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"Bloody" Mary Tudor has the bad reputation of being brutal to her Protestant subjects. But when Elizabeth I ascended to the thrown, she was similarly brutal to her Catholic subjects. Was Mary more brutal, or does she just get the moniker "Bloody" because the country is more Protestant today? | On one hand, Mary was actually a lenient, merciful person. She was ready to pardon Lady Jane Grey, until the Wyatt Rebellion forced her to change her mind: something that her far-bloodier father Henry VIII would not have hesitated over for a moment. Though she was certainly devout, her tally of 280 or so burnt heret... | [
"Portrayal of Mary Tudor: Gregory attempts to present Mary I in a sympathetic light, where in most other cases, she is demonised. In the novel, much of the blame for the Inquisition being brought to England is placed on her husband, Philip II of Spain, and her ministers, where Mary herself seems hardly at fault. De... |
how do sites like dhgate easily get away with selling fake products online? | I think just about everything there is shipped straight from China. And a lot of the stuff isn't necessarily "fake" but is just very low quality or an obvious knockoff that is not being made to look like the real product. | [
"Social media and mobile applications have turned into ideal platforms for transactions and trades. Counterfeit users and sellers would set up online accounts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and post counterfeit or illicit products through ways of sponsored ads and deals. The consumer can easily contact buyers ... |
How long do landmines remain active? | According to the wikipedia article for [Anti-personnel mines](_URL_1_) the most common primer/detonator charge used is an explosive called [RDX](_URL_0_) which seems to be able to maintain its capacity to explode for a very long time (extremely stable).
Commonly used things for main charge seem to be TNT, Composition... | [
"Some types of modern land mines are designed to self-destruct, or chemically render themselves inert after a period of weeks or months to reduce the likelihood of friendly casualties during the conflict or civilian casualties after the conflict's end. The Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Convention... |
[Meta] Why are there always so many questions about WWII? | It all goes back to popular culture. Questions about WWI & WWII, the Middle Ages, and Rome and Greece pop up constantly, and it's not hard to figure out why. How many movies/shows/games have been made about WWII in the last 15 years? How many about Rome? I'm convinced that Game of Thrones alone accounts for much of o... | [
"At the onset of World War II, the American public was in the dark regarding wartime information. One American observer noted: “It all seemed to boil down to three bitter complaints…first, that there was too much information; second, that there wasn’t enough of it; and third, that in any event it was confusing and ... |
whats the difference between "union" rugby, and "league" rugby? eli5 | League has 13 players per side, and play stops as soon as a player is tackled, with the team in possession keeping the ball and the defending team having to go back ten metres and defend again. Once the defending team successfully completes 6 tackles, they are awarded possession.
Union has 15 players per side (2 extra... | [
"In Australia and New Zealand, rugby league is usually known as \"league\" or \"football\" with the latter term potentially confusing as Australian rules football and association football could also be called football. Rugby union is often simply referred to as \"rugby\" without the ambiguity that this term carries... |
when a train enters a tunnel, what is the cause of the sudden pressure drop in the cabin? | When air speeds up its pressure drops. As the train passes through the tunnel the air around the sides is being squeezed into a much tighter space than before the train’s presence. A narrowing of the space between the train and the tunnel causes the air to speed up which also means the pressure of the air drops as it s... | [
"The piston effect is very pronounced in railway tunnels, because the cross sectional area of trains is large and in many cases almost completely fills the tunnel cross section. The wind felt by the passengers on underground railway platforms (that do not have platform screen doors installed) when a train is approa... |
Would soil on Mars grow plants? | Nope! Not as it is naturally. In the book (which is fantastic, by the way), Mark Watney actually adds fertilizer (poop) and water to the soil, so it's not as simple as it seems in the trailer.
