question stringlengths 3 301 | answer stringlengths 9 26.1k | context list |
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What is actually happening during PTSD? | Little is known about the physiological aspect of posttraumatic stress disorder. There is evidence that PTSD is associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is the subject of current research.
We know much more about the psychological aspect of PTSD. Essentially, it is a traumatic event that is so impactful t... | [
"PTSD symptoms may result when a traumatic event causes an over-reactive adrenaline response, which creates deep neurological patterns in the brain. These patterns can persist long after the event that triggered the fear, making an individual hyper-responsive to future fearful situations. During traumatic experienc... |
What happens to cells that are infected with the cold/flu? | The virus takes over the cell and begins to produce it's own foreign protein. The cell, (hopefully) not being outdone detects these as non self ubiquinizes them, signalling them for destruction. They are then sent to the proteosome, a cellular machine that destroys (fragments) ubiquinized proteins. These fragments a... | [
"As the influenza virus can persist outside of the body, it can also be transmitted by contaminated surfaces such as banknotes, doorknobs, light switches and other household items. The length of time the virus will persist on a surface varies, with the virus surviving for one to two days on hard, non-porous surface... |
Somebody please explain how sidewalks and roads crack? | Most often from the material expanding (heat from sun) and contracting (cooling at night). The never ending cycle cracks the material. Once cracked, water can get into the structure and freeze. This accelerates the deterioration.
Secondarily, the sub-base can settle if not properly compacted. It can also bulge whe... | [
"A Reflective crack is a type of failure in asphalt pavement, one of the most popular road surface types. Asphalt pavement is impacted by traffic and thermal loading. Due to loading, cracks can appear on pavement surface that can reduce the Pavement Condition Index(PCI) dramatically. \n",
"Edge cracking is the fo... |
why do victims of frivolous lawsuits need to hire lawyers to respond to them? | A judge can do that. If a lawsuit fails to state a claim upon which legal relief can be granted, then you can ask the court to dismiss it at the very beginning. For example, if I file a petition with the court saying "/u/xavier86 hurt my feelings on Reddit", you can ask the court to dismiss the suit because even if it'... | [
"The rationale for this privilege is that society sees the need for lawyers to help resolve civil and criminal disputes. Lawyers could not do their work properly if there were a danger that they could be forced to disclose communications with their clients.\n",
"Lawsuits are expensive and may progress slowly, ove... |
What caused the decline of the MGM movie studio? | MGM has arguably suffered financial troubles for most of its existence, but a lot of their problems began in the fifties with the rise of television.
Television provided consumers with a new form of entertainment that largely took the place of the communal atmosphere of the movie theater by moving the viewing space i... | [
"The post-war years saw a gradual decline in profits for MGM and the other studios. The number of high-grossing films in 1947 dwindled to six, compared to twenty-two a year earlier. MGM had to let go many of its top producers and other executives. Mayer was pressured to tighten expenses by the studio's parent compa... |
how are video game environments with vast proportions created? does it take a painstakingly long time to code or are there any design hacks to create environments? | Short answer is both.
Take for example The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, this was a procedurally generated world(something like how minecraft worlds are created), and probably had some added polish after it.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was a different story, and there were more level designers and less of the world was... | [
"The game's tech tree is simple and straightforward, and most new technology is accessed upon new building completion. To begin, the player can only build a school house that trains basic workers, but as the game advances more buildings and units become available. When playing a scenario or multiplayer mode, the pl... |
what happens to your vocal cords when you sing falsetto? | It's simplest to just show an animation:
[Here's your vocal cords singing normally](_URL_1_)
[Here's your vocal cords singing falsetto](_URL_0_) | [
"It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal cords, in whole or in part. Commonly cited in the context of singing, falsetto, a characteristic of phonation by both sexes, is also one of four main spoken vocal registers recognized by speech pathology.\n",
"Research has revealed that not al... |
how was 50 shades of gray a bad protrayal of bdsm? | BDSM should be safe, sane and consensual. Both partners should be agreeing to what boundaries they want to push, which ones they want to leave in place, and everybody involved should always be able to stop at any point during either through using no and/or a safeword (depending on what sort of scene you are doing).
50... | [
"The series co-creator, Jacky St. James, mentioned that she was unhappy with the way BDSM was portrayed in \"Fifty Shades of Grey\", which she considers \"passed off an abusive relationship as an honest interpretation of the BDSM lifestyle\". She hoped to create a more nuanced view of the BDSM world with the series... |
what are the repercussions of getting a large loan and not paying it back before you die? | The value of the estate will be used to pay any outstanding debts before heirs get any money.
So, if you owe $500,000 and your estate is worth $600,000, then your heirs inherit $100,000.
But if you owe $500,000 and your estate is worth $400,000, then your heirs get nothing and your creditors have to eat $100,000. | [
"From the borrower's perspective, this means failure to make their regular payment for one or two payment periods or failure to pay taxes or insurance premiums for the loan collateral will lead to substantially higher interest for the entire remaining term of the loan.\n",
"An individual who lends money for repay... |
Question for Neuroscientist or anyone who knows alot about the brain. | I think that the "neurons that fire together wire together" phenomena has more to do with what happens as the different parts of your brain are taking on their specialized functions. If during development one network of neurons becomes intertwined with another one, then two normally separate things can become interconn... | [
"Neuropsychological evidence has provided support for neuroimaging results regarding the neural basis of theory of mind. Studies with patients suffering from a lesion of the frontal lobes and the temporoparietal junction of the brain (between the temporal lobe and parietal lobe) reported that they have difficulty w... |
what is happening in the brain when you move on or let go of someone, whether because of death, a breakup, their moving away…? | Hey man, psychologist in training here (not a specialist in this area by any means, but I'll give a basic answer).
Some background first. So the limbic system is highly involved what you are talking about. This is a series of structures responsible for many things I won't go into, but two of the most important are... | [
"In Freudian psychology, displacement (, \"shift, move\") is an unconscious defence mechanism whereby the mind substitutes either a new aim or a new object for goals felt in their original form to be dangerous or unacceptable.\n",
"Brain death is defined as irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire br... |
bonsai trees | Bonsai trees are a Japanese art form.
They are otherwise normal trees that through certain techniques have been forced to remain small while being shaped to resemble larger trees.
