Split (2)

train · 226k rows

question stringlengths 3 301	answer stringlengths 9 26.1k	context list
Why can't refrigeration create energy?	That would be violating the [second law of thermodynamics](_URL_0_). Generating a heat-gradient out of nothing is reducing the entropy of a closed system. It's not sufficient to have heat to get energy out of it, you need a difference in heat.	[ "Refrigeration is the process of cooling a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is rejected at a higher temperature). In other words, refrigeration means artificial (human-made) cooling. Heat is removed from a low-temperature reservoir an...
What caused Simón Bolívar's downfall?	Ah, Bolívar... a figure that fascinates me. His life is really tragic in several ways, and the fact that the Liberator, the hero and father of six nations died in misery and poverty is probably one of the most tragic aspects of his tale. Bolívar, in fact, lost many times before finally winning and securing the indepe...	[ "However, conflicts such as this one, in addition to the assassination of Antonio José de Sucre in 1830, ultimately led to the collapse of Gran Colombia and; therefore, the union for which Bolívar had sacrificed so much to maintain since independence was achieved.\n", "Bolívar ultimately failed in his attempt to ...
How did the Roman "Cult of Mithras" spread across the Empire?	We have no Mithraic writings, either scriptures or histories, which makes this a difficult question to answer (it's part of being a mystery cult). Most of the information we have on Mithraism is archeological, not manuscript, which is usually the wrong sort of evidence for this sort of question. Being a mystery cult, ...	[ "Mithra was worshipped throughout the Roman era, from the late Republic to the later Imperial era. The cult of Mithraism spread from the Middle East to other parts of the Roman Empire throughout the Mediterranean basin, at first by military-political adventurers, travelers, slaves and merchants from the Orient. Lat...
why (many) unreleased cars always look like this car?	It's called [dazzle camoflage](_URL_0_). It makes it hard to see the shape of the car. Navies used to use it so that it was hard for the enemy to see what kind of ship they were looking at.	[ "Since the car was sold off, prior to the collapse of the super silhouette series in 1984, very little is known of its history. Nothing was heard of the car until it was discovered in the 2000s in a junkyard in Japan in a neglected state with its Trust color scheme.\n", "The information released does not show the...
why do people argue that it is important to invest in space travel while we could spend the time and money in improving conditions on earth?	I important part that is easy to forget is that rockets and all other things we use in space is built on earth so you don't launch money into space but the money go to the companies that build stuff, there employees and the companies that deliver part and material to them. What is developed for space use is the blee...	[ "At the end of the Cold War and the Space Race, a new rationale was made on the pragmatic use of space for improving life on Earth, with notable utilities such as satellite telecommunications, remote sensing, micro gravity research and satellite navigation. Government, space programs began investing in practical ou...
how do movie editors duplicate the same person in a shot at the same time?	The most common way is to shoot the scene twice using the same camera location and movements. Then you can overlay the two shots in editing and make the actors appear to be there simultaneously.	[ "The director and editor generally understand that the master shot will be chopped into pieces and other shots inserted in order to create the final cut. Coverage also involves shooting enough extra film to allow the editor to find cutting points. At those points where the director intends to insert coverage, the d...
How big does a waterfall have to be so as to cause certain death merely by standing or swimming beneath it?	Water reaches terminal velocity in air pretty soon and breaks up to mist eventually, depending on humidity, temperature and stuff, ofc. The tallest waterfalls don't even make it to the ground, [examples](_URL_0_).	[ "Waterfalls generally limit water transport to the lower reaches of each river. Some of the waterfalls are spectacular; for example, Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River drops 251 metres, more than four times the height of Niagara Falls. Other enormous waterfalls are King Edward VIII Falls (256 m), Kumerau Falls (190...
why do i have a lisp when i speak my native language but not when i speak english?	You started learning your native language before your motor skills and body were fully developed. When you learn a new language (I'm assuming at an age older than that) you were trained in how to speak. Even if learning by immersion you are more developed: mentally you have the capacity to compare the sounds you're m...	[ "Children with a lisp, however, have trouble distinguishing and from and respectively in speech, using a single or pronunciation for both, and may never master the correct sounds without speech therapy. The lisp is a common speech impediment in English.\n", "Lisp is the second oldest family of programming languag...
if i don't shower for 3 days i smell so bad. why can animals go for forever without washing and not smell when humans get nasty so quick and also require wiping?	1. Lots of animals do smell. 2. Lots of animals have figured out their own way of bathing. 3. Society has decided that "normal human muskiness" is a bad smell and that lavendar and irish springs is what a human is supposed to smell like.	[ "The animals instinctively clean their fur by taking dust baths, in which they roll around in special dust made of fine pumice, a few times a week; they do not bathe in water. Their thick fur resists parasites, such as fleas, and reduces loose dander.\n", "Clothes, towels, bedding, combs, and brushes, which came ...
How do wild turkeys survive in the winter?	They are just good at finding food during the winter. They can fly, so they don't need to spend the entire time in the snow even if they do live in places with snow on the ground all winter. There is a lot of food under the snow and they can eat a variety of things. Other animals survive, why wouldn't they be able to...	[ "The wild turkey, throughout its range, plays a significant role in the cultures of many Native American tribes all over North America. Outside of the Thanksgiving feast, it is a favorite meal in eastern tribes. Eastern Native American tribes consumed both the eggs and meat, sometimes turning the latter into a type...
When did suicide bombing start becoming widespread in the Muslim/Arab world? Other than the Japanese in WWII, were there other groups of people that have used this tactic? Which groups used them most effectively?	Suicide attacks have been resorted to sporadically probably for millennia. Suicide bombings have been around almost immediately after reliable explosives became available, in form of dynamite, in around 1860s. The first terrorist organizations (in a more modern meaning of the word) to use and advocate for suicide b...	[ "Islamic suicide bombing is a fairly recent event. It was totally absent from the 1979–1989 Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union, (an asymmetrical war where the mujahideen fought Soviet warplanes, helicopters and tanks primarily with light weapons). According to author Sadakat Kadri, \"the very idea that Muslims m...
Did any of the native north american tribes have an Idea of owning land, and having the tribes borders/territory?	There's always room for discussion, but perhaps these topics found through the search function will answer your inquiry. * [How accurate is the popular US perception that Native Americans lost their land "because they didn't understand the concept of ownership?"](_URL_3_) * [Why do many Native-American cultures not h...	[ "The Native Americans originally did not understand the concept of \"land ownership\". They consisted of many hunter-gatherer tribes who would overlap territories and occasionally had tribal wars, but did not \"own\" land. They believed in taking only what was immediately necessary from nature, and considering the ...