That said, plants still wouldn't grow in Martian soil in reality. I'm no botanist, but one major problem with the soil on Mar... | [
"The study noted two plants, duckweed (\"Lemna minor\") and water fern (\"Azolla filiculoides\"), as particularly suitable, and they grow on the surface of water. The Mars habitat would have support the conditions of this food source, possible incorporating elements from greenhouse design or farming.\n",
"In June... |
what causes the ear-piercing sensation caused by grinding forks against plates or nails on a chalkboard? or even the thought of it? | It is similar to shrieks made by mammals in times of distress or danger and is an evolutionary artifact. It's supposed to be 'jarring' so it gets your attention. | [
"Scraping a chalkboard (also known as a blackboard) with the fingernails produces a sound and feeling which most people find extremely irritating. The basis of the innate reaction to the sound has been studied in the field of psychoacoustics (the branch of psychology concerned with the perception of sound and its p... |
Books on the Anarchy in England? | If your 'the Anarchy in England' means the famous (notorious) civil war period in the 12th century, I can mainly recommend the following ones:
* [Crouch, David. *The Reign of King Stephen: 1135-1154.* Harlow: Longman, 2000.](_URL_3_)
* [Dalton, Paul & Graeme J. White (eds.). *King Stephen's Reign, 1135-1154*. Wo... | [
"The use of the term \"the Anarchy\" to describe the civil war has been subject to much critical discussion. The phrase itself originates in the late-Victorian period. Many historians of the time traced a progressive and universalist course of political and economic development in England over the medieval period. ... |
How did our universe become so organized? | A "random and chaotic" gas is only a maximal entropy state in the absence of gravity. If you include gravity, then you'd have to include that in the measure of entropy. I saw a talk by Roger Penrose in which he suggested that black holes are the maximal entropy state of a given volume of space and thus tell us the even... | [
"Structure formation in the Big Bang model proceeds hierarchically, due to gravitational collapse, with smaller structures forming before larger ones. The earliest structures to form are the first stars (known as population III stars), dwarf galaxies, and quasars (which are thought to be bright, early active galaxi... |
is athleticism genetic? if so how? | It is to a degree; when it comes to how well your body heals itself, how efficiently your blood carries oxygen, the maintenance of bone tissue, your body type, things like that.
Your body can change some stuff like muscle mass, and it's all in the brain when it comes to how you maneuver your body. So it's a combinati... | [
"Athletics is a term encompassing the human competitive sports and games requiring physical skill, and the systems of training that prepare athletes for competition performance. Athletic sports or contests are competitions which are primarily based on human physical competition, demanding the qualities of stamina, ... |
So if Halley's Comet was supposedly created during/shortly after the formation of our solar system, how has it survived this long? | So you're right, Halley's Comet has almost certainly *not* been swinging through the inner solar system every 76 years since the beginning of our solar system.
The important thing, though, is that while Halley's Comet probably was created with the rest of the solar system, it has not been on its current orbit for the ... | [
"Halley's returns to the inner Solar System have been observed and recorded by astronomers since at least 240 BC. Clear records of the comet's appearances were made by Chinese, Babylonian, and medieval European chroniclers, but, at those times, were not recognized as reappearances of the same object. The comet's pe... |
why do people call australia a prison? | The British--they live on a crowded, cold, wet, little island with dubious neighbours. The discover a magnificent land, with sunshine, beaches, wide open spaces unique flora and fauna, and send their criminals there! | [
"Throughout the European history of Australia, particularly since its formation as a penal colony, Australia has had many establishments for rehabilitation and incarceration. Altogether, there have been more than 180+ rehabilitation centres, youth correctional centres and prisons in Australia.\n",
"Prisons in Aus... |
If the speed of light is constant, how does Red Shift happen? | The red shift is a shift in wavelength, not a shift in speed. Speed and wavelength are entirely different properties. They are related according to the equation:
frequency = speed/wavelength
Since the speed is constant in all frames, an increase in the wavelength (a redshift) must be accompanied by a decrease in the ... | [
"However, if the same process is considered in a frame that moves with velocity to the left, the pulse moving to the left is redshifted, while the pulse moving to the right is blue shifted. The blue light carries more momentum than the red light, so that the momentum of the light in the moving frame is not balanced... |
