question stringlengths 3 301 | answer stringlengths 9 26.1k | context list |
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Does time dilate inside materials with different indices of refraction? | Light does not actually slow down in a material, most of a material is empty space anyway, it just seems that way because it is constantly being absorbed and re-immitted by atoms. So the physics of relativity doesn't change.
This link explains it quite nicely _URL_0_ | [
"The refractive index of a material is the factor by which the phase velocity is decreased relative to the velocity of light in vacuum. At a microscale, such a decrease occurs because of a disturbance in the charges of each atom after being subjected to the electromagnetic field of the incident light. As the electr... |
Differences in cores with hyper-threading? | "Hyper-threading" is marketing-speak for [simultaneous multithreading (SMT)](_URL_2_). This is a technique to maximize the utilization of processor resources.
Modern processors are designed to issue multiple instructions per cycle. This is possible because modern processors do [out-of-order execution (OOO)](_URL_3_), ... | [
"In 2006, hyper-threading was criticised for energy inefficiency. For example, specialist low-power CPU design company ARM stated that simultaneous multithreading (SMT) can use up to 46% more power than ordinary dual-core designs. Furthermore, they claimed that SMT increases cache thrashing by 42%, whereas dual cor... |
I'f I filll my ear canals with Helium, Will I be able to hear frequencies below 20Hz? or will nothing change? | Good question, but sadly the answer is no, the property of a sound wave that that you "hear" is the *frequency*, and while having Helium in your ears will change the wave's *speed* and *wavelength*, it does so in a way to leave the frequency unchanged.
Actually thankfully it works this way. The speed of sound through... | [
"The speed of sound in helium is nearly three times the speed of sound in air. Because the fundamental frequency of a gas-filled cavity is proportional to the speed of sound in the gas, when helium is inhaled there is a corresponding increase in the resonant frequencies of the vocal tract. The fundamental frequency... |
snake charming | The snake isn't actually being hypnotised, they remove the venom and teeth making the snake submissive and then manipulate their natural striking movements in order for them to appear as if they are in a trance like state. | [
"Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnotize a snake by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerous acts, as well as other street performance staples, like juggling and sleight of hand. The pr... |
if we can grow diamonds that are indistinguishable from real ones, why can't we do the same with gold? | Diamond is made of carbon atoms, which are extremely common. Gold is made of gold atoms, which are not.
Making a specific kind of atom is technically possible, but *extremely* difficult and expensive. You'd never be able to get enough to make even a small block. | [
"Because diamonds have high requirements for planting environment and technology, it is difficult to survive in severe climate. Therefore, the global planting surface is very small, the output is extremely low, and the cost of seed and brewing is high, which is extremely rare. The diamonds are only planted in a sma... |
why was there a huge dotcom crash when so much business is done via the internet now? i'd like to understand the reason behind the financial impacts it had as i know it was enormous | At the beginning of the new millennium, online sales were (correctly) seen as the way of the future. A website like _URL_0_ dominated the online sales at the time, and people concluded that in 10 years retail stores would be a thing of the past. Many people extrapolated this to believe that basically all current sale... | [
"Bryan saw the warning signs of the looming dot-com bust: an overbuilt, unpredictable industry that was over-funded. When he shared his concerns with the company's stakeholders, his prediction was very unpopular. Bryan stepped down from his role at ICG in 2000 when the company, like most of those in the Internet bu... |
Why do Amphoras have round bottoms? | _URL_0_
Whats best for stacking on stable land may not work so well on a rocking boat. | [
"The word \"amphora\" derives from the Greek \"amphi-\" (on both sides) and \"-phoros\" (carrier). They are terracotta vases of variable size with two vertical handles, by which they are carried on both sides, designed for the transport and storage of liquids (principally olive oil and wine). They could be painted ... |
why is it a dog can recognize a person over skype but a cat can't? | They know its you. They just don't care | [
"The dogs have learned to cross the street with pedestrians and have been observed obeying traffic lights. Since dogs have dichromatic vision, researchers theorize that the dogs recognize other cues, such as the shapes or positions of the changing signals. \n",
"By properly interpreting the body language of dogs,... |
How long did the singularity exist for? | Both length and time were meaningless. | [
"The initial singularity was a gravitational singularity of seemingly infinite density thought to have contained all the mass and space-time of the Universe before quantum fluctuations caused it to rapidly expand in the Big Bang and subsequent inflation, creating the present-day Universe. The instant immediately fo... |
why can youtube show an accurate number of upvotes/downvotes, but reddit can't? | I'm guessing they probably don't, you just think they do.
YouTube ratings are not as important (or, perhaps I should so to the end user, they're not that important) and hence aren't followed as closely.
Also Google. | [
"BULLET::::- Upvote/Downvote: Up and down votes were essentially user ratings on a given yak. For a post to become popular it had to receive more upvotes than downvotes, at which time it displayed a positive number next to it. If votes on a post reached a value of -5, it was permanently deleted.\n",
"Reddit, star... |
it’s tax season in the us, why do us citizens have to keep track of and file their own taxes? doesn’t this mean the system is not only ripe for abuse and tax evasion, but puts an unnecessary burden on citizens? eli5 why doesn’t the us government take taxes at source? | Tax returns are for you to prove that you don’t owe as much in tax as the government says you do.
The government doesn’t get notified every time you do every little thing. Taxes are the time for you to tell them I paid interest on my mortgage. I pay sales tax, I pay tax at the dmv (all of these are tax deductible). | [
"The U.S. requires its citizens to file tax returns reporting their earnings wherever they reside. However, there are some measures designed to reduce the international double taxation that results from this requirement.\n",
"When taxes are raised, people have an incentive to shift out of the taxable formal secto... |
Do astronauts identify the constellations we can see from Earth? | Yes, astronautes are only about 400 km (250 miles) above earth. You wouldn't expect to see any difference in the constellations after driving 400 km.
In fact stars are so far away that the constellations look the same to the naked eye from anywhere in the solar system. | [
"BULLET::::- Apollo astronauts frequently aligned their spacecraft inertial navigation platforms and determined their positions relative to the Earth and Moon by sighting sets of stars with optical instruments. As a practical joke, the Apollo 1 crew named three of the stars in the Apollo catalog after themselves an... |
why are there so few engineers and scientists in politics? | Because the skillsets required of the two jobs are different. Whenever this question comes up, it naively assumes politics works how we think it should work in a normative fashion. That everyone should sit down, present their facts, and the most rational decision is made based on the evidence. That's not politics. Main... | [
"Most of the leading political issues in the United States have a scientific component. For example, renewable energy, Stem Cell Research, climate change, and national security. Despite the growing integration of science in policy there are only a handful of Congressional members and their staff who have sufficient... |
How did the United Kingdom go about recruiting so many Native American allies during the War of 1812? | I've got a good handle on how this developed in the southeastern U.S. with some of the tribes in that arena:
The demand for British goods (particularly British-made arms) above all others was quite high among many native tribes, and this demand stretched far back into the previous century when Great Britain was nurturi... | [
"Following their consolidation after the Saratoga disaster, the British began recruiting American Loyalists and Native allies in great numbers to make up for their lack of army troops, and dispatched them on what were essentially raiding expeditions against Patriot settlements on the frontiers. Using their naval su... |
how exactly do vector graphics work? | Basically, a vector drawing files a list of instructions - draw a line from point a to point b, draw a line from point b to point c. Fill the enclosed area with a color, and so on.