What was China/India's role in WW2?	India was under British control and part of the allied forces. Burma, which had been until 1940 when the Japanese took Yangon, was part of India at that time as well. People from both sides of the India/Burma border were incredibly involved. In addition to regular soldiers fighting against the Japanese push into Myanma...	[ "China fought Japan with aid from the Soviet Union and the United States. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the war merged with other conflicts of World War II as a major sector known as the China Burma India Theater. Some scholars consider the start of the full-scale Second Sino-Japanese War in 19...
How did Carthage raise an army? If they near-solely used mercenaries, did they ever actually raise forces of their own? [Attempt#2]	Howdy! Thanks for asking a neat question! So to start, let us talk a bit about the middle to late Carthaginian military. Polybius states that Carthage's military consisted entirely of mercenaries, but how true is this? The statement itself stems from Carthage's lack of citizen soldiers; in a time period when citizen...	[ "With their navy shattered in the First Punic War and their mercenaries in revolt, Carthage could do little but man the walls as an immediate response to the revolt. Carthage raised an army from citizens and mercenaries, trained their cavalry and refitted their navy, which probably took until the spring of 240 BC. ...
Before the Mona Lisa rose to fame in the 19th century, what was the archetypical "great painting"?	It was famous (insofar as any work of art was famous) from the get-go. Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), in his Lives of teh Artists, writes as follows: "Leonardo undertook to paint for Francesco del Giocondo a portrait of Mona Lisa his wife, but having spent four years upon it, left it unfinished. This work now belongs...	[ "Centuries after Lisa's death, the \"Mona Lisa\" became the world's most famous painting and took on a life separate from Lisa, the woman. Speculation by scholars and hobbyists made the work of art a globally recognized icon and an object of commercialization. In 2005, Lisa was definitively identified as the model ...
how come every so often, one of your ears will randomly start ringing for 10 seconds and then dissipate?	While I'm no expert at this (as in I'm not a medical practitioner), I am familiar with how we hear the world around us. The "magic" behind how we hear is actually located in the inner ear in what is called the cochlea. It looks somewhat like a shell when viewed from a two-dimensional perspective; however, it is more li...	[ "This illusion can also occur in the auditory and tactile domain. For instance, a study suggests that when someone listens to a ringing tone through a telephone, while repetitively switching the receiver from one ear to the other, it causes the caller to overestimate the temporal duration between rings.\n", "Some...
Does water get more difficult to move through at higher pressure?	This is a great question and, it turns out, much more complicated than one might initially think. What you're asking is if viscosity increases with pressure increases. Viscosity is internal friction of liquids and gasses. If viscosity increases, it's harder to move through (syrup has high viscosity, WD-40 oil has low v...	[ "Since buoyant force points upwards, in the direction opposite to gravity, then pressure in the fluid increases downwards. Pressure in a static body of water increases proportionally to the depth below the surface of the water. The surfaces of constant pressure are planes parallel to the surface, which can be chara...
how do rocket scientist, when dealing with a failed rocket, determine what failed?	When a rocket fails it often blows up, an occurrence that some in the industry refer to as "rapid unplanned/spontaneous disassembly". When the smoke clears and the debris has stopped falling, the engineers look at video evidence, logs from the different sensors and of course the smoldering remains of what once used to ...	[ "For example, an aerospace engineer might record data on test launches of a new rocket. Measurements would be taken at regular intervals throughout the launch, noting factors such as the trajectory of the rocket, operating temperatures, external pressures, and so on. If the rocket launch fails after a number of suc...
how do companies get short numbers instead of full phone numbers to text to (i.e., "text savebig to 8998 for a 15% coupon to steve's superstore")	They are full phone numbers, it's just that 'phone numbers' is a really broad category. You get them by paying. [Twilio rents them at 1k/mo](_URL_0_) for the USA. They're not handed out like regular numbers because they're very desirable, but in a technical sense they're pretty much just a normal phone number that hap...	[ "Outside the United States, premium short messages are increasingly being used for \"real-world\" services. For example, some vending machines now allow payment by sending a premium-rated short message, so that the cost of the item bought is added to the user's phone bill or subtracted from the user's prepaid credi...
how do studios earn their money?	For brand new movies, there's a flat fee for the theater to show the film. Then the theater and the distributor split the ticket revenue, which varies week by week (it's higher earlier in the run). In general, the theater isn't making a ton of profit on the film, they make most of their money on concessions.	[ "Film commissions can benefit both the production company and the area they decide to shoot at. The production company can potentially save money by shooting out of state and hiring cheaper below-the-line labor, shooting on location as opposed to building a set in a studio, etc. The economy at the location they sho...
how clothing/shoes ends up on the side of the highway	Kids. It's always kids. If a one of the plausible answers is kids, then it's always kids. (Unless the question is whom to have sex with next...)	[ "One unique feature of the highway is the use of mile markers, which only appear between before Brown Mountain Beach Road and Jonas Ridge (mile markers 12-27). An oddity for a two-lane surface road in the state; however, the reason why they exist is simply to assist police and rescue crews to better locate accident...
Why does Beowulf, composed in Old English, take place entirely in Scandinavia?	There was an earlier comment answering this that had many inaccuracies in it. I wrote up a reply to it but it has since been deleted. I'm posting my reply anyway in an answer to OP's question: Unfortunately, there are a number of inaccurate statements here that should be corrected > To first answer this question it ...	[ "The events in the poem take place over most of the sixth century, after the Anglo-Saxons had started migrating to England and before the beginning of the seventh century, a time when the Anglo-Saxons were either newly arrived or were still in close contact with their Germanic kinsmen in Northern Germany and southe...
how do crime scene investigators differentiate between relevant and irrelevant evidence?	Cop here: Every crime scene is different, but for the most part, it's common sense. The impression you probably get from crime scene shows is that a lot of cases hinge on tiny pieces of forensic evidence. In reality, most cases are obvious and solved quickly. The investigator usually has a decent idea on what happe...	[ "A crime will contain evidence. The evidence found at the location provides information leading to the offender and victim’s prior location, clues as to where they may have gone, as well as information depicting what happened. Collecting and comparing clues from numerous crime locations influences the development o...
hey elif what the heck is a cissexual?	This is a joke and pokes fun at some of the more ridiculous activists in the LGBT community who want to define themselves by obscure academic terms so they feel special.	[ "Intersex people are born with atypical physical sex characteristics that can complicate initial sex assignment and lead to involuntary or coerced medical treatment. The term cisgender \"can get confusing\" in relation to people with intersex conditions though some intersex people use the term, according to the Int...
what is the impact of lowering interest rates?	It's a big dynamic system, but the basic idea is that since borrowing money is cheaper, more people will borrow money to invest in other things thus boosting the economy. So typically it's houses. If a mortgage is cheap you will be more likely to buy a house and this increased demand will cause more houses to be built,...	[ "In general, when interest rates are lowered, more people are able to borrow more money. As well as there being less of an incentive for people to keep money that they were hoarded before due to their being more of a financial yield. This results in consumers dishoarding money that was previously hoarded. This caus...
video compression	The next time you watch a movie or TV show look at how little changes from one frame to the next. For example, if you have two people talking to each other the background isn't going to change much. So, instead of storing a picture of the background twice they simply include the pieces that changed. Then they can throw...	[ "Video compression is a practical implementation of source coding in information theory. In practice, most video codecs are used alongside audio compression techniques to store the separate but complementary data streams as one combined package using so-called \"container formats\".\n", "Of video compression algo...