How effective is chewing gum compared with brushing only, or brushing and flossing? | I'd suggest finding 10 dentists and asking 7 of them. :)
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Seriously though pretty useless. Brushing moves foodstuff away from the gums on the surface of the teeth and floss from in-between the teeth. The only advantage of gum is increasing saliva flow, though some contain antibacterial agents or aid in re-mine... | [
"A review about the cognitive advantages of chewing gum by Onyper et al. (2011) found strong evidence of improvement for the following cognitive domains: working memory, episodic memory and speed of perception. However the improvements were only evident when chewing took place prior to cognitive testing. The precis... |
how does chest decongestant work along side cough suppressant? | so stuff like Mucinex includes two chemicals normally, Dextromethorphan and Guaifenesin. You have correctly identified the paradox of cough medicine, the Dextro acts as a cough suppressant by depressed activity in the part of your brain that tells you to initiate the cough reflex. The Guaifenesin acts as an expectora... | [
"In medicine, airway secretions can be cleared with manual and mechanical exsufflation. Mechanical insufflation-exsufflation devices (also known as In-Exsufflator, Cofflator, and cough machine) alternate positive and negative airway pressure to stimulate cough. It is typically used in patients with neuromuscular di... |
dada art | With art, there are always those nagging questions that never get entirely satisfactory answers one way or the other. Questions like "does art need to be aesthetically pleasing?", and "does art need to have a deeper meaning?"; "Is everything we put in a museum art, and what happens when you remove it from said museum?"... | [
"\"New York Dada\" refers in general to the actions and principles of a group of loosely affiliated people (primarily by Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Beatrice Wood amongst others) involved in the production, display, distribution, and criticism of art, being produced in the years 1915 to 1923 in New Yo... |
if video game companies lose so much money on consoles, and make so much money on games, why don't they collaborate on one console that can play any game? | Like a PC? | [
"Similarly, gaming manufacturers very often subsidize the gamers and sell their consoles at substantial losses (e.g. Sony's PS3 lost $250 per unit sold)in order to penetrate the market and receive royalties of software sold for their gaming console.\n",
"In recent times, video game consoles have often been sold a... |
how is 1984 a foreshadowing of the modern western world? | Not an explanation, but I think that Brave New World (where mindless consumerism and petty distractions are letting the public be duped) is a more accurate metaphor | [
"The UNCTAD however wasn't very effective in implementing this New International Economic Order (NIEO), and social and economic inequalities between industrialized countries and the Third World kept on growing throughout the 1960s until the 21st century. The 1973 oil crisis which followed the Yom Kippur War (Octobe... |
What are the most promising ideas for faster than light travel? | > What are the most promising ideas for faster than light travel?
There are none. Everything we know or suspect about the universe tells us that it is not possible, even in principle, to travel faster than the speed of light.
> the Alcubierre drive
The Alcubierre drive, like wormholes, is something that pops up wh... | [
"In 2018, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency made public a 2010 report that surveyed multiple different approaches to faster-than-light travel. One physicist who reviewed the report explained, that, while the theories were legitimate, they did not represent \"something that's going to connect with engineering any... |
What is the biggest atom that our Sun can produce? | Fusion of elements within stars stop with Iron. As mynameiswillem points out, elements higher than Iron require a catalyst, like a supernova, to develop. As for the largest natural occurring element, Californium. The remaining elements are far too unstable to remain naturally. | [
"The Sun is the Solar System's star and by far its most massive component. Its large mass (332,900 Earth masses), which comprises 99.86% of all the mass in the Solar System, produces temperatures and densities in its core high enough to sustain nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium, making it a main-sequence star.... |
Why is education on human atrocities during WW2 always focused on the holocaust, and not other ones like the ones committed by Italy in Africa or Japan in China/Asia, and beyond that the famine and suffering in the British Empire? | I would challenge your assertion that education is "always" focused on the holocaust, and not the other ones. At the very least it depends on where the education is actually taking place. As /u/keyilan points out, students in China probably learn more about Japanese atrocities there than German atrocities in Europe. If... | [