Then, when you 'zoom in', the computer - effectively - makes the line sharper to take advantage of the higher resolution. | [
"The term \"vector graphics\" is mainly used today in the context of two-dimensional computer graphics. It is one of several modes an artist can use to create an image on a raster display. Vector graphics can be uploaded to online databases for other designers to download and manipulate, speeding up the creative pr... |
the draft/conscription in the united states | There is no draft currently.
Currently every male upon reaching the age of 18 they are legally required to register for the draft. That registration puts their name on a list. Should the draft be activated they will start going through that list in a set order and call up people. When you are called up you will go th... | [
"The Enrollment Act, , enacted March 3, 1863, also known as the Civil War Military Draft Act, was legislation passed by the United States Congress during the American Civil War to provide fresh manpower for the Union Army. A form of conscription, the controversial act required the enrollment of every male citizen a... |
What would be the best direction to jump in, if jumping out of a train? | Jump in the direction opposite the train's motion. You're already moving 20 m/s forward, if you just "fall" out instead of jumping, you hit the ground doing 20 m/s. If you jump toward the rear of the train, then you only hit the ground doing 15 m/s. Be sure to jump straight back though, and not up as well, lest you ... | [
"After boarding the train, it moves forward and begins going up the hill. At the top, it takes a narrow turn and takes a steep dive, does its first loop, makes a wide turn, does its second loop, does a 360 degree turn that interlocks with the second loop, makes a wide turn and does another 360 degree turn, takes an... |
What are the general feelings among the science community about transcendental meditation? | Quite a few scientists have investigated the phenomena, and some have been advised by the Dalai Lama. Like this first example.
_URL_0_
I gave a talk just before Posner at a symposium last year. His work on nicotine addiction and meditation is pretty interesting.
_URL_1_
There are likely other examples, but ... | [
"\"TM and Cult Mania\" takes a look at the assertions made by the Transcendental Meditation movement and analyzes them from a scientific perspective. The book acknowledges that those who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique feel relaxed and experience an increase in creativity. According to the book, th... |
how does this plasma-cutter work? | Well, yes the electricity from the arc is melting the metal but in a very localized area. Pencil lead is a very good conductor of electricity but when you are drawing an arc or maintaining one both materials are consumed in the process
Source , went to Welding school | [
"Plasma cutters use a number of methods to start the arc. In some units, the arc is created by putting the torch in contact with the work piece. Some cutters use a high voltage, high frequency circuit to start the arc. This method has a number of disadvantages, including risk of electrocution, difficulty of repair,... |
Role of corporations as seen and understood by the US founding fathers | Corporations in this time resembled little what they are today.
For the most part, corporations were entirely creatures of the state that incorporated them. They were created for a specific purpose pursued by that state. Now, sometimes that purpose involved private benefit either as a means (the large joint stock colo... | [
"Robert E. Wright argues in \"Corporation Nation\" (2014) that the governance of early U.S. corporations, of which over 20,000 existed by the Civil War of 1861-1865, was superior to that of corporations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries because early corporations governed themselves like \"republics\", repl... |
what's the difference between a university and an institute (of technology)? | For all practical purposes, your getting basically the same education.
A bachelor's degree is a bachelor's degree. The difference between a bachelor of science and a bachelor of arts, OTOH, is significant. The different degree requirements of the schools will differ but that's nothing to do with the name.
The univers... | [
"In some countries institutes can be part of a university or other institutions of higher education, either as a group of departments or an autonomous educational institution without a traditional university status such as a \"university Institute\". (See Institute of Technology)\n",
"In several countries, like G... |
why can't we consume the daily required nutrients we need in pill or drip form rather than having to eat a variety of foods and having to and expel it out of our bodies? | You can, but it's boring. People in a coma live on nutrient paste and IV drip.
You need to expel some waste because damaged cells and useless metabolic products need to go somewhere. | [
"Normally, individuals obtain the necessary nutrients their bodies require through normal daily diets that process the foods accordingly within the body. Nevertheless, there are circumstances such as disease, distress, stress, and so on that may prevent the body from obtaining sufficient nutrients through diets alo... |
[Meta (sort of)] Booklist request! I want to know more about Gnosticism and Mystery Cults | I've recently begun to find more books on religion as a whole, and then delved deeper into what I found interesting
Of the ones I've seen regarding Gnosticism:
*The Gnostic Gospels* by Elain Pagels - A great book that reflects the depth of the religion itself. It's great in that it highlights *and answers* common que... | [
"Discordian works include a number of books, not all of which actually exist. Among those that have been published are \"Principia Discordia\", first published in 1965 (which includes portions of \"The Honest Book of Truth\"); and \"The Illuminatus! Trilogy\", which had its first volume published in 1975.\n",
"Di... |
why does the sun seem to burn hotter in the morning (ca. 10:00) than in the afternoon (ca. 17:00)? | 1000 is only 2 hours off of noon. 1700 is 5 hours off if noon. The morning equivalent of 1700 would be 0700. | [
"However the Sun gradually becomes hotter during its time on the main sequence, because the helium atoms in the core are denser than the hydrogen atoms they were fused from. This increases the gravitational pressure on the core which is resisted by a gradual increase in the rate at which fusion occurs. This process... |
how do hydrogen-powered cars work, and are they a considerable competitor to electric vehicles? | Hydrogen can be used as fuel for combustion engines that are very similar to the fossil-fuelled ones. But another, less mechanically complex solution is to use hydrogen as fuel for a *fuel cell* which creates electricity that powers the car. So in that case, the car is just a normal EV where the large battery pack is r... | [
"A small number of prototype hydrogen cars currently exist, and a significant amount of research is underway to make the technology more viable. The common internal combustion engine, usually fueled with gasoline (petrol) or diesel liquids, can be converted to run on gaseous hydrogen. However, the most efficient us... |
How accepted is the theory that all modern humans descended/evolved from Africa? What is the most compelling evidence for this? | It's 100% accepted that Homo sapiens' ancestors came from Africa. There's a continuous series of fossils in Africa that are clearly close human relatives and that are much older than any other locations; there's no way to explain that other than human ancestors started there.
