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If sound is generated by vibrations in the air, would things sound different if we were surrounded by a different gas?	Yes. If you have a lighter gas then the speed of sound changes, so at the same frequency wavelength becomes longer. This in turn makes a difference in resonant frequencies, which happen when the size of a resonant cavity is an integer multiple of wavelength. If your resonant cavity is the human body, then the higher f...	[ "Since sound waves are produced by a vibrating body, the vibrating object moves in one direction and compresses the air directly in front of it. As the vibrating object moves in the opposite direction, the pressure on the air is lessened so that an expansion, or rarefaction, of air molecules occurs. One compression...
Why was the American Bison never domesticated?	I don't remember for sure, but I believe Jared Diamond claims they're undomesticable, along with other animals like the zebra. Guns, Germs, and Steel has issues as a work of history, but it does make some good points; you might check it for citations to something a little more rigorous.	[ "Despite being the closest relatives of domestic cattle native to North America, bison were never domesticated by Native Americans. Later attempts of domestication by Europeans prior to the 20th century met with limited success. Bison were described as having a \"wild and ungovernable temper\"; they can jump close ...
What are some good books about Roman/Greek Engineering?	A big problem with this is that the study of the use of technology and engineering in the Roman world has changed pretty drastically recently. Even works by specialists in the eighties and late nineties still follow the "stagnant" model of Roman technological development, and very recent archaeological work has reveale...	[ "Books , , and of \"De architectura\" form the basis of much of what is known about Roman technology, now augmented by archaeological studies of extant remains, such as the Pont du Gard in southern France. Numerous such massive structures occur across the former empire, a testament to the power of Roman engineering...
What was "the sweating sickness"?	We don't actually know. Diagnosis over hundreds of years is notoriously difficult; short of some DNA sample from a confirmed victim (and good luck finding that!), we can't know. Hypotheses, however, are free, and range from influenza to Hanta virus to syphilis.	[ "Sweating sickness, also known as English sweating sickness or English sweat, was a mysterious and contagious disease that struck England and later continental Europe in a series of epidemics beginning in 1485. The last outbreak occurred in 1551, after which the disease apparently vanished. The onset of symptoms wa...
Why are Mars and Venus so bright right now?	They aren't particuarly bright at the moment. You just happened to notice them. Jupiter has been chased by Venus the last few weeks and Mars had a sweet conjuction with a fullish Moon though you missed that unfortunatly. As for why they have all been visible at night recently, you can blame old Isaac's damn Newtonia...	[ "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...
what are the pros and cons of weekly vs. fortnightly pay periods? why do some businesses choose one and some the other?	my current workplace has over 500 employees. Half work in the office, the other half work on site. we get pad fortnightly. The office staff get paid one week, site staff the following week. Processing pays is a timely process, if we all (at my workplace) got paid weekly then the payroll staff would do nothing but pro...	[ "In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia, the hours between 9 am and 5 pm (the traditional \"9 to 5\") are typically considered to be standard business hours, although in the United States this varies by region due to local tradition and the need to conduct business by telephone with people in o...
What cultural, economic, sociological, and political effects did the development of iron have on the world.	You mean the Iron Age? There are a plenty books on that subject. Or am I missing something?	[ "Iron is a metal which has fundamentally affected the way of life of human beings ever since the Iron Age. It is relatively abundant and can easily be extracted and modified due to its useful material properties, all of which results in low prices. After the industrial revolution (18-19th century), iron became a co...
Did Romani Gypsies know they had roots in India before modern genetic and linguistic studies?	Related question; I heard the term "gypsy" was derived from "Egypt," so at least English speakers thought they were from Egypt (if not the Roma themselves). Any truth to that?	[ "Genetic evidence has shown that the Romani people (\"Gypsies\") originated from the Indian subcontinent and mixed with the local populations in Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. In the 1990s, it was discovered that Romani populations carried large frequencies of particular Y chromosomes (inherited paterna...
why did greece accept a deal they seemed to reject at referendum only a few says prior?	They didn't have a choice. Their budget is in the negative which means they need to continue borrowing money. They can't force people to lend them money and their debt is so high they need assistance or it will overwhelm their economy. They can't stall much longer, their banks are on the brink of collapsing and they...	[ "In 2015, the Greek parliament approved the government's proposal for a referendum that would ostensibly decide, through a decision between \"Yes\" or \"No,\" the way forward in the ongoing negotiations of Greece with the creditors' institutions. Despite the claims by analysts abroad and in Greece that the referend...
what is a linear regression ?	Assume you're physically measuring two related quantities. Say, mass of a liquid vs. volume. In a perfect world, the graph would be a straight line, but due to whatever fluctuations, like errors in measurement, small density changes, etc. the line isn't perfectly straight, it has some "noise." Linear regression is a me...	[ "In statistics, linear regression is a linear approach to modeling the relationship between a scalar response (or dependent variable) and one or more explanatory variables (or independent variables). The case of one explanatory variable is called simple linear regression. For more than one explanatory variable, the...
Economic reasons to join the great war	The United States exports to Belligerent nations was 2.25 Billion US Dollars by 1917, of which I believe only c. 300 million was to Germany. However, there were other, equally if not more important considerations that were made when the United States entered the war: By 1917, thousands of Americans had volunteered to...	[ "The war economy was not so much a triumph of free enterprise as the result of government bankrolling business. While unemployment remained high throughout the New Deal years, consumption, investment, and net exports—the pillars of economic growth—remained low. It was World War II, not the New Deal, which finally e...
Why did American culture change around 1964?	Not trying to be a hater but this sounds awfully like a highschool/college essay question which aren't really allowed in this subreddit. Just saying.	[ "The economic and cultural changes of the world in the 1960s have been attributed to these consumption changes. The antiauthoritarian protest movements of the young in the U.S., especially on college campuses, brought a new disdain for the \"standardization of look-alike suburbs,\" as well as fueled a movement towa...
What is the octane number mean for petrol?	Octane number tells you how resistant is the petrol to premature combustion. In the engine, when piston is pushed in the cylinder, the petrol may combust before the piston s pushed to the limit, which is not cool for the engine. There is a thing called iso-octan (to be more specific - [2,2,4-trimethylpentane](_URL_...	[ "An octane rating, or octane number, is a standard measure of the performance of an engine or aviation fuel. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before detonating (igniting). In broad terms, fuels with a higher octane rating are used in high-performance gasoline engines that re...