"Educating about the Holocaust is primarily a duty for European countries, in which considerable segments of societies either collaborated with Nazi Germany or stood by. After an initial period of silence and/or minimization, many countries have developed an understanding of the need to educate about the Holocaust ... |
Can you please explain the approach orbit for Rosetta to the comet it is landing on on Jan 20? (Link, Video inside) | Based on the [mission profile](_URL_0_) it appears that you're right that it is for imaging the comet. Primarily for the purposes of finding a safe way to approach the comet through the debris and then to find a suitable landing site. | [
"To achieve the required velocity to rendezvous with 67P, \"Rosetta\" used gravity assist manoeuvres to accelerate throughout the inner Solar System. The comet's orbit was known before \"Rosetta\" launch, from ground-based measurements, to an accuracy of approximately . Information gathered by the onboard cameras b... |
What are some interesting or thought provoking ways to explain just how large the Universe is? | [This](_URL_0_) article has what you're looking for. There is more info of the picture at the top [here](_URL_1_). | [
"BULLET::::- Size and shape of the universe: The diameter of the observable universe is about 93 billion light-years, but what is the size of the whole universe? What is the 3-manifold of comoving space, i.e. of a comoving spatial section of the universe, informally called the \"shape\" of the universe? Neither the... |
why does the vision darken and limbs become shaky when we slip? | This is part of the adrenaline response; your brain narrows vision (so you can focus on a threat), enhances strength and speed for gross motor functions like swinging a weapon or running (at the expense of fine motor control, so you get shaky), and constricts blood flow to extremities to reduce the risk of bleeding out... | [
"The unsteadiness with eyes closed (sensory ataxia), relates to loss of sense of position in the legs and feet that are normally compensated for by the patient who uses vision to provide that information. But when the eyes are closed or in the dark, the loss of sense of position causes unsteadiness and sometimes fa... |
How do two-dimensional objects (like strings) have mass? | I'm not familiar enough with string theory to really answer your question, but I will say that I think you're letting your physical intuition get in the way here. Mass is not a priori related to volume; that's just how we normally observe things on scales we interact with.
In fact, most particle physics theories theo... | [
"A bounding volume for a set of objects is also a bounding volume for the single object consisting of their union, and the other way around. Therefore, it is possible to confine the description to the case of a single object, which is assumed to be non-empty and bounded (finite).\n",
"In three-dimensional Euclide... |
Why does the behavior of an airflow going through a nozzle changes between subsonic and supersonic speeds? | At supersonic speeds, the air expanding through a nozzle doesn't know about air outside.. meaning the molecules expand as if it were a free expansion until they interact with the surroundings. This results in a shockwave as molecules rapidly equilibrate with the surroundings. Behind the nozzle and before shockwaves (b... | [
"A nozzle for a supersonic flow must increase in area in the flow direction, and a diffuser must decrease in area, opposite to a nozzle and diffuser for a subsonic flow. So, for a supersonic flow to develop from a reservoir where the velocity is zero, the subsonic flow must first accelerate through a converging are... |
use of term "Italy" and the italian identity since the fall of Roman Empire up until the unification | After the fall of the Roman empire, Italy continued to a more or less unified and autonomous polity until the 8th century, and would not become definitively fragmented until the 10th.
After the fall of the Second Kingdom of Italy, the word "Lombard" (after the ethnicity of the old ruling class) denoted anything indig... | [
"The Italian unification (Italian: il Risorgimento, or \"The Resurgence\") was the political and social movement that unified different states of the Italian peninsula into the kingdom of Italy. There is a lack of consensus on the exact dates for the beginning and the end of Italian unification, but many scholars a... |
Outdoors, sunscreen wears out and needs to be reapplied every 2 hours or so. If you wear sunscreen indoors (away from UV radiation), does this same time limit on effectiveness hold? | This is only true for organic sunscreens like avobenzone, but inorganic sunscreens like titanium dioxide or zinc oxide hold up a lot better.
But back to your original question.
No, it's the UV light that is absorbed and causes the molecule to breakdown. UV light is higher in energy than visible light, which in norma... | [
"Research has shown that the best sunscreen protection is achieved by application 15 to 30 minutes before exposure, followed by one reapplication 15 to 30 minutes after exposure begins. Further reapplication is necessary only after activities such as swimming, sweating, and rubbing. This varies based on the indicat... |
If I were to point a massive radio telescope at the moon, what would it pick up? | Radio signals from Earth.
