Split (2)

train · 226k rows

question stringlengths 3 301	answer stringlengths 9 26.1k	context list
how can dna program out instinct but not our memory?	Because memories aren't stored in genetic material but are stored in an individual's brain where they are fallible and ultimately perishable. "Instincts" themselves are rather ambiguous and many behaviors that we would consider "instinctual" can easily be seen as learned behaviors that we pick up from our parents, sib...	[ "DNA and RNA are both capable of encoding genetic information, because there are biochemical mechanisms which read the information coded within a DNA or RNA sequence and use it to generate a specified protein. On the other hand, the sequence information of a protein molecule is not used by cells to functionally enc...
Is the CMB the same light from the Big Bang (that is, are they the same photons, just severely red shifted?)	No, the photons emitted during the Big Bang were absorbed by the matter in the early universe (which was opaque up until the time the CMB was emitted). The CMB was emitted when the universe was ~370,000 years old (up till then, the matter was too hot to allow the photons to free stream). In a sense, though, yes: the p...	[ "The cosmic microwave background radiation and the cosmological redshift-distance relation are together regarded as the best available evidence for the Big Bang theory. Measurements of the CMB have made the inflationary Big Bang theory the Standard Cosmological Model. The discovery of the CMB in the mid-1960s curta...
If the moon was closer to Earth hundreds of millions of years ago, where there higher and lower tides as well? If so, how much?	The Moon is currently moving away from the Earth at about 3.8 centimeters per year, so lets consider 100 million years ago. 3.8 cm for 100 million years equals 380 million centimeters. Sounds like a lot, right? 380 million of just about anything seems like a lot. 380 million centimeters is 3,800,000 meters, or 3,800 k...	[ "Most places experience two high tides each day, occurring at intervals of about 12 hours and 25 minutes. This is half the 24 hours and 50 minute period that it takes for the Earth to make a complete revolution and return the Moon to its previous position relative to an observer. The Moon's mass is some 27 million ...
why do saying or writing our thoughts out can help relieve stress?	Once you express a thought, the brain “checks it off the list,” considering it a done deal even if you don't actually act on the thought you express. This is also why you might feel less motivated toward a goal after telling someone about it.	[ "This model proposes that helping stressed individuals understand the nature of thought—especially providing them with the ability to recognize when they are in the grip of insecure thinking, disengage from it, and access natural positive feelings—will reduce their stress.\n", "In depression, exaggerated all-or-n...
Did other languages such as French or German have strange historical dialects like Old English?	It's natural for languages to change over time so, just like Old English is an ancestor of modern English, all other natural languages have older forms as well.	[ "Albanian, Basque, and the surviving Celtic languages such as Breton and Welsh are the non-Romance languages today that have this sort of extensive Latin element dating from ancient Roman times, which has undergone the sound changes associated with the languages. Other languages in or near the former Roman area eit...
Is there anything that can alter a pregnancy test result?	The protein hormone that is detected with a urine dip type pregnancy test is only present in pregnant women. (Yes, Reddit correctly identified it can also be produced by some tumours). The chance of a false positive, ie the test says she's pregnant when she's not, is very very low bordering on non-existent. I know o...	[ "The accuracy of a pregnancy test is most closely related to the day of ovulation, not of the act of intercourse or insemination that caused the pregnancy. It is normal for sperm to live up to five days in the fallopian tubes, waiting for ovulation to occur. It could take up to 12 further days for implantation to o...
how does video and image stabilization technology work in our smartphones on such a small scale?	Two kinds of image stabilization systems exist: mechanical and digital. The mechanical systems use small accelerometers built into the chips of the camera to notice movement in the camera during the time the camera is taking the picture and make small opposite movements in the CCD sensor so that the sensor and lens re...	[ "They may include direct interfaces to take data from cameras (bypassing any off chip buffers), and have a greater emphasis on on-chip dataflow between many parallel execution units with scratchpad memory, like a manycore DSP. But, like video processing units, they may have a focus on low precision fixed point arit...
How do they make lite beer when alcohol is a macronutrient?	In the beer making world a 'light' beer is one where there are few residual sugars. Some sugars are more fermentable than others, so when a beer has very few left over sugars it is called 'light' or 'dry'. Modern ads have convoluted this term to mean 'less calories'. It still works if you negated the ABV which is...	[ "Ethanol fermentation and distillation: The five- and six-carbon sugars are now converted to ethanol using genetically modified yeasts. A dilute ethanol stream, known as beer, is generated as well as carbon dioxide. The fermentation beer is distilled into commercial-grade fuel ethanol.\n", "To produce ethanol fro...
If alcohol calories can not be stored as fat, and they aren't used for energy (because alcohol is "empty calories"), then where do they go?	Alcohol calories can be stored as fat. They are used for energy. [Empty calories](_URL_0_) doesn't mean what you think it does. It means that food has minimal nutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc.) other than being energetic/caloric.	[ "Findings are inconclusive because alcohol itself contains 7 calories per gram, but research suggests that alcohol energy is not efficiently used. Alcohol also appears to increase metabolic rate significantly, thus causing more calories to be burned rather than stored in the body as fat (Klesges \"et al.\", 1994). ...
in economics we have to have population growth of 2.11 for a good economy. why would it be a bad economy if the population was not growing?	In Economics we have to have population growth of 2.11 for a good economy. Why would it be a bad economy if the population was not growing? & #x200B; Edit: If a store clerk is not replaced, because there is no one to replace him, then the person can go to another store. So I really don't see how that is a proble...	[ "Zero population growth is often a goal of demographic planners and environmentalists who believe that reducing population growth is essential for the health of the ecosystem. Preserving cultural traditions and ethnic diversity is a factor for not allowing human populations levels or rates to fall too low. Achievin...
Can we kill the COVID-19 Virus with UV light?	From what I know yes. I can’t tell you much without giving away where I work but I do know that UV machines that are used in hospitals are becoming a bit more popular over the years and are starting to sell in America. The lights kill/mess with dna to a point where it’s no longer effective. I’ll try to find an articl...	[ "Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a disinfection method that uses short-wavelength ultraviolet (UV-C) light to kill or inactivate microorganisms by destroying nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA, leaving them unable to perform vital cellular functions. UVGI is used in a variety of applications, such ...
How old are the first toys? What did they look like?	I can't speak to the first toys ever, but there were toy boats found in a Predynastic child's grave in Egypt, and there's a long history there of other toys - balls, toy animals, etc. I don't have the time to elaborate just now but I could pull together more info for you later.	[ "The origin of toys is prehistoric; dolls representing infants, animals, and soldiers, as well as representations of tools used by adults are readily found at archaeological sites. The origin of the word \"toy\" is unknown, but it is believed that it was first used in the 14th century. Toys are mainly made for chil...