Long term storage of medicine?	Didn't know the answer, but found some Google resources: _URL_1_ _URL_2_ _URL_0_	[ "The Shelf Life Extension Program (SLEP) is a joint program of the United States Department of Defense and the Food and Drug Administration that aims to reduce the cost to the military of maintaining stockpiles of certain pharmaceuticals by researching the expiration of drugs. It tests medications for safety and st...
why can't people just run away from a wildfire?	"Wildfires have a rapid forward rate of spread (FROS) when burning through dense, uninterrupted fuels. They can move as fast as 10.8 kilometres per hour (6.7 mph) in forests and 22 kilometres per hour (14 mph) in grasslands." Thats too fast to maintain for any reasonable amount of time. The fire can simply catch up wi...	[ "Wildfires are large fires which often start in wildland areas. Common causes include lightning and drought but wildfires may also be started by human negligence or arson. They can spread to populated areas and can thus be a threat to humans and property, as well as wildlife. Notable cases of wildfires were the 187...
Is there any biological validity to racism, sexism, homophobia, etc... or is it all bi-products of society issues?	Well yours is a very controversial question indeed. Firstly i'd like to clarify some things about evolution. Fitness is a concept you may have heard of. The definition of fitness is the ability of an individual or a genotype within a population to survive WITHIN A GIVEN ENVIRONMENT and subsequently pass on their genoty...	[ "While the courts have applied rational-basis scrutiny to classifications based on sexual orientation, it has been argued that discrimination based on sex should be interpreted to include discrimination based on sexual orientation, in which case intermediate scrutiny could apply to gay rights cases. Other scholars ...
Is the shape of a tree determined more by genetics or by the environment it lives in?	Leonardo da Vinci noticed that cross sectional area is preserved in tree branching, which is part of the trees' biology. However, there is evidence that wind shear can affect how a tree grows. Finally, the primary "purpose" of the tree branches is to support leaves for photosynthesis. It turns out that branches are ...	[ "Tree trunks not only vary in shape from top to bottom, but also vary in shape over time. The overall shape of a tree trunk can be defined as a form factor: , where \"A\" = area of the base at a designated height (such as 4.5 feet), \"H\" = full height of tree, and \"F\" = the form factor. Examinations of white pin...
Is there a conservation law associated with CPT symmetry? Shouldn't it be conservation of probability?	Per Noether's theorem, only continuous symmetries (e.g. rotations, translations, etc) give rise to conservation laws. CPT is a discrete symmetry, and so doesn't have a corresponding conservation law. Conservation of probability is associated with the unitarity of quantum mechanics: quantum states stay normalized as ...	[ "By Noether's theorem invariance of the action of a physical system under a continuous symmetry represents a fundamental conservation law. For example, invariance under translation leads to conservation of momentum, and invariance in time leads to conservation of energy.\n", "Charge, parity, and time reversal sym...
industrial dehumidifiers	Dehumidifiers take water out of moist air. There isn't any moist air in CA, that's their problem. It's raining in TX, but mechanically removing the water to stop the rain would be extremely expensive.	[ "A dehumidifier is an electrical appliance which reduces and maintains the level of humidity in the air, usually for health or comfort reasons, or to eliminate musty odor and to prevent the growth of mildew by extracting water from the air. It can be used for household, commercial, or industrial applications. Large...
how do street signs get their names?	It varies, in some areas, particularly in planned towns and cities, streets are given numbers and named sequentially, so the west-most north-south street might be called 1st Street and the East-most north-south street might be named 10th street, and east-west roads would be named similarly, although they might be calle...	[ "A street name sign is a type of traffic sign used to identify named roads, generally those that do not qualify as expressways or highways. Street name signs are most often found posted at intersections, and are usually in perpendicularly oriented pairs identifying each of the crossing streets.\n", "A street name...
What are some reliable books about the U.S.'s role in regime changes in the 20th Century?	Most of my library is packed up as I am currently moving, but here is what I had on hand. Love and Hunt take their view on American imperialism from a racial (which some would argue as overtly liberal) standpoint. Lafeber is, in my humble opinion, the best resource for the material it seems you are searching for. Here ...	[ "In the historiography of the United States, there were a series of major approaches in the 20th century. In 2009–2012, there were an average of 16,000 new academic history books published in the U.S. every year.\n", "Chapter 20, \"The Seventies: Under Control?\", covers political corruption and American disillus...
how i "don't hear" music when i'm falling asleep.	One of the first parts of your brain to "turn off" when you go to sleep is the part that makes new memories. It's called the hippocampus. You've been listening to the music, and hearing it and probably enjoying it, but the whole time, you haven't been making new memories of hearing it. When you have a mini wake-up, the...	[ "When I hear what we call music, it seems to me that someone is talking. And talking about his feelings, or about his ideas of relationships. But when I hear traffic, the sound of traffic—here on Sixth Avenue, for instance—I don't have the feeling that anyone is talking. I have the feeling that sound is acting. And...
why does restricting blood flow to an area make your veins pop out even more in that area?	Pressure. Veins are "drain pipes" for the blood that has already been pumped through the body to get back to the heart. They are low pressure compared to the higher pressure in the arteries. By pinching them off and restricting this pressure, the veins dilate (expand and "pop out"). So you are not really restricting bl...	[ "Arteries have a great deal more smooth muscle within their walls than veins, thus their greater wall thickness. This is because they have to carry pumped blood away from the heart to all the organs and tissues that need the oxygenated blood. The endothelial lining of each is similar.\n", "One reason veins are pr...
Would Nelson's tactics in the Battle of Trafalgar have worked against a more competent enemy? Were his tactics adopted by other navies afterwards?	In a word, maybe. In the documentary battleships, Naval Historian [Eric Grove](_URL_0_) makes the point that the combined French and Spanish fleet was not nearly as skilled and competent as Nelson's and that allowed him to exploit their poor gunnery and seamanship. What Nelson did was very unorthodox and if used agains...	[ "Lord Nelson described his tactics for the Battle of Trafalgar as inducing a \"pell mell battle\" focused on engagements between individual ships where the superior morale and skill of the Royal Navy would prevail.\n", "The plan had three principal advantages. First, the British fleet would close with the Franco-...
how does a cell phone benefit from a 64 bit memory bus? most of the flagship phones with this only feature 1 through 3 gigabytes of ram at most.	The processor operates on not only a 64bit memory bus, but it also has 64 bit instructions. This means that it can often perform longer operations in one cycle (such as a 32 bit to 32bit register move). This can gain a ton of speed over having to do two or more instructions to do the same thing. But if it ONLY has a...	[ "Although the D620 accepts a maximum of 4 GB of physical memory, it cannot be used fully, because of the 32-bit physical addressing limitation of the 945 Core 2 mobile chipsets [Intel-945GM/PM-chipset], (not related to the BIOS or the use of a 32-bit or 64-bit OS), restricts the usable memory by the operating syste...
why are some jalapeños (or other spicy foods) spicier than others?	Heat from spice is measured on the scoville scale and jalapenos are low on the scale but come in a range from around 1,000~10,000 units. This basically means that while considered a mild pepper the hottest jalapeno can be 10x hotter than the mildest. Its based heavily on the variety or cultivar of jalapeno along with...	[ "Jalapeños are a low-acid food with a pH of 4.8–6.0 depending on maturity and individual pepper. If canned or pickled jalapeños appear gassy, mushy, moldy, or have a disagreeable odor, then to avoid botulism, special precautions are needed to avoid illness and spread of the bacteria. Canning or packaging in calcium...