There's a general consensus that modern Ho... | [
"In the first episode, Roberts introduces the idea that genetic analysis suggests that all modern humans are descended from Africans. She visits the site of the Omo remains in Ethiopia, which are the earliest known anatomically modern humans. She visits the San people of Namibia to demonstrate the hunter-gatherer l... |
Wednesday AMA: Jewish History Panel | I came prepared. Although I am addressing each question to a specific user, anyone is welcome to join in.
otakuman:
* This is a super cliched question, but how do you stand on the Solomonic Kingdom issue? Do you think Jerusalem was a small city state or the head of a comparatively powerful empire?
* To slip in ano... | [
"The JVL hosts more than 60,000 articles and nearly 10,000 photographs and maps related to Jewish history, Israel, Israel–United States relations, the Holocaust, antisemitism and Judaism, as well as various statistics, information about politics, biographies, travel guides, and a section on Jewish women throughout ... |
Before Nixon started the infamous "War on Drugs" in the early 1970's, did the average American parent have any idea what Marijuana or drugs in general were? | First of all I have to say I am not happy finding a question in askhistorians for which I am a primary source.
In 1969 on the schoolbus we sang this song to the tune of Frere Jacques:
Marijuana, Marijuana,
LSD, LSD,
Humphrey made it, Nixon ate it.
So do we, so do we.
I didn't know what it meant but my completely ... | [
"There was an abundant amount of propaganda in the time Nixon declared war on drugs. One form of propaganda they used, and that is still used today, is the national youth anti-drug media campaign. The government used posters and ads to scare kids and teenagers into saying no to drugs. Nixon initiated the first fede... |
Why are antibodies ineffective against certain illnesses, or is that even the case? | Antibodies are one part of our immune system, and rely upon the other components (white blood cells, complement system etc) to combat infections. Some pathogens have the ability to disrupt the immune response and can thus remain 'undefeated' so to speak, or simply reproduce too quickly to be subdued by an immune respon... | [
"Antibodies are produced naturally by the body and play a key role in fighting infections caused by bacteria and viruses. They can also be used to treat infections by use of injections with blood plasma that contain large amounts of them. The use of whole, natural antibodies as medicines presents many problems: the... |
how do people automatically know which direction north, and consequently, south, east and west are? | Nobody automatically knows which direction north is. You have to have learned it at some point by making observations, and you might have an excellent sense of direction and be able to figure out while moving, but you're not going to automatically know where north is without actually checking. | [
"BULLET::::- Up is a metaphor for north. The notion that north should always be up and east at the right was established by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy. The historian Daniel Boorstin suggests that perhaps this was because the better-known places in his world were in the northern hemisphere, and on a flat map these... |
Does our moon change/affect our orbit? | The [barycenter](_URL_0_) of the Earth-moon system is about 75% of the Earth's radius away from the center of the Earth, so it's inside the earth but it's still fairly significant. It's this point that orbits the barycenter of the Earth-moon-sun system, which is very close to the center of the sun because the sun is so... | [
"The Moon has a stabilizing effect on Earth's obliquity. Frequency map analysis conducted in 1993 suggested that, in the absence of the Moon, the obliquity can change rapidly due to orbital resonances and chaotic behavior of the Solar System, reaching as high as 90° in as little as a few million years \"(also see O... |
why can humans start sprinting at full speed almost right away, but needs to slow to a stop over time? | Your feet are designed for this. They stick out in front so you can lean forward and maintain balance, necessary if you want to combat the forces pushing you back during forward acceleration. On the other hand leaning backward offers on your heels you little to no balance, and if you wanted to stop the way to begin a S... | [
"Sprinting is running over a short distance in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an opponent. Human physiology dictates that a runner's near-top speed cannot be maintained for more than 30–35... |
where does the common conception of aliens (green, big bald head, big black eyes) come from? | I always kinda thought from the book Communion, but this Wikipedia cites some earlier influences.
_URL_0_
And there was a good article in Fortean Times that I can't seem to locate that described the differing 'types' of aliens that were claimed to have been seen including a tall 'nordic type' that was popular for a w... | [
"According to the series mythology, an extraterrestrial lifeform, known in the series' mythology simply as the Colonists, were originally present on Earth in the early stages of human evolution. They highly resemble the well-known \"grey aliens\" in their mature form. In their immature stage, they are more yellowis... |
Were all early stars the same size? | Fusion begins long after the initial collapse of the gas cloud, and not all gas clouds start with the same mass. That is still true today. The amount of heavy elements in the original gas cloud has an influence on what can collapse to a star, but it doesn't fix the mass. | [
"The modern picture of protostars, summarized above, was first suggested by Chushiro Hayashi in 1966. In the first models, the size of protostars was greatly overestimated. Subsequent numerical calculations clarified the issue, and showed that protostars are only modestly larger than main-sequence stars of the same... |
Are any historians frustrated by how 'fantasy' media emphasises the stereotypes about your period of history? Or does the fact that people might become interested outweigh this? | If you're asking for my own personal opinion, as a medieval historian, the portrayal of peoples in GOT doesn't really bother me. It is true that Westeros is based off of Europe. However, George Martin is creating his own universe. This includes creating ethnicities and cultures. So his portrayal of the Dothraki doesn't... | [
"The compiler of a survey of historical novels in the 1920s claimed that the \"appearance of reality ... is the great charm of the historical novel.\" He went on to assert, regarding novels about periods of which little is known, that \"the danger is that the very elements which add to our interest in the tale as s... |
what happens after a failed suicide attempt? | Most states have laws that allow a police officer, a doctor, or a specially trained social worker or nurse to sign a form that allows someone to be held against their will for 72 hours, so that the person can be evaluated to see if they are sane enough to take care of themselves.
How it usually works in practice is th... | [
"A suicide attempt is an attempt where a person tries to commit suicide but survives. It may be referred to as a failed suicide attempt or nonfatal suicide attempt, but the latter terms are subject to debate among researchers. Suicide attempts include parasuicide such as self-harm where there is no actual intention... |
why does everyone seem to hate vaping all of a sudden? | Evidence is beginning to be found that vaping is not nearly as harmless as once assumed. Also, as it becomes more popular, rather than just assuming people won't vape were it is not appreciated it is becoming more necessary to actually post/publish rules against vaping | [
"They may produce less adverse effects compared to tobacco products. The most frequently reported less harmful effects of vaping compared to smoking were reduced shortness of breath, reduced cough, reduced spitting, and reduced sore throat. Many health benefits are associated with switching from tobacco products to... |
How were castles sieged? It seems like a pretty hopeless battle if your enemy is up in a high, massively strong fortress made of stone. How could you possible win? | Basically, there are/were two main ways to win a siege.