Did Plato invent Atlantis whole-cloth, or are there possible sources of inspiration?	Not to discourage any further answers, but these older posts are worth a read: [Is Plato's Critias the only historical text to mention Atlantis?](_URL_0_) [Did Greeks of Plato's time (or later) think that Atlantis had actually existed in the past?](_URL_2_) By /u/XenophontheAthenian This [answer](_URL_1_) by /u/I...	[ "Castleden has pointed out that Plato wrote of Atlantis in 359 BC, when he returned to Athens from Sicily. He notes a number of parallels between the physical organisation and fortifications of Syracuse and Plato's description of Atlantis. Gunnar Rudberg was the first who elaborated upon the idea that Plato's attem...
I'm having some trouble understanding Shannon Entropy, specifically calculating it for a "system" such as the english language.	Think of shannon entropy as a way of measuring how efficiently the data could be losslessly compressed. The higher the entropy, the less redundancy and the less it could be compressed. All the equations are here, but that's the intuition: _URL_0_	[ "Shannon's definition of entropy, when applied to an information source, can determine the minimum channel capacity required to reliably transmit the source as encoded binary digits (see caveat below in italics). The formula can be derived by calculating the mathematical expectation of the \"amount of information\"...
why can't i fully picture people's faces in my imagination?	Our memories aren't perfect. If you had a "photographic (eidetic) memory" you might be able to. Faces are so complex that it's difficult to memorize them exactly. This goes for most things in nature	[ "Recognizing and perceiving faces are vital abilities needed to coexist in society. Faces can tell things such as identity, mood, age, sex, race, and the direction that someone is looking. Studies based on neuropsychology, behavior, electrophysiology, and neuro-imaging have supported the notion of a specialized mec...
Will ever be able to make 'meat' for consumption using nanotechnology?	If you consider biomedical engineering to fall under the umbrella of nanotechnology, then it's [already been done](_URL_0_). Researchers managed to grow enough cow muscle tissue to make a hamburger, and then ate it. It's still an expensive way to produce protein, but it has the potential to eliminate the need to rais...	[ "The science for cultured meat is an outgrowth of the field of biotechnology known as tissue engineering. The technology is simultaneously being developed along with other uses for tissue engineering such as helping those with muscular dystrophy and, similarly, growing transplant organs. There are several obstacles...
How does a phase change occur under uniform changes in temperature and pressure?	That really looks like a homework question. That said, the answer is no. Phase changes are not instantaneous. I'm not sure what you mean by "ideal conditions" but it sounds like you are suggesting a situation in which every particle of your liquid has the exact same thermodynamic state thereby making it theoretically ...	[ "Phase transition refers to the change of phase of a system, which is brought about by change in an external parameter such as temperature. Classical phase transition occurs at finite temperature when the order of the system was destroyed. For example, when ice melts and becomes water, the ordered crystal structure...
Surviving combat operations of two major wars?	Lots of people did. The wars were only 21 years apart, after all. 50% of all French males in 1939 were combat veterans. German pilot [Theo Osterkamp](_URL_0_) scored 32 victories in the first world war and 6 in the second. [Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp](_URL_1_) scored 6 victories in World War I, and became a Luftwaffe Ace...	[ "There are provisions for fighting shorter campaigns: the Japanese offensive period; Coral Sea - Midway period; Guadalcanal; the Marianas landings; or the Leyte Gulf battles. Alternately, players can select the entire war from December 1941 Pearl Harbor, or a slightly shorter version from 1942 to surrender. Matrix ...
How did the Nazi occupation of France work with respect to laws, commerce, travel, language and other aspects of society? And was France's occupation markedly different from other German occupied countries?	Man, I'd be all over this if I weren't in a foreign country without any of my books to refer to, but I'll give it a go. For your first question, the book I would normally turn to is Robert Gildea's Marianne in Chains, a brilliant look at the German occupation of France from a variety of angles. I don't have it with...	[ "In France, as in the rest of occupied Western Europe, Germans used different, milder policies than in the East. Part of that reason was that the scale of resistance facing German authorities was much smaller. A large part of France remained under autonomous Vichy regime. Hence from the very beginning of the occupa...
why is it bad to eat cookie dough for risk of salmonella but things like cookie dough bites are ok?	Any edible "cookie dough" products are made without eggs so there is no risk of salmonella since the salmonella bacteria is from the egg.	[ "Because of the presence of raw egg, the consumption of uncooked cookie dough increases the possibility of contracting foodborne illness. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strongly discourages the consumption of all food products containing raw egg or raw flour because of the threat from disease-causing b...
Beet juice to melt ice: environmental impact?	The Morton Arboretum in IL uses a combo - beet juice and salt: "When [beet juice is] mixed with rock salt, this natural ingredient clears the arboretum’s roads and trails faster than salt alone. And because there’s less salt in the product, it’s less harmful to the environment..." Here's the source article that goes ...	[ "In 2005, the US Department of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) deregulated glyphosate-resistant sugar beets after it conducted an environmental assessment and determined glyphosate-resistant sugar beets were highly unlikely to become a plant pest. Sugar from glyphosate-resistant ...
does everyone love pewdiepie or hate pewdiepie?	People that actually watch him know he’s a generally down to Earth guy who despite having a lot of money never flexes, has donated money to charity, and doesn’t seem to be interested in scamming his fans, even though he clearly has had a few slip ups. I think his sense of humor and content is give or take, depending o...	[ "The PewDiePie story originated from Parker having similar experiences to Kyle that he had with his step-son. Another influence of the story was the fact that Parker and Stone felt that more people experienced \"\", their video game, through PewDiePie than by actually buying and playing the game themselves. They th...
On a molecular level, what is the difference between an object that is hot, and the same object when it is cold?	The molecules are vibrating faster when an object is hot.	[ "An object at a different temperature from its surroundings will ultimately come to a common temperature with its surroundings. A relatively hot object cools as it warms its surroundings; a cool object is warmed by its surroundings. When considering how quickly (or slowly) something cools, we speak of its \"rate\" ...
how in the world do we know that stars undergo proton-proton fusion when the nearest star is 93 million miles away?	Great question. First of all, there's a ton of light coming out of stars. Like, really a lot. So much that we can see it billions of miles away. So that's a fairly big hint that there might be fusion going on. That's also a really obvious, unsatisfying answer. Moving on, we add a prism to our telescop...	[ "One of the first stars known to approach the Sun particularly close is Gliese 710. The star, whose mass is roughly half that of the Sun, is currently 62 light-years from the Solar System. It was first noticed in 1999 using data from the Hipparcos satellite, and was estimated to pass less than from the Sun in 1.4 m...
why people squint when they are angry.	They are locking onto their target, so that there is no mistake where their anger is directed. Furrowing the brows also contributes to the narrowing of the eyes, and it is a way to show one is upset.	[ "Squinting is also a common involuntary reflex, especially among people with light colored eyes, during adaptation to a sudden change in lighting such as when one goes from a dark room to outdoors on a sunny day to avoid pain or discomfort of the eyes. The pupillary light reflex caused by adjustment to light takes ...