What positive research did the Nazis achieve?	Please remember to keep any answers to this thread professional and based on fact - the morality of these experiments is not the topic of this question.	[ "Eugenics research in Germany before and during the Nazi period was similar to that in the United States (particularly California), by which it had been heavily inspired. However, its prominence rose sharply under Adolf Hitler's leadership when wealthy Nazi supporters started heavily investing in it. The programs w...
Is It Possible Our Universe Is Inside A Black Hole?	In short, yes there are theories on this. The holographic principle [holographic principle](_URL_0_) I can't link the papers i've read as you can usually only get them with subscriptions or through a university library log in etc... but a quick google search will get you things like this: [black hole holo article]...	[ "Black-hole cosmology is a cosmological model in which the observable universe is the interior of a black hole existing as one of possibly many universes inside a larger universe. This includes the theory of white holes, which are on the opposite side of space-time.\n", "What was formerly believed to be a superma...
Why are RWD cars more powerful than FWD cars?	A 400whp RWD car is not any more or less powerful than a 400whp FWD car. That said... RWD is better for acceleration, because weight shifts backwards under acceleration, so shifting to the drive wheels will give them better traction. FWD cars are nose heavy. The ideal balance for handling is 50/50 (imagine a pivot in...	[ "In contrast with the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (RWD), the FWD layout eliminates the need for a central tunnel or a higher chassis clearance to accommodate a driveshaft providing power to the rear wheels. Like the rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (RR) and rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (RM...
Why Does Extreme Density Result in Blackholes?	Gravity is the bending of spacetime caused by the presence of stuff. With a star gravity wants to pull all the stuff it's made of in towards the centre but this is balanced by the energy produced by the star burning. If you have more stuff in the same volume, gravity pulls more strongly. If you keep adding more and m...	[ "Black holes can be classified based on their Schwarzschild radius, or equivalently, by their density. As the radius is linearly related to mass, while the enclosed volume corresponds to the third power of the radius, small black holes are therefore much more dense than large ones. The volume enclosed in the event ...
Does the weathering of rocks release oxygen?	Oxygen usually is very strongly bound to the other elements, so to take it out requires a lot of energy, so ordinary weathering will not expel it from minerals.	[ "Compared to other rocks found on Earth's surface, basalts weather relatively fast. The typically iron-rich minerals oxidise rapidly in water and air, staining the rock a brown to red colour due to iron oxide (rust). Chemical weathering also releases readily water-soluble cations such as calcium, sodium and magnesi...
Why do paper products sold as recycled feel and react differently than paper products not branded as recycled?	The difference is the average length of the threads in the paper. Tear a new sheet and the "hairs" of paper at the torn edge will be longer than recycled paper. The more recycled it is the shorter the threads will be as a result of being reduced to pulp and reconstituted.	[ "Almost all paper can be recycled today, but some types are harder to recycle than others. Papers coated with plastic or aluminium foil, and papers that are waxed, pasted, or gummed are usually not recycled because the process is too expensive. Gift-wrap paper also cannot be recycled due to its already poor quality...
how can donald trump, with most of the republican party damning him, still lead in the straw polls?	Because he's saying what a lot of the base thinks. The people objecting to him aren't voters, they're legacy/establishment/organization figures. Sort of like how Sanders is massively popular, but establishment Dems consider Hillary the frontrunner.	[ "The 2016 straw poll favored nominee Clinton over Trump by approximately three to one. It was the first time since 1980 that the poll failed to predict the outcome of the election (though it did accurately forecast the winner of the popular vote).\n", "Trump said that if he were deprived of the nomination because...
why did pirates bury their treasure? or were depicted to bury their treasure?	copied from "The Second Book of General Ignorace" by John Lloyd and John Mitchison of Quite Interesting -- page 270; please excuse typos "*On a pirate's treasure map, what does X* mark?** There are no documented cases of a real pirate ever drawing up a treasure map, let alone putting an X on it to mark where th...	[ "A buried treasure is an important part of the popular beliefs surrounding pirates. According to popular conception, pirates often buried their stolen fortunes in remote places, intending to return for them later (often with the use of treasure maps).\n", "In reality, pirates burying treasure was rare. The only p...
why is it difficult for internet to be beamed through satellite unlike tv?	Internet is a two-way conversation. You ask for a specific website, or type in a post to ELI5, which requires you to upload information. Satellites are good at sending information down (like Television channels) but not so good at listening. To put it another way... imagine one person has a loudspeaker on one end of...	[ "Internet connectivity, and the benefits of eHealth, can be brought to these regions using satellite broadband technology, and satellite is often the only solution where terrestrial access may be limited, or poor quality, and one that can provide a fast connection over a vast coverage area.\n", "The latency inher...
The label on my food says there are tens of kilojoules of energy per serving. Why can only our bodies use this energy and not for general power use?	You could. In theory you could burn the food and use the heat to drive a steam turbine in the same way that most fossil fuel power plants work. It's just not particularly efficient compared to common sources of power that have a much higher energy density and it still produces carbon dioxide emissions, so it's not cle...	[ "The energy input to the human body is in the form of food energy, usually quantified in kilocalories [kcal] or kiloJoules [kJ=kWs]. This can be related to a certain distance travelled and to body weight, giving units such as kJ/(km∙kg). The rate of food consumption, i.e. the amount consumed during a certain period...
If the Higgs boson isn't found, what is the next best model?	Everyone would be kinda mad, since there are problems with the standard model without the Higgs. But there are some models where the Higgs is replaced either by something more complicated (like technicolor), or simple (like classicalization). But finding the Higgs as it is is also a bad scenario, since the standard mod...	[ "An initial focus of research was to investigate the possible existence of the Higgs boson, a key part of the Standard Model of physics which is predicted by theory but had not yet been observed before due to its high mass and elusive nature. CERN scientists estimated that, if the Standard Model were correct, the L...
what is community college and how does it work?	Community colleges are like small universities. Most typically have two-year associates degree programs, as well as certifications and GED courses. A lot of students finish their general education classes (english, math, sociology, etc.) at a community college and finish their last two years at a university, taking the...	[ "A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an “open enrollment” for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior secondary school). The term usually refers to a higher educational institut...