1) Assault the fortress/fortification in an attempt to overpower whatever defenders are present and force a surrender or take control of the city/castle. Depending on era and location the besiegers could utilize anything from siege ladders and towers to battering... | [
"All of that said however, castles were rarely forcibly invaded. It was considered more honorable, and more appropriate, for a defender's army to sally forth from the castle to confront his attackers. When this did not happen, sieges were most often performed not through the use of siege weapons or other methods of... |
if eating a calorie deficiency, even while lifting weights and doing cardio, causes you to lose weight (some in muscle), then why isn't your heart affected by this? | Because your body knows that your heart is a really, **really** important organ. So it will avoid burning your heart muscles as long as it can, so that you can stay alive. | [
"The risk of suffering osteoarthritis can be decreased with weight loss. This reduction of risk is related in part with the decrease of the load on the joint, but also in the decrease of fatty mass, the central adipose tissue and the low-level inflammation associated with obesity and systemic factors.\n",
"Obesit... |
why do investments go up in value? | They don't always, sometimes they go down, but they change in price because people think they're worth more or less, and thus are willing to pay or more less for them than they used to. There are lots of reasons for that: companies release new products, release earnings statements, have a scandal that's in the news, h... | [
"Investment is often modeled as a function of income and interest rates, given by the relation , with the interest rate negatively affecting investment because it is the cost of acquiring funds with which to purchase investment goods, and with income positively affecting investment because higher income signals gre... |
Why has Christmas Eve evolved to be the 'biggest' day of Christmas in german speaking countries? | I'd just like to add that this is by no means a German speaking countries thing. In fact celebrating Christmas on December 24 is the custom in the vast majority of European countries (with the exception of those that have roots in eastern Christianity, that is, and Britain – in fact, I struggle to come up with a countr... | [
"In much of Northern Europe Christmas is celebrated on December 24 and is referred to as \"Jul\" (see Yule), while December 25 is a relaxed day for visiting relatives. \"Yule\" may come from the Norse word hweol, jól, meaning wheel, and Old English géol. The Norse believed that the sun was a great wheel of fire tha... |
what stops an astronaut from constantly accelerating in space? | F = ma
Acceleration requires a force. Making something move faster requires energy. If you're not applying force to it, it will just keep moving the same way. A single impact is a single transfer of energy. | [
"Most astronauts find that their sense of balance is impaired when in orbit because they are in a constant state of weightlessness. This causes a form of motion sickness called space adaptation syndrome.\n",
"The craft would have been gradually accelerating during each orbit as a result of the radiation pressure ... |
What are some possible theories as to why the internet is predominately populated by males? | What makes you think that it is? Some studies seem to indicate internet use is fairly even among sexes.
[Link](_URL_0_)
[More discussions](_URL_1_)
I'll keep looking, but hopefully those will be interesting/relevant. | [
"By 2001, women had surpassed men as the majority of the online United States population. The 2009 Census data suggests that potential disparities in gendered connectivity have become nearly nonexistent; 73% of female citizens three years and older compared to 74% of males could access the Internet from their home.... |
in archaeology, everything from small objects to large building complexes can be found under dirt. where does all this dirt come from and how long does it take to build up? when will different things from our time end up buried? why do some buildings (ex: some castles) seem to avoid this? | I agree that it's weird but I saw a diagram in a Roman Ruins type museum that explained it.
If a Roman villa is abandoned because the owner died or the whole region was murdered in a war or whatever, eventually wind and rain would break the roof. Or if the villa was abandoned *because* the roof broke. That fills up th... | [
"In Neolithic and Bronze Age societies, a great variety of tombs are found, with tumulus mounds, megaliths, and pottery as recurrent elements. In Eurasia, a dolmen is the exposed stone framework for a chamber tomb originally covered by earth to make a mound which no longer exists. Stones may be carved with geometri... |
how devices detect faces in photos | There are a few techniques but here are three of the most common. I am talking about detecting the presence of a face or faces anywhere in the photo. This is a much easier problem than identifying who the person in the photo is!
# The simple way
Imagine simplifying a face to an arrangement of coarse dark and light re... | [
"Face recognition systems have also been used by photo management software to identify the subjects of photographs, enabling features such as searching images by person, as well as suggesting photos to be shared with a specific contact if their presence were detected in a photo.\n",
"A different form of taking in... |
Why aren’t diseases equally communicable across different species? | As far as microbes go, our bodies are environments, and certain microbes can only live in certain environments. A fun example is rabies: most mammals can contract rabies because it's adapted to mammalian bodies quite well. However the opposum has a body temperature just high enough to make it difficult for the virus to... | [
"Disease can also be particularly problematic when pathogens and parasites carried by introduced species affect native species. An introduced species may find invading easier if potential predators and competitors have been decimated by disease.\n",
"Yet this is the problem encountered in some areas of biology. F... |
why does cilantro taste bitter like soap to me? | Expanding on the other guy, yes. It is genetic.
Cilantro and other members of that family including carrots, celery or parsley have a specific chemical that acts as a deterrent to wild predators eating it. Basically, it tastes bad to animals so they leave it alone.
Humans have generally evolved OUT of being able to t... | [
"\"Agave schottii\", in particular, has a very bitter taste. Thus, it is not suitable as a food for people or cattle. The bitter taste comes from its steroidal sapogenin properties, which makes it usable as a soap. \"Agave schottii\" soap is called \"amole\", \"maguey,\" and \"amolillo\" by Spanish-speaking people ... |
what is "drug face"? why does excess use of drugs and/or alcohol for a prolonged amount of time cause people to share similar facial features? | Good question. I'm just commenting because I want to come back for a good answer. | [
"The more chronic forms of alcoholism and the long-term use of heroin and cocaine (see \"R v Sanderson\") can become a relevant factor where a craving for drink or drugs causes an abnormality of mind. This must be distinguished from the situation in which the abnormality of mind causes a craving for drink or drugs ... |
[Chemistry] Are frozen vegetables any less healthy than fresh ones? Does anything happen at a molecular level when you freeze vegetables that makes them process differently in our bodies? | Well, much like cooking, freezing weakens and ruptures cell walls. Making the vegetable softer and easier to chew and to digest. Also most commercially sold frozen vegetables are briefly cooked before freezing, this improves the thawed texture. So that will also affect the nutrition and digestibility of vegetables.
O... | [
"Freezing vegetables and maintaining their temperature at below will prevent their spoilage for a short period, whereas a temperature of is required for longer-term storage. The enzyme action will merely be inhibited, and blanching of suitably sized prepared vegetables before freezing mitigates this and prevents of... |
how does an object with mass increase its gravity when its density increases? | Gravitational attraction is a function of mass and proximity to the mass.
If it is denser you can get closer to more of the mass and so feel more attraction.