Did Winston Churchill intentionally starve India, leading to the deaths of ~3million people?	Not to discourage any additonal posts, but you may find this answer submitted by u/RuinEleint a bit helpful towards answering your question: _URL_0_	[ "There has been debate over Churchill's culpability in the deaths of millions of Indians during the Bengal famine of 1943. Some commentators point to the disruption of the traditional marketing system and maladministration at the provincial level as a cause, with Churchill saying that the \"starvation of anyway und...
what gives acid a burning property like sulfuric acid? why doesnt vinegar or lemon juice "burn"?	They do. The acid in lemon juice and vinegar can trigger the same chemical reactions as sulfuric acid, but they're much weaker and the reactions aren't nearly as intense. Lemon juice can be used to make a battery, can cause mild burns on sensitive parts of your skin, and can even "cook" food in ways very similar to w...	[ "Sulfuric acid is capable of causing very severe burns, especially when it is at high concentrations. In common with other corrosive acids and alkali, it readily decomposes proteins and lipids through amide and ester hydrolysis upon contact with living tissues, such as skin and flesh. In addition, it exhibits a str...
what are the benefits of communism?	In the Soviet Union, communism had a couple revolutionary social changes considering it was the '30-40s. Abolishment of religion, Communism is athiest. Stalin would later bring churches back during the german invasion to raise morale. Equality of all ethnic groups, Communism considers all people to be part of a wor...	[ "A communist economic system would be characterized by advanced productive technology that enables material abundance, which in turn would enable the free distribution of most or all economic output and the holding of the means of producing this output in common. In this respect communism is differentiated from soc...
why can't we treat deseases like depression with happiness hormones like dopamin?	Because too much dopamine causes psychosis (as seen in people who overdose on levodopa, a dopamine drug used to treat parkinsons). And giving people regular doses of dopamine have no beneficial effect on mood--as you must send the dopamine directly into the pleasure centers of the brain for it to work--and pills can't ...	[ "A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of minocycline for depression in 2017, adds to the growing body of literature addressing whether depression can be treated with drugs which reduce inflammation and foster nerve growth. The result was significant, suggesting that, in select patients who have failed to respon...
why is a large propane oven with 6 burners safe to use indoors while a small propane camp grill is not?	Small camp grills are portable and cheap. They more likely have poorer burning of the propane or less oxygen supply built in. If you completely burn propane you get carbon dioxide and water. In very large amounts carbon dioxide will suffocate you but its unlikely to build up much. However incomplete burning makes ca...	[ "Propane patio heaters are the most popular type as they are portable and easy to find refill locations such as gas stations or convenience stores. The downside to propane is that you need to purchase a separate tank for each heater you own and can be more costly to operate than electric or natural gas.\n", "Natu...
Do hurricanes making landfall bring sea water in as rain? How does this affect soil, crops, infrastructure etc compared to normal rain?	When water evaporates it does not bring the salt with it into the atmosphere in any significant way. This means that the water in the clouds that is precipitating is going to generally be pure water (disregarding pollutants in the atmosphere). The salt does not evaporate because it has a very very low vapor pressure ...	[ "The storm surge, or the increase in sea level due to the cyclone, is typically the worst effect from landfalling tropical cyclones, historically resulting in 90% of tropical cyclone deaths. The relatively quick surge in sea level can move miles/kilometers inland, flooding homes and cutting off escape routes. The s...
how are things like steel cables and wires possible when steel normally bends permanently?	So there are a few different things in play. Yes, steel can bend, but it does not bend permanently. You can bend it back, but it will not have the same structural integrity as before. With steel cables you take lots of small wires and twist them around one another, just like ropes, until you are evenly distributing ...	[ "Truss rods are required for instruments with steel (high tension) strings. Without a truss rod, the guitar's wooden neck would gradually warp (i.e. bend) beyond repair due to applied high tension. Such devices are not normally needed on instruments with lower tension strings, such as the classical guitar, which us...
Why don't carnivores like dogs/cats not need dietary Vitamin C like we do? They won't get this vitamin from eating an obligatory meat diet.	It's actually interesting as this is an example of humans losing a gene/pathway function (vitamin C synthesis), which is retained in most other mammals, including carnivores [like dogs](_URL_1_). The [GULO (L-gulonolactone oxidase)](_URL_2_) gene is required to produce vitamin C from precursor dietary molecules. It ...	[ "In general, carnivores are poor converters of ionone-containing carotenoids, and pure carnivores such as cats and ferrets lack beta-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase and cannot convert any carotenoids to retinal (resulting in none of the carotenoids being forms of vitamin A for these species). They must have preformed...
who owns airports and how do they generate money	I asked my dad this same question last week as he is a VP of maintenance at a large airport. The airports may be municipally owned (owned by the city that has the airport) or may be financed by bonds (that is the airport borrows the money from the city and pays it back in regular installments.) Airports make most of t...	[ "The daily operation of the airports, their central administration, their police and fire departments and their payroll are not funded by tax dollars. Operating costs are paid through aircraft landing fees, rents for use of terminals and other facilities and revenues from concessions and parking. The Airports Autho...
How fast would two Earth size planets have to be moving to orbit each other 100 miles apart?	Such a system would rapidly degenerate into a blob of spinning magma, surrendering much kinetic energy to tidal heating. How fast would it spin? For the anwer, consider two impossible objects: Two perfectly-rigid Earth-mass spheres with Earth-radii, without atmospheres, and immune to deformation. The orbital radius ...	[ "The orbital distance is more than twice the distance from Earth to the Sun, although taking over three Earth years to orbit the star. The combined distance and period would make orbital velocity of 19.8 km/s, slower than Earth's 29.8 km/s.\n", "As seen from Earth, the planet's orbital prograde motion makes the S...
why are humans so adaptable in terms of habitat?	We develop tools to deal with different conditions, such as clothing and shelter. This allows us to expand our range beyond situations suitable for us naked. Before that, we had good adaptations for dealing with hot climates, such as our ability to sweat, but couldn't exploit the full range we do with tool use.	[ "The spread of the large and increasing population of humans has profoundly affected much of the biosphere and millions of species worldwide. Advantages that explain this evolutionary success include a larger brain with a well-developed neocortex, prefrontal cortex and temporal lobes, which enable advanced abstract...
Are there documented instances in military history where shields have been used as a primary melee weapon? If yes, how effective were they?	This is a really difficult question to answer to your satisfaction, because the answer is all and at the same time, none. A shield is far more than a wooden counterweight held at your side; it's meant to be used actively, to push, to bind, to bash and trap. Depending on the size, it's used differently of course - a buc...	[ "During the 19th century, non-industrial cultures with little access to guns were still using war shields. Zulu warriors carried large lightweight shields called Ishlangu made from a single ox hide supported by a wooden spine. This was used in combination with a short spear (assegai) and/or club.\n", "Often shiel...