Techniques used are things like pruning, constraining growth through planting in small pots and limiting nutrients, steering growth thro... | [
"The Bean Trees is the first novel by American writer Barbara Kingsolver, published in 1988 and reissued in 1998. It was followed by the sequel \"Pigs in Heaven\". The protagonist of the novel is named Taylor Greer, a native of Kentucky. She sets out to leave home and travel west, and finds herself in Oklahoma near... |
Which are more intelligent - ravens or dolphins? | How do you (and your friends) define intelligence? | [
"Dolphins are often regarded as one of Earth's most intelligent animals, though it is hard to say just how intelligent. Comparing species' relative intelligence is complicated by differences in sensory apparatus, response modes, and nature of cognition. Furthermore, the difficulty and expense of experimental work w... |
where do mosquitoes sleep? | Evil never sleeps. | [
"Most \"Anopheles\" mosquitoes are crepuscular (active at dusk or dawn) or nocturnal (active at night). Some feed indoors (endophagic), while others feed outdoors (exophagic). After feeding, some blood mosquitoes prefer to rest indoors (endophilic), while others prefer to rest outdoors (exophilic), though this can ... |
Do carcinogens increase the risk of cancer permanently, or can the damage be undone by our bodies? | It depends on the carcinogen and how it works. The category of “carcinogens” is very broad.
Some carcinogens can get stuck in your body permanently and cause damage slowly for decades (like asbestos dust), others can be eliminated by the body and go away quickly after you cease exposure (like alcohol). Some carcinoge... | [
"Assessing all aspects of the toxicity of cancer-causing agents involves additional issues, since it is not certain if there is a minimal effective dose for carcinogens, or whether the risk is just too small to see. In addition, it is possible that a single cell transformed into a cancer cell is all it takes to dev... |
Do microorganisms have a day/night preference? | Yes, many photosynthetic microorganisms (such as cyanobacteria) will move towards light. This is called phototaxis. | [
"In ecology, matutinal (or, in entomological writings, matinal) crepuscular animals are those that are significantly active during pre-dawn or early morning hours. During the morning’s twilight period and shortly thereafter, these animals partake in important tasks, such as scanning for mates, mating, and foraging.... |
what was/is the point of a middle name? | The phrase “middle name” first appeared in an 1835 Harvard University periodical called Harvardiana, but the practice dates back much further.
In ancient Rome, having multiple names was an honor usually bestowed upon the most important people—like Gaius Julius Caesar. The fad died out only to pick back up again in Wes... | [
"The practice of using middle names dates back to ancient Rome, where it was common for members of the elite to have a \"praenomen\" (a personal name), a \"nomen\" (a family name, not exactly used the way middle names are used today), and a \"cognomen\" (a name representing an individual attribute or the specific b... |
why, as a normal civilian, should i be worried about data leaks? | If they have your email and password, and you use the same password for your email (which many people do), they can effectively take control of your online presence (sending password resets for things).
A little digging in your personal emails and they could probably get the answer to a few of your security questions ... | [
"The problem of data proliferation is affecting all areas of commerce as the result of the availability of relatively inexpensive data storage devices. This has made it very easy to dump data into secondary storage immediately after its window of usability has passed. This masks problems that could gravely affect t... |
why are the oscars considered the most important/special awards in the film industry? | Three reasons:
1) Promotion.
2) Promotion.
3) Promotion.
The Oscars are there to make money, just like any other television show. In turn, they give the movies they nominate a boost at the box office and streaming rentals. | [
"For much of the Academy Awards' history, AMPAS was resistant to the idea of a regular Oscar for animated features, considering there were simply too few produced to justify such consideration. Instead, the Academy occasionally bestowed special Oscars for exceptional productions, usually for Walt Disney Pictures, s... |
is it possible to land a spacecraft on a gas planet? | You'd fall through the atmosphere until you were crushed by the increasing pressure or melted by the increasing heat. The gas giants are believed to have small possibly-solid cores, but no ship would reach them with any known material. | [
"To make a powered landing from orbit on a celestial body without an atmosphere requires the same mass reduction as reaching orbit from its surface, if the speed at which the surface is reached is zero.\n",
"Removal of atmospheric gas in a more controlled manner could also prove difficult. Venus' extremely slow r... |
Is the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum effected by lenses and mirrors like visible light is? | From the same mirrors and lenses? Not at all. Glass is opaque for many wavelengths and would not make suitable lenses at all.
However in principle you could build mirrors or lenses for any wavelength as long as they have the correct properties for that wavelength.
A satellite dish is an example of a concave mirror ... | [
"Refraction not only affects visible light rays, but all electromagnetic radiation, although in varying degrees. For example, in the visible spectrum, blue is more affected than red. This may cause astronomical objects to appear dispersed into a spectrum in high-resolution images.\n",
"In 1956, M. Cantwell predic... |
Where and when did "going down on one knee" to propose originate? | [This has been asked before on this subreddit](_URL_0_) without much luck in getting good answers. [Here's the only answer which survived deletion](_URL_0_c8gbqwb).
EDIT: replaced quote with link to answer as per mod's request. | [
"Genuflection or genuflexion is the act of bending at least one knee to the ground. From early times, it has been a gesture of deep respect for a superior. Today, the gesture is common in the Christian religious practices of the Anglican Church, Lutheran Church, Roman Catholic Church, and Western Rite Orthodox Chur... |
silent letters/double letters in english | They're mostly artifacts adopted from other languages and earlier versions of English. For example, all of your double letter examples are from Latin, where double letters in a word determine which syllable is emphasized. "Half" comes from Old English, and dropping the "L" is just a quirk of pronunciation that has deve... | [
"Some words contain silent letters, which do not represent any sound in modern English pronunciation. Examples include the in \"doubt\", \"debt\", \"dumb\", etc., the in \"psychology\" and \"pneumatic\", as mentioned above in numerous words such as \"though\", \"daughter\", \"night\", \"brought\", and the commonly ... |
clarence thomas and anita hill | Clarence Thomas is a current supreme court justice. Anita Hill is someone who worked for him prior to his nomination.
Hill alleged that Thomas had sexually harassed her while he was her supervisor, primarily asking her out repeatedly and lots of graphic sexual talk in the office. Ultimately, Hill testified about this... | [
"The line \"I believe Anita Hill\" referred to the controversy surrounding the 1991 appointment of Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court over allegations of sexual harassment from Hill, a former subordinate.\n",
"Anita Hill, a law professor at Oklahoma University, is contacted and questioned about Clarence T... |
[hieroglyphics] are there any hieroglyphic "messages" which are comprehensable just by looking at them? | The Greeks thought of hieroglyphics as a purely symbolic picture-writing--i.e., if you see a snake, it's a snake, and not the "f" sound. This was the basis of all European analysis of hieroglyphics until the nineteenth century, and led to complete and total misunderstanding of the meanings--they got downright comical ... | [
"Visually, hieroglyphs are all more or less figurative: they represent real or abstract elements, sometimes stylized and simplified, but all generally perfectly recognizable in form. However, the same sign can, according to context, be interpreted in diverse ways: as a phonogram (phonetic reading), as a logogram, o... |
Did muskets have ironsights? When was the earliest use of sights on firearms? | Some muskets did have a form of sight - the Charleville musket used by French troops during the Napoleonic Wars had a foresight - but others, like the various firearms referred to as 'Brown Bess', didn't. Many hunting and target rifles dating back to the early seventeenth century have sights, but these are obviously a ... | [
"The iron sights included a tangent V-notch rear sight that was graduated from to . Later rifles, manufactured from May 1906 onward, received a modernized rear sight, and a third version of the rear sight was adopted in 1913 after an improved 7 mm round, which had the significantly higher muzzle velocity of , was a... |
why are their expiration dates on medical oxygen tanks. does the oxygen actually "expire"? | You answered your own question.