How can I tell if a noise is coming from in front or behind me if I can't see the source of the noise?	Your head acts as a filter to sound called the ["Head-related transfer function"](_URL_0_). That wikipedia link does a decent job describing how that helps you recognize what direction sounds are coming from; and some interesting cases/directions where it doesn't work.	[ "For a person who tries to actively observe this closed-eye perception on a regular basis, there comes a point where if they look at a flat-shaded object with their eyes wide open, and try to actively look for this visual noise, they will become aware of it and see the random pointillistic disorganized motion as if...
How long it will take Voyager to get to Ninth Planet?	Presently, this planet is hypothetical. There have not been direct observations of this object - it's existence has been inferred from the orbits of smaller bodies in the outer solar system (i.e. they move as though their orbits are being perturbed by a large distant body). With that out of the way, the media says th...	[ "These jumps decreased the time needed to return by ~59 years. Counting elapsed time, by the end of the seventh and final season, assuming one year elapsed per season, \"Voyager\" was 35 years' travel from Federation space.\n", "The fastest outward-bound spacecraft yet sent, Voyager 1, has covered 1/600 of a ligh...
Why did the Henry repeating rifle fall in popularity with the creation of bolt-action rifles?	Lever repeated rifles such as the Henry and the Winchester had a few flaws that made the armies of the world choose the bolt action system. First of all, it is hard to repeat with a lever action while lying down. Secondly, having the repeating mechanism open downwards creates problems with moisture and mud entering th...	[ "The Henry repeating rifle is a lever-action, breech-loading, tubular magazine rifle famed both for its use at the Battle of the Little Bighorn and being the basis for the iconic Winchester rifle of the American Wild West.\n", "The Henry repeating rifle is a lever-action, breech-loading, tubular magazine fed rifl...
so i was browsing r/trashy and saw something, and now i'm curious. what causes the area around some people's butt hole to be darker than others? sadly, i'm being serious.	Some porn stars/sex workers bleach their assholes to make them look "better" for the camera. But, this would be for the same reasons that people have different skin colours. Eg pigmentation.	[ "The Hole is an isolated section that is also a part of Queens. A run-down neighborhood considered \"lost\", it has the lowest elevation within the city and is considered to be like the Wild West in some fashions. It is generally bordered by Ruby Street, South Conduit Avenue, and Linden Boulevard.\n", "The Hole i...
Why do explosives make noise and why can't they be less noisy?	Sound is just a name for travelling distortions in the air pressure around us in a certain frequency range. If there is a sudden change in air pressure, especially in a continous, 'wavy' manner, your ears will pick it up and your brain will analyze it. Typical chemical Explosives work by sudden a sudden chemical reac...	[ "Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate (i.e., burn) at \"subsonic\" speeds, whereas high explosives detonate, producing a supersonic wave.\n", "Explosive materials may be categorized by the speed at whi...
what's the point of chilling a battery?	So you can have a nice cold one. (sorry, the punth is strong in me. :-) ) Chilling the battery extends the shelf life and if charged while cold can cause it to hold a little more power.	[ "A cold-energy battery utilizes the properties of an advanced phase-change material (PCM) to maintain temperature as battery thermal management. As with a standard electrical battery, a cold energy battery stores energy and releases depending on the energy demand on it. It can then be recharged by placing in a temp...
What is a 'Chi square'?	"Chi square" or "Chi squared" refers to a few related things: a probability distribution, a statistical test, the output of that test, all represented by the Greek letter Chi, squared: χ^(2). The chi square test is used in science to test whether two distributions of things across different categories are significantl...	[ "The chi-square distribution is used primarily in hypothesis testing, and to a lesser extent for confidence intervals for population variance when the underlying distribution is normal. Unlike more widely known distributions such as the normal distribution and the exponential distribution, the chi-square distributi...
Dear /r/askscience, how would a baby growing up in space differ from us?	Being in low gravity environments like orbit causes humans to lose muscle (and bone?) mass. The baby born in space would be much weaker and would probably not be able to safely go to Earth's surface and walk around.	[ "To date no human children have been born in space; neither have children gone into space. Nevertheless, the idea of children in space is taken seriously enough that some have discussed how to write curriculum for children in space-colonizing families.\n", "It is to be kept in mind that as an infant comes into th...
so today i learned that the last b-52 was produced in 1962 but how are they still operational?	two words: preventive maintenance. you run through a series of checks on a regular basis and if something seems off or on the verge of breaking, you repair/replace it.	[ "The B-52C used on the mission of Thursday January 7, 1971, with the call sign \"Hiram 16\", had been built in the summer of 1956 as one of thirty-five B-52C bombers. From 1952 to 1962 a total of 744 B-52s of all models were built. By January 1971, all thirty-one remaining B-52Cs were stationed at Westover Air Forc...
How historically accurate is the computer franchise game Age of Empires I, II & III?	You can find some part answers [here]( _URL_0_) and [here]( _URL_1_). I would love to go into further detail, but there's an awful lot of content to cover. If there's any specifics you're interestes in, or, say, your fav team to play as, do ask! Generally I've found that they're decent enough to get folks interested in...	[ "\"Age of Empires\", released on October 26, 1997, was the first game in the series, as well as the first major release from Ensemble Studios. It was one of the first history-based real-time strategy games made, utilizing the Genie game engine. GameSpot described it as a mix of \"Civilization\" and \"\". The game g...
why people cover their mouth with hand in scary, shock situations	I think the mouth-gape is a natural reaction, however, covering it with your hands is a cultural thing. It is considered not polite to leave your mouth open wide, so people cover it out of habit, just like when you're yawning or coughing.	[ "A hand over the mouth can be used as a gag. When hand gagging someone, a person usually grabs the victim from behind since the victim cannot see this coming. Then, the person firmly places their unfolded hand over the victim's closed mouth. Then they may pull the victim into their body for extra leverage and contr...
how can speed sometimes cause cars to turn even though it’s on four table wheels	Most cars are not designed to go to very high speeds. The air passing under the car causes a huge amount of pressure and can literally lift the car into the air. A race car has huge front and rear spoilers to push the car down and specially designed underside to suck the car onto the track. A Formula 1 car could theo...	[ "Two wheels fixed to the same axle turn at the same speed as a vehicle goes around curves. This either forces one to slip, if possible, to balance the apparent distance covered, or creates uncomfortable and mechanically stressful wheel hop. To prevent this the wheels are allowed to turn at different speeds using a ...