How can we predict if a material is transparent, reflective or absorbs light based on its chemical structure?	The answer is usually, "with great difficulty". The accurate prediction of molecular excited state energies, which is what determines the color a substance would be, remains a challenge for chemists. The larger the molecule is, the more difficult the prediction gets, too. The general ideas that allow us to roughly p...	[ "It may be difficult to determine whether a given property is a material property or not. Color, for example, can be seen and measured; however, what one perceives as color is really an interpretation of the reflective properties of a surface and the light used to illuminate it. In this sense, many ostensibly physi...
how do tech companies manage large amounts of code?	by alot of modularization. your team's code doesn't touch my code because we don't work on the same modules. just like someone from the clothing dept doesn't go to the meat dept and start butchering meat. if your code needs to run something from my module, then you will do it using the specific functionality that ...	[ "Software factories can generate code by combining ready-to-use modular components. This makes them ideal for prototyping applications, since this approach can quickly deliver programs with the desired behaviour, with a minimal amount of manual coding.\n", "As a result of the micro computer revolution businesses ...
why does your ear ache when your tooth/teeth are in pain?	The body isn't like super well designed, so the nerve fibres that sense pain from your teeth will travel up towards your brain and connect with nerve fibres that come from your ear. Sometimes when you get tooth pain, the pain is 'referred' to the ear, meaning the brain gets tricked into thinking that the pain also come...	[ "Most causes of ear pain are non-life threatening. Primary ear pain is more common than secondary ear pain, and it is often due to infection or injury. The conditions that cause secondary (referred) ear pain are broad and range from temporomandibular joint syndrome to inflammation of the throat.\n", "Ear pain has...
speed cameras	I don’t know where you live, but where I live, the most lanes a speed camera will cover, is two (To my knowledge) - On motorways, they have an array of speed cameras; one camera per lane. Also, I believe most speed cameras use number plate recognition, to identify which car is the speeding vehicle. I’m not sure how t...	[ "BULLET::::- \" s\": The fastest speed available in consumer SLR cameras (as of 2009); also the fastest speed available in any leaf shutter camera (such as the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1) (as of 2013). Used to take sharp photographs of fast subjects, such as athletes or vehicles, under good lighting conditions and wit...
What substance has the highest dielectric constant?	Dielectric constants can depend very sensitively on a number of parameters: frequency range of interest, temperature, pressure, applied electric or magnetic bias fields, etc. For most common materials at STP in the visible range, the highest dielectric constant typically doesn't get much larger than that of silicon, ...	[ "The term high-κ dielectric refers to a material with a high dielectric constant κ (as compared to silicon dioxide). High-κ dielectrics are used in semiconductor manufacturing processes where they are usually used to replace a silicon dioxide gate dielectric or another dielectric layer of a device. The implementati...
Were there any gun control debates prior to the ones that have occurred prior to the 1980's-present day? If so, what caused them and what were the results of those debates?	You may be interested in the '[Gun control and the Second Amendment in the U.S.A.](_URL_0_.)' section of the Popular Questions pages (as found in the sidebar).	[ "Following the Columbine school shootings on the morning of April 20, 1999, demand for more gun control measures increased from the mainstream media, including calls for restrictions on gun shows, child access prevention laws mandating the locking up of guns, and bans on assault weapons. However, some policy analys...
if mormons are often thought as very nice and caring people, why are they generally talked about as crazy?	It's because Mormonism started more recently, we know who started it, we know that he was a convicted con man, and we know that the claims made by the religion about Joseph Smith look exactly like what somebody would be doing if he were making up a story and trying to pretend it's real. Most religions that the average...	[ "Ludlow wrote that “[i]n their insane error, [the Mormons] are sincere, as I fully believe, to a much greater extent than is generally supposed. Even their leaders, for the most part, I regard not as hypocrites, but as fanatics.” For instance, “Brigham Young is the farthest remove on earth from a hypocrite; he is t...
can someone explain what is happening in this video and if it is legal?	when an officer tells you to "don't go anywhere, what's your name" they'r performing a terry stop. they're not sure if you committed a crime but they have reason to believe so and they're temporarily detaining you to investigate/confirm. you are not free to leave. a terry stops ends in one of two ways: they fin...	[ "The video investigators had in their possession was from a surveillance camera of the neighborhood. It leaked to the press on 18 October. The release of the video posed a number of challenges for investigators, however. By leaking the video, they explained, a judge could invalidate it as evidence in the case. Acco...
What did people believe was the source of the cracking of the whip? Did they know it was travelling faster than sound?	The common belief was it was the whip hitting itself, as it sounded very similer to the whip hitting other things. The 'faster than sound' thing though was figured out pretty recently with a slow motion camera, so i'm not sure if this counts as historical.	[ "Some common whips such as the bullwhip or stockwhip are able to move faster than sound: the tip of the whip exceeds this speed and causes a sharp crack—literally a sonic boom. Firearms made after the 19th century have generally had a supersonic muzzle velocity.\n", "The loud sound of a whip-crack is produced by ...
Have trees ever evolved over time? Or are they relatively the same as they were hundreds of millions of years ago?	Trees have evolved so much that the trees which dominate the world now aren't even all that closely related to all the different groups we loosely call "trees". The first "trees" where tree-ferns, whch were more closely related to modern ferns than any other living plants (and as such, had a radically different life c...	[ "By the Late Devonian, forests of large, primitive plants existed: lycophytes, sphenophytes, ferns, and progymnosperms had evolved. Most of these plants have true roots and leaves, and many were quite tall. The tree-like \"Archaeopteris\", ancestral to the gymnosperms, and the giant cladoxylopsid trees had true woo...
the protesting that has been going on at south african universities.	The current protests are simply about tuition fees: the universities wanted to increase them by 10-12%, which could have forced poorer students out. A government proposal to limit increases to 6% didn't stop the protests, and they are now proposing a cost freeze for the next year.	[ "The 2016 protests saw the movement lose momentum, due to alleged sabotage by the PYA (an alliance of the leading party, the ANC) and internal divisions. In response to the protests the South African government increased the amount budgeted for higher education by R17-billion over 3 years and stated that government...
How was the sami military?	As /u/gustavjohansen said, there was no Sámi military. This is because there was no Sámi state, nor any really established Sámi kingdoms (or any Sámi political units much larger than the village/tribe). The archaeology points out the usual assortment of spears, knives, bows, and axes, but that's that. When Sámi occur...	[ "The Sámi people lived and worked in so-called siiddat (reindeer herding groups) and reindeer were used for transport, milk and meat production. The Siida is an ancient Sámi community system within a designated area but it can also be defined as a working partnership where the members had individual rights to resou...