The tanks are certified to hold the amount of oxygen they say they are holding without malfunctions for a certain amount of time. In theory, it's possible for an oxygen tank that has been stored and maintained perfectly to last much longer - maybe even forever - but in practice the man... | [
"The oxygen inside the facility, which began at 20.9%, fell at a steady pace and after 16 months was down to 14.5%. This is equivalent to the oxygen availability at an elevation of . Since some biospherians were starting to have symptoms like sleep apnea and fatigue, Walford and the medical team decided to boost ox... |
Can a single mosquito carry multiple viruses at the same time? | Yes. There are cases of simultaneous transmission of chikungunya and dengue viruses by *Aedes aegypti* and *A. albopictus.*
[a 2015 article on the matter](_URL_0_)
Correction: malaria isn't a viral disease. It is caused by parasitic protozoans of the *Plasmodium* type | [
"The viruses that lack a known vector can be divided into three groups: one closely related to the mosquito-borne viruses which is associated with bats; a second, genetically more distant, is also associated with bats; and a third group is associated with rodents.\n",
"Diseases borne by one or more species of \"C... |
Was there widespread deafness amongst pirates who operated cannons? If not, how did they avoid major damage to their hearing? | I asked a similar question about hearing loss among sailors serving on man-o-war ships a while ago, there is an excellent answer by u/jschooltiger , and a discussion between u/Marsebil-May and u/Caedus_Vao which may help: [Link](_URL_0_) | [
"Buccaneers initially used small boats to attack Spanish galleons surreptitiously, often at night, and climb aboard before the alarm could be raised. Buccaneers were expert marksmen and would quickly kill the helmsman and any officers aboard. Buccaneers' reputation as cruel pirates grew to the point that, eventuall... |
what is the metric system and what is the imperial system? what are the differences? compare/contrast. thanks | Here is some information on the modern metric system (SI) also called The International System of Units.
Why is the metric system easier than Imperial, and USC? Or any other measurement structure. The most frequently given answers include:
1…Because metric is simple and consistent. There is only one meter and one kil... | [
"The metric system is a decimal system of measurement based on its units for length, the metre and for mass, the kilogram. It exists in several variations, with different choices of base units, though these do not affect its day-to-day use. Since the 1960s, the International System of Units (SI) is the internationa... |
the state of dubai today | > So we all know that it was once in a MASSIVE boom, but what is it like now?
[Dubai is generally in good health](_URL_1_). It does have some structural problems to solve but the economy bounced back quickly after the 2009 global financial crisis, helped in no small part by [a multi-billion dollar bail out from nei... | [
"Dubai ( ; \"\", ) is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). On the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf, it is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the country.\n",
"The Government of Dubai () governs the Emirate of Dubai, one of the seven cons... |
Modern physics says Space is permeated with fields that give properties to it: electromagnetic, Weak, Strong, Higgs, etcs. What is a field physically? If I were able to see it, what would it look like? | If you could see the fields, they would look like giant jello jigglers filling all of space. Particles are ripples in the jello. Physically, a field is like jello. Different fields are like if you made the jello with more or less water: some fields are "stiffer" and others more jiggly. The fields of particle physics, t... | [
"In the modern framework of the quantum theory of fields, even without referring to a test particle, a field occupies space, contains energy, and its presence precludes a classical \"true vacuum\". This has led physicists to consider electromagnetic fields to be a physical entity, making the field concept a support... |
zero point fields | It's nonsense. It's not anything. He made it up. Bernard Haisch has done some legitimate science but he's also veered deeply into pseudoscience and straight up fiction with claims involving things like mysticism, god, aliens, reincarnation, and whatnot. Zero point fields are just his mishmash of talking about a vacuum ... | [
"The terms zero-point radiation or ground state energy are also sometimes used interchangeably. The term zero-point field (ZPF) can be used when referring to a specific vacuum field, for instance the QED vacuum which specifically deals with quantum electrodynamics (e.g. electromagnetic interactions between photons,... |
there's not water on mars okay, but what would happen if say we took a bottle of water and poured it on mars? | It would probably freeze long before the ground could absorb it. Mars is always below freezing and the temperature can get as low as -133C/-207F with an average around -55C/-67F.
Then it would sublimate (go directly from a solid to a gas) away into the atmosphere.
Nothing exciting. | [
"Pure liquid water cannot exist in a stable form on the surface of Mars with its present low atmospheric pressure and low temperature, except at the lowest elevations for a few hours. So, a geological mystery commenced in 2006 when observations from NASA's \"Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter\" revealed gully deposits tha... |
Did soldiers during WWI carry moldy bread in the field to treat their wounds as an early form of penicillin treatment? | Hey there, I'm a historian specializing in both food (bread especially) and medicine in modern Britain. My expertise falls off pretty quickly after 1914, so I cannot be definitive, but I've never heard of anything suggesting that such a story might be true.
Where did you hear this? | [
"During World War I, chemist Henry Drysdale Dakin was consulted and invented Dakin's Solution, sodium hypochlorate and boric acid, to wash out the traumatic wounds of British soldiers fighting in France.\n",
"Penicillin was first mass-produced and used during the war (see Stabilization and mass production of peni... |
What formed the patterns on the surface of this rockface? | It's called boxwork. It is rather rare.