Why do different blood types "attack each other"?	The body is not specifically attacking non-type matched blood, but rather the body attacks everything that is not part of "self". A general mechanism by which the body fights off any kind of infection is by creating a very very very diverse set of antibodies which will bind all kinds of molecules. Some portion of this ...	[ "A blood feud is a feud with a cycle of retaliatory violence, with the relatives or associates of someone who has been killed or otherwise wronged or dishonored seeking vengeance by killing or otherwise physically punishing the culprits or their relatives. In the English-speaking world, the Italian word vendetta is...
how is "fashion" a thing?	People are all around variable, just like all other aspects of life where there is variety comes preference. There's certain music, accents, speeches, habits etc that people love or don't. Fashion is just another one. There are some humans that will think a kimono is just the most elegant and practical thing ever. For ...	[ "Anthropology, the study of culture and human societies, studies fashion by asking why certain styles are deemed socially appropriate and others are not. A certain way is chosen and that becomes the fashion as defined by a certain people as a whole, so if a particular style has a meaning in an already occurring set...
if i unplug my headphone jack partially, i'll only hear the beat of the song. how does that work?	It's possible to line up the contacts on the plug so that one signal is treated as the ground. Then you effectively hear the "difference" between the left and right signals. Since the vocals tend to be in the center of the stereo mix, they disappear and you just hear parts of the music that are on the left or right of ...	[ "The Gamate's mono internal speaker is of poor quality, giving off sound that is quite distorted, particularly at low volumes. However, if a user plugs into the headphone jack, the sound is revealed to be programmed in stereo, and of a relatively high quality.\n", "The whole thing came through the famous \"listen...
What is the difference between Γραικουσ (Greek) and Ελληνική (Hellene) in ancient greek literature?	Oh boy, there's actually A LOT I can talk about here, but I'll keep your specific inquiry brief and leave the rest for any follow up questions. In short and in the context of general Byzantine usage (especially later on in the tenth to its end), Γραικός is meant to act as a distinguish-er between themselves and the pe...	[ "Two Arabic words stand out: \"Scirocco\" (SE) from the Arabic \"al-Sharq\" (east) and the variant \"Garbino\" (SW), from the Arabic \"al-Gharb\" (west) (both of which, incidentally, translate to \"rising\" and \"setting\" respectively). In addition, there is the puzzle of \"Greco\" (NE). As Greece lies to the sout...
Why are bicycles so efficient? (And are they really?)	There are a lot of vaguely defined terms in your question which make it hard to address. For one, what do you mean by efficiency? Calories burned per mile traveled? Does speed matter? Does terrain matter? And once you define efficiency, what are you comparing it to? Walking/Running? A more specific question would be s...	[ "A bicycle's performance, in both biological and mechanical terms, is extraordinarily efficient. In terms of the amount of energy a person must expend to travel a given distance, cycling is calculated to be the most efficient self-powered means of transportation. \n", "The bicycle is extraordinarily efficient in ...
How did you choose which area/era to study?	Well, It's not so much that you choose an area but more that your current interests lead you to something you are more deeply interested in and want to study more. When I started grad school, I thought I wanted to study U.S. 19th century history but once I started classes I read so much stuff (3-4 books a week on avera...	[ "The era for a geographical based study can add dimension depending on the services available or the changes that took place. The period should seek to tell a complete story and not limit the chosen topic.\n", "The \"Area of Study\" is a common module between English (Advanced) and English (Standard). It involves...
How exactly was the idea of an "Ether" dismissed? It seems to make more sense than to suggest that light waves are self-manifesting.	Check out the Wiki page on the subject :_URL_0_ Basically Michelson Morley disproved a stationary aether. Other observations contradicted an aether-drag theories. Basically, any theory including an aether was in contradiction to the observations....	[ "Luminiferous aether or ether (\"luminiferous\", meaning \"light-bearing\"), was the postulated medium for the propagation of light. It was invoked to explain the ability of the apparently wave-based light to propagate through empty space, something that waves should not be able to do. The assumption of a spatial p...
why is flouride added to water?	The goal of providing fluoridated water is to prevent tooth decay. By including it in the water supply, it ensures that everybody gets it, rather than only the wealthy, etc. Tooth decay works by "de-mineralising" your teeth, and fluoride helps interrupt that process. It doesn't stop it completely, but it helps to ...	[ "Water is a necessary ingredient in the production of doughnuts because it activates the other ingredients, allowing them to perform their functions in building the doughnut's structure. For example, sugar and salt crystals must be dissolved in order for them to act in the dough, whereas larger molecules, such as t...
how do stock options for employees at companies work?	There many different ways they can be structured. Precisely how is something experienced lawyers are hired to do to remain within the regulations of the SEC. Very simply, it is the option to purchase a stock at a certain time for a certain price. For instance, the CEO of Acme, Inc., is offered as part of his incentive...	[ "Employee stock options are call options on the common stock of a company. Their value increases as the company's stock rises. Employee stock options are mostly offered to management with restrictions on the option (such as vesting and limited transferability), in an attempt to align the holder's interest with thos...
how do people that can't spell still read fluently?	It is easier to be given and recognize the complete word than it is to spell the word without any visual prompt. I find the same trouble when I speak in my second language: I can understand what is said to me because it's given complete with context, but if I have to construct a sentence then I sometimes cannot recall...	[ "Reading aloud to students who are learning English as a foreign language is a highly effective strategy to assist them in learning the basic rules and understandings of the process of reading. When teachers read aloud to their students, they simply model fluency and comprehension, while also adding visual support,...
how can processor speed up the charging of smartphone's battery?	It can't. The processor is not part of the charging circuit. The max speed of charge is determined by the battery chemistry and the pack itself and the charger.	[ "The processor can be upgraded to any Socket P Intel Core2 Duo mobile processor in the T8x00 series, and to certain T9x00 series processors whose FSB speed is limited to 800 MT/Sec. It is advisable to flash the system BIOS to the latest version before attempting to upgrade the CPU.\n", "The phone once again has t...
why are rodents so cautious around traps?	An animal can't just magically sense danger. But they CAN smell humans, they can observe something is new in their environment, and they can be cautious of anything either a) that smells like a human or b) is new and a potential threat. The rodents that were less cautious are now less alive, and the cautious ones ...	[ "Spring traps for large rodents such as rats or squirrels are powerful enough to break the animal's neck or spine. They may break human fingers as well, whereas an ordinary spring-based mousetrap is very unlikely to break a human finger. Rat spring traps may not be sensitive enough to spring when a mouse takes the ...