In Republican Rome, soldier qualification required land ownership. Was this common in other nations at the time or in the past?	Yes! The idea is born out of the notion that a person with a stake in the polis, should defend the polis within his means. The Roman Republic, with its tribes and other administrative formations, is not unique in this principle; many city-states in Greece followed similar principles; a man was expected to have a stake...	[ "Land ownership was a dominant factor in distinguishing the aristocracy from the common person, and the more land a Roman owned, the more important he would be in the city. Soldiers were often rewarded with land from the commander they served. Though farms depended on slave labor, free men and citizens were hired a...
why does sunlight reveal a ton of dust while artificial light doesn't?	If you have a lamp which is as bright as the sun, you would also be able to see the dust. But sunlight is orders of magnitude stronger than most artificial light - if you want to light a room as bright as if the sun is shining through a window, you're going to need something like a 250W metal halogen light, the kind of...	[ " Similarly to how sunlight could damage the human eye, direct sunlight is harmful to artifacts too. Light makes colors fade and breaks down organic materials quickly. It is generally best not to place any artifact in a collection in direct light, whether it is natural or artificial. “Light damage is a commonly ide...
how do "death taxes" work?	It's an estate tax. Pretend your parents die. everything they owned is considered their estate. Home, furniture, car, bank accounts, etc. As their heir, you are able to claim ownership of their estate (after their debts have been settled using money form the estate). In order to prevent old money from staying in...	[ "Proponents of the tax say the term \"death tax\" is imprecise, and that the term has been used since the nineteenth century to refer to \"all\" the death duties applied to transfers at death: estate, inheritance, succession and otherwise.\n", "Many opponents of the estate tax refer to it as the \"death tax\" in ...
how does your iphone (or other device) know that the accessory you plug into it is unsupported by apple (or other company)?	tl;dr: various methods, often very simple or implied by its design. usb and/or very similar interfaces: devices when they conect do something often described as a "handshake", where the host (the phone) expects the guest (the gadget) to identify itself by a number associated with its manufacturer (the number tells wh...	[ "As file retrieval capabilities, the iPhone kit claims to get \"any content from the phone, e.g. SMS, MMS, e-mails, web history, call records, videos, photos, address book, notes, calendar (if its [sic] on the phone we can get it).\" The Android slide differs slightly in that the last sentence is a qualified \"we t...
why is hobby lobby getting so much hate?	Because they do not want their insurance to provide birth control for women, claiming it is a religious stance. Meanwhile, they actually invest in birth control, and many of their items are produced in china - which is a country with a large list of human rights problems, not to mention forced abortions for women. They...	[ "Hobby Lobby stores and facilities are open for business every day with the exception of Sunday to allow employees to have more time to spend for worship, rest, and family. A statement on the company's website says, \"This has not been an easy decision for Hobby Lobby because we realize that this decision may cost ...
how is it that with today's technology, something like a plane can go missing?	If you turn off your phone it can no longer be tracked; similarly if the radio equipment that lets traffic control know where a plane is located is turned off, either deliberately or because of an accident, it becomes significantly harder to track that plane. Civilian radar coverage isn't available everywhere, it is mo...	[ "The fact that, in a digitally-connected world, a modern aircraft could disappear was met with surprise and disbelief by the public. While changes in the aviation industry often take years to be implemented, airlines and air transport authorities responded swiftly to take action on several measures to reduce the li...
In Space (ISS for example), do items floating within an enclosed structure contribute to that structure's mass?	Every particle has its own mass; it doesn’t “contribute” to something else’s mass. The mass is collective. Each particle deforms space-time in its vicinity. A lot of particles in close proximity contribute to the local curvature of space-time (edited space- > space-time)	[ "A notable difference between the orbital context of space architecture and Earth-based architecture is that structures in orbit do not need to support their own weight. This is possible because of the microgravity condition of objects in free fall. In fact much space hardware, such as the space shuttle's robotic a...
Has Earth ever had a more impressive mountain range than the Himalayas?	Some parts of the [Appalachian](_URL_0_) range used to probably be around the same height. It’s also theorized that the Himalayas are actually [too big ](_URL_1_) to be supported by the crust alone, that the force of the collision of the Indian plate is supporting them as well. So you’re probably unlikely to get a much...	[ "At the beginning of the 19th century geographers generally believed the Andes, thought to be reaching up to about , were the highest mountains in the world. Some Himalayan peaks were measured to be higher although measurements of those in Tibet and Nepal were over very great distances from Indian territory and so ...
Monday Methods\|Finding and Understanding Sources- Part 4, Troublesome Primary Sources	#Silence in the Sources: History at the Margins Last week, some of my fellow Panel members wrote about the various tools of critical analysis we can employ when working with primary source material. But what do we do when the sources themselves are not just problem but scarcely seem to exist at all? How do we write th...	[ "BULLET::::- Using Primary Sources as Evidence is the ability to locate, choose, understand and provide context for the past using primary sources. This approach to reading a source will be dependent on the kind of source being used and the kind of information the user is trying to find (e.g. reading to a book for ...
that sentence that only uses buffalo	What helps is replacing the words with near synonyms. * Buffalo 1 - a type of bison * Buffalo 2 - a city in New York * Buffalo 3 - a verb meaning to intimidate And now we can make the sentence New York bison New York bison intimidate intimidate New York Bison. And if we add a few commas and a few wor...	[ "Thomas Tymoczko has pointed out that there is nothing special about eight \"buffalos\"; any sentence consisting solely of the word \"buffalo\" repeated any number of times is grammatically correct. The shortest is \"Buffalo!\", which can be taken as a verbal imperative instruction to bully someone (\"[You] buffalo...
which part of the brain "automates" muscle recruitment?	So it's motor cortex - > basal ganglia - > thalamus - > cerebellum - > spinal cord. I don't have my textbook and i'm kinda fuzzy on the details. motor cortex: initiates movement basal ganglia: helps select motor programs (such as move arm to mouth vs move arm to eyes) and deals with competing signals (contr...	[ "The motor system of the brain is responsible for the generation and control of movement. Generated movements pass from the brain through nerves to motor neurons in the body, which control the action of muscles. The corticospinal tract carries movements from the brain, through the spinal cord, to the torso and limb...
how come mcdonalds salad dressing are from a brand name and the company doesnt make its own generic version?	If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Also, brand recognition/cross branding. People might be more willing to try the salad if they know they already like the dressing brand.	[ "Chef salad (or chef's salad) is an American salad consisting of hard-boiled eggs; one or more varieties of meat, such as ham, turkey, chicken, or roast beef; tomatoes; cucumbers; and cheese; all placed upon a bed of tossed lettuce or other leaf vegetables. Several early recipes also include anchovies. A variety of...