Amateur radio operators do this often (though with much more modest hardware). It's called [Earth-Moon-Earth or EME](_URL_0_) operation. | [
"The radio telescope would consist of a lander vehicle that would deploy dipoles across a 300-400 m area. The dipoles, which receive the cosmic radio signals, would be deployed either by a dispenser or by a team of small mobile robots. The South Polar location would ensure permanent sunlight and direct communicatio... |
If stitches are meant to fuse your skin together across an open wound, could you then feasibly fuse your skin together with another person's skin? | Wouldn't that be a skin graft? Your body heals much faster with its own skin. It will attack foreign materials meaning other people's skin as well. Usually they will grow your skin if you need something that serious. | [
"The simple interrupted stitch is a suturing technique used to close wounds. It is the most commonly used technique in the closure of skin. It is known as an interrupted stitch because the individual stitches aren't connected; they are separate. Placing and tying each stitch individually is time-consuming, but this... |
how does mobile "direct deposit" work for checks? | You take pictures, you enter amount, you send it in. They use a computer to analyze the check and the serial numbers to see if it's a true check, they also check the amount as well of course. | [
"The legalisation of remote deposit made it possible for businesses and bank customers to deposit cheques without delivering them to their own banks. In the process, a depositor would make an image of the physical cheque with a smartphone or other device, and attach the image to a deposit. The deposit bank would us... |
does an orchestra actually pay attention to the conductor? | In a sense, yes.
The orchestra as a whole is like the conductor's instrument. A living, breathing, instrument. He or she has some creative authority over the performers, and can mix up the pieces the orchestra is playing at will.
This doesn't necessarily mean changing actual notes in the piece, but adding his or her ... | [
"The orchestra's principal flute player, Donald Peck, commented that the relationship between a conductor and an orchestra is difficult to explain: \"some conductors get along with some orchestras and not others. We had a good match with Solti and he with us.\" Peck's colleague, the violinist Victor Aitay said, \"U... |
What was the international reaction to the Franco-Prussian War? | Which parties in particular are we talking about internationally? The traditional great powers of Europe? The Franco-Prussian War was an epoch-defining event that shook up the traditional order in central Europe, which allowed the Prussians and the North German Confederation to formally unite the southern German kingdo... | [
"The causes of the Franco-Prussian War are strongly rooted in the events surrounding the unification of Germany. In the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Prussia had annexed numerous territories and formed the North German Confederation. This new power destabilized the European balance of power establis... |
why you're more likely not to keep weight off if you lose too quickly? | Because loosing weight is relatively easy. Do some things, avoid certain things-soon enough you'll lose weight.
Keeping the weight off is a lifestyle change. Do those same things, avoid those same things, and repeat for the rest of your life.
Discipline is one thing to lose weight. Maintaining that discipline is comm... | [
"Weight loss also depends on the type of strength training used. Weight training is generally used for bulking, but the bulking method will more than likely not increase weight because of the diet involved. However, when resistance or circuit training is used, because they are not geared towards bulking, women tend... |
Is there an equation which from the number of carbon atoms in an alkane would give the number of constitutional isomers? | This is "just" enumerating the trees with a given number of vertices and of maximum degree 4, up to isomorphism. OEIS has this sequence as [A000602](_URL_0_), and links some variants.
At a certain point you have start thinking about stereo-isomers (for example C(CH3)(C2H5)(C3H7)(C4H9)) and after that you start runnin... | [
"Another equation that can be applied to get the correct molecular formula of the CFC/R/Freon class compounds is this to take the numbering and add 90 to it. The resulting value will give the number of carbons as the first numeral, the second numeral gives the number of hydrogen atoms, and the third numeral gives t... |
why do cable companies like comcast and time warner advertise so much if they have no competition? | They have lots of competition. Every home that has a clear view of the southern sky has the option to get their television via satellite. | [
"Comcast and Time Warner Cable did not directly compete for customers; there was no physical overlap in the respective service areas where they offer services. More generally, there is almost no physical overlap in the service areas of any of the US cable providers. Unlike countries where local-loop unbundling allo... |
Would Earth's gravity have been different before we had a moon? | The Moon is likely to have been from the Earth - Earth got hit by some large object early on, and the resulting mess consolidated into two bodies. So the original Earth would have been more massive, and had stronger gravity.
