developmental biology, evolutionary biology... |
If a much larger planet collided with Earth, would we be sucked into its gravitational pull before it actually hit? | Depends on the density of the larger planet. If it were a low density, Hydrogen/Helium planet like Jupiter, the Earth would crash into it before things fell off the surface of the Earth.
If the planet had a higher density than the Earth (some kind of Super-Mercury), then once the Earth crossed the Roche limit, the ti... | [
"The collision of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1994 demonstrated that gravitational interactions can fragment a comet, giving rise to many impacts over a period of a few days if the comet should collide with a planet. Comets undergo gravitational interactions with the gas giants, and similar disruptions a... |
why do modern rockets blast off with zero initial velocity (standing straight up)? | The biggest difficulty in getting enough speed to get to orbital velocity is how the earth's atmosphere slows you down.
It is most effective to blast straight up until the atnosphere becomes thinner and the drag caused by the air becomes very low, then level out and accelerate sideways towards an orbital speed.
Also ... | [
"It is important to note that the burnout time does not define the end of the rocket stage's motion, as the vehicle will still have a velocity that will allow it to coast upward for a brief amount of time until the acceleration of the planet's gravity gradually changes it to a downward direction. The velocity and a... |
what does the caliber of a bullet mean? is .44, .50ae, .22, etc the caliber or something else? | Caliber is the diameter of the bullet. It can be expressed either in mm or thousands of an inch (or even a fraction of an inch) depending on the manufacterer. For instance, a .22 is 0.22 inches in diameter, and a 9mm is 9mm (surprise surprise). | [
"BULLET::::- the caliber of the bullet in a number of firearms cartridges, most notably the .40 S&W. (The 10mm Auto, although designated as metric caliber, uses the same caliber, and often uses the same bullets.)\n",
"22 caliber, or 5.6mm caliber, refers to a common firearms bore diameter of 0.22 inch (5.6 mm). B... |
how can a water or electricity company cut off or turn on services to an individual household without being physically present? | water cannot be cut remotely, but the shutoff valve is normally outside the house/building. Most electric switches can be thrown remotely whether inside or outside buildings | [
"Utility companies have statutory powers to, for example, erect electrical substations or lay sewers or water pipes on or through someone else's land. These powers are counterbalanced by corresponding rights for landowners to compel utility companies to remove cables, pipes or sewers in other circumstances (see for... |
Why don't we have more deep field images? | We do take them, but the issue is that these images take so long to produce (on the order of weeks) and the telescope cannot be used for anything else in the meantime. Since there is so much to look at that's interesting out in the sky, viewing time is always in very high demand for telescopes such as the Hubble. The... | [
"The rationale behind making another Deep Field image was to provide observatories in the southern hemisphere with a similarly deep optical image of the distant universe as had been provided to those in the northern hemisphere.\n",
"Getting sufficient depth of field can be particularly challenging in macro photog... |
if our muscles relax when we sleep, then what mechanisms prevent us from having a bowel movement or urinating during that time? | Not all of your muscles relax. Bowel movements are prevented by several sphincter muscles in your digestive system that continue the business of digestion while you sleep. Urination is prevented through similar mechanisms and also erections in males. | [
"However, the notion of \"bowel movement stimulation due to a relaxation effect\" being behind the phenomenon is thoroughly repudiated as an utterly nonsensical theory in the work of clinical psychologist Toshio Kasahara, who argues that although people attempting to enter relaxation states through the likes of aut... |
what exactly is an equinox? today was the spring equinox and the persian new year. | The Earth is slightly tilted as it orbits the Sun. For part of the year, the Northern Hemisphere will point more toward the Sun, so it will get more sunlight and have warmer days. This is summer. But at the same time the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, so it gets less sunlight and has colder days. ... | [
"In the northern hemisphere, the vernal equinox (March) conventionally marks the beginning of spring in most cultures and is considered the start of the New Year in the Assyrian calendar, Hindu and the Persian calendar or Iranian calendars as Nowruz (means new day), while the autumnal equinox (September) marks the ... |
how does light escape from a closed container with opaque walls? | You are forgetting one thing: absorption. When light hits an object, some of the light is absorbed, meaning that the light is destroyed and its energy is transformed to heat. For dark, opaque objects, the majority of the light that hits it is absorbed.