What are some instances where U.S federal courts were probably justified in overturning state law?	I am confused by the way you phrased your question. Federal courts are always justified in overturning state law because whether or not a law should be upheld is one of the main things they sit and decide, and the supremacy clause of the US constitution means that such decisions are well within the purview of the feder...	[ "The Supreme Court has also struck down attempts by states to control or direct the affairs of federal institutions. \"McCulloch v. Maryland\" (1819) was a significant case in this regard. The state of Maryland had levied a tax on banks not chartered by the state; the tax applied, state judges ruled, to the Bank of...
How do quantum mechanics and special relativity fit together?	Since you took the time to ask lots of deep questions, I feel very bad giving you such a terse answer, but really the correct answer is quantum electrodynamics. It's the theory that fully explains the electromagnetic interaction, but more than that, it's the unification of quantum theory and special relativity. Feynma...	[ "\"Special\" relativity can be combined with quantum mechanics to form relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. It is an unsolved problem in physics how \"general\" relativity and quantum mechanics can be unified; quantum gravity and a \"theory of everything\", which require a unification includi...
what would happen if i individually printed and released a huge amount of cash into a country's economy?	$100m? Nothing. The GDP of the US is about $17 trillion. $100m is a drop in the bucket.	[ "These may be traded but will only rarely be spent on goods and services. In this way, the expected increase in inflation due to the increase in national wealth is lower than if the government had simply created the money \"de novo\" and increased the more liquid forms of wealth (i.e., the money supply).\n", "In ...
why teenagers and young adults naturally want to stay up late and sleep in late?	Melatonin, puberty, and maybe artificial light or sex! Children generally respond to light exposure (sundown), but will also produce melatonin after being awake for 12-14 hours. The pubescent body is transitioning from 10-12 hours of sleep to 8 hours of sleep and from dependence on external controls (light) to depende...	[ "Surveys show that 40 to 70 percent of those 65 years old and older suffer from chronic sleep disturbances. The elderly tend to go to bed early in the evening and wake earlier in the morning than younger adults. Furthermore, the elderly often wake several times throughout the night and have difficulty falling aslee...
Is there any scientific basis to claims that it's possible to influence the sex of your baby?	Some studies have shown that the sperm with the X chromosome live longer than the than the sperm with the Y chromosome. This means that 'female' sperm have a greater life span than 'male' sperm. However, 'male' sperm are considered 'better swimmers' as they have greater motility -- they live fast and die young (ha ha h...	[ "Author Susan Grieshaber, in \"Constructing the Gendered Infant\", suggests that attitudes regarding pregnancy change after parents find out the sex of their child, subsequently changing parental attitudes towards the unborn child. According to Grieshaber's theory, once parents determine the sex of their unborn chi...
why are tooth fillings sensitive to cold stuff?	The filling sits close to the pulp of the tooth where the nerves are. The filling is typically made of metal which conducts temperature better than tooth enamel. When the filling becomes cold it activates the cold sensation in your nerves.	[ "Dental sealants (also termed pit and fissure sealants, or simply fissure sealants) are a dental treatment intended to prevent tooth decay. Teeth have recesses on their biting surfaces; the back teeth have fissures (grooves) and some front teeth have cingulum pits. It is these pits and fissures which are most vulne...
the phrase "how long is a piece of string?"	Normally it's used as a retorical answer to a question that did not have it's terms specifically defined. As string is a common item that can come in various lengths, the reply 'How long is a piece of string?' indicates that there are numerous potential answers but without narrowing of the terms of the original quest...	[ "Unfortunately this is just as long as the original string, because our placeholders for items in the dictionary are 2 characters long, and the items they replace are the same length. Hence, this string is incompressible by our algorithm.\n", "The first string has a short English-language description, namely \"ab...
How many and which anatomical systems "reset" or change positively when we yawn?	From what I understand, yawning can be useful to equalize the pressure in the ears, but I don't know if this is what your question is asking about as I find it a little unclear. Perhaps you could elaborate a little?	[ "Still another hypothesis suggests yawns are caused by the same chemicals (neurotransmitters) in the brain that affect emotions, mood, appetite, and other phenomena. These chemicals include serotonin, dopamine, glutamic acid, and nitric oxide. As more (or fewer) of these compounds are activated in the brain, the fr...
Do different foods get digested at different speeds?	Yes: major factors affecting digestion include meal calories, composition, physical size, and processing of the food (ie cooking vs raw). Researchers have looked at the time it takes for content within the stomach to empty into the intestines as one measure of digestion speed. By this paradigm, here is what is known. ...	[ "Most food digestion takes place in the small intestine. Segmentation contractions act to mix and move the chyme more slowly in the small intestine allowing more time for absorption (and these continue in the large intestine). In the duodenum, pancreatic lipase is secreted together with a co-enzyme, colipase to fur...
what have we learned from the new wikileaks cia dump ?	Well, it's about 8000 files. A lot to sift through. Even more difficult to effectively summarize, let alone an eli5. I guess the bottom line is the CIA has spent the last several decades becoming the best cyber spy the US debt can buy. They've stockpiled cyber weaponry, created archives of known cyber warfare tacti...	[ "When the CIA was created, its purpose was to create a clearinghouse for foreign policy intelligence and analysis. Today its primary purpose is to collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate foreign intelligence, and to perform covert actions.\n", "The commission was created in response to a December 1974 report ...
When a person gets a bone marrow transplant, do they start producing the blood of the donor?	Yes. Bone marrow transplants are done to give the recipient a functioning immune system that is made up of the donors stem cells in the donated marrow, but marrow is responsible for making blood cells too. The recipients' own marrow is destroyed (either from radiation or chemotherapy treatments) so after the procedur...	[ "In a bone marrow transplant, hematopoietic stem cells are removed from a person and infused into another person (allogenic) or into the same person at a later time (autologous). If the donor and recipient are compatible, these infused cells will then travel to the bone marrow and initiate blood cell production. Tr...
the constitutional changes hungary is making and what the consequences will be	Just in case you don't know it already, in 2010, the nationalist conservative party Fidesz (with its bloc party KDNP, which is a fairly conservative Christian party) won a majority in the Hungarian parliament. Viktor Orbán, of the Fidesz party, became the prime minister. The Orbán government has been getting considera...	[ "In 2013, the government adopted a new constitution that modified several aspects of the institutional and legal framework in Hungary. These changes have been criticized by the Council of Europe, the European Union and Human Rights Watch as possibly undermining the rule of law and human rights protection.\n", "On...