" The boxwork fins once filled cracks in the rock before the host cave formed. As the walls of the cave began to dissolve away, the more resistant vein and crack fillings did not, or at least dissolved at a slower rate than the surrounding rock, leaving the calcite fins projecti... | [
"At most stone circles the flat faces of the stones follow the line of the setting, but at Achavanich the flat faces are 'side on'. The stone slabs appear to be set into a low mound of earth and stone, possibly the result of leveling the central area. The purpose and date of this structure are unknown, but it is us... |
why do reusable batteries need time to charge? why can't we recharge them in one powerful electric shock? | Aside from the speed at which the chemical reactions within the battery cells can occur, another issue which would make this difficult is that the charging process is not 100% efficient. Some of the energy is "lost" when it is converted to heat during charging. Consumer-grade Lithium ion cells get very warm already, es... | [
"A fully depleted battery will not draw more power if the cables are reversed, but reverse-charging a dead battery can damage its chemistry so that it loses charge capacity, and reverse voltage applied to the vehicle electronics may also damage them, resulting in expensive repairs.\n",
"A rechargeable battery can... |
Why do boys balls drop? | The reason -why- they drop and not just remain in the abdomen like the ovaries is that for some reason sperm production works better at a slightly lower temperature than 37C. [citation](_URL_0_) | [
"The boys went first due to the girl’s advantage, it was James catching the balls, Peter throwing, and Zach, Jordan and Dilhan gathering the balls. The boys started well, but just before the second drop Peter said his arm was getting tired and it showed. As the game went on Peters throwing was getting worse and wor... |
why are the planets in the middle bigger than the planets on the ends? | The solar system formed as a large cloud of gas, holding itself together under gravity. As things started colliding, more and more of the gas is pushed into a relatively flat disk by hitting other gas particles. This disk would have been densest in the middle, and slowly leveling off towards the edge of the solar syste... | [
"In the Solar System, planets, asteroids, most comets and some pieces of space debris have approximately elliptical orbits around the Sun. Strictly speaking, both bodies revolve around the same focus of the ellipse, the one closer to the more massive body, but when one body is significantly more massive, such as th... |
what causes internet fluctuations and what limits how fast it can be? | Assuming you’re going through network hardware that is running normally, the general limitations are the number of hops you have to make to get to your destination and the physical distance to the servers (the speed of light goes only so fast).
Imagine every internet destination requires you to go through toll booths... | [
"Network congestion or Internet bottleneck generally occurs and is felt by users in homes and businesses. This is what is known as the last mile of transmission, which is when there is not enough bandwidth available for individual users to access the content they want. Everyone is attempting to use the bandwidth at... |
Does DNA have or carry “memory”? | DNA isn't a memory of specific events, but rather a record of successful experiments in variation. As you probably know, the nature of sexual reproduction is to copy the parents' general traits and mix things up a little bit. Since the parents survived and reproduced, they are basically successful, but a few small ch... | [
"Memory is commonly referred to as the ability to encode, store, retain and subsequently recall information and past experiences in the human brain. This process involves many proteins, one of which is the Histone-binding protein RbAp48 (also known as RBBP4 or NURF55), encoded by the RBBP4 gene in humans.\n",
"Bo... |
How much is the "lag" in the real world? | We can actually measure how long certain signals take to propagate through the nervous system using a technique called evoked potentials. Using a set of electrodes on the scalp surface, you measure the response of the brain to a long set of stimuli and average them to get rid of all the random, moment-to-moment signals... | [
"This phenomenon carries forward for several generations and is called population momentum, \"population inertia\" or \"population-lag effect\". This time-lag effect is of great importance to the growth rates of human populations.\n",
"Finally, the outside lag may be distributed through time: Perhaps, for example... |
why does every country aside from the us have really crazy skyscrapers/skylines while new york mostly looks like a bunch of boxes | I am not an expert on architecture but I think it has something to do with the time at which most of these buildings were made. Also keep in mind that even in cities with artistic buildings many will still be very basic looking because it is spatially and economically efficient. | [
"Skyscrapers are rarely seen in small cities and they are characteristic of large cities, because of the critical importance of high land prices for the construction of skyscrapers. Usually only office, commercial and hotel users can afford the rents in the city center and thus most tenants of skyscrapers are of th... |
How was elevation measured before GPS? | Here is an interesting story:
> Until a British survey of the Indian subcontinent in 1852, it was thought the tallest mountains in the world were in the South American Andes. But in an amazing feat of audacity and mathematics, the surveyors managed to establish the height of Mountain Everest (or Peak XV as it was ca... | [
"The first recorded device to measure an elevation angle was Niccolò Tartaglia's invention of a gunners' quadrant circa 1545. This device had two arms at right angles connected by an arc marked with angular graduations. One arm was placed in the muzzle, and a plumb bob suspended against the arc showed the elevation... |
What was the original name and pronounciation of 'Jesus' and how did it change? | Hi, not discouraging further contributions here, but this question is fairly common - here are a couple of recent answers
* /u/JerusalemCentered in _URL_0_
* /u/QuickSpore in _URL_1_ | [
"The first ones to use a name of Jesus something like \"Yahshuah\" were Renaissance occultists. In the second half of the 16th century, when knowledge of Biblical Hebrew first began to spread among a significant number of Christians, certain esoterically minded or occultistic circles came up with the idea of derivi... |
how do supermarkets work? how do companies get money from their products in a supermarket? what happens if their product is left on shelves | The supermarket pays for the product, if the product is left on shelves then it's the supermarket that's made a loss | [
"Supermarkets typically are chain stores, supplied by the distribution centers of their parent companies thus increasing opportunities for economies of scale. Supermarkets usually offer products at relatively low prices by using their buying power to buy goods from manufacturers at lower prices than smaller stores ... |
how are elections bought? | Of course the votes matter, but there is a strong correlation between the candidate who spends the most money and the candidate who wins. The reason for this is because people are susceptible to advertising and do tend to internalize what they see and hear a bit.