The other two things that can happen to light are transmission an... | [
"The exit port immediately opposite the entrance port contains a light trap to absorb all light from the light source when no sample is present. A shutter in this exit port coated with the same coating as the sphere walls allows the port to be opened and closed as required. \n",
"If the object is transparent, the... |
why is there a bump on our fingers at the center of the fingerprint? | No bumps here, not sure what you mean. | [
"In an abdominal radiography, thumbprinting has an appearance of thumbs protruding into the intestinal lumen, and is caused by thickened edematous mucosal folds. Abdominal thumbprinting is a non-specific finding, though one potential cause is intestinal ischemia.\n",
"In radiology, the thumbprint sign, or thumbpr... |
Any books about allied-occupied Vienna? (1945-1955) | /u/kieslowskifan might have more to add when it comes to English language scholarship but the fact is that the Soviet occupation of Austria (like the British or French occupation of Austria really) has not been that well explored so far by German language scholarship, to say nothing of English language scholarship. The... | [
"BULLET::::- A review of the library situation in Austria at the end of the war was prompted by the American Library Association. \"“Vienna was heavily bombed and many of its famous buildings were badly damaged or altogether destroyed. But the library buildings were practically untouched. All functioned throughout ... |
why dont vending machines use debit cards yet? | because in addition to just a power cord, you'd need a telephone/ethernet cord and integrate a card reader and pay merchant fees. | [
"Demand for new machines has declined due to increased use of credit cards and the conversion of casinos to coinless Ticket-In, Ticket-Out technology for their slot machines, but some industries still require machines to wrap and sort the large volume of coins that are taken in.\n",
"In Canada, the debit card is ... |
How far and fast could ion thrusters get? | TL;DR: I did some calculations to illustrate the basics. [Here](_URL_6_) is a paper detailing many things about the applications of the Xenon thrusters. It's actually a really cool paper and I recommend looking it over.
Let's make a simple calculation first. Suppose that the ion thruster is alone in space and there is... | [
"A 4-grid ion thruster with only 0.2 m diameter is projected to absorb 250 kW power. With that energy input rate, the thruster could produce a thrust of 2.5 N. The specific impulse (a measure of fuel efficiency), could reach 19,300 s at an exhaust velocity of 210 km/s if xenon propellant were used. The potentially ... |
What foods have only been made feasible by modern food preservation techniques or transportation? | A wonderful series that may address your questions is the [Edible Series](_URL_0_), which gives the history of all sorts of food items.
I hope this was a little helpful. Happy reading! | [
"BULLET::::- June – Nicolas Appert publishes \"L'art de conserver pendant plusieurs années toutes les substances animales ou végétales\", the first description of modern food preservation using airtight containers\n",
"BULLET::::- June – Nicolas Appert publishes \"L'art de conserver pendant plusieurs années toute... |
Is the statement "Even neuroscientists can’t tell if an individual brain belongs to a man or woman." true? | No. [Feis et al. (2013)](_URL_0_) ( < - pdf!) can decode gender from MRIs with 96% accuracy.
Edit: to add a bit of detail: on average, men tend to have a larger brain size; women tend to have a larger proportion of gray matter over all. When controlling for brain size, there are certain specific regions where women h... | [
"One of the main questions in Joel's research is whether there is a \"male brain\" and a \"female brain\"; whether human brains can be divided in a binary way, as is generally done with human genitals. According to Joelj's research, the answer is \"no\".\n",
"While there is disagreement among neurologists on whet... |
what causes your sweat to be yellow? does being more hydrated reduce the affect? | Either you have a very rare disease which is causing a colored pigment to be produced in your glands, or it's your deodorant. The most likely candidate is that your deodorant is leaving yellow stains because of the presence of aluminum and other chemicals. If you are seeing yellow or brown sweat on your face or chest o... | [
"Side effects may include constipation, low blood potassium, and stools that are dark. With long-term use, sweat may turn blue. It works by binding to and thus preventing the absorption of thallium and cesium from the intestines.\n",
"Sweating causes a decrease in core temperature through evaporative cooling at t... |
Why is ash mostly gray? | Wood ash is mostly calcium, potassium and sodium carbonates and salts, which are white, and bits of incompletely combusted carbon (soot), which is black. I suppose the grey color must be the resulting combination. | [
"White ash is not seen in cultivation as often as green ash due to its preference for undisturbed forest sites away from urban pollution and soil compaction, but sometimes has been planted for its consistently reliably autumn colors, which typically are bright orange and red hues as opposed to other species of ash ... |
how has the huge demand for 2 day shipping created by amazon prime been able to be met by postal services? | Amazon managed 2 day shipping by using the existing shipping infrastructure. Amazon isn't asking UPS to deliver from California to NYC in 2 days. Amazon opens up a warehouse in Albany or somewhere close and asks UPS to deliver to NYC in 2 days. | [