how do photos of space matter produce all the colors?	Most photos of nebulas or galaxies are made using light our eyes can't see (like infrared or UV). Their "colors" are remapped to colors we can see, so we can actually look at them. This is an artistic process as there is no "correct" way to map colors we can't perceive to color we can, which is why space photos are u...	[ "Even in RAW format, however, the sensor and the camera's dynamics can only capture colors within the gamut supported by the hardware. When that image is transferred for reproduction on any device, the widest achievable gamut is the gamut that the end device supports. For a monitor, it is the gamut of the display d...
why is marriage "hard work"?	Life is hard work. Marriage, or any situation where another person lives with you, complicates things because you can't just think about what is best for you in order to solve all the problems one encounters through life. Someone with a family has many more considerations to take into account when making a decision, ...	[ "Critics of marriage argue that it is an institution which contributes to the maintaining of traditional gender roles, thus preventing women from achieving social equality, and reinforcing the idea that women exist to serve men, which in turn increases the abuse of women. They argue that marriage reinforces the tra...
how do sites like facebook, youtube, and apps like instagram hold a constant (unlimited) amount of data (photos, videos, etc.) ?	The Serious accounts answer might have sounded like a joke, but it's actually the truth. While they do compress and work hard to keep the amount of data low, they do basically just keep buying new hard drives. They have big caves filled with servers, all holding a tiny piece of the data they have amassed. Since hard dr...	[ "BULLET::::- Photos: , Facebook users had uploaded over 240 billion photos, with 350 million new photos every day. For each uploaded photo, Facebook generates and stores four images of different sizes, which translated to a total of 960 billion images and an estimated 357 petabytes of storage.\n", "Data can be st...
how are there really people that believe that the world is only 2,000 years old?	Very few people believe the earth is 2000 years old. Bute there are plenty who believe it's about 6000 gears old. They get that approximation by looking at the Bible and counting generations back from Jesus to Adam, which apparently is about 4000 years, plus the 2016 years we've had on the plus side. The people who b...	[ "How can you be one year older than you are? One way is to say that there is a possible world where you exist. Another way is for you to have a counterpart in that possible world, who has the property of being one year older than you.\n", "In May 2014, Robertson responded to a caller regarding the age of the eart...
why isn't christianity just a part of judaism?	The idea that Jesus is the messiah, and the teachings of the New Testament, are pretty substantial differences from Judaism. Enough that Christians had to branch off and form a separate religion, since mainstream Judaism did not accept those ideas. However, there is a relatively new group called Messianic Jews, who don...	[ "Christians refer to the biblical books about Jesus as the New Testament, and to the canon of Hebrew books as the Old Testament. Judaism does not accept the retronymic labeling of its sacred texts as the \"Old Testament\", and some Jews refer to the New Testament as the Christian Testament or Christian Bible. Judai...
glycemic index & glycemic load of foods.	Hmm, I dunno the glycemic load, but the index is basically a measurement of how a food will affect your blood sugar. For instance, eating an orange, vs. drinking orange juice. Orange juice gets into your system very quickly, causing a spike in blood sugar and a resulting spike in insulin. Eating or drinking foods wi...	[ "The glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load concepts have been developed to characterize food behavior during human digestion. They rank carbohydrate-rich foods based on the rapidity and magnitude of their effect on blood glucose levels. Glycemic index is a measure of how quickly food glucose is absorbed, while glyc...
For the average person, did quality of life improve, decline or stay generally the same between the height of the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages?	> Is that accurate for the average person, or were the benefits of Roman society typically constrained to the higher classes? This is indeed the question. As far as I can tell, this argument goes one of two ways. But first I want to caveat, that this argument only represents the immediate period after Roman coll...	[ "Although the Middle Ages is often portrayed as an era of deprivation and oppression of the farmer and other workers, there is evidence that the life of a medieval farmer was no more difficult—and possibly better—than that of the average citizen of the Roman Empire before the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period...
(Astronomy) When fusion begins in a star, is at an immediate happening where the entire star bursts to life or does it slowly build energy and therefore light emission?	The main thing to understand here is that fusion is not on/off effect. Its probabilistic effect. And it depends on temperature/density. So the more dense the gas, the more probable it is for it's atoms to fuse and more energy is produced. This means, that as the proto-star grows more dense, the rate of fusion increase...	[ "Nuclear fusion powers a star for most of its life. Initially the energy is generated by the fusion of hydrogen atoms at the core of the main-sequence star. Later, as the preponderance of atoms at the core becomes helium, stars like the Sun begin to fuse hydrogen along a spherical shell surrounding the core. This p...
Does catnip affect wild felines the same way it affects domestic cats?	You’ve really done a number on me here. I was going to find a quick reference or two and move on, but I found some really interesting old papers (and a few somewhat related newer papers) and am now considering writing up a more serious article on this because there’s been a lack of analysis on this subject. First, a ...	[ "Catnip contains the feline attractant nepetalactone. \"N. cataria\" (and some other species within the genus \"Nepeta\") are known for their behavioral effects on the cat family, not only on domestic cats, but also other species. Several tests showed that leopards, cougars, servals, and lynxes often reacted strong...
[French Revolution] When the Estates-General were convened, who were the Third Estate?	From the Marxist view of history - yes, the 3rd were mostly bourgeoisie in that they were said to push for reforms that benefited mainly their upper middle class. But remember, its is not as clear cut as that because those that represented the 3rd Estate needed to be relatively well spoken, well educated, widely read o...	[ "The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate), the last of Estates General of Kingdom of France. Summoned by King Louis XVI, it was brought to an end when the Third Estate fo...
why do internet people use so many acronyms they'd never use in spoken conversation?	When we speak we unthinklingly litter our talk with little phrases and ticks, which when you see written down take up a lot of room on a page ("...I guess", "to be frank" "...to be honest with you...." "...you know what I mean?" etc ). We talk a lote more naturally than we type (though in the future this may change) a...	[ "While such exclamations are used in subtitles and descriptions of speech, usage is also popular in social circumstances, such as in text messaging, IM and blogs, where the formality of text is not an issue. Peers may use such particles to address and communicate with each other, just as people in English-speaking ...
in countries that use a 24 hour clock to describe what time it is, how are the times pronounced?	it's still "see u at 9" even though clock says 21:00 colloquially you still go off 12 hour clock. you just record official times in 24hour.	[ "Most people in \"24-hour countries\" are so used to both systems being alternately used in spoken language that they have no problem switching between the two, perceiving the statements \"three o'clock\" and \"15:00\" simply as synonyms. When speaking, a person may often pronounce time in 12-hour notation, even wh...