So, if you're an undecided voter who's only mildly info... | [
"Vote buying occurs when a political party or candidate seeks to buy the vote of a voter in an upcoming election. Vote buying can take various forms such as a monetary exchange, as well as an exchange for necessary goods or services. This practice is often used to incentivise or persuade voters to turn out to elect... |
why do people with autism have a disorted voice. | Not all people with autism do. It depends on where they are on the spectrum and if they have other disorders. | [
"Those diagnosed with autism tend to have many difficulties processing auditory stimuli. For example, they most often endure language and speech delays, hyperacusis, have difficulties communicating in large social groups, and may experience difficulties hearing certain voices in a noisy environment. These qualities... |
how come lots of online services still subscribe you to their newsletters though you didn’t tick the option to do so when signing up? | Most of the times the "receive our special offers and newsletters" box is already checked automatically and you have to uncheck it before accepting. Just pay close attention when agreeing to services theres always tricks in place to get subscribers. | [
"Another instance are landing pages, used by many businesses on their company websites and social media platforms. These are pop-up type boxes that appear over the web page encouraging the site user to follow them on a certain platform or sign up to their newsletter. Sometimes these are optional, and sometimes they... |
why don't modern fighter aircraft have weapons systems that lock and shoot backwards to destroy a tailing enemy? | they do - AIM-9x the new helmet system allows them to lock on whatever they look at and the missile itself can negotiate 180 degree turns mid-air due to adding controlled wings and fins... the original AIM-9 missile had front canards that would allows it to steer, the 9x rear fins can now move
source: I'm a weapons lo... | [
"Stealth aircraft are still vulnerable to detection during, and immediately after using their weaponry. Since stealth payload (reduced RCS bombs and cruise missiles) is not yet generally available, and ordnance mount points create a significant radar return, stealth aircraft carry all armaments internally. As soon ... |
why are the us marines considered the fifth branch of the military even though they’re naval infantry and under us navy jurisdiction? | The Marines are subordinate to the *Department of the Navy* (a government department led by the civilian Secretary of the Navy), but not to the *United States Navy* (a military branch led by the uniformed Chief of Naval Operations). The Marines have their own rank structure, their own basic training, their own officer ... | [
"In 1834, the United States Marine Corps came under the Department of the Navy. Historically, the Navy has had a unique relationship with the USMC, partly because they both specialize in seaborne operations. Together the Navy and Marine Corps form the Department of the Navy and report to the Secretary of the Navy. ... |
Is this noise real? If so, what is it? | quite honestly it sounds just like someone hitting a cymbal and then editing the sounds to continue the reverb
not saying that is exactly what that is - but as a person in concert and marching band, that was my first, second, and third thought... | [
"In video and television, noise refers to the random dot pattern that is superimposed on the picture as a result of electronic noise, the 'snow' that is seen with poor (analog) television reception or on VHS tapes. Interference and static are other forms of noise, in the sense that they are unwanted, though not ran... |
Rhodesia and South Africa | I think there are two principle reasons:
1) Rhodesia was a British colony which unilaterally declared independence. Britain and its friends and allies did not recognize this declaration of independence, and therefore Rhodesia did not have international recognition as a state. There was really no bloc of nations that h... | [
"The southern African territory of Rhodesia, officially Southern Rhodesia, was a unique case in the British Empire and Commonwealth—though a colony in name, it was internally self-governing and constitutionally not unlike a dominion. This situation dated back to 1923, when it was granted responsible government with... |
What connection does modern Mali have with the historical Malian Empire? | There is a tenuous connection, but it is not nonexistent unlike Ghana (named in honor of the empire of Wagadu by Nkrumah's CPP) and Benin (changed from Dahomey for historical and political reasons in 1975 to a geographical name based on the bight, not specifically to appropriate the name of the still-extant kingdom of ... | [
"The Mali Empire or Manding Empire or Manden Kurufa was a medieval West African state of the Mandinka from 1235 to 1645. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I. The Mali Empire had many profound cultural influences on West Africa, allowing ... |
why are traffic lights good at showing color even in full sunlight? | What country? In the netherlands they aint. | [
"Colors of traffic lights are confusing to some dichromats as there is insufficient apparent difference between the red/amber traffic lights and sodium street lamps; also, the green can be confused with a grubby white lamp. This is a risk on high-speed undulating roads where angular cues cannot be used. British Rai... |
What is the smallest amount of blood that can be analyzed in a medical blood lab? | It varies enormously based on the specific test, but the smallest amount usable is quite small. We can check blood sugar or troponin (a cardiac enzyme) with one drop of blood from a pricked fingertip. But things like coagulation studies need a couple of milliliters.
> Follow up question: Is a small portable version... | [
"Blood mitragynine concentrations are expected to be in a range of 10–50 μg/L in persons using the drug recreationally. Detection in body fluids is typically by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.\n",
"It is calculated by dividing the haemoglobin by the haematocrit. Reference ranges for blood tests are 32 to... |
Concerning the triangle as a musical instrument, and the sound(s) it emits, would a square or a circle or any other shape sound any different? | Even though I am not sure how the shape influences the sound in the case of a triangle, I know that historically [this instrument wasn't always triangular](_URL_0_). So it might be possible that the shape does not influence the sound. | [
"On a triangle instrument, one of the angles is left open, with the ends of the bar not quite touching.\"One corner of the triangle is left open to keep the instrument from having a specific pitch and to allow it to generate ethereal, scintillating overtones instead\". It is either suspended from one of the other ... |
“Socialism” vs. “communism” in the GDR | This will largely cover the first two decades of the GDRs history and the delineation between Socialism and Communism within the GDR. The first big thing to pay attention to is that the GDR emerged from the ashes of Nazi Germany and for the leaders of the GDR they had to achieve a shift from Capitalism to Socialism an... | [
"According to some accounts, the use of the words \"socialism\" or \"communism\" related to the perceived attitude toward religion in a given culture. Continental Europeans considered \"communism\" more atheistic than \"socialism\". In England, \"communism\" sounded too close to communion – with Catholic overtones;... |
The closest star system to the Sun is 4.3 lightyears away. Is that an anomaly, or are most star systems about 4 lightyears from their nearest neighbor in this neck of the woods? | In the solar neighborhood, the stellar density is about one star per cubic parsec (one parsec is 3.26 light-years.) | [
"Based on results from the Gaia telescope's second data release from April 2018, an estimated 694 stars will possibly approach the Solar System to less than over the next 15 million years. Of these, 26 have a good probability to come within and another 7 within . This number is likely much higher, due to the sheer ... |
Why don't dark matter halos around galaxies collapse to form compact structures like stars and "dark matter galaxies" just like baryonic matter does? | A good question and very related to why we call it *dark* matter.
I will however have to start with some basic astrophysics. It is easy to reason that if you put some matter in space it will be pulled together by gravity. Since there is nothing else there it will just all end up in a point. To believe this is a mista... | [
"More recent theories include the clustering of dark matter halos in the bottom-up process. Instead of large gas clouds collapsing to form a galaxy in which the gas breaks up into smaller clouds, it is proposed that matter started out in these “smaller” clumps (mass on the order of globular clusters), and then many... |
Is there an analogue to the color wheel for taste/smells? Something that covers pretty much all the bases in a concise model? | There has been some attempt at creating a color wheel for smells, such as [this one](_URL_1_), but these "fragrance wheels" don't even come close to covering all scents.