How can I understand this character table and anti-symmetry?	The character table lists all the irreducible characters of a group - S\_3 in your case. The representation A2 is called the sign representation. It is a one dimensional representation whose character (which is actually equal to the representation itself because it's one dimensional) is the [parity of the permutations]...	[ "The choice of symmetry or antisymmetry is determined by the species of particle. For example, symmetric states must always be used when describing photons or helium-4 atoms, and antisymmetric states when describing electrons or protons.\n", "Dynamic symmetry is a proportioning system and natural design methodolo...
how does salt improve plant growth?	Salt, as in table salt (sodium chloride) is not good for plants as it draws water away from them. However, minerals that help plant growth can come in the form of mineral salts, like epsom salt (magnesium sulfate). So really, it all depends what type if 'salt' you add to the soil	[ "Establishing salt-tolerant plants can improve salt discharge rates and improve soil health. Improvements undertaken at a catchment scale bring many benefits, not the least of which is providing for increased agricultural and associated regional productivity – using water for production that otherwise would contrib...
We have all seen the infographics about optimal napping time, but what about snoozing?	Can you provide the info-graphic we've all seen?	[ "A Flinders University study of individuals restricted to only five hours of sleep per night found a 10-minute nap was overall the most recuperative nap duration of various nap lengths they examined (lengths of 0 min, 5 min, 10 min, 20 min, and 30 minutes): the 5-minute nap produced few benefits in comparison with ...
What kind of music would WW2 pilots of all nations have listened to before going on missions?	For the IJN, some popular songs were: [The Naval March](_URL_0_) (for whatever reason, they played this song everywhere. My relatives from Taiwan know this song by heart). [The Rabaul Hymn](_URL_1_) [Fusouka](_URL_2_) although this was a bit older...	[ "American troops had regular access to radio in all but the most difficult combat situations, and not only did soldiers know specific songs, but specific recordings. This gave a nature to American troops music during WWII, not as much songs sung around a fire or while marching, but listened to between combat on Arm...
why is bluetooth so much less reliable than rf?	What exactly do you refers to as RF devices? Is it Radio Frequency? If that is the case Bluetooth would be included as it is a Radio Communication.	[ "Compared to \"Classic Bluetooth\", Bluetooth Low Energy is intended to provide considerably reduced power consumption and cost while maintaining a similar communication range. In terms of lengthening the battery life of Bluetooth devices, represents a significant progression.\n", "Since the 2.4 GHz band is heavi...
When did American women begin to wear stockings and when did they switch to tights. Is there any evidence as to why?	Sorry for the long wait! Stockings have been worn for a Real Long Time, and I'm not prepared to discuss when people may have begun to wear them, but certainly the earliest European colonists in the Americas were wearing stockings. These would have probably been knitted at home from either wool or linen for most; there...	[ "Before the 1920s, stockings, if worn, were worn for warmth. Women, particularly during the pioneer days, wore long underwear (longjohns) underneath their long dresses. In the 1920s, as hemlines of dresses rose, and churches were not heated, women began to wear flesh-colored stockings over their longjohns to cover ...
Popular health/science/etc. claims for which there's simply no evidence.	MMR vaccine caused Autism	[ "Although a spoof, some news outlets have reported the disease as if this were a real disorder. The disease was invented and presented to the public as a demonstration that some media outlets are willing to publish sensational health stories and that people respond with worry when they do.\n", "Medical profession...
how do people take either chunks, or clips, or whole tv episodes from a show and are able to put it on a player like youtube or something?	They download the show from something like 1channel or piratebay and edit out everything but the clip in a video editing program like Windows Movie Maker.	[ "When ingesting audio or video feeds, metadata are attached to the clip. Those metadata can be attached automatically (timecode, localization, take number, name of the clip) or manually (players names, characters, in sports: red card, goal...). It is then possible to access any frame by entering directly the timeco...
- why do cars have a button to switch off traction control..	Because there are certain situations like being stuck in the mud, snow, or sand where traction control hinders the process.	[ "Some of the original controls are no longer required. For example, all cars once had controls for the choke valve, clutch, ignition timing, and a crank instead of an electric starter. However new controls have also been added to vehicles, making them more complex. These include air conditioning, navigation systems...
when i sneeze sometimes my muscles around my crotch tense so much it hurts.	Sneezing is a reflexive response that requires the coordinated contraction of many muscles in your body all at once to push air through your mouth/nose much faster than normally possible. The actual pushing of air happens in your chest cavity. When the muscles contract, it builds up a huge amount of pressure that push...	[ "There is much debate about the true cause and mechanism of the sneezing fits brought about by the photic sneeze reflex. Sneezing occurs in response to irritation in the nasal cavity, which results in an afferent nerve fiber signal propagating through the ophthalmic and maxillary branches of the trigeminal nerve to...
how do fbi track down anonymous posters on 4chan?	Nobody is trully anonymous. Even hackers that use proxy can, in theory, be tracked back. But most of 4chan do not use any proxy at all. Not quite ELI5 but should be easy to follow. For administrative purpose the forum store the poster IP address. The web server also have a log with every ip address with a timestamp ...	[ "In 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation alleged that the Russian foreign intelligence service uses customized steganography software for embedding encrypted text messages inside image files for certain communications with \"illegal agents\" (agents without diplomatic cover) stationed abroad.\n", "Instead of...
why uber costs the exact same as a taxi here in australia, what's the point?	How easily can you get cabs in australia? I am from Singapore and theres almost no point to using uber because they cost almost the same as cabs, and cabs are really common. I went to las vegas a couple of weeks ago, there is an abundance of cabs along the strip, but anywhere outside of it, you can hardly find any. Wit...	[ "Many governments and taxi companies have protested against Uber, alleging that its use of unlicensed, crowd-sourced drivers was unsafe and illegal. Uber operates and functions as a taxi service company for the public by dispatching drivers to provide transportation services to passengers who pay Uber mileage-based...
Why does the periodic table stop at a certain point (lawerencium, if i am not wrong)? why can't there be more protons in an atom?	Only elements which have been discovered are shown on the periodic table (and the definition of "discovery" is set by the [IUPAC](_URL_0_)). So by definition, the periodic table ends on elements which have not yet been discovered. There very likely are elements which can be created that we have yet to discover. Discov...	[ "The modern periodic table is sometimes expanded into its long or 32-column form by reinstating the footnoted f-block elements into their natural position between the s- and d-blocks. Unlike the 18-column form this arrangement results in \"no interruptions in the sequence of increasing atomic numbers\". The relatio...
Do different accents/languages affect the way a person physically develops	No. Even with the most divergent languages (phonologically) the dominant determinant of (non-traumatic) craniofacial development is [genetic](_URL_0_). EDIT: please see [ios329](_URL_1_)'s reply to this.	[ "Children are able to take on accents relatively quickly. Children of immigrant families, for example, generally have a more native-like pronunciation than their parents, but both children and parents may have a noticeable non-native accent. Accents seem to remain relatively malleable until a person's early twentie...
why does a baloon explode into many pieces when it is punctured with something sharp, but not do so when the bottom opening is opened?	It's about the amount of strain that is on the point where you create the puncture. If you take a needle and poke a balloon right by the knot, where the pressure is lowest; it won't explode it will just leak. If you create a puncture in the side of the balloon where the stress is very high from all sides, the energy wi...	[ "BULLET::::- When a container of mixed nuts is opened after it has been shaken, the larger nuts tend to be on top. This phenomenon is known as the \"Brazil nut effect\" in the study of granular materials.\n", "When a hollow-point hunting bullet strikes a soft target, the pressure created in the pit forces the mat...