Why are some of the earliest cave paintings therianthropes (animals turning into humans)?	Anthropologist here: we just don't bloody know. All we know about the people who painting those images is that, well...they painted those images. The incomplete record of the past is what makes archaeology so fascinating and frustrating at the same time. Most of the big questions are unanswerable. All we can really do ...	[ "In Paleolithic times, the representation of humans in cave paintings was rare. Mostly, animals were painted, not only animals that were used as food but also animals that represented strength like the rhinoceros or large Felidae, as in the Chauvet Cave. Signs like dots were sometimes drawn. Rare human representati...
Did ancient/medieval Kings or Queens have military parades as a show of force?	That would be a no to military parades, but displays of power were almost expected during significant events in the Middle Ages, such as coronations, funerals and the formal entries into cities. Armies were not the focal point of such pageantry: the personal authority of the monarch would be emphasised. (Also, armies...	[ "A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the late 19th century fought in formation. Massed parades may also hold a role fo...
gerrymandering, and why nc is being ordered to redraw its congressional map.	The US Constitution says that every 10 years, the government must do a census, essentially counting how many people live in the US, and plotting where those people live. Based on the results of the consensus, the government divvies out a certain number of congressional seats (it's been 435 seats for a long time) pro...	[ "On January 9, 2018 a federal court struck down North Carolina's congressional map, declaring it unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republican candidates. The court ordered that the North Carolina General Assembly must redraw the district maps prior to the 2018 Congressional Elections. On January 18, 2018, t...
Why are marine mammals able to keep their eyes open under water without the salt burning their eyes?	Somewhat related, human children can actually train their eyes to be able to see clearly underwater! This was first observed in the Moken people of Thailand who spend a large amount of time diving for shellfish, but was replicated in European children who underwent training. The ability to see clearly underwater was a...	[ "The need for salt excretion in reptiles (such as marine iguanas and sea turtles) and birds (such as petrels and albatrosses) reflects their having much less efficient kidneys than mammals. Unlike the skin of amphibians, that of reptiles and birds is impermeable to salt, preventing its release.\n", "Because of th...
When it comes to processing information, are our eyes faster, ears faster, or both the same?	The detection of sound eventually depends on a section of your cochlear resonating, and building up resonance always takes a few cycles. So, by pure physical considerations I would too guess that the optical system is faster.	[ "Another study compared differences in speed of processing information between people of different ages. The task they used was a go/no go task where participants responded if a white arrow moved in a specific direction but did not respond if the arrow moved in the other direction or was a different color. In this ...
why can light travel through some solids (e.g. water bottle) but not all?	Some molecules have a tendency to crystal structures: if you look at a piece of material very closely (with an electron microscope), you can see that the molecules form repetitive, organised structures. A famous example of this is [diamond](_URL_0_) . In the picture, you can see the pattern that is repeated millions ...	[ "Physics theories of the late 19th century assumed that just as surface water waves must have a supporting substance, i.e. a \"medium\", to move across (in this case water), and audible sound requires a medium to transmit its wave motions (such as air or water), so light must also require a medium, the \"luminifero...
why do companies seem that they have no ethics and will do anything for money?	If something a company is capable of doing would make money and is not explicitly and definitively illegal (all the company's lawyers do not agree that it is illegal), it might be determined that the company's officers would not be meeting their fiduciary responsibility if they didn't do anything for money. Now ob...	[ "The ethics of a company and its' individuals are heavily influenced by the state of their country. If a country is heavily plagued with poverty, large corporations continuously grow, but smaller companies begin to wither and are then forced to adapt and scavenge for any method of survival. As a result, the leaders...
there has been a lot of talk about the iraq war lately, can someone explain to me what the war was really all about?	It wasn't even vaguely senseless. In 1990, Iraq, under the leadership of autocrat Saddam Hussein, without provocation invaded the neighboring state of Kuwait. This made pretty much everybody in the world very angry. After several months of demands, with which Iraq did not comply, a coalition of nations effectively le...	[ "The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began with the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. However, the war continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. The United State...
why is water also referred to as dihydrogen monoxide, hydrogen oxide, hydrogen hydroxide, hydric acid, hydroxylic acid, oxidane, etc.? do those terms have different meanings/contexts/applications?	Hydrogen Oxide mean a molecule made of hydrogen and oxygen. In theory this could include water and hydrogen peroxide which is H2O2, but since water is so widespread people pretty much never use hydrogen oxide to mean something else than water. Dihydrogen Monoxide is a more precise term that mean 2 Hydrogen and 1 oxyge...	[ "Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula HO. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state (water vapor or steam). Under nomenclature used ...
Who is the earliest known "king" with ultimate rule over his people, and how did the idea of a single supreme ruler become so popular?	I believe that the [Sumerian language](_URL_3_) (cuneiform) is the oldest written language of which we have records. If there's an older written language, we don't know about it. You may have heard about [Sargon the Great](_URL_4_) and the [Akkadian Empire](_URL_5_). He lived from 2360 - 2305 BC, though he's not the...	[ "By the 16th century, the time of the next report after the reign of Adityawarman, royal power had been split into three recognised reigning kings. They were the King of the World (\"Raja Alam\"), the King of Adat (\"Raja Adat\"), and the King of Religion (\"Raja Ibadat\"). Collectively they were called the Kings o...
Do travelling ocean animals like dolphins and whales know where in the ocean they are, or do they just wander? Do they keep track of their routes?	Cetaceans for the most part rely on what's known as magnetoreception which they're reliant on the Earth's dipolar magnetic field. Different regions of the globe will have various, but stable magnetic resonance which can be detected by migrating whales. Magnetoreception is dependent on induction or reliant on magnetite,...	[ "Biologists have considered other senses that may contribute to animal navigation. Many marine animals such as seals are capable of hydrodynamic reception, enabling them to track and catch prey such as fish by sensing the disturbances their passage leaves behind in the water. Marine mammals such as dolphins, and ma...
Do other species (besides humans) have 'criminal' individuals?	Not exactly what you are looking for, but I have seen wolves banish other wolves for violating the social hierarchy.	[ "Even organizations and communities that may be considered criminal in nature may have ethical codes of conduct, official or unofficial. Examples could include hacker communities, bands of thieves, and street gangs.\n", "The term is applied according to a person's moral beliefs and does not necessarily denote cri...