Creating such a wheel is rather difficult as humans have "hundreds of different olfactory sensors" capable of distinguish "trillions" of different sm... | [
"A fragrance wheel, variously called an aroma wheel, a fragrance circle, a perfume wheel or a smell wheel, is a round diagram showing the inferred relationships among olfactory groups based upon similarities and differences in their odor. The groups bordering one another are implied to share common olfactory charac... |
What exactly is harmful of the light created by welding, and how far does this harmful effect extend. | Its the intensity and the composition of the light produced. there is a very large amount of UV light present, it is incredibly powerful and you are very close too it. think of taking the energy of a tanning bed, putting it into a hand-heald flashlight, and holding it directly against your eye. Weld arcs do not produce... | [
"As with its infrared and ultraviolet radiation dangers, welding creates an intense brightness in the visible light spectrum, which may cause temporary flash blindness. Some sources state that there is no minimum safe distance for exposure to these radiation emissions without adequate eye protection.\n",
"Welding... |
when swiping (or inserting) a card, how does the card transfer its information to the machine? | Your information is stored either in a magnetic strip (similar to a hard disk drive) or in a chip that the card reader has an interface too (like the metal bits In a charger)
When connected the reader reads the information and confirms with a site whether the pin is correct and whether you have enough money to purchase... | [
"Motorized readers are built in, for example ATMs. The credit/debit-card is inserted into the card slot, where the first magnetic head is placed. If a magnetic stripe can be recognized, a shutter will be opened and the card will be transported to the second magnetic head by roles. The card is read, thereby the devi... |
How did people originally get mercury in thermometers? | > We all know how poisonous mercury is
Pure elemental mercury is not very dangerous if handled properly and you avoid ingesting/inhaling it, it's only the organic compounds that will really mess you up. Even then, those dangers weren't recognized until recent years which is why our thermometers now mostly use colored... | [
"After experimenting, Christin considered that the mercury thermometer was preferable to the one with alcohol and pronounced in favor of its instrumentation in a conference on 13 June 1740. He noticed the idea of the centesimal division when, in his research, he observed that a quantity of mercury poured into a t... |
What was a significant event that occurred in the Americas in 1238 AD? | Are you looking for things that happened explicitly in 1238? Exact dates are tough to come by in most parts of the Americas. The lowland Classic Maya tradition that produced large numbers of dated stela had died out by then, so your left with the likes of dendrochronology (tree ring dating) to determine definite years. | [
"In 1513 the Kaqchikel suffered from a plague of locusts. The following year, in 1514, Iximche was severely damaged by a fire. A plague, described as terrible in the Annals of the Kaqchikel, struck the city in 1519 and lasted two years, resulting in a large number of deaths. This was likely to have been smallpox br... |
would a wet towel dry in space? | Yes, the water would vaporize due to the low (almost zero) pressure. You can see a similar effect when water in a sealed jar is placed under a vacuum--it begins to boil, even at room temperature.
_URL_0_ | [
"One of the big concerns with bathing in space was control of droplets of water so that they did not cause an electrical short by floating into the wrong area. The vacuum water system was thus integral to the shower. The vacuum fed to a centrifugal separator, filter, and collection bag to allow the system to vacuum... |
why do social issues such as gay marriage rights always remain at the forefront of politics, when there are problems such as the current economic situation we are facing? | I'd submit first that gay marriage lacks urgency to you because it likely does not affect your life. However, to a gay couple, it's probably an urgent issue.
That said, I think it's about power and pain. Fixing the economic issues we face would mean economic pain for many. No politician wants to give up their pow... | [
"Scientific studies show that the financial, psychological, and physical well-being of gay people are enhanced by marriage, and that the children of same-sex parents benefit from being raised by married same-sex couples within a marital union that is recognized by law and supported by societal institutions. Social ... |
how is sticky tape only sticky on 1 side despite the whole thing being rolled up? | After the tape is coated with adhesive, the adhesive is overlaid with a thin coat of anti-stick material (such as polyvinyl carbamate) to keep it from sticking quite as hard to the next layer of tape in the roll. | [
"Pressure-sensitive tape, PSA tape, self-stick tape or sticky tape consists of a pressure-sensitive adhesive coated onto a backing material such as paper, plastic film, cloth, or metal foil. It is sticky (tacky) without any heat or solvent for activation and adheres with light pressure. These tapes usually require ... |
what exactly is the endgame to all of the nsa's spying programs? | I suppose the ideal outcome would be the ability to predict when bad things are going to happen... before they happen... so they can be stopped.
That's the whole point of this. Making use of modern technology and the absurd growth of data to try and prevent things like 9/11 or the Boston Marathon Bombing *before* the... | [
"According to the New York Times the NSA is monitoring approximately 100.000 computers worldwide with spy software named Quantum. Quantum enables the NSA to conduct surveillance on those computers on the one hand and can also create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks on the other hand. Among the targets a... |
why is it that animals do not complain (or make a drama) as much as humans when they are in pain? | If you're in pain, you cry out and other humans come to help. If most animals are in pain and cry out, that signals to a predator within earshot that there is some injured prey nearby, and nothing will come to help it.
We are social animals that can help each other, so crying out for help is beneficial. In most animal... | [
"Many animals also exhibit more complex behavioural and physiological changes indicative of the ability to experience pain: they eat less food, their normal behaviour is disrupted, their social behaviour is suppressed, they may adopt unusual behaviour patterns, they may emit characteristic distress calls, experienc... |
When did knitting and crocheting become common? | i can't speak for crochet, but knitting didn't exist until the 9th century AD, its among the youngest of fibre crafts. until recent history it was mostly used for making garments such as hats and socks, due to it stretching in every direction (unlike woven fabric and unlike crochet, which doesn't stretch much at all) r... | [
"With the invention of the stocking frame, an early form of knitting machine, knitting \"by hand\" became a craft used by country people with easy access to fiber. Similar to quilting, spinning, and needlepoint, hand knitting became a leisure activity for the wealthy. English Roman Catholic priest and a former Angl... |
How did modern physics become something studied in Japan? | Please delete this post if it does not meet the academic standard of this subreddit.
+++
* If I remember correctly, Part II of Scott L. Montgomery, *Science in Translation: Movements of Knowledge through Cultures and Time*, Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2000, deals with the reception of the 'modern' western science in... | [
"During the period, Japan progressively studied Western sciences and techniques (called \"rangaku\", literally \"Dutch studies\") through the information and books received through the Dutch traders in Dejima. The main areas that were studied included geography, medicine, natural sciences, astronomy, art, languages... |
Do we have necessary technology to support electric powered flight and space travel, given proper source of electricity is available? | The question assumes that the biggest technological hurdle is complete. The sole reason we don't have many electric or fuel cell aircraft in the skies is because we don't have a compact, lightweight source of energy - at least nothing that can beat liquid hydrocarbons in terms of energy density, availability, safety, ... | [
"Since the beginning of the dawn of the time of aviation, electric power for aircraft has received a great deal of experimentation. Currently flying electric aircraft include manned and unmanned aerial vehicles.\n",
"Electric propulsion is now a mature and widely used technology on spacecraft. Russian satellites ... |
why is it so hard to go back to the moon? | It's not hard at all, it's just expensive. There is no point in spending that much money to do something that has already been done. It is more lucrative to put a satellite into orbit than to put a person on the moon. Everything really boils down to money and the moon is just not profitable. | [
"\"But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon! We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because t... |
why do you get such bright red marks when you scratch your legs after getting out of the shower compared to any other time? | In the shower your skin will turn red due to the hot water. When your body temperature rises your body will dilate the blood vessels in the skin to help cool you down. Which is why people’s faces/skin will turn red when they are hot.
When you scratch you are causing trauma to the skin.