If you're asking about whether the gravity of the Moon pulls us "up" away from the Earth, maki... | [
"If the Moon just revolved around the Earth, there would be no way to tell what fraction of the Moon's or the Earth's gravity was caused by each form of mass, since only the total can be measured. However, the orbit of the Moon is also strongly affected by the gravity of the Sun—in essence, Earth and Moon are in fr... |
how does water "reset" hair? | Mustaches are naturally hydrophobic, which makes them extremely docile in the presence of water. The fear particles have probably migrated from your face to your scalp, resulting in the bizarre and unnatural phenomenon you describe. Each of your follicles is a living, sentient being, and when you shower you're essentia... | [
"The aforementioned process of applying a permanent wave to hair is one example of oxidative cross-linking. In that process the disulfide bonds are reduced, typically using a mercaptan such as ammonium thioglycolate. Following this, the hair is curled and then \"neutralized\". The neutralizer is typically an acidic... |
why does pepto bismal make the tongue and stools black and how does it cure diarrhea? | Pepto bismol has a large amount of bismuth in it. Bismuth is a heavy metal and kills bacteria through heavy metal poisoning, but in the doses we take it doesn't cause any known harm.
Poo comes out tarry and black because of the byproducts of killing bacteria, namely dead bacteria and a bunch of organic bismuth molecu... | [
"There are some adverse effects. It can cause a black tongue and black stools in some users of the drug when it combines with trace amounts of sulfur in saliva and the colon to form bismuth sulfide. Bismuth sulfide is a highly insoluble black salt, and the discoloration seen is temporary and harmless.\n",
"A numb... |
Did Josef Mengele Ever Succeed in Any of His Experiments? | No, because his premises were unscientific, his methods questionable and his experiments haphazard.
First, many of the experiments were based on peculiar Nazi racial theories about who was "Aryan" and who was not. The issue of the existence of distinct human races is problematic and controversial in and of itself. Ce... | [
"Mengele's eye experiments included attempts to change the eye color by injecting chemicals into the eyes of living subjects, and he killed people with heterochromatic eyes so that the eyes could be removed and sent to Berlin for study. His experiments on dwarfs and people with physical abnormalities included takin... |
Why are some ions more soluble than others? | Generally solubility is determined by three different factors. How strongly the solvent binds to the ions, how strong the solvent binds to itself, and how strongly the ions bind to each other.
In order to dissolve an ion you have to break both ion-ion bonds and solvent-solvent bonds to form a bond between the ion and... | [
"Ions in their gas-like state are highly reactive and will rapidly interact with ions of opposite charge to give neutral molecules or ionic salts. Ions are also produced in the liquid or solid state when salts interact with solvents (for example, water) to produce \"solvated ions\", which are more stable, for reaso... |
Could radio waves be combined in such a way that a wave with increased frequency is created? | Not in any linear way. That is, you can't just have some radio waves out and about, then add them together (like overlapping two beams) and get something with different frequency content than what went in. In fact, by superposition, a wave that is made from two waves is *precisely* the same thing as the two waves being... | [
"Power transmission via radio waves can be made more directional, allowing longer-distance power beaming, with shorter wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, typically in the microwave range. A rectenna may be used to convert the microwave energy back into electricity. Rectenna conversion efficiencies exceeding ... |
Given Ariel Sharon's passing what is the current prevailing historiographical opinion regarding Israeli involvement/culpability in the Sabra and Shatila massacres? | Let's all go to this topic: _URL_0_ | [
"Ten days earlier the Palestinians had observed their annual memorial day for the Sabra and Shatila massacre. The Kahan Commission had concluded that Ariel Sharon, who was Defense Minister during the Sabra and Shatila massacre, was found to bear personal responsibility \"for ignoring the danger of bloodshed and rev... |