Good place to find new science articles?	I have a Google Reader feed set up that automatically pulls new article titles from somewhere around 40 different journals. It fills up very quickly (a couple hundred new articles a day), but it really keeps in the know on my field.	[ "Sold in retail outlets (paper edition) and on subscription (paper and/or online), the magazine covers news, features, reviews and commentary on science, technology and their implications. \"New Scientist\" also publishes speculative articles, ranging from the technical to the philosophical.\n", "New Scientist, f...
how come on some food labels, one serving size is like 90 calories, but two serving sizes are 170? wouldn't they both add up to be 180, and the nutritional value be doubled?	It's probably due to rounding. Say, for example, that the serving size is actually 87 calories, but they rounded to 90. Two serving sizes would be 174, which they could round to 170.	[ "Various sizes are made (sizes as of 2008): miniature bars called \"Fun Size\" (19.7 g) and \"Snack Time\" (36.5 g) (both sold in multiple packs); a larger multi-pack size of 54 g; the regular sized single 58 g bar and a \"king-size\" 84 g bar which has since been replaced by \"Mars Duo\" (85 g) – a pack that conta...
how does wall street work?	Let's say my friend owns a bread factory and I really like his bread, and I think his business is going somewhere. I buy let's say 25% of his company and he gets my investment and uses it to further his bread making and make his bread even better. His bread is featured in the NY Times and his bread store is worth a lot...	[ "Wall Street West is a not-for-profit partnership in Northeastern Pennsylvania that is enhancing the financial services, information technology and related industries in the commonwealth through strategic workforce development and state-of-the-art economic development. Stemming from an interagency report by the Sec...
why does every school bus have "carrying school children" written on it?	I guess it's just a reminder to people to be careful. The last thing anyone wants is for a kid to get hurt.	[ "While carrying students, buses are marked by either \"SCHOOL\", \"SCHOOL BUS\", \"KURA\" (Maori for \"school\"), or pictograms of children in black on a fluorescent chartreuse background, and a limited on the open road to . These signs all indicate that a motorist should slow to when passing a stationary bus in ei...
why do races or groups of people get blamed for or associated with the actions of ancestors from 100+ years ago?	Simply put: because sometimes the actions of 100+ years ago are still felt because the fallout from those actions was poorly handled. In the case of American slavery, there is a lot of bitterness between African and Anglo America due to African-American history starting with slavery, and continuing for such a long tim...	[ "Chapter 8 discusses the cause why peoples leave their ancestral places and inundate the country of others. He blames it either on famine or on war that has taken over their land and they must move on to something new.\n", "Going further back, all the ancestors of the MRCA are also common ancestors to all humans,...
Why is it that only the surface of my tea stains my mug, usually leaving just a brown ring, as opposed to staining the entire inside brown?	Due to surface energy, the water in your cup has a [concave meniscus](_URL_0_). When the meniscus evaporates it leaves some of the tea solids behind on the wall. I can't remember if this effect is massive if you let a whole cup evaporate though...	[ "In physics, a \"coffee ring\" is a pattern left by a puddle of particle-laden liquid after it evaporates. The phenomenon is named for the characteristic ring-like deposit along the perimeter of a spill of coffee. It is also commonly seen after spilling red wine. The mechanism behind the formation of these and simi...
how does/did the us have the ability to contain ebola?	It isn't that hard and Ebola isn't a deadly epidemic at all. Ebola is similar to stuff like scurvy or dysentery where they have been problematic for people in the past and if you don't have the equipment or knowledge to handle it it can become an issue but Ebola itself is not that dangerous or deadly especially to a fi...	[ "In September 2014, Ingraham claimed that President Obama sent assistance to Africa during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and exposed Americans to the virus because of his guilt over \"colonialism.\" In June 2019, she spread unsubstantiated claims that asylum seekers to the United States may carry ebola.\n", "In October...
why catholics so anti birth control	To Catholics, sex should only be about procreation. Not for "having fun. "	[ "Catholics for Choice stated in 1998 that 96% of U.S. Catholic women had used contraceptives at some point in their lives and that 72% of U.S. Catholics believed that one could be a good Catholic without obeying the church's teaching on birth control. According to a nationwide poll of 2,242 U.S. adults surveyed onl...
why is the media considered liberal? when/how did this ideal begin?	The modern media is highly diverse, and there are both conservative and liberal outlets available to consumers. Research in the United States indicates that most Americans chose media outlets that will reinforce those Americans' beliefs -- conservatives watch conservative outlets like Fox News while liberals watch libe...	[ "A report \"Examining the 'Liberal Media' Claim: Journalists Views on Politics, Economic Policy and Media Coverage\" by FAIR's David Croteau, from 1998, calls into question the assumption that journalists' views are to the left of center in America. The findings were that journalists were \"mostly centrist in their...
ٌwhat is the most important factor someone's larynx have in order to make one have a "powerful voice"?	A ton of factors contribute. In my opinion, the ability to project is what best determines a powerful voice. Ever watch Sister Act? Whoopi puts her hand on the young soprano's diaphragm and the tremulous becomes clear and strong.	[ "Due to its small size, the larynx acts as a resonator only for high frequencies. Research indicates that one of the desirable attributes of good vocal tone is a prominent overtone lying between 2800 and 3200 hertz, with male voices nearer the lower limit and female voices nearer the upper. This attribute is identi...
Is it considered an "invasive species" if it has a minimal impact on the community as a whole?	"Invasive species" can be a bit of a squishy concept. Invasions can happen "naturally" as well as human-induced. Once a species reaches a particular place, survival/replacement is indeed natural selection. Some of the squishy thinking lies in humans believing in "balance of nature" which is a tenuous (and debated) co...	[ "These are lists of invasive species by country or region. A species is regarded as invasive if it has been introduced by human action to a location, area, or region where it did not previously occur naturally (i.e., is not a native species), becomes capable of establishing a breeding population in the new location...
why aren't we supposed to touch headlight bulbs with our bare hands?	The grease from your fingers can overheat and cause the bulb to burst. It's significantly hotter than your average light bulb. Source: Was a drama kid, someone touched a stage light with their bare hand when installing it, bulb later burst and showered us in glass and sparks.	[ "In addition to the general-purpose hand-held flashlight, many forms have been adapted for special uses. Head or helmet-mounted flashlights designed for miners and campers leave the hands free. Some flashlights can be used underwater or in flammable atmospheres. Flashlights are used as a light source when in a plac...
if i were to travel the opposite direction the earth spins in a plane at the same speed it is turning would i see a time change?	If you're thinking about time travel, no. This is currently impossible to achieve with modern technology, although theorized. The time of day is based on how high up in the sky the sun is. When the sun is at its highest, it's noon, close to 12:00. Think of it this way. There is always a place on Earth where the sun is...	[ "The change due to date is the most difficult to visualize. The Earth’s axis is steady but \"tilted\": the plane that includes the Earth’s equator, which is perpendicular to the axis, is not parallel to the plane that includes the center of the sun and the center of the Earth, called the ecliptic. Think of the Eart...
if corporations are paying less taxes than they should by using known loopholes to circumvent the essence of the laws, why are those loopholes not immediately closed?	Because the people who are elected to make the laws are running for office using campaign money that they get from those very corporations, and they want to be re-elected. The corporations save a lot of money by donating to politicians instead of paying those taxes.	[ "Corporations (or other enterprises) may often be allowed to defer taxes, for example, by using accelerated depreciation. Profit taxes (or other taxes) are reduced in the current period by either lowering declared revenue now, or by increasing expenses. In principle, taxes in future periods should be higher.\n", ...
how does someone die from alzhimer's disease?	They eventually lose the ability to swallow. Most people who die of dementia actually die of secondary symptoms - muscle wasting, dehydration, and total loss of appetite. Difficulty swallowing leads to inhaled food/pneumonia. Inability to walk leads to bedsores, bedsores lead to blood infections. Incontinence leads t...	[ "Shadid died at age 43 on February 16, 2012, from an acute asthma attack while attempting to leave Syria. Shadid's smoking and extreme allergy to horses are believed to be the major contributing factors in causing his fatal asthma attack. \"He was walking behind some horses,\" said his father. \"He's more allergic ...