"In November 2013, Amazon announced a partnership with the United States Postal Service to begin delivering orders on Sundays. The service, included in Amazon's standard shipping rates, initiated in metropolitan areas of Los Angeles and New York because of the high-volume and inability to deliver in a timely way, w... |
what's the purpose of the cartilaginous tab over the ear hole? | Update: ok, after learning from a video that the floppy part of the ear is called the "pinna" it made me want to dig around to find what the name of that "tab" is, and turns out it's called the "tragus". Now armed with a googleable name, the search was on, and it appears that the tragus does aid in collecting sounds f... | [
"The pinna helps direct sound through the ear canal to the eardrum. The complex geometry of ridges on the inner surface of some mammalian ears helps to sharply focus sounds produced by prey, using echolocation signals. These ridges can be regarded as the acoustic equivalent of a fresnel lens, and may be seen in a w... |
How do humans add up numbers? | That's an interesting question and I know there are a few people working on this: effectively the intersection of education and cognitive neurosciene.
On the cognitive science side of things, James Anderson (formerly at Brown, now at CMU, I think) developed an [artificial neural network](_URL_0_) which is *supposed* ... | [
"Whereas most adults can repeat about seven digits in correct order, some individuals have shown impressive enlargements of their digit span—up to 80 digits. This feat is possible by extensive training on an encoding strategy by which the digits in a list are grouped (usually in groups of three to five) and these g... |
Why do my speakers play radio stations when the aux cable isn't plugged into anything? | Yup, it's picking up AM radio stations, really all you need to pick up AM is a wire of some length and something connected to it with a non-linear I-V curve (any semiconductor). The length of wire and attached capacitance tunes it, it's better at picking up signals at multiples of its length (or multiples of half its l... | [
"Radio signals have a limitations due to distance and terrain. If two radios are far apart, or there is a mountain in the way, they will not be able to communicate. To alleviate this, radio repeaters are installed on mountaintops to repeat the signal from one radio to another, or group of others. This is a standard... |
why is latin considered a dead language and what exactly defines a language as dead? | A language is considered “dead” when it’s no longer the native language of a community of people. It should be noted that this is different from an extinct language, which no longer has any speakers at all.
In the case of Latin, no one calls it their primary language. | [
"Linguists distinguish between language \"death\" and the process where a language becomes a \"dead language\" through normal language change, a linguistic phenomenon analogous to pseudoextinction. This happens when a language in the course of its normal development gradually morphs into something that is then reco... |
if two 15 mt bombs were dropped together would they cover the same distance when exploding or would they double as a 30 mt bomb? | They'd have to be EXACTLY - to the microsecond - the same detonation time or the first bomb would likely simply destroy or disable the other when it detonated.
But assuming that, if the two bombs were duct-taped together so they were in very very close proximity then they detonated, it'd be close to the equivalent of ... | [
"The larger 8,000 lb bomb was constructed from two 4,000 lb sections, of a larger 38 in (97 cm) diameter, that fitted together with bolts. A 12,000 lb version was created by adding a third 4,000 lb section.\n",
"In less than five minutes, seven or eight 1,000-pound bombs, one 750-pound bomb, one bomb, and several... |
How loud would a sound have to be to make everyone on earth go deaf? | There's a risk of noise induced deafness at [120 dB](_URL_1_). Its not gonna make everyone go deaf, but its a bare minimum. A realistic value would probably be much higher. The frequency is also important; the ear is most vulnerable to frequencies around 4 kHz, and sounds will dissipate at different rates based on f... | [
"360 million people suffer from disabling hearing loss across the world - 32 million of which are children - making up about 5% of the world's population. In developing countries, these people often have no access to basic hearing assessment, treatment, medicines or even transport to what limited facilities there a... |
why does socialism not exist anymore? | Marxist socialism requires centralized control and planning and relies on buy-in of all participants so it just isn't manageable on a large scale. When it encounters problems, it will become unstable very quickly and collapse. Capitalism, though it has its own problems, is more tolerant of mistakes, errors and human im... | [
"Socialism suffered a setback in some countries in recent years. As a consequence of this, the imperialists and reactionaries are claiming that socialism has ‘come to an end’. This is nothing but a sophistry to beautify and embellish capitalism and patronise the old order.\n",
"The great paradox of socialism is t... |
Did Newfoundland benefit by joining Confederation in 1948 rather than 1867? | Newfoundland had a large Irish Catholic population. They had no desire to become another despised minority within a larger Protestant Canada, giving up their separate schools and other privileges.