Imagine a wave machine. At the centre the waves are really big and as they get further away they die down because the energy is spread out. The water park has ... | [
"When a physical object maintains the same density and is scaled up, its volume and mass are increased by the cube of the multiplier while its surface area increases only by the square of said multiplier. This would mean that when the larger version of the object is accelerated at the same rate as the original, mor... |
why can't the sperm of other species fertilize human eggs? | Imagine you are a factory that makes cars. In order to improve the company and make better cars, each time you open a new factory you take half of the blueprints for cars from two other factories and combine them. Each factory takes their instruction book, takes random pages until they have half a book, and sends them ... | [
"It is likely that most externally fertilizing species (e.g. marine worms, sea urchins) coordinate their sexual behaviour (release of sperm and eggs) using pheromones. This coordination is very important because sperm are diluted easily, and are short-lived. Coordination therefore provides a selective advantage to ... |
how does google make money on apps such as google classroom, which they advertise as free and say they don't use advertisements. | YOU are the product. When using any Google service, be it search, maps, etc, they are constantly mining your web surfing habits. This allows then to tailor fit advertisements based on what's going on in your life at the moment and who you are. Advertisers are always willing to pay more if they know their ads are effe... | [
"In August 2013, alongside the launch of its Bing for Schools initiative, Microsoft argued that Google's use of advertising on search results pages in an educational environment could \"distract [students] from their studies\", unlike the ad-free version of Bing that can be enabled through the Bing for Schools prog... |
Much like cable companies are taking hits because of the how popular netflix and other streaming sites have become popular, what kind of hit did radio stations take as television became more popular? | Radio stations that played music had very little change after Television was invented. However, radio plays, dramas and soap operas became nearly extinct. Several popular radio programs, like "Gun Smoke" moved to prime time television and many soap operas moved to day time television. For radio stations, that did not p... | [
"One of the major developments in the post-network era has been the decision by a fragmented cable network system to target specific groups with their programming rather than a homogeneous mass audience. As consumers began to watch television programs on tablets and cell phones in their own time, niche channels eme... |
why does britain still honor the queen/royal family? | It can be better to have a "politically neutral" Head of State, like the Queen. The Royal Family are meant to be neutral when it comes to British Party Politics. If it is politically unwise for the Prime Minister to meet someone, the Queen or another Royal can step in.
For instance, the snubbing of Obama by the Saudi... | [
"Members of the Royal Family have been present in Canada since the late 18th century, their reasons including participating in military manoeuvres, serving as the federal viceroy, or undertaking official royal tours. A prominent feature of the latter are numerous royal walkabouts, the tradition of which was initiat... |
Are there more unique chess board positions than atoms in the universe? | No, there are not. The number of possible chess positions is no more than around 10^(47), a provable upper bound. The number of protons in the universe is suspected to be AROUND 10^(80).
However, that's merely positions. The number of chess GAMES, ie, sequences of positions which arise from previous positions via... | [
"BULLET::::- Chess on an infinite plane: 76 pieces are played on an unbounded chessboard. The game uses orthodox chess pieces, plus guards, hawks, and chancellors. The absence of borders makes pieces effectively less powerful (as the king and other pieces cannot be trapped in corners), so the added material helps c... |
today, china's richest man lost $15 billion since his stocks crashed. where'd that money go? | It doesn't have to *go* anywhere.
Imagine if you had a painting that you purchased for $13 billion—it's a very nice painting. Other people agree that your painting is very very nice. In fact, many people think that you got a good deal by buying it for "only" $13 billion and they make offers to buy it for $15 billion... | [
"The family were noted victims of the 2015 Chinese stock market crash, during which they lost approximately 40% of their previously estimated USD$8 billion combined net worth. Despite this, Xu Jingren and his relatives continue to be mentioned as one of China's top \"vampire billionaire\" families with majority inv... |
why can't doctors 3d print a bone out of the original plastic stuff rather than have to find a way to do it with cartilage? | Your body is a very, very complex machine. A picky machine. If you get a transfusion with the wrong blood, your body will reject it, violently. If an organ transplant is mismatched or incompatible, your body may reject it, violently. It could potentially kill you.
Your body hates having foreign material inside of it. ... | [
"BULLET::::- Researchers at Washington State University develop an artificial bone \"scaffold\" which can be produced using 3D printers, potentially allowing doctors to quickly print replacement bone tissue for injured patients. (BBC)\n",
"Compared to repairing damaged bones, 3D printing technique could produce i... |
when you're hungover, why does standing up amplify the nausea/headache? | Standing up decreases the blood pressure in your head. That activates a reflex that dilates the blood vessels in your head and neck. The purpose of the reflex is to maintain an adequate flow of blood and oxygen to your brain so you don't black out. The vascular dilation is accomplished by neurons (nerve cells) releasin... | [
"Exercise-induced nausea is a feeling of sickness or vomiting which can occur shortly after exercise has stopped as well as during exercise itself. It may be a symptom of either over-exertion during exercise, or from too abruptly ending an exercise session. People engaged in high-intensity exercise such as aerobics... |
How much gun violence was there really in the old west (US, late 1800s) | This is a pretty common question.
You can check the faq while you wait for new answers:
_URL_0_ | [
"This is a list of Old West gunfights. Gunfights have left a lasting impression on American frontier history; many were retold and embellished by dime novels and magazines like Harper's Weekly during the late 19th century. The most notable shootouts took place in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, a... |
When two particles are attracted toward each other and eventually collide, energy is produced. Where does that energy come from? | There are different forms of energy, some less "visible" than others. In this case potential energy is a form of energy that is stored in the gravitational field between the particles. Regarding different forms of energy and energy conservation, I suggest reading [section 4-1](_URL_0_) of Feynman's fantastic Lectures o... | [
"For example, if two objects are attracting each other in space through their gravitational field, the attraction force accelerates the objects, increasing their velocity, which converts their potential energy (gravity) into kinetic energy. When the particles either pass through each other without interaction or el... |
why when you get a cut does blood show up because the way i picture it, blood is just passing through in veins. i don’t understand if there’s just a layer of blood or if the veins release blood. | Blood doesn't just travel through veins. To get to the final stage, blood travels through capillaries. These are tiny blood vessels that allow blood to get all the way to all the cells that need it. It's kinda like if arteries and veins are the highways, capillaries are the little side streets in town that let you get ... | [
"Veins are translucent, so the color a vein appears from an organism's exterior is determined in large part by the color of venous blood, which is usually dark red as a result of its low oxygen content. Veins appear blue because the subcutaneous fat absorbs low-frequency light, permitting only the highly energetic ... |
Question about proteins and enzymes | Well, you basically want a degree in molecular biology and biophysics.
I'll try to be as concise as possible:
> what is giving them the energy to move around in the cell?
Thermal energy tosses them around randomly in the cell. Specific processes requiring energy are fueled generally by [ATP](_URL_2_).
> Do they... | [
"The author spends much of the chapter reviewing general facts of biochemistry. He explains that proteins are composed of 100-10,000 amino acids and he distinguishes between elongated fibrous proteins that play a mechanical role and the more numerous globular proteins that are folded upon themselves. He talks about... |
If the cultures and languages of France are generally much more diverse than those of Germany, why was it a unified, centralized nation so much earlier? | First, it's not necessarily the case that Germany is more culturally homogenous, certainly not in the historical periods that we're talking about. Holland and Denmark are places that MIGHT, if history had happened differently, been part of a greater Germany and we'd now think of them as speaking odd dialects of German.... | [
"A common language may have been seen to serve as the basis of a nation, but as contemporary historians of 19th-century Germany noted, it took more than linguistic similarity to unify these several hundred polities. The experience of German-speaking Central Europe during the years of French hegemony contributed to ... |
why do talk radio shows typically start at 7 minutes past the hour? | * 10:58 to 10:59 = Commericials
* 11:00 to 11:06 = News
* 11:06 to 11:07 = Commercials
There are fixed breaks at the top of the hour so all the stations can run news/weather/traffic as they see fit.