Why didn't the Soviets sell off their T-64 stock ever in comparison to their T-72s?	The reason the T-72s were so prolific in foreign nation during the late year of the Soviet Union and after it's fall was due to the T-72 having models specifically for export. Notably the T-72M and T-72M2. As to why the T-64 was never treated in this manner, the T-64 was a far more complex vehicle and was actually desi...	[ "These features made the T-64 expensive to build, significantly higher than previous generations of Soviet tanks. This was especially true of the power pack, which was time-consuming to build and cost twice as much as more conventional designs. Several proposals were made to improve the T-64 with new engines, but c...
when i’m waiting, why do things i want feel like they take longer to arrive than things i don’t want, even if it’s the exact same time frame?	Because you are specifically paying attention to the time, counting down almost every second. When youre distracted doing something you will concentrate on that thing and time will seem to pass much faster.	[ "\"Out Of Time\" was released on August 10, 2018 and premiered by Clash magazine. “It's about having a feeling inside that you can do something magical, but you have to move fast or the magic moment will go and if you don't do it now, you'll always regret it. Personal alchemy.”\n", "BULLET::::27. Disclaimer (Time...
why is it that defecation occasionally results in a "no wipe" scenario, but other times results in an "infinity wipe" scenario?	Fiber. The density and, er, stability of feces is a measure of water and fiber, at its most basic. Consume a proper water and fiber for the 'best' feces. Other things like indigestible sugars also contribute (sugar alcohols like xylitol) by passing through largely intact. Long version: Fecal make-up is based on...	[ "Obstructed defecation, is \"difficulty in evacuation or emptying the rectum [which] may occur even with frequent visits to the toilet and even with passing soft motions\". The conditions that can create the symptom are sometimes grouped together as defecation disorders. The symptom tenesmus is a closely related to...
What is a good database for access to local New York newspapers, particularly issues post 1950?	I suspect the NY Public Library, CUNY, NYU, or Columbia will have those resources available. I'd recommend starting with the Library though.	[ "Many of the Boston Public Library's collections are available to the public online, including rare books and manuscripts, the anti-slavery manuscript collection, historical children's books, the John Adams Library, historic maps from the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, historical images, prints, and photographs, s...
curvature of space	The angles of a triangle in space (if space is curved) do not add up to exactly 180 degrees.	[ "The curvature is a quantity describing how the geometry of a space differs locally from the one of the flat space. The curvature of any locally isotropic space (and hence of a locally isotropic universe) falls into one of the three following cases:\n", "The curvature of a spacetime can be characterised by taking...
What would the dicovery of the Graviton mean ?	> When and if the Graviton is ever discovered what would that prove ? Right now, low-energy quantum gravity can be described using the effective quantum field theory (QFT) of gravitons. This gives general relativity in the classical limit, and in addition it gives some interesting new predictions like Hawking radiat...	[ "The graviton is a hypothetical elementary spin-2 particle proposed to mediate gravitation. While it remains undiscovered due to the difficulty inherent in its detection, it is sometimes included in tables of elementary particles. The conventional graviton is massless, although there exist models containing massive...
Was any part of the Underground Railroad actually Underground?	Although the Underground Railroad was not literally "underground", nor literally a "railroad", there were places that were part of it which were underground (and there were some routes which took escaped slaves north which were by railroad). This cave in Kentucky might have been used as a hiding place along the "under...	[ "A little-known fact about the area, not written in any history books and known only to some locals, is that it was a station in the Underground Railroad. A functional underground tunnel of the Underground Railroad, still in existence today, connects a former train drop-off area of the New York and Lake Erie Railro...
When scientists say that quantum superposition breaks down when a particle is "observed" is it the act of recording it with the tool, or the actual act of looking at the image/data that breaks it down?	We generally consider it to be the action of the tool. Though, as tools themselves are quantum objects which in theory could become entangled themselves, the physics community isn't yet settled on how to interpret this dilemma. Here's a fun discussion on the topic: [Is the moon there when nobody looks? Reality and th...	[ "A well-known thought experiment predicts that if particle detectors are positioned at the slits, showing through which slit a photon goes, the interference pattern will disappear. This which-way experiment illustrates the complementarity principle that photons can behave as either particles or waves, but cannot be...
what has been the greatest engineering marvel of the last 24 months and why?	there was the new type of [glass](_URL_0_) produced thats self cleaning, glare free, and dust proof. this can mean huge advancements in solar panel efficiency	[ "This has been perhaps the longest and largest civil works project in the history of the Corps of Engineers. Multiple delays, especially in funding have created a 30 year endeavor that has been inflated from a $700+ million price tag to over $3 billion in early 2018.\n", "His favorite prewar engineering project w...
how can illegal websites (i.e. piracy and illegal streaming) have advertisements on their sites of well-known companies and brands?	If a site isn't based in the US they have no obligation to comply with US law. Most sites just sign up to an advertising service and then that service places ads on the site. Well-known companies & brands often have no ability to choose where there ads appear.	[ "Researcher Conrad Longmore claims that advertisements displayed by the sites were found to contain malware programs, which install harmful files on users' machines without their permission. Longmore told the BBC that two popular sites – XHamster and Pornhub – pose the greatest threat.\n", "In 2010 they conducted...
why does water form a chain link shaped stream when poured?	The simplest answer is that it is a standing wave in the water, imparted to it by the forces that caused the water to leave the container. There is a much more complex answer though. I'm sure others may want to expound on what I say but here goes. There are a few factors that determine the type of flow water (or a...	[ "The channels and braid bars are usually highly mobile, with the river layout often changing significantly during flood events. Channels move sideways via differential velocity: On the outside of a curve, deeper, swift water picks up sediment (usually gravel or larger stones), which is re-deposited in slow-moving w...
white nationalism?	I'm white, and nationalist. I am British, I love my country, and am proud of it. I don't hate foreigners and support legal immigration. I support equal rights regardless of chosen gender, faith or colour (and all the rest of the long list of differences we have). White nationalists aren't evil people. White nationalis...	[ "White nationalism is a type of nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a race and seeks to develop and maintain a white national identity. Its proponents identify with and are attached to the concept of a white nation. White nationalists say they seek to ensure the survival o...
how did penguins develop to the stage they are at now?	Their flippers are wings that have been adapted to propel and maneuver through water instead of air. Their ancestors first migrated to Antarctica by flying there when it was a warmer environment. As the antarctic cooled and vegetation disappeared penguins became more reliant on fishing for their food. Penguins who cou...	[ "The Penguins were an American doo-wop group of the 1950s and early 1960s, best remembered for their only Top 40 hit, \"Earth Angel\", which was one of the first rhythm and blues hits to cross over to the pop charts. The song peaked at #8 on the \"Billboard\" Hot 100 chart, but had a three-week run at #1 on the R&B...