What would the day/night cycle be like living on the moon?	1. There is no "dark side" of the Moon. There are permanently shadowed craters near the south pole (maybe the north as well, I'm not sure), but that doesn't really constitute a side. What's often called the "dark side" of the Moon is better called the far side of the Moon - the side not visible from Earth (it's actuall...	[ "A day and night is around 30 Earth days. A day on Subvolva represents the Phases of the Moon on Earth. Subvolva sees the Earth as its moon. The Earth goes through phases just as our Moon does during their night. Kepler notes that Subvolva is inhabited by serpent-like creatures. The Subvolvan terrain is full of fie...
Why would Caesar not prevent his own assassination...? Although knowing that he had many enemies in the Senate and his life was in great danger...	Did he know he had enemies in the senate? He appointed Cimber a governorship in 44. Caesar had nominated Brutus for Praetor in 45. Cassius had a governorship in Syria. Casca's family had been friends with Caesar for ages. Decimus Brutus had fought with Caesar in the Civil war and got an appointment to govern Gaul,...	[ "A group of Senators resolved to kill Caesar to prevent him from seizing the throne. Chief among them were Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. Although Cassius was \"the moving spirit\" in the plot, winning over the chief assassins to the cause of tyrannicide, Brutus, with his family's history of depos...
'By 1865 the soldiers of the Union and Confederacy had grown to be the “largest and most efficient armies in the world”' - How far is this accurate?	That seems like a gross generalization to make, but I haven't read Keegan's book, so perhaps there's a contextual element in there I'm missing. One question I thought of when reading your post was: how is he defining "efficient?" I think that in terms of the sheer number of men serving in the army, the U.S./Confedera...	[ "The United States Army, with 39,000 men in 1890 was the smallest and least powerful army of any major power in the late 19th century. By contrast, France had an army of 542,000. Temporary volunteers and state militia units mostly fought the Spanish–American War of 1898. This conflict demonstrated the need for more...
If you could "go back in time" to witness a single historical event unfold, what would it be and why?	I'm not a historian, but I would love to see [the night Cortes escaped Tenochtitlan.](_URL_0_)	[ "It is sometimes possible to mark the time of an occurrence as being in the past or future not relative to the present moment (the moment of speaking), but relative to a time of reference, which can itself be in the past or future (or in some hypothetical reality) relative to the present moment. (See relative tense...
We all know of the "Hitler moustache", but has a phenomenon like this ever happened in previous history?	The Amish don't grow mustaches because of their association of mustaches with the military. Are you asking if people generally have, over history, associated certain grooming habits with sets of cultural associations? Yes. Absolutely.That's how styles happen, and why they change over time. You might want to look at ...	[ "In some cases, the moustache is so prominently identified with a single individual that it could identify him without any further identifying traits. For example, Kaiser Wilhelm II's moustache, grossly exaggerated, featured prominently in Triple Entente propaganda. In other cases, such as those of Charlie Chaplin ...
why is being good at singing a natural talent?	It's not always a natural talent. Vocal lessons can do wonders if you're determined to improve and are consistent in your practice.	[ "Musical ability is inherent in almost all people, to a greater or lesser extent. However, those who develop it to a high level are generally encouraged to play an instrument or to sing at an early age. Late bloomers in music are generally composers or artists who became prominent later in life, but had displayed m...
What defines an “oil”?	They are all hydrocarbons, or mixtures of hydrocarbons, i.e. each molecule has a carbon "backbone" chain. These chain can branch out, and various groups of atoms can hang off of it. The degree of branching and the nature of the side groups determines what kind of oil you get (or if you get something other than an oil)....	[ "The general definition of oil includes classes of chemical compounds that may be otherwise unrelated in structure, properties, and uses. Oils may be animal, vegetable, or petrochemical in origin, and may be volatile or non-volatile. They are used for food (e.g., olive oil), fuel (e.g., heating oil), medical purpos...
why do dogs love their bellies being rubbed?	A dog rolling on its back for you while you're petting it is usually a submissive gesture. The dog has complete trust in you and is relaxed while you are probably scratching an itch that he/she can't get at. Like the top of your head, there are nerve endings that make being scratched/pet feel good. This is why cats lov...	[ "A dog with an anal gland problem may drag their bottom along the floor (scoot) or try to bite at their bottom. You may notice a strong fishy smell on your soft furnishings or coming from your dog’s bottom. Your dog may even stop wagging their tail, seem depressed, or object to their tail being handled or lifted. T...
how come nobody has been talking about the ndaa or sopa on the news?	While they might not be talking about them as much as many Redditors would like, the truth is that both have been reported on by numerous news agencies. There has been more coverage of the NDAA than SOPA, which is likely for good reason. The NDAA was already signed into law and is therefore much more relevant. SOPA ...	[ "The NRA has been criticized for their media strategy following mass shootings in the United States. After the Sandy Hook shooting the NRA released an online video which attacked Obama and mentioned Obama's daughters; New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called it \"reprehensible\" and said that it demeaned the organ...
What animals other than Elephants, Dogs and Horses have been domesticated for use in conflicts or violent situations?	There was a similar question the other day, but since your question is more general, I've decided to take this opportunity to do a round-up of previous posts about "battle animals". Check these out for lots of examples: Various animals [Ignoring horses and elephants, what other (more unknown) animals have histori...	[ "The incorporation and involvement of animals dates back to the earliest forms of organized combat. Dogs, in particular, were utilized in different capacities. Ancient armies employed dogs as Soldiers and companions which extended to modern combat including dogs as a crucial asset in communication, detection, and i...