In between that, some shows have floating breaks and some have fixed breaks, for instance at 20 past the hour.
So... | [
"Late-night talk shows are a popular format in the United States, but are not as prominent in other parts of the world. Shows that loosely resemble the format air in other countries, but generally air weekly as opposed to the nightly airings of those in the United States. They also generally air in time slots consi... |
when you've been pulled over by an officer, why must they take so much time to do whatever they have to? | They are looking up your vehicle tags. Once they have your license they are also looking *you* up.
Idea is that criminals tend to commit crimes. So perhaps you are speeding because the car is stolen. Handy info for the officer. | [
"The officers followed the two individuals for approximately 5 minutes or one mile, and then pulled the men over. They ordered the men out of the car and conducted a pat down search, which turned no weapons or contraband. The officers then seized the driver's keys and handcuffed both men. The officers told them men... |
What would happen if you grabbed a miniature black hole? | You couldn't hold it because mountains weigh millions of tons. If you got within a few centimeters of it, its gravity would be much stronger than Earth's (not to mention the tidal effects). This means it would start tearing apart whatever it was near, creating a big mound of rubble. | [
"BULLET::::- In a videogame called The Darkness, you end up going to a turkish bath and eventually kill a crazy man, for which in return, you gain the ability to summon a mini black hole and to collapse it at will.\n",
"BULLET::::- In the video games Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, black holes are th... |
if time is the next dimension, and if time can be accessed in the fourth dimension, what is next in the fifth dimension? the sixth? the seventh? etc. | Time is treated as a 4th dimension sometimes in relativity because of the concept of spacetime, where three-dimensional space and one-dimensional time are intertwined. In this context, there are only four dimensions.
String theory has more dimensions (it varies depending on the exact version of string theory) but in t... | [
"In philosophy, four-dimensionalism (also known as the \"doctrine of temporal parts\") is an ontological position that an object's persistence through time is like its extension through space. Thus, an object that exists in time has temporal parts in the various subregions of the total region of time it occupies, j... |
how accurate or reliable is 'psychological profiling' in real life? and what does that entail? | In general, it can be useful but should never be considered 100% accurate, simply because of how humans can vary. The idea behind profiling is patterns. Generally speaking, human behavior tends to follow certain patterns. In a criminal sense, for instance, over years and years people started to notice that certain thin... | [
"Psychological profiling is described as a method of suspect identification which seeks to identify a person's mental, emotional, and personality characteristics based on things done or left at the crime scene. According to Gregg O. McCrary, \"the basic premise is that behavior reflects personality.\"\n",
"\"Obje... |
Did US Marines participate in the D-Day invasion? Did US Marines ever fight in Europe during WW2? Why or why not? | While I do believe the photograph is probably incorrectly captioned, there were US Marines serving in the ETO during the war.
American battleships and cruisers in the ETO commonly had a detachment of Marines serving onboard. Sometimes, they were called in to do some action but this was in very rare cases. One extraord... | [
"The Marines played a comparatively minor role in the European theater. Nonetheless, they did continue to provide security detachments to U.S. embassies, and ships, contributed personnel to small, special ops teams dropped into Nazi-occupied Europe as part of Office of Strategic Services (OSS, precursor to the CIA)... |
Were there any air-to-air dogfights between Soviet and American pilots like shown in Top Gun? | There were a number of lethal dogfights between American and Soviet pilots during the Korean War. Soviet involvement was a poorly kept secret, but the U.S. government never made an issue of the Soviet presence for fear of igniting a larger war.
Throughout the Cold War, a number of American recon aircraft crossed into... | [
"BULLET::::- Flying an F-80C jet fighter, United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown intercepted a North Korean MiG-15 near the Yalu River and reported that he shot it down, in the first jet-to-jet dogfight in history. However, the Soviet version is that the Russian pilot of the MiG-15, Senior Lt. Vladimir Kharit... |
why the earth is oriented as it is in maps and globes and how we know which way is up? | Europe is at the top because Europeans didn't want to be on the bottom, that's all there is to it.
Since the Earth's rotational axis is tilted relative to the sun the North and South poles don't line up with anything from a cosmic perspective anyway. | [
"A good example of this is the surface of the Earth. While maps frequently portray north, south, east and west as a simple square grid, that is not in fact the case. Instead, the longitude lines running north and south are curved and meet at the north pole. This is because the Earth is not flat, but instead round.\... |
Is the force of gravity proportional throughout an object? | The gravitational force at different points on an object can be different. Such variations are called *tidal effects*, and in fact are the reason we see tides here on Earth (the strength of the gravitational force of the Moon on the Earth is greater on the side nearer the Moon and weaker on the side farther away, and ... | [
"In the gravity field due to a point mass or spherical mass, for a uniform rod oriented in the direction of gravity, the tensile force at the center is found by integration of the tidal force from the center to one of the ends. This gives , where is the standard gravitational parameter of the massive body, is the l... |
can children who need organs get them transplanted from adults? | Short answer is yes, longer answer is "it depends on the organ and the specific patients".
There is nothing inherent about organs from adults that makes them fundamentally incompatible with children. The liver very easily could be transplanted to a child, since you don't have to take the whole thing; you can just cut... | [
"Because very young children (generally under 12 months, but often as old as 24 months) do not have a well-developed immune system, it is possible for them to receive organs from otherwise incompatible donors. This is known as ABO-incompatible (ABOi) transplantation. Graft survival and patient mortality is approxim... |
how come the acid in my stomach doesn't kill me? | Your stomach has special cells that produce mucus to block the acid from destroying your cells. If something goes wrong with that process you get an ulcer. | [
"The stomach itself is protected from the strong acid by the secretion of a thick mucus layer, and by secretin induced buffering with sodium bicarbonate. Heartburn or peptic ulcers can develop when these mechanisms fail. Drugs of the antihistaminic and proton pump inhibitor classes can inhibit the production of aci... |
How did early US presidents handle the "Natural Born Citizenship" requirement? | I think you might be mixing up your timeline here. Each of the earliest U.S. Presidents was born in what would become the United States.