Newfoundland kept up its cheerful baiting of the Confederation, fighting a long and ultimately victorious legal battle fo... | [
"In 1869, the people of Newfoundland voted to remain a British colony over fears that taxes would increase with Confederation, and that the economic policy of the Canadian government would favour mainland industries. In 1907, Newfoundland acquired dominion status. In the middle of the Great Depression in Canada wit... |
if there's an car accident and the person at fault dies, how is insurance handled for the person who wasn't at fault? | The insurance company assumes liability in accordance with the policy regardless of whether the policy holder is living or dead. The plaintiff could sue the estate for additional money if they have legal cause to have sued a living driver. | [
"No-fault systems generally exempt individuals from the usual liability for causing body injury if they do so in a car collision; when individuals purchase \"liability\" insurance under those regimes, the insurance covers bodily injury of the insured and the insured's passengers caused by a car collision, regardles... |
how do the iron sights on a gun work if they are above where the bullets are fired? | Iron sights form a straight line, while the trajectory of the bullet is an arch (as the bullet falls down during flight). Usually the sights are calibrated in a way so the bullet path intersects twice with the line of sight of the iron sights. The distances where they cross (where you can get an exaxt hit) depend on th... | [
"In the case of firearms, where the projectile follows a Newtonian trajectory, front and rear sights must be aligned with the line of sight of the shooter to the target, known as the 'Point of Aim' (POA), calibrated to the distance of the target and the trajectory of the bullet, so that the bullet hits the target a... |
with tensions between iran and israel i am listening to npr and i can't figure out why we are allies with israel. can some please explain why we give them such ,almost unconditional support. | There are many different reasons held by different people. Here are a few:
* The US and Western Europe feel guilty for not preventing the Holocaust.
* Israel is seen as more culturally "western" than its neighbors.
* Israel is seen as less of a military/terrorist threat than its neighbors.
* Some Christians believe Is... | [
"Iran then responded to calling the \"Israeli regime's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's smokescreen to hide his crimes against the Palestinian people. [He] allocated major parts of speech to attack all members of international community for supporting the JCPOA. Je and his cronies are expected to continue baskin... |
Has the earth's gravity increased in any significant manner since the emergence of life? | The short answer is no, there has been no substantial change. The mass of the earth is on the order of 10^24 kg, so for even a 1% change in gravitation potential you would need a change in the mass on the order of 10^22 kg, which is a *huge* amount of matter and far more (in my estimation) than catching space debris co... | [
"Gravitational biology is the study of the effects gravity has on living organisms. Throughout the history of the Earth life has evolved to survive changing conditions, such as changes in the climate and habitat. However, one constant factor in evolution since life first began on Earth is the force of gravity. As a... |
Do all planets have a molten core? Why? | At some point in a planets life there is usually a point where a significant portion of the core is molten. However we also theorise that at distances comparable to being at the centre there is enough pressure to maintain solid structure, so at this point the definition of core matters as i have seen definitions that e... | [
"In turn, a molten core may allow plate tectonics, of which Earth shows major features. Mars, as a smaller body than Earth, shows no current tectonic activity, nor mountain ridges from geologically recent activity. This is assumed to be due to an interior that has cooled faster than the Earth (see geomagnetism belo... |
What was the Christian religious experience like before vernacular religious services? | I am old enough to remember attending Mass when it was in Latin and at that time (the late 1950s/early 1960s) and in that place (the North-west corner of England), though the rest of the Mass was in a foreign and dead language, the sermon at least was always in English. Also I attended a Catholic school where Bible sto... | [
"According to the Book of Acts, one of the first evangelised communities were these Jews and pagans of Antioch. It was there that the term \"Christian\" was coined for these Gentiles, mainly Syrian and Greek converts.\n",
"Although the date of the Christianization of the city is not known with certainty, it is kn... |
Could you get a sunburn in space, and how would that work exactly? | You can get way more than a sunburn in space. The earth's magnetic field and atmosphere help block a great deal of the (UV) radiation from the sun. In space, there is little to no protection. If I remember right, the relatively low orbit of the space shuttle and ISS still had some protection since the magnetosphere goe... | [