If you scratch after the show... | [
"The condition manifests as an allergic-like reaction, causing a warm red wheal to appear on the skin. As it is often the result of scratches, involving contact with other materials, it can be confused with an allergic reaction, when in fact it is the act of being scratched that causes a wheal to appear. These whea... |
The 1992 US Presidential election broke the trend of New England and California voting for the Republican Party, and these states switched over to the Democratic Party. Why? Was it shift in ideologies between the two parties? Changing demographics? | California can probably be explained by demographics changes. While the Bay Area had always been relatively liberal in the modern party system, Southern California began trending towards Democrats as the Hispanic population increased (from 19.6% to 25.6% of the population between 1980 and 1990). Southern California h... | [
"California was a Republican stronghold in presidential elections from 1952 until 1992. During this period, the Republicans won California in every election except the election of 1964. In these years, the GOP regularly nominated Californians as presidential candidates: Richard Nixon in 1960 and 1972, and Ronald Re... |
How are geological formations formed and why do they appear the way they do? | You could easily take multiple courses on this subject, and still not have a complete understanding of it. So anything you'll get here will by nature be an oversimplification, but I'll try to at least lay out some basics.
You can break the subject of how geologic formations are made and exposed into three categories. ... | [
"A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term 'rock formation' can also refer to specific sedimentary strata or other rock unit in stratigraphic and petrologic studies.\n",
"\"Fo... |
Are there any examples of impractical side-effects of evolution? | The situation you're describing is just a normal consequence of evolution; I think calling it a "side-effect" is a bit misleading. In these flies, there is intersexual selection (i.e., selection mediated by female choice) for longer eyes, though we can only speculate as to the exact reasons behind this preference. [C... | [
"The ultimate cause of a biological event determines how the event makes organisms better adapted to their environment, and thus why evolution by natural selection has produced that event. While a large number of ultimate causes of hermaphroditism have been proposed, the two causes most relevant to sequential herma... |
Why are the Eastern Asian and European races referred to as the "Mongoloid" and "Caucasian" races, respectively? | These terms weren't grounded in any rigorous scientific evidence. They were coined by German philosopher [Christoph Meiners in 1785](_URL_1_). Keep in mind this was well before the theory of evolution was put forth. The terms were popularized further by [Johann Blumenbach](_URL_0_) who thought that Adam and Eve were ca... | [
"Masniari Novita of the Biomedical Department of Jember University, Jember, Indonesia, said \"Asiatics\" are part of the \"Mongoloid\" race while \"Asians from the Indian Subcontinent\" are part of the \"Caucasian\" race.\n",
"Many Eurasian ethnic groups arose during the Mongol invasion of Europe. Partial Mongol ... |
what’s the goal of email spammers who send random text with link in them? | Security Analyst here. There are mainly 2 seperate reasons:
1.) I write a program that sends out 1 million spam emails an hour, lets use the old Nigerian prince example - if I'm asking for $5,000 to "release" millions to you, it sounds too good to be true, and most won't fall for it. But some people will. If only 1% o... | [
"Authors of spam and viruses wish to make their messages appear to originate from a legitimate source to fool recipients into opening the message, so they often use web-crawling software to scan usenet postings, message boards, and web pages for legitimate email addresses.\n",
"Emails, which include images, gifs ... |
Do carbonated liquids show up in nature? | Yes, [Soda Springs](_URL_0_) is an example of naturally carbonated water. Carbonation is merely carbon dioxide dissolved in a liquid at a high enough concentration that it can be observed rapidly coming out of solution. Most bodies of water have some level of dissolved CO2, though not at levels where it can be detected... | [
"It is generally thought that the presence of carbonates in rock is strong evidence for the presence of liquid water. Recent observations of the planetary nebula NGC 6302 show evidence for carbonates in space, where aqueous alteration similar to that on Earth is unlikely. Other minerals have been proposed which wou... |
How did Native Americans and British/French troops fight cohesively during the French and Indian War? | In case you were unaware, it's usually referred to as the seven years War outside of the US. | [
"During the \"French and Indian War\" (1754–1763), Native Americans were allied with both sides. The Iroquois sided with the British against the French and their Algonquin allies who were traditionally the enemies of the Iroquois.\n",
"During the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years'... |
how does manhattan handle all of the human waste? | The same way everywhere else does: there's a comprehensive sewer system that leads to wastewater treatment plants, which treat the water and then release it into one of the area's rivers. Manhattan is covered by three of New York City's twelve wastewater treatment plants. You can see a map of NYC's wastewater treatme... | [
"The New York City Department of Sanitation is responsible for garbage removal. The bulk of the city's trash ultimately is disposed at mega-dumps in Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio (via transfer stations in New Jersey, Brooklyn and Queens) since the 2001 closure of the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten... |
why do you have to be 21 to go and play in a casino? | It's more about the alcohol than the gambling. Many casinos will let you in if you're 18, as long as their bar staff has a handle on carding. | [
"A person must be 21 years of age to gamble at a casino in New Jersey. It is legal for a minor to go to a casino, insofar as they do not gamble, consume alcoholic beverage, or remain on the gambling floor. Underage gambling at a casino is a disorderly persons offense (misdemeanor), punishable by a $500–$1000 fine a... |
Do people's internal voice change when they learn a language? | When I was learning in French, it obviously took a lot of translating. But there came a point when I was so comfortable with it that I could think in French and no longer had to create the sentence in English *first* before expressing it in French *second*. I could dive right into French. So, at least for me, there ... | [
"According to Steven Pinker, who builds on the work by Noam Chomsky, the universal human ability to learn to talk between the ages of 1 – 4, basically without training, suggests that language acquisition is a distinctly human psychological adaptation (see, in particular, Pinker's \"The Language Instinct\"). Pinker ... |
Every time I put gas in my car, the tank isn't completely empty. Does that mean there is a trace of gas from the very first fueling in it? | Let's say you fill your tank when it's 1/4 full. Let's say it hold's 65 litres.
So you run it down to 1/4 full and fill it back up. You have 16.25L of that first fuel still in the tank. Next time you are down to 4.0625L and so on.
[Petrol weighs 0.77kg/l](_URL_0_) and [one mole of petrol weighs 114g](_URL_2_) so you ... | [
"Petrol is supplied by gravity from the tank at the rear of the car but once the car is under way exhaust gases maintain a pressure within this tank. A lubricating oil tank is pressurised the same way. The petrol tank is in two compartments separated by a partial partition. Both sections are filled when the tank is... |
Why does glass become reflective when it is dark on the other side? | It doesn't become any **more** reflective, the reflectivity remains the same.
The existing reflectivity is hard to notice when light from the other side is present. | [
"The glass is coated with, or has encased within, a thin and almost-transparent layer of metal (usually aluminium). The result is a mirrored surface that reflects some light and is penetrated by the rest. Light always passes equally in both directions. However, when one side is brightly lit and the other kept dark,... |
why do spanners make a tink sound when dropped on the ground and other tools dont ? | A wrench is a solid piece of metal, which can vibrate through itself freely without being dampened by any wood or fiberglass, or secondary piece of metal (as pliers).