If trisomies are so possible, why is it so uncommon to have a nondisjunction between the X chromosomes in the egg cell? And if this happened could it result in a clone of the mother? Literally a possible virgin birth?	Ok, you seem to have several misunderstandings of trisomies, so I'll explain. You'll have to say where you found that nondisjunctions in egg cells are uncommon. Triple X syndrome is thought to happen in every 1000 girls. The problem is that for triple X syndrome, there aren't usually any significant differences betwee...	[ "The X chromosome is always present as the 23rd chromosome in the ovum, while either an X or a Y chromosomes can be present in an individual sperm. Early in female embryonic development, in cells other than egg cells, one of the X chromosomes is randomly and permanently partially deactivated: In some cells the X ch...
Was there a papal reaction to the American Revolution and American Independence?	Here's one reaction: in 1783 Reverend [John Carroll ](_URL_1_) petitioned the Holy See to create a new Catholic jurisdiction separate from Great Britain. Not only did the Pope accept, but [apparently](_URL_0_) they were already considering making that change even before they received the letter. Carroll was appointe...	[ "During the first twenty years after the May Revolution, the new state did not establish official diplomatic relations with the Vatican. The Papacy did not wish to create a conflict with the Spanish Crown by showing support for the South American revolution; in 1825, Pope Leo XII denounced it. During the government...
Do pet animals recognize that we humans can't see behind us?	Most animals have some sort of understanding of the field of view of other animals...this is a pretty important thing to consider when hunting prey (are they looking at you) and avoiding predators (are they stalking you). This doesn't necessarily mean they have enough of a theory of mind to understand the details of w...	[ "Both humans and animals use senses across different modalities to find objects; however, humans mainly rely on visual information to identify objects. Studies have shown that gaze or attention shift to desired objects always precedes any possible manual action performed on these objects. Remarkably, this gaze or a...
Stupid question, but I'd still like to know the answer: Why doesn't the pancreas digest itself?	Several of the enzymes the are released from the pancreas are secreted in an inactive form. i.e. Trypsin is released as the inactive trypsinogen. Trypsinogen is activated by being cleaved by the enzyme enterokinase, which is present in the duodenum. edit: stupid iphone autocorrect...	[ "Pancreas is both an endocrine and an exocrine gland, in that it functions to produce endocrinic hormones released into the circulatory system (such as insulin, and glucagon), to control glucose metabolism, and also to secrete digestive/exocrinic pancreatic juice, which is secreted eventually via the pancreatic duc...
Why did incredible animals such as the megalodon and "Gigantopithecus blacki" go extinct if they were built so well for life?	"Built well" does not mean well adapted to a new environment, which is probably the reason why those species went extinct. The infamous quote "the strongest survive" is a trap (and not a Darwin quote) to understand how evolution works.	[ "BULLET::::- The most specialized and the largest animals are at higher risk in mass extinctions; this may explain why the unspecialized \"L. curvatus\" survived while the larger and more specialized \"L. maccaigi\" perished along with all the other large Permian herbivores and carnivores. Although \"Lystrosaurus\"...
why does china seemingly want to cover up the number of deaths in the tianjin explosion?	China has a long history of under-reporting the deaths of a man-made disaster. My girlfriend is from Qingdao, and her uncle was present when a major train accident happened. You saw cars twisted beyond recognition and the death count was easily over 500. But, nope, the official report was under 40. The government is re...	[ "Tianjin officials, initially concerned at public response, announced that 14 people had perished in the explosions, but later raised the death toll to 44 once the scale of the explosions became clear. The \"South China Morning Post\" (SCMP) cited a Tianjin police source that officers had been instructed to remove ...
how does information pass through the air? (ie, wifi, television, phone calls, etc.) how did someone learn to do that? what? science and technology literally blow my mind.	Wireless communication usually uses radio waves, which are a form of electromagnetic radiation just like visible light is. While visible light is blocked by most solid materials, radio waves can pass through most substances to some extent, which is why you can use a cell phone from inside your house (but probably not i...	[ "The first type of digital journalism, called teletext, was invented in the UK in 1970. Teletext is a system allowing viewers to choose which stories they wish to read and see it immediately. The information provided through teletext is brief and instant, similar to the information seen in digital journalism today....
do fish and insects feel pain differently? how do we know this scientifically?	Feeling pain differently than humans is a tricky claim to make because pain is an element of your being. We can index it by the physical phenomena accompanying pain, but the phenomena isnt the complex emotional state itself. This leads to issues, because ultimately we don't know any way to scientifically measure the wa...	[ "Opponents of catch and release point out that fish are highly evolved vertebrates that share many of the same neurological structures that, in humans, are associated with pain perception. They point to studies that show that, neurologically, fish are quite similar to so-called higher vertebrates and that blood che...
how come there are nuclear powered ships,submarines and satellites, but not lorries or aircraft?	pro - you won't have to fill up the tank for a long time, low pollution. con - every wreck is a potential nuclear/radiological accident, fuel availability, disposal, easy availability of nuclear material to 'bad guys'	[ "Nuclear-powered vessels are mainly military submarines, and aircraft carriers. Russia is the only country that currently has nuclear-powered civilian surface ships, mainly icebreakers. America currently (as of July 2018) has 11 aircraft carriers in service, and all are powered by nuclear reactors. For more detaile...
why is it important to include race on college applications?	I think it's more for demographic purposes. So they can look at any time and say 50% of our student population is ______, 30% is _____, etc.	[ "Public universities and other public institutions of higher education across the nation are now allowed to use race as a plus factor in determining whether a student should be admitted. While race may not be the only factor, the decision allows admissions bodies to take race into consideration along with other ind...
why is it so difficult to audit the military?	Nobody with the authority to follow every dollar cares enough to actually trace it.	[ "These audits appear to have been more effective at prompting reform than the Defense Department's own initiatives. In 1989, the Department began attempting to unify more than 2,000 overlapping systems used for billing, inventory, and personnel. But after spending $20 billion, the initiative was abandoned. Gregory ...
how are some plastics immune to strong acids whereas significantly stronger materials will get melted through easily?	It's to do with the chemistry of how acids work. Basically acids give up protons to other chemicals which changes the nature of whatever atom receives the proton. Materials that are resistant to acids are less prone to receiving those protons.	[ "Plastics and plastic-based composites may suffer swelling, debonding and loss of strength when exposed to organic fluids and other corrosive environments, such as acids and alkalies. Under the influence of stress and environment, many structural materials, particularly the high-specific strength ones become brittl...