Why was there such a connection between Russian and French culture in the 18th and 19th centuries? | The intellectuals in Russia saw the French as the high point of refined European (Western) culture at the time. By the late 18th and 19th century, they saw themselves as a backwards peasant state and aspired to the cultural accomplishments of a nation like France, and as such French became a de facto intellectual langu... | [
"In the 18th and 19th centuries, French was a common language among upper class Russians. The impetus came from Peter the Great's orientation of Russia towards Europe and accelerated after the French Revolution. After the Russians fought France in the Napoleonic Wars, Russia became less inclined towards French.\n",... |
why are aluminum and tin containers safe for long term storage of beverages and other food items? | They have protective coatings on the inside that prevent corrosion and leaching. These coatings are tailored to suit the content a particular can holds as there is no one-size-fits-all. | [
"The container must be made of materials resistant to hot or cold temperatures. It must also protect the product from ultraviolet rays, which can potentially damage the product. The container also cannot absorb product substances. Traditionally, plastic material or glass have been used to house cosmetics. Aluminum ... |
what donald trump thinks he can fix in america and how? | He doesn't have a plan. He's not really even running for office. This is how he stays in the media spotlight and sells the Trump brand. It's for money. | [
"He said that \"we need to fix the Affordable Care Act,\" also known as Obamacare. \"There's plenty wrong with it, whether it's the medical device tax or the Cadillac tax.\" But he also felt that the Trump health-care plan did not reflect an effort \"to reach across the aisle.\"\n",
"In the early part of his camp... |
Is there any scintific evidence that whales or dolphins will die or go deaf because of the US Navy's underwater sound system? | Some sonars, particularly low-frequency ones used by the oil industry, can damage marine mammal hearing. The details of this are complicated and not well understood, but are certainly being studied.
If an article starts with this, however:
> Stop the killing of 1,800 whales and dolphins and the deafening of 15,900 ... | [
"BULLET::::- Noise pollution. There have been a number of incidents in which military sonar systems have caused hearing damage to marine mammals. It was suggested that Royal Navy sonar testing may have been a factor; however, the post-mortem revealed no damage to the whale's auditory functions.\n",
"The U.S. Navy... |
why do airlines [some] price single tickets at huge premiums to return trips? | I don't work for an airline and so can't speak for why any one airline would act this way, but I would suspect that it's an attempt to segregate their customer base by price sensitivity.
Someone who is flying for personal reasons, or for pleasure, is going to be price sensitive; if they aren't presented with a price t... | [
"Business travelers' demand for travel is less elastic and airlines attempt to increase their profits by price-discriminating business travelers and leisure travelers. Business travelers often do not pay for their tickets personally and may also more loyal to a particular airline, and therefore are more likely to a... |
Was Alexander the Great a traditional conqueror or did he just go on a massive 13 year raid across the known world? | Alexander's constant campaigning did indeed mean that he wasn't able to spend as much time ruling his domain as a less conquest oriented monarch might. But just how the conquered peoples felt about their new position is hard to gauge. In one sense it is reasonable to say that Alexander's new subjects would have been aw... | [
"Alexander the Great, the king of Macedon, began a campaign to conquer India in 326 BC, after conquering the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. He fought a notable battle against Porus of the Paurava kingdom on the banks of the Jhelum river. Mother Teresa, who became an Indian citizen in 1951, was born in Skopje (in pres... |
Can the Western Roman Empire be considered a state? | Why wouldn't it be considered one?