Is it really the *only* such solid metal tool that will tink? Probably not. But many other tools have fiberglass or multiple parts. | [
"A drill bushing, also known as a jig bushing, is a tool used in metalworking jigs to guide cutting tools, most commonly drill bits. Other tools that are commonly used in a drill bushing include counterbores, countersinks, and reamers. They are designed to guide, position, and support the cutting tool.\n",
"Adult... |
non-dairy whipped topping contains milk and cream? | They name it that because otherwise it's too easy for people to mistake it for whipped cream, when it is usually mostly soy oil and a little dairy to flavor it. Dairy allergic people can't eat it, obviously. Many margarines have dairy ingredients too. | [
"Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called \"separators\". In ma... |
How best to research old newspaper articles that are not digitized? (And not local?) | Do you have a date range for when he worked there? [There's actually quite a bit of that paper online.](_URL_0_) I'm just getting too many hits. | [
"Archives of print newspapers, in some cases dating hundreds of years back, are being digitized and made available online. Google is indexing existing digital archives produced by the newspapers themselves or by third parties. \n",
"This project dovetails with the United States Newspaper Program which was a massi... |
Why does salt water leave a ring of salt when it evaporates, rather than an evenly spread layer of salt? | The same thing happens with coffee stains. There's a pretty good explanation [here:](_URL_0_) (Part 2.91) | [
"Salting out (also known as salt-induced precipitation, salt fractionation, anti-solvent crystallization, precipitation crystallization, or drowning out) is an effect based on the electrolyte–non-electrolyte interaction, in which the non-electrolyte could be less soluble at high salt concentrations. It is used as a... |
I read that when the light of Betelgeuse’s anticipated supernovic explosion reaches earth, it will create two weeks of perpetual daylight. Is this true, and if so, will that have any lasting effect on fauna? | > it will create two weeks of perpetual daylight
That's definitely a huge overstatement.
Betelgeuse currently has an apparent magnitude of about 0.5 (though it's somewhat variable), and an absolute magnitude of about -6 (how bright it would be if it were 32.6 light-years away). Betelgeuse will likely become a Type ... | [
"Odenwald discusses the possible effects of a Betelgeuse supernova on the Earth and on human space travel, especially the effects of the stream of charged particles that would reach the Earth about 100,000 years later than the initial light and other electromagnetic radiation produced by the explosion.\n",
"SN 20... |
why does hard alcohol taste so bad? | It tastes great, you just aren't drunk enough.
In all seriousness there is a taste which ethanol (drinking alcohol) has and it is unavoidable. 80 proof liquor (40% ABV) tastes like ethanol because it's 40% ethanol. If you don't like it, that's fine, but it's how all hard liquor tastes. You can drink it on rocks (with ... | [
"Heavy alcohol consumption has been shown to have a damaging effect on the cellular processes that create bone tissue, and long-term alcoholic consumption at high levels increases the frequency of fractures. Epidemiological studies (studies done by interviewing subjects and studying their health records) have found... |
why aren’t we able to make roads out of a more durable material than asphalt and concrete? | Any suggestions on what we should use instead? Concrete and asphalt are relatively cheap, strong, easily repaired, and can be poured. What more could you want in a material? | [
"BULLET::::- Plastic-bitumen composite roads have better wear resistance than standard asphalt concrete roads. They do not absorb water, have better flexibility which results in less rutting and less need for repair. Road surfaces remain smooth, are lower maintenance, and absorb sound better.\n",
"An asphalt conc... |
At its most desperate, how thin were the Red Army lines on the West side of the Volga during the battle for Stalingrad? | In sum, the Red Army was holding on by their figurative fingernails at points, and just about their literal ones too. The situation in November, 1942, was that the Germans occupied 9/10 of the city. This included part of the shoreline as well, in fact, having managed to force their way to the bank of the Volga in a por... | [
"The Stalingrad Front was a front, a military unit encompassing several armies, of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. The name indicated the primary geographical region in which the Front first fought, based on the city of Stalingrad on the Volga River.\n",
"The Southeastern Front was a fron... |
What percentage of total world photosynthesis are plants responsible for? | _URL_1_
> From a 2010 study by the University of Maryland, photosynthesizing Cyanobacteria have been shown to be a significant species in the global carbon cycle, accounting for 20–30% of Earth's photosynthetic productivity and convert solar energy into biomass-stored chemical energy at the rate of ~450 TW
That may ... | [
"One such research area involves increasing the Earth's proportion of C4 carbon fixation photosynthetic plants. C4 plants represent about 5% of Earth's plant biomass and 1% of its known plant species, but account for around 30% of terrestrial carbon fixation.\n",
"BULLET::::- C4 photosynthesis is estimated to hav... |
how come diamond-companies are allowed to control the number of diamonds in circulation, without being a monopoly? | The **are** a monopoly. DeBeers is very much in violation of the various anti-trust statutes in the US.
The problem is that they aren't _based_ in the US and their executives don't come to the US, so the US can't do anything to stop them. They operate out of countries that allow their business practices and, since t... | [
"The National Mineral Agency (NMA) until 2005 valued diamonds for export using a price book based on 1996 figures. Companies also often seek to minimize the value of their diamond exports to reduce taxes and move profits abroad. Once transferred to a subsidiary elsewhere where their value is not taxed, the same dia... |
What is the origins of the Hammer and Sickle imagery? | I remember this question being posted a while back; you should find [these answers](_URL_0_) useful. | [
"The hammer and sickle (Unicode: \"☭\") is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity a union between the peasantry and working-class, that was first adopted – as : \"sickle and hammer\" – during the Russian Revolution. At the time of its creation, the hammer stood for the proletariat and the sickle for the... |
how come some internet connections completely slow down download speed when the upload speed reaches the cap? | > I thought upload and download were different bandwidths?
They are, but when you download, you have to routinely send back acknowledgement messages to let the sender know that the data arrived correctly. When your upload bandwidth is saturated, these messages are slow to go through, which slows down your downloads,... | [
"BULLET::::- Using multi thread download similar to Internet Download Manager, the browser is supposed to download at just the same speed as Internet Download Manager, however there are reports of cases where it failed to perform up to expectation, because the actual acceleration depends on the bandwidth of the Int... |
how do iphones get unlocked? | As in it was passcode locked and you entered the wrong one too many times? You'll need to hook it up to iTunes and wipe/restore it. Assuming it hasn't been reported lost/stolen. If it has and you're not the owner... have fun. | [
"Activation Lock was introduced in 2013 with iOS 7. It is integrated with iCloud and Find My iPhone feature. This new feature locks the activation of any iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple watch which has been restored in either DFU or Recovery mode without first disabling the Find My iPhone feature. Once restore is... |
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