However, the Constitution did make a provision for the circumstance of Presidents who had been born outside of the U.S. In Article II, the Constitution states: "No Person except a n... | [
"Every president to date was either a citizen at the adoption of the Constitution in 1789 or born in the United States; of the former group, all except one had two parents with citizenship in what would become the U.S. (Andrew Jackson). Of those in the latter group, every president except two (Chester A. Arthur and... |
I've heard of antiparticles (positrons, antineutrino, etc) and antimatter but i'm still not sure if we have confirmed it's existence. Do they exist? If so, what is the process we went through to discover them? | Yes, antiparticles have been confirmed to exist. They are observed in a wide variety of particle physics measurements, usually as a by-product or intermediate step in a physical process being studied. One extremely common antiparticle is the [positron](_URL_0_), if you want more detailed information reading the wiki ... | [
"Positrons, like anti-protons, do not appear to originate from any hypothetical \"antimatter\" regions of the universe. On the contrary, there is no evidence of complex antimatter atomic nuclei, such as antihelium nuclei (i.e., anti-alpha particles), in cosmic rays. These are actively being searched for. A prototyp... |
is it worth it to buy the premium/higher octane gasoline option from a gas station, or is it a scam? | It's not a scam...if you have a vehicle designed to use high-octane fuel. Usually high-end sportscar-type things. 'Ordinary' cars don't need it though. | [
"The octane rating of typical commercially available gasoline varies by country. In Finland, Sweden and Norway, 95 RON is the standard for regular unleaded gasoline and 98 RON is also available as a more expensive option. \n",
"About 9 percent of all gasoline sold in the U.S. in May 2009 was premium grade, accord... |
the counter-argument to the nuremberg defense-" an order is an order". | How did they attack it? They rendered it null and void from the start:
> "The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him."
The defense was used unsuccessfully duri... | [
"Superior orders, often known as the Nuremberg defense, lawful orders, just following orders, or by the German phrase Befehl ist Befehl (\"an order is an order\"), is a plea in a court of law that a person—whether a member of the military, law enforcement, a firefighting force, or the civilian population—not be hel... |
Because neutron stars are so tightly compacted that their electrons are not free to jump around and gain or lose energy, how are they detectable if not paired with another star? | Because they're still hot. And they're still made out of particles that are electrically charged. The bulk of the star is quarks and gluons, either bound into neutrons, or in a possible quark-gluon plasma at the core. The surface of the star is more conventional matter (doesn't have the same extreme pressures driving i... | [
"Due to the high density, the tidal force near the surface of a white dwarf is much stronger, causing in the example a maximum tensile force of up to 0.24 N. Near a neutron star, the tidal forces are again much stronger: if the rod has a tensile strength of 10,000 N and falls vertically to a neutron star of 2.1 sol... |
If the dust in my house is at least partly from outer space, how much weight does the earth gain every year? | There is absolutely nowhere even remotely close to enough dust from space for you to have to 'dust it away'. Not even accumulated over thousands of years (assuming it spreads evenly across the globe, including into the inside of your house).
Globally, dust from space may total several tens of thousands of tons of inpu... | [
"In the mid 2000s Warren participated in an expedition to the Bodélé Depression, northern Chad, dubbed the \"dustiest place on Earth\". The team established that the region contributes substantially to global atmospheric dust due to its diatomite and mega-barchan dunes. The team also argued that dust, displaced int... |
how does the small amounts of cyanide seen in shows stop cellular respiration in enough cells to kill someone? | Hydrogen cyanide attaches to the hemoglobin in blood, but doesn't let go, unlike CO2 oreven carbon monoxide. So, unless you get a shitload of oxygen AND a transfusion, you're dead! | [
"Granzyme B can also generate a cytotoxic level of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) to mediate cell death. The caspase independent pathways of cell death are thought to have arisen to overcome viruses that can inhibit caspases and prevent apoptosis.\n",
"Methyl jasmonate induces cytochrome C release in... |
what is the determining factor of identical vs fraternal twins? | Identical twins are one fertilized egg that splits in two. They are (initially) genetically identical.
Otherwise there are two or more fertilized eggs that are genetically the same as a brother and sister.
Basically with identical twins there's one egg/sperm payload - a single genetic combination - that splits after ... | [
"\"A\", therefore, is twice the difference between identical and fraternal twin correlations : the additive genetic effect (Falconer's formula). \"C\" is simply the MZ correlation minus this estimate of \"A\". The random (unique) factor \"E\" is 1 − \"r\": i.e., MZ twins differ due to unique environments only. (Jin... |
What was comedy like in the USSR? | A brief reminder that the Soviet period covers 1917-1991, so to review Soviet comedy means covering 80 years in multiple mediums. But here is a survey of some of the highlights:
Probably the longest running and most notable source of printed comedy was the satirical magazine *Krokodil*, which was founded in 1922 and ... | [
"The show often mixed Soviet comedy with dark, surreal and offensive humour. \"Securidad\" featured a plot involving a model village Brian and Alan had to protect, because the plastic residents kept getting decapitated. In many episodes Alan would fall victim to various mishaps; one episode involved him falling off... |
how does jeff bezos make money without selling his amazon stock? i know that his net worth is huge because of the stock value but he can't realize any of that without selling, which would mean he would eventually lose his controlling interest. i've heard he only takes a $89k salary per year. | He sells his amazon stock.
He has a shitload of amazon stock, nearly 79 millions shares, which he is slowly selling off so he has money for other ventures
Jeff Bezos hasn't had a controlling interest in a long time. He only holds about 16% of Amazon shares(~12% post divorce) so there isn't any risk to losing a contr... | [
"In May 2016, Bezos sold slightly more than one million shares of his holdings in the company for $671 million, the largest sum he had ever raised from selling some of his Amazon stock. On August 4, 2016, Bezos sold another million of his shares for $756.7 million. A year later, Bezos took on 130,000 new employees ... |
What happens in the 'background' of the computer or the circuits during a 'random generator' event? | Assuming you're simply referring to when a program generates a random number, most of the time it's just some math.
By far the most common way to generate random numbers is with a [Linear Congruential Generator](_URL_3_). When the program starts, a seed value is set, which is usually based on some combination of the ... | [
"In event-driven computer programs, an event cascade occurs when an event handler causes another event to occur which also triggers an event handler. This can be a tricky source of program errors (see computer bug).\n",
"KZFT readily uncovers small deviations from a constant spectral density of white noise result... |
How did the gunpowder plot of 1605 become commemorated as an annual holiday (Guy Fawkes Day) in Britain? | [Partial answer here](_URL_0_). | [
"One of the most notable uses of gunpowder in Great Britain was the Gunpowder Plot of 1605: a failed assassination attempt on King James I and VI. The plot was foiled when Guy Fawkes was found under the House of Lords with hidden barrels of gunpowder. All assailants who had a role in the plot escaped but were event... |
Have any animals or creatures ever made it through the Panama Canal and damaged the other side's ecosystem? | Most of the Panama Canal is [fresh water](_URL_0_). This probably prevents most salt water species from freely moving from the Caribbean to the Pacific. However, the major damage is always the ships carrying ballast filled with invasive species.