Which ancient civilizations knew about the 365-day solar year?	> 360 days in the Babylonian calendar In Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat mentions that "a Babylonian astronomer, [Kidenas](_URL_1_), [...] calculated the length of the solar year with a margin of error of 4 minutes and 32.65 seconds." In general, I'd be wary of assuming that because a c...	[ "There were 36 decans (36 X 10 = 360 days), plus 5 added days to compose the 365 days of a solar based year. Decans measure sidereal time and the solar year is 6 hours longer; the Sothic and solar years in the Egyptian calendar realign every 1460 years. Decans represented on coffins from later dynasties (such as Ki...
why is alcohol supposed to be "worse" for you than marijuana.	So many reasons... 1. Alcohol causes far more impairment. Alcohol can quickly put a person in a stupor where they can barely see, have no balance, very slow coordination, etc. Marijuana? The effects are almost entirely mental and far less overpowering. 2. Alcohol can outright kill you. You can overdose and die from...	[ "In his October 2009 paper (based on a lecture given in July 2009) Nutt had repeated his familiar view that illicit drugs should be classified according to the actual evidence of the harm they cause and pointed out that alcohol and tobacco caused more harm than LSD, ecstasy and cannabis. Alcohol should come fifth b...
how do scammers claiming to be the irs get money off of requested itunes cards?	They sell the codes for say 50% of face value. You give them $500 in cards, they sell them for $250. Considering it costs them literally nothing it's a good margin.	[ "Gerald Wolfe, along with Meisner, were later able to break into a room and make false IRS identification cards, which allowed them access to the federal courthouse in Washington. Wolfe and Meisner then used these cards to gain access to restricted areas and steal more documents.\n", "Bridget hires a tax attorney...
What does the phrase 'wild type recombinant' mean when used to describe a protein?	This means that although the amino acid sequence of the GFP in question is identical to the GFP found in jellyfish (and is therefore the wild-type), this GFP was grown using artificial methods (cloned onto plasmid, expressed in bacteria, etc), and is therefore recombinant. Wild-tpye, non-recombinant GFP can only be fo...	[ "Wild type (WT) refers to the phenotype of the typical form of a species as it occurs in nature. Originally, the wild type was conceptualized as a product of the standard \"normal\" allele at a locus, in contrast to that produced by a non-standard, \"mutant\" allele. \"Mutant\" alleles can vary to a great extent, a...
Are there any example of Mafia members being drafted in World War II and rising to prominence(flag level officers etc.) in the military?	Not that I'm aware of, and it is extremely unlikely that anyone, of any background, was drafted and made it to flag officer. If anyone has an example of this, I'd be fascinated to hear it.	[ "Members killed in this war included Salvatore DeMarco, George Esposito, Gaetano Del Gaudio, Antonio 'Tony the Shoemaker' Parretti, and Joseph 'Chuck' Nazzaro. The man who played the biggest part in the victory of the mafia was Ralph 'The Barber' Daniello who testified against Navy Street's activities, from murders...
How close can two things get without touching?	Defining what counts as touching on the atomic is actually pretty tricky. The reason is that on such small scales, matter doesn't really behave like it has a crisp border, but more of a soft cloud-like shell. To get a sense for why things are so ill-defined, take an electron in the system and try to define its position...	[ "It is possible to be physically intimate with someone without actually touching them; however, a certain proximity is necessary. For instance, a sustained eye contact is considered a form of physical intimacy, analogous to touching. When a person enters someone else's personal space for the purpose of being intima...
At what speeds does red shift start becoming noticeable?	The formula for the [relativistic doppler effect](_URL_0_) is > λ_0_/λ_s_ = sqrt(1+v/c)/sqrt(1-v/c) Solving for v/c gives > v/c = (λ_0_^(2) - λ_s_^(2))/(λ_0_^(2) + λ_s_^(2)) Plugging in the wavelength before acceleration for λ_0_ and the wavelength at velocity v for λ_s_ gives you the fraction ...	[ "In the weeks following the accident, multiple irregularities occurred with the signal in which it changed from green to red. On 11 March, a train had to apply emergency braking when the signal suddenly changed to red, causing it to only come to a full stop past the signal. On 15 March this occurred again, but this...
how come when i wake up and i drink water right away i don't feel sleepy/tired anymore?	Because you wake up dehydrated. You just spent the pass 6-10 hours sleeping, sweating, and not drinking.	[ "The affected persons fall asleep during day-to-day activities and always feel sleepy. One of the doctors said, \"You wake them up, they can speak to you, reply to you, but as soon as you stop talking and ask what bothers them, they just want to sleep, sleep, sleep.\".\n", "I will get up each morning as the sun r...
rpms and gas usage?	50 mph at 4000 rpm uses more gas than 10 mph because of air resistance (gallons burned per minute), although the higher speed would give much better MPG due to the extra time spent driving those miles at 10 mph. Generally higher rpm's use more gas because engine friction rises with increasing rpm. They have added more ...	[ "Since the gas turbines optimum performance was at a speed of 19250 rpm, the output was geared down to 6000 rpm for the hydraulic drive. The main diesel and gas turbine (as in the Class 219 001) had two independent drive shafts with the output connected by gears. Each hydraulic chamber could be filled and emptied i...
how did reality tv become a thing?	Reality TV gets big ratings while costing relatively little. Example: I used to work for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. We would do an hour of prime time Sunday night TV that would get 18 million viewers at its peak. Our cost was $850K per episode. We were followed by Desperate Housewives which got comparable ...	[ "The first reality show in the modern sense may have been the series \"The American Sportsman\", which ran from 1965 to 1986 on ABC in the United States. A typical episode featured one or more celebrities, and sometimes their family members, being accompanied by a camera crew on an outdoor adventure, such as huntin...
Found WW1 photographs that I want to preserve	I strongly recommend getting in touch with a local museum, they should have the preservation knowledge required to preserve your photos or at least put you onto someone that can.	[ "The museum's Photograph Archive preserves photographs by official, amateur and professional photographers. The collection includes the official British photographic record of the two world wars; the First World War collection includes the work of photographers such as Ernest Brooks and John Warwick Brooke. The arc...
why do we get sunburn/skin cancer if thousands of years ago we could tolerant it?	Melanin- aka the coloring of our skin, is the human bodies natural defence against harmful UV rays. When we evolved on the African Savannah we were all dark skinned. By moving north, our skin lightened so that we would be able to absorb more sun and get more of the much needed vitamin D, which is not available in winte...	[ "Greater than 90% of cases are caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. This exposure increases the risk of all three main types of skin cancer. Exposure has increased partly due to a thinner ozone layer. Tanning beds are becoming another common source of ultraviolet radiation. For melanomas and ba...
how do computers handle infinitely repeating numbers?	They don't. They round them instead, for example 0.3333333333... can be stored as simply 0.3333333333 (in reality it's stored using binary and not decimal, but it's the same idea). These rounding errors are in fact a major problem when performing precise calculations, and there's a [whole mathematical field](_URL_0_) d...	[ "Most machines are designed to defeat this by generating numbers even when the machine is not being played, so the player cannot tell where in the sequence they are, even if they know how the machine was programmed.\n", "The function in Commodore BASIC can use the clock to generate random numbers; this is accompl...

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