How close can you get to a rainbow and still see it?	A rainbow is formed by light refracting through and reflecting off of water droplets. Sunlight comes from one direction, hits a field of water droplets, and is reflected back at about a 42 degree angle, split into different wavelengths like a prism. These different colors are being sprayed about everywhere, but the one...	[ "From above the earth such as in an aeroplane, it is sometimes possible to see a rainbow as a full circle. This phenomenon can be confused with the glory phenomenon, but a glory is usually much smaller, covering only 5–20°.\n", "A rainbow is not located at a specific distance from the observer, but comes from an ...
Did ancient people ever dig up dinosaur fossils during construction projects? (x-post to r/AskScience)	Apparently some visiting professor at Stanford thinks there's a link (this was from a quick google search). _URL_0_ Basically, the thesis is that the ancients basically dug up dinosaur bones inadvertently when they were building structures or mining for minerals. This forced them to explain them, which lead to the cr...	[ "As the dinosaur fossils are usually preserved in solid-rock boulders or covered in thick bands of ironstone matrix, it is often a long and time-consuming task to chisel the rock away. Work undertaken at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Laboratory includes mechanical preparation of the bones with pneumatic scribes w...
Was there a similar backlash when the first automated machines were first built in factories?	Dream a little bigger! There was a disturbing trend in nineteenth-century England of rural cottage-industry types rioting against textile mills around England. These people were called Luddites and it is still a term that get's used whenever someone around me complains about the adverse effects that cell phones or soci...	[ "The introduction of industrial robots in the second part of the 20th century further increased factory automation. Typical applications of robots include welding, painting, assembly, pick and place (such as packaging, palletizing and SMT), product inspection, and testing. As a result of this introduction the machi...
the process of an hiv infection	Based on the details given in the question, I'm assuming you have a working knowledge of general DNA processing, so I'm going to answer as such. HIV can attach specifically to CD4 receptors, which are commonly found on the surface of lymphocytes which help to stimulate a body's immune response Once attached, HIV viru...	[ "HIV belongs to the class of viruses called retroviruses, which carry genetic information in the form of RNA. HIV infects T cells that carry the CD4 antigen on their surface. When HIV infects its target cell it requires fusion of the viral and cellular membranes. The first step is the interaction between envelope p...
How did fighter pilot's during world war one and two get thier kills "confirmed"?	In World War Two, there was a thing called [gun cameras, and they were able to record video while the pilot was firing his guns](_URL_0_). Check out the one minute mark. The plane being targeted clearly loses a good deal of one of his wings, and is heavily damaged. This case, where the damage was severe and the foot...	[ "As early as the 1950s, there has been debate over whether his kills had been understated, due to the Royal Naval Air Service receiving less credit than the Royal Flying Corps. Some historians credit him with 81 (unofficial) kills, which would place him at the top of First World War flying aces, ahead of the \"Red ...
what do those "make $4000/week working from home" scams actually tell you to do?	The NPR podcast [Planet Money](_URL_0_) did an excellent episode from 01/29/2016 on this called "Anatomy of a Scam". In case you're not into podcasts, I'll... TL;DL(isten): It is a kind of MLM scheme. Those companies basically masquerade as online franchise opportunities. Franchises (KFC, McDonalds, Dunkin Donu...	[ "A work-at-home scheme is a get-rich-quick scam in which a victim is lured by an offer to be employed at home, very often doing some simple task in a minimal amount of time with a large amount of income that far exceeds the market rate for the type of work. The true purpose of such an offer is for the perpetrator t...
how does piratebay manage to stay online when megaupload couldn't?	Because piratebay has many serves in diffrent countries and they uses proxie sites _URL_0_, where megaupload only has one server and site which is very vunerable to law enforcments.	[ "The Pirate Bay's website has been blocked in some countries, despite the relative ease by which such blocks can be circumvented in most countries. While the URL to the Pirate Bay itself has been blocked in these countries, numerous mirror websites emerged to make the website available at different URLs, routing tr...
Who is the Indigenous warrior looking at General Wolfe in the painting "The Death of General Wolfe"?	Fred Anderson has a paragraph on this very painting in his book "Crucible of War". Anderson calls the Indian's pose "classic contemplation" and identifies him as a Mohawk warrior. First and foremost: This painting is a romanticized fantasy version of the battle. The Mohawks were a pro-British tribe of the Iroquois, so...	[ "The Death of General Wolfe is a painting by Anglo-American artist Benjamin West, commemorating the 1759 Battle of Quebec, where General James Wolfe died at the moment of victory. The painting carried vivid suggestions of martyrdom, and broke a standard rule of historical portraiture, by featuring individuals who h...
Whoa, B.O.! What causes peculiar body odors? I.e.- Fruit scents	Who knows? But one component of body odor is [butanoic acid](_URL_0_), and some of its [esters](_URL_1_) are known to be quite fragrant or fruity. Here are some [examples](_URL_1_#List_of_ester_odorants).	[ "The lathyrism resulting from the ingestion of \"Lathyrus odoratus\" seeds (\"sweet peas\") is often referred to as odoratism or osteolathyrism, which is caused by a different toxin (beta-aminopropionitrile) that affects the linking of collagen, a protein of connective tissues.\n", "Gleba found on the fruit body ...
Would you lose weight faster if you ate 500 calories/day or 0 calories/day?	A single pound of fat is about 3500 calories. To put that into perspective, a 60 minute run on a treadmill at 6 miles/hour burns around 600 calories. Do that for 3 hours and you can burn anyway between 1900-1700 calories, assuming you don't stop and rest. That's about 50% of what you need to burn in order to lose 1lb. ...	[ "A commonly asserted \"rule\" for weight gain or loss is based on the assumption that one pound of human fat tissue contains about 3,500 kilocalories (often simply called \"calories\" in the field of nutrition). Thus, eating 500 fewer calories than one needs per day should result in a loss of about a pound per week...
Recommendations for books/resources that debunk Holocaust Denial and people like David Irving?	Hi! As this question pertains to basic, underlying facts of the Holocaust, I hope you can appreciate that it can be a fraught subject to deal with. While we want people to get the answers they are looking for, we also remain very conscious that threads of this nature can attract the very wrong kind of response. As such...	[ "In 1993, Free Press published Professor Deborah Lipstadt's book \"Denying the Holocaust: the Growing Assault on Truth and Memory\". In it she described and condemned the phenomenon of Holocaust denial and referred to David Irving as a prominent Holocaust denier. One of the passages Irving later objected to was:\n"...
seriously, why are toilet holes so small?	Because it increases the pressure of the water that is pushing faeces down into the waste pipe.	[ "BULLET::::- Fear of the pit getting filled: In some places, people are scared that their toilet pits will get filled very fast if all family members use it everyday. So they continue to go out to delay the toilet pit filling up. This is especially true in the case of a pit latrine.\n", "BULLET::::- Pit latrines ...

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