Does killing the scout ant actually deter the colony from invading my house?	if you got all the scouts then yes.. for a while. spray some smelly cleaner on the area too [ants leave a trail of scent everywhere they go](_URL_0_), following this scent trail other ants know its relatively safe.. more ants = more trail Richard Feynman had a great short story about following ant trails with a pen...	[ "Although the scout ant is observed to lay a pheromone trail on the return journey to the nest, the other ants seem to be unable to follow this trail without the help of the scout. The scout ant therefore leads the raid from the front, with the other ants following in a column-like formation. Recruitment time varie...
why different genders prefer different types of alcohol (men like whiskey and beer, women like vodka and wine). is this sociological or are there biological elements to it as well?	I imagine its a societal thing. If you go to Russia, I doubt you'll find that they treat vodka as a 'women only' drink. I doubt the French or the Italian look to wine as a drink associated with women.	[ "Alcohol affects male and female differently because of difference in body fat percentage and water content. On average, for equal body weight, women have a higher body fat percentage than men. Since alcohol is absorbed into body water content and men have more water in their bodies than women, for women there will...
How far back in history could a modern German speaker understand German?	German history student here. I've talked to friends who study German about this and tested it myself. We can understand almost everything of Mittelhochdeutsch (~1050 - ~1350). The words look weird to us, but you can see where they're coming from and usually guess them right. Only archaic words are problematic. Now, the...	[ "Urban T. Holmes Jr. estimated that German was spoken as a second tongue by public officials in western Austrasia and Neustria as late as the 850s, and that it completely disappeared as a spoken language from these regions only during the 10th century, though some traces of Germanic elements still survive, especial...
ip addresses	On a home/corportate network, all devices send a request to the DHCP server (usually part of the router) and say "hey give me an ip". They either pick from a range, or they use an existing table to give you an ip (perhaps based on your port, or mac address). Then they send it back and say "from now on your ip is this"....	[ "An IP address is a unique numerical label assigned to a computer connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. The most popular implementation of the Internet Protocol would be the Internet (capitalized, to differentiate it from smaller internetworks). Internet Service Provider...
What do we know about whether talking birds (e.g. parrots, mynah) are just mimicking human speech, versus actually thinking about what they're saying?	Too bad [Alex](_URL_0_) is dead. Cause you could have asked him yourself.	[ "Talking birds are birds that can mimic the speech of humans. There is debate within the scientific community over whether some talking parrots also have some cognitive understanding of the language. Birds have varying degrees of talking ability: some, like the corvids, are able to mimic only a few words and phrase...
why aren't tv's correctly adjusted out of the box?	Because "correctly adjusted" TVs don't sell. Manufacturers have found that consumers prefer to buy TVs with very bright, contrasty, colour-saturated, sharp images so that's how they're configured out of the box. They can't trust the stores and sales staff to change the out-of-box settings to a special sales mode, so ...	[ "The term set-back box is used in the digital TV industry to describe a piece of consumer hardware that enables them to access both linear broadcast and internet-based video content, plus a range of interactive services like Electronic Programme Guides (EPG), Pay Per View (PPV) and video on demand (VOD) as well as ...
Why there are so few space probes beyond Solar system, only Voyager 1 and 2 from 70s, and New Horizons ?	1. It takes a long time for probes to exit the solar system. New Horizons is in the Kuiper Belt, which is still considered to be part of the solar system (as the objects in this belt orbit the Sun). Only the Voyager probes have left the solar system (depending on how you define the edge). 2. Very few probes are intend...	[ "Remotely guided space probes have flown by all of the planets of the Solar System from Mercury to Neptune, with the New Horizons probe having flown by the dwarf planet Pluto and the Dawn spacecraft currently orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres. The most distant spacecrafts, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have left the Solar ...
How has the Eucharist been understood by the following groups catholic, orthodox, protestant, non-christian?	Catholics: Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus. Jesus says in the Last Supper, "This is my body... This is my blood..." and Catholics take him literally. The process of the consecration of the Eucharist from bread to body and from wine to blood is called Transubstantiation. Catholics believe that while the acciden...	[ "The Eucharist is at the center of Orthodox Christianity. In practice, it is the partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the midst of the Divine Liturgy with the rest of the church. The bread and wine are believed to become the genuine body and blood of the Christ Jesus through the operation of the Holy ...
why is the 1st lady significant to the american people? why not give more credit to existing female politicians? (who have actually done something i.e. ran for election)	I don't fully understand your question. The two aren't mutually exclusive. It's not like there's 80 Credit Points which have to be divided amongst female politicians. The 1st Lady is a figurehead. To a large extent the President is too. She's significant because she has influence and because the the position of "Fir...	[ "One of America's great First Ladies, she claimed her own place in the hearts and history of the American people. In councils of power or in homes of the poor, she made government human with her unique compassion and her grace, warmth and wisdom. Her leadership transformed the American landscape and preserved its n...
How did the legacy of the Civil War play out in the "Wild West" of cultural imagination?	If you seek an answer that focuses on literature, we'll need to look elsewhere for an answer from someone else. Historically, the Civil War loomed large in the Far West, but it was rather like watching one's favorite football team engaged in a struggle on the other side of the continent, the results of which can only ...	[ "The events have since become a highly mythologized and symbolic story of the Wild West, and over the years variations of the storyline have come to include some of its most famous historical figures. In addition to being one of the most well-known range wars of the American frontier, its themes, especially class w...
when you're reading a paragraph, why do you occasionally read a word that isn't even actually in the paragraph?	My friends call it "nexting". Basically your brain is constantly working to fill in gaps or correct errors in what we read. When it finds a missing word it inserts the most sensible word so that we can just keep going. Same with typos. We often miss typos because our brain corrects them before we really register the er...	[ "The first are those we know we should have read, but probably have not. These are generally the books that make us burn with shame when they come up in conversation... The second kind, meanwhile, are those books that we've read five times, can quote from on any occasion, and annoyingly push on to other people with...
Did British public health improve because of WWI?	What does the data actually show? I'm not sure what medical developments would have changed public health at that point. The major infrastructural developments to facilitate sanitation, such as sewers and fresh water provision, were products of the mid- and late nineteenth century. Vaccinations and other measures of ...	[ "The British National Health Service was championed in 1950s as a way to end inequalities in health care. After thirty years the Black Report found inequality had not changed, and after fifty years the Acheson Report found that it had widened. Furthermore, health care quality in different parts of Britain varies gr...
Why did East Asian Countries adopt European styles of dress, such as suits and frocks?	You might be interested in this thread: _URL_0_	[ "European influence is commonly found in African fashion as well. For example, Ugandan men have started to wear “full length trousers and long-sleeved shirts”. On the other hand, women have started to adapt influences from “nineteenth-century Victorian dress”. These styles include: “long sleeves and puffed shoulder...