"Spacecraft, both manned and unmanned, must cope with the high radiation environment of outerspace. Radiation emitted by the Sun and other galactic sources, and trapped in radiation \"belts\" is more dangerous and hundreds of times more intense than radiation sources such as medical X-rays or normal cosmic radiatio... |
the navier-stokes equations - why does it not work with fluid motions that are highly turbulent? | It is based on the assumption of that the fluid can no be squeezed and that the forces on the liquid is proportional to the viscous forces (honey is very viscous and liquid helium is very very low). So in very turbulent flows, these assumptions no long hold so you can't estimate away the effects of compressibility. | [
"The equation of motion for Stokes flow can be obtained by linearizing the steady state Navier-Stokes equations. The inertial forces are assumed to be negligible in comparison to the viscous forces, and eliminating the inertial terms of the momentum balance in the Navier–Stokes equations reduces it to the momentum ... |
when politicians says that america was founded on the judeo christian ethic, what are they referring to? | They are making a vague statement that is hard to disagree with. There is no single Judeo Christian ethic. Rather, most Americans were either Christian or Jewish. It's uncontroversial and sounds good.
Welcome to politics. | [
"Atalia Omer and Jason A. Springs point to Roosevelt's 1939 State of the Union address, which called upon Americans to \"defend, not their homes alone, but the tenets of faith and humanity on with which their churches, their governments and their very civilization are founded.\" They state that, \"This familiar rhe... |
what is selective service and why does everyone 18-25 have to register? how does this affect me? | The selective service is also known as the draft. All men in living in the US have to sign up when they turn 18 in order to get social security, college loans and to be able to become a citizen.
I don't think you'll have to worry about getting drafted; a draft hasn't been enacted since the Vietnam War and the nature ... | [
"In the United States, most male US citizens and residents must register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Those who fail to register may be punished by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, although no non-registrants have been prosecuted since January 1986... |
Have there been any countries that were free, but eventually became a dictatorship? If so, how did it happen? | This happens all the time. Heard of the Roman Republic?
Lemme give you one example: The rise of the [Marcos Pérez Jiménez](_URL_2_) dictatorship in Venezuela in the middle of the 20th century.
A little background: Venezuela (and most of Latin America for that matter) has a history of being ruled by autocratic populis... | [
"In the most common Western view, the perfect example of a right-wing dictatorship is any of those that once ruled in South America. Those regimes were predominantly military juntas and most of them collapsed in the 1980s. Communist countries, which were very cautious about not revealing their authoritarian methods... |
why do we use 12 instead of 0 on the clock? | It's a throw back to the ancient Sumerian/babylonian base 60 number system.
They didn't have the number zero back then and I believe they chose 60 because it was easily divisible for trade;
60 would break into 2 lots of 30, 3 lots of 20, 12 lots of 5, 4 lots of 15, 2 lots of 15 lots of 2 etc
This worked out pretty ... | [
"Using this analogy, \"12 o'clock\" means \"ahead or above\", \"3 o'clock\" means \"to the right\", \"6 o'clock\" means \"behind or below\", and \"9 o'clock\" means \"to the left\". The other eight hours refer to directions that are not directly in line with the four cardinal directions.\n",
"Most analog clocks a... |
What pressure can a human cough exert? | Airflow is not measured in pressure units, but in flow, and when considering the lungs we need to consider pressure in several areas.
A cough is a fairly complex thing when we get down to it as well.
There is a marked inhalation, followed by a pause and then forced ehalation against a closed glottis. The glottis th... | [
"When air enters the veins, it travels to the right side of the heart, and then to the lungs. This can cause the vessels of the lung to constrict, raising the pressure in the right side of the heart. If the pressure rises high enough in a patient who is one of the 20% to 30% of the population with a patent foramen ... |
what's the differences among yogurt and sour milk, and why do people eat yogurt but not sour milk? it's all done by bacteria isn't it? | Sour milk is "caused" by some random bacteria with random results while yogurt has carefully selected strains of bacteria and/or yeast that has been proven to be safe and tasty. | [
"Yogurt ( or ; from ), also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt, is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as \"yogurt cultures\". The fermentation of lactose by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and cha... |
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