I couldn't find anything in the numerous environmental impact studies ab... | [
"In May 2006, divers searching for invasive species discovered a mat of marine bacteria covering a stretch where all normal sea life was dead. The mat dissipated five months later. Jan Newton, oceanographer at the University of Washington, said it was important to note that Hood Canal has had very low oxygen for a ... |
What is the history of the stereotypical "evil laugh"? | Cool question BTW. There are quite a few instances of it being used in older literature. The best firm "proof" goes back to the 1800s when a few different journals had some short stories with the use of this laugh. Most notably, The Living Age. There are references to maniacal and sardonic laughter before that in s... | [
"Evil laughter or maniacal laughter is a stock manic laughter by a villain in fiction. The expression \"evil laugh\" dates back to at least 1860. \"Wicked laugh\" can be found even earlier, dating back to at least 1784. Another variant, the \"sardonic laugh,\" shows up in 1714 and might date back even further.\n",
... |
Are there any life forms that use nitrogen like we use oxygen? Or is it to stable to be of much use in that way? | The closest I know of are these guys: _URL_0_ | [
"There is an abundant supply of nitrogen in the earth's atmosphere — N gas comprises nearly 79% of air. However, N is unavailable for use by most organisms because there is a triple bond between the two nitrogen atoms in the molecule, making it almost inert. In order for nitrogen to be used for growth it must be “f... |
why do things like mersenne primes matter to anyone but mathematicians? | There are lots of applications for primes in encryption. But as to Mersenne primes in particular I don't know. It's quite possibly pure mathematics, done for the insights it gives into the nature of numbers. | [
"Mersenne primes are also noteworthy due to their connection with perfect numbers. In the 4th century BC, Euclid proved that if is prime, then ) is a perfect number. This number, also expressible as , is the th triangular number and the th hexagonal number. In the 18th century, Leonhard Euler proved that, conversel... |
what is a syndicated show? | Syndication is basically reruns. It's when a station buys the rights to an already broadcast show. Often this happens for long running shows after they have gone off the air, but more recently it sometimes will happen with the earlier seasons of a still running show (if it goes long enough). Prior to DVD sales syndi... | [
"In first-run syndication, a program is broadcast for the first time as a syndicated show and is made specifically to sell directly into syndication (not any one particular network), or at least first so offered in a given country (programs originally created and broadcast outside the US, first presented on a netwo... |
Why don't egg yolks break even when an egg is shaken vigorously? | Because [you aren't shaking it the right way.](_URL_0_) | [
"When beating egg whites, they are classified in three stages according to the peaks they form when the beater is lifted: soft, firm, and stiff peaks. Overbeaten eggs take on a dry appearance, and eventually collapse. Egg whites do not beat up correctly if they are exposed to any form of fat, such as cooking oils o... |
Does leg bouncing/twitching really burn hundreds of calories a day?
| I don't know, but I have a feeling it's not that much.
What I do want to say, however, is that you should make sure both you and the sources you've read know the distinction between calories and Calories. 1 Calorie = 1000 calories, and the Calorie version is what is quoted on food packages and FDA diet recommendation... | [
"A small 2015 study had participants wear multiple devices on their wrists and hips while performing different walking/running speeds on a treadmill. Fitbit devices worn on the hip accurately measured steps taken within 1 step of 100% accuracy. Devices worn on the wrist, however, were off by an average of 11 steps ... |
Stirring Water | The rate at which the salt dissolves depends on the local concentration of the ions it dissolves into. When you just drop the salt in and let it settle at the bottom the ions created as it dissolves are only transported away from the source by diffusion. When you stir the water you introduce convection which transport... | [
"Stirring is the operation of inducing a circulating current with a non-vanishing DC component in a closed system. The simplest geometry is obtained by integrating a pump in a closed circuit. More generally one can consider any type of stirring mechanism such as moving a spoon in a cup of coffee.\n",
"The term dr... |
the reason for the recent drop in us stocks | Interest rates are increasing which reduces the present value of future cashflows (stock prices).
Also, the effect of tariffs is inflationary which is addressed by central banks (i.e. Fed) raising short-term interest rates.
Inflation is the enemy of bonds. Investors who anticipate increasing inflation are paying less... | [
"Global stock markets declined on August 8, 2011, following the announcement. All three major U.S. stock indexes declined between five and seven percent in one day. However, U.S. treasury bonds, which had been the subject of the downgrade, actually rose in price and the dollar gained in value against the Euro and t... |
why do captcha's always ask me to identify cars, crosswalks, and store fronts? | I believe I read somewhere it's somehow helping machines learn how to identify those objects, but what the fuck do I know. | [
"Self-driving cars are already exploring the difficulties of determining the intentions of pedestrians, bicyclists, and animals, and models of behavior must be programmed into driving algorithms. Human road users also have the challenge of determining the intentions of autonomous vehicles, where there is no driver ... |
Was the English claim to the French throne during the Hundred Years War objectively legitimate or not? | I'm afraid it depends on what standard this objective observer uses.
[Here's a brief genealogy from Wikipedia](_URL_0_). You can see that, if women are allowed to inherit claims to the throne, then Edward III of England is clearly the legitimate heir to his uncle Charles IV of France. But, the French argued that Isa... | [
"Edward III was the first English king to have a claim to the throne of France. His pursuit of the claim resulted in the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), which pitted five kings of England of the House of Plantagenet against five kings of France of the Capetian House of Valois. Extensive naval raiding was carried ou... |
How do girls develop "girl hand writing" and boys develop "boy hand writing"? | Here's the result of my research through some journals.
**Does handwriting actually reflect gender?**
Yes, accurate determination between 63% and 86% of the time (i.e. significantly better than random) and not limited to Latin script Europeans either. (sources:
_URL_2_
_URL_1_)
_URL_3_
_URL_0_
However…
The caus... | [
"In early days, boys were expected to rule their own paper, make their own rulers, frame their own slates, and older boys took turns building a fire one hour before class began. Many made their own ink, pewter ink stands, or quill pens. Girls took turns dusting and sweeping the room and furniture.\n",
"Children w... |
How did they color comics/animations before computers? | "By hand", a snarky person would say. On a serious note though, I can probably give some insight on the process for animated films - I do digital animation and 3D modeling semi-professionally and have a keen interest in how that came to be.
The most basic idea behind that kind of animation is that you have a series of... | [
"By the early 1990s, even though the larger comics publishers were using computers, there were variations within the field. DC Comics allowed only a 64-color palette, while Marvel had expanded it to 125 colors. Dark Horse Comics allowed even more variations. The dominant programs in use during that time were Color ... |
Is the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum still hold true in the face of expansion of the Universe? | Conservation of angular momentum would only be violated if our cosmological models were anisotropic (i.e. had a special "angle" baked into them). This is the result of a more general and deep connection in physics between symmetries and conserved quantities (angular momentum conservation comes from "no special angles",... | [
"Conservation of angular momentum states that J for a closed system, or J for the whole universe, is conserved. However, L and S are \"not\" generally conserved. For example, the spin–orbit interaction allows angular momentum to transfer back and forth between L and S, with the total J remaining constant.\n",
"Th... |
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