A question on Timur The Lame/Tamerlane	Try reading these: [Tamerlane: The Ultimate Warrior](_URL_1_) [Tamerlane: sword of Islam, conqueror of the world ](_URL_0_) EDIT: I should add, I don't have a ton of knowledge on him, but he was an extremely brutal conqueror. I couldn't say if reports of his brutality were exaggerated, but he was pretty rapacious.	[ "Timur ( \"Temūr\", Chagatai: '; 9 April 1336 – 18 February 1405), sometimes spelled Taimur and historically best known as Amir Timur or Tamerlane\"' ( \"Temūr(-i) Lang\", \"Timur the Lame\"), was a Turco-Mongol Persianate conqueror. As the founder of the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Iran and Central Asi...
How did the planetary cool-down of Mars make it lose its magnetic field?	Mars' magnetic field is thought to have a very similar origin as Earth's magnetic field. It is created by [dynamo action](_URL_0_) in the molten core. For this dynamo to occur several conditions need to be met. * You need a conductive fluid, i.e. molten iron. * Kinetic Energy (provided by the planetary rotation) ...	[ "The loss of the Martian magnetic field strongly affected surface environments through atmospheric loss and increased radiation; this change significantly degraded surface habitability. When there was a magnetic field, the atmosphere would have been protected from erosion by the solar wind, which would ensure the m...
why do glasses not fog up in a hot bathroom until i pick them up?	There are two factors that could be at play here. First is your body naturally expelling moisture after a hot shower. The moisture from your body causes condensation on the glasses once you put them on your face. Easy way to test this is to leave your glasses outside the bathroom and as soon as you get out of the showe...	[ "There are three reasons why the shape of the glass matters. Firstly, this type of glass is easy to hold because its top edge is wider than the middle which prevents it from slipping out of hands. Secondly, because the top part becomes less hot, it prevents burning one's hands. Thirdly, it was proven that, unlike r...
why can journalists download the leaked sony files and it not be considered piracy or illegal?	It is piracy, it is illegal. It is unreleased copyrighted work. Sony is sending cease and desist letters, attempting to gather IP Addresses, and using DDoS attacks on servers who refuse to comply and continue distributing their content. It's not a prosecution yet, because it's not a criminal matter (until whoever is re...	[ "In December 2014, Sony requested that the media stop covering the hack. Sony also threatened legal action if the media did not comply, but according to law professor Eugene Volokh, Sony's legal threats are \"unlikely to prevail\". Sony then threatened legal action against Twitter if it did not suspend accounts of ...
Did Marquis De Sade have a following during his time?	Hi there, I’m delighted you’ve asked about Sade as we rarely get questions about libertine figures and it happens to be my area of expertise. Feel free to ask me any further questions if you have any, or desire a more detailed response. Sade did achieve quite a measure of fame and notoriety in his lifetime for his wr...	[ "There have been many and varied references to the Marquis de Sade in popular culture, including fictional works, biographies and more minor references. The namesake of the psychological and subcultural term \"sadism\", his name is used variously to evoke sexual violence, licentiousness and freedom of speech. In mo...
How is penicillin produced on an industrial scale?	Penicillin is produced by a species of mold, which can be grown in large tanks. During the initial development of penicillin in England in the 1940s, the mold was grown in shallow dishes, and scale was limited. American pharmaceutical companies found a strain of mold that grew well in large volume cultures. Production ...	[ "The discovery of penicillin ushered in a new age of antibiotics derived from microorganisms. Penicillin is an antibiotic isolated from growing \"Penicillium\" mold in a fermenter. The mold is grown in a liquid culture containing sugar and other nutrients including a source of nitrogen. As the mold grows, it uses u...
If you were standing on the surface of Mars during the day would it be noticeably dimmer than on Earth due to Mars' distance from the sun?	> "The brightness of the sun on Mars, were there to be a clear day, is about half the brightness of a similar day here on Earth. I arrive at the value of one-half simply by knowing that the brightness of an object decreases by the square of the distance, and since mars is on average 1.5 times as far from the Sun as e...	[ "Because the orbit of Mars is considerably eccentric its brightness at opposition can range from magnitude −3.0 to −1.4. The minimum brightness is about magnitude +1.6 when Mars is on the opposite site of the Sun from the Earth. Rotational variations can elevate or suppress the brightness of Mars by 5% and global d...
How much radiation does a luggage scanner deliver vs say medical x-ray?	She should be save, although she might get more than 1 millirad since she's quite a bit larger than a typical object inside those scanners. Wgen you see the shielding at the entry and exit it is quite obvious they can not emit a lot of radiation. _URL_0_ "The radiation dose typically received by objects scanned by a...	[ "X-ray machines are used to screen objects non-invasively. Luggage at airports and student baggage at some schools are examined for possible weapons, including bombs. Prices of these Luggage X-rays vary from $50,000 to $300,000. The main parts of an X-ray Baggage Inspection System are the generator used to generate...
how can movies shot in the 1980s and 1990s be released on hd platforms such as bluray?	Yes, the original 35 mm film had much higher resolution than Blu-ray. Remember, they were meant to be shown on a huge cinema size screen... if you put up a Blu-ray movie on a 20 meter wide screen it wouldn't look nice.	[ "The film was shot with early high-definition video cameras (Sony HDW-700) in the year 2000. The digital video gives the movie a \"cinéma vérité\" look and was one of the first uses of HD video for a feature film.\n", "The movie is noted for being the first high-definition (HD) cinema to be digitally distributed ...
"Space is expanding"; is it also fair to say instead "matter is shrinking"? Is this perspective any different?	The short answer is no. That wouldn't work. When space expands, the distance between all points in space increases. Particles of matter are, themselves, already points, and consequently have no size which could decrease. If you were to dilate everything so that their sizes decreased, then the distance across a ruler...	[ "Based on large quantities of experimental observation and theoretical work, the scientific consensus is that \"space itself is expanding\", and that it expanded very rapidly within the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang. This kind of expansion is known as \"metric expansion\". In mathematics and physics...
How was nuclear weaponry perceived up to near its time of invention? How was it theorized to work or described as?	I'm not sure I understand the question. If you mean prior to its invention, the [idea of weapons that used atomic energy was around since the 1910s](_URL_1_), but obviously they didn't know how something like that would work (they [lacked a physical mechanism](_URL_4_) for releasing atomic energy on a massive scale). O...	[ "The first nuclear weapon was created by the United States of America during the Second World War and was developed to be used against the Axis powers. Scientists of the Soviet Union were aware of the potential of nuclear weapons and had also been conducting research on the field.\n", "The creation of nuclear wea...
Why did the founding fathers of America think a post office was so important that it had to be guaranteed by the constitution?	I majored in American History, and while I'm not a constitutional expert I'll share some background that might be helpful. It's important to understand that the American national government at the time of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was extremely weak. The Congress established by the Articles of Confederat...	[ "The Postal Clause was added to the Constitution to facilitate interstate communication as well as to create a source of revenue for the early United States. There were some early disagreements as to the boundaries of the Postal Power. John Jay, in a letter to George Washington, opined that the postal service shoul...

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.