I know this is a problematic set of criteria, but it's what my university teaches its undergrads. A state has
1. visible class distinctions
2. monumental archetecture
3. complex record keeping (when I started my grad program we said "writing" - but that turned out to be so proble... | [
"In historiography, the Western Roman Empire refers to the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used to describe the period from 395 to 476, where there were separate coequal courts dividing the go... |
Does the fibonacci sequence really show up that often in nature, or is just an example of some sort of paradolia? | This series of videos shows why Fibonacci spirals tend to form in plants. Skip to the third one for the underlying biological reason:
_URL_0_
_URL_1_
_URL_2_ | [
"Fibonacci sequences appear in biological settings, such as branching in trees, arrangement of leaves on a stem, the fruitlets of a pineapple, the flowering of artichoke, an uncurling fern and the arrangement of a pine cone, and the family tree of honeybees. Kepler pointed out the presence of the Fibonacci sequence... |
why usual purchases with a card need something memorable (pin code), but online purchases have their secret code printed right on the card? | This is something that is changing in the EU. They are going to add in 2 factor authentication for cards. For example one of the cards I have requires me to unlock my banking app using my pin or fingerprint and approve the transaction.
Effectively requiring someone to steal and unlock your phone and card.
Currently ... | [
"A common countermeasure is to require the user to key in some identifying information, such as the user's ZIP or postal code. This method may deter casual theft of a card found alone, but if the card holder's wallet is stolen, it may be trivial for the thief to deduce the information by looking at other items in t... |
social darwinism | Social darwinism is an attempt to use Darwin's idea of natural selection, or "the survival of the fittest," to explain or, in my experience usually *justify*, the mistreatment of one group of humans by another. In normal polite discourse, it is almost never a good thing to be accused of being a Social Darwinist. Social... | [
"\"Social Darwinism\" is a derogatory term associated with the 19th century Malthusian theory developed by Whig philosopher Herbert Spencer. It is associated with evolutionary theory but now widely regarded as unwarranted. Social Darwinism was later expanded by others into ideas about \"survival of the fittest\" in... |
if hackers were able to use inside knowledge of bank systems to steal $1 billion over time, how would they eventually have cashed in? | Pulling the cash out of ATMs would be hugely time consuming and increase the risk of getting caught. The better approach (and the one they're most likely to use) is to keep bouncing the money around the globe via wire transfers, ideally to countries with very strict banking privacy laws (Switzerland, Caymans, Singapor... | [
"The hackers then used this information to take over the victims’ bank accounts and make unauthorized transfers of thousands of dollars at a time, often routing the funds to other accounts controlled by a network of money mules, paid a commission. Many of the U.S. money mules were recruited from overseas. They crea... |
why is it more damaging to binge drink than to regularly drink in small portions the same amount of alcohol? | So your liver is your filter of your body.
Takes care of the toxins and regulates the body.
When the liver has too much alcohol to handle, normal liver function may be interrupted. Chemical imbalance!
If the liver is required to detoxify alcohol all the time liver cells may be destroyed or altered! Fat deposits (yu... | [
"Binge drinking has the propensity to result in brain damage faster as well as more severely than chronic drinking (alcoholism), due to the neurotoxic effects of the repeated rebound withdrawal effects. During the repeated alcohol free stages associated with binge drinking, a larger amount of glutamate is released ... |
how do hashing functions avoid collisions? | Yes! Every Hashing function will have collisions. Each function also chooses how to deal with collisions. With a hash space like 2^256, you should be able to minimize collisions as I believe that number is bigger than the number of molecules thought to be in the universe (fact check that). Huge hash spaces help to ... | [
"Due to the possible applications of hash functions in data management and computer security (in particular, cryptographic hash functions), collision avoidance has become a fundamental topic in computer science.\n",
"More efficient attacks are possible by employing cryptanalysis to specific hash functions. When a... |
Were there ever revolutions without political killings? Unlike Cuba, Soviet Russia and I'm sure others? | Most of the Soviet Union's puppet states fell with little or no bloodshed. And the coup that put the end to the Soviet Union itself was also a fairly tame affair. Romania and Yugoslavia excepted, and some fighting in the Baltic states and Caucasus.
Napoleon III was elected president of France in 1848 - he mounted a c... | [
"After the Russian Revolution in 1917, the use of terrorism to subdue people characterized the new communist regime. Historian Anna Geifman stated that this was \"evident in the regime's very origins.\" An estimated 17,000 people died as a result of the initial campaign of violence known as the Red Terror. Lenin st... |
why do the graphics improve so much from super mario bros to smb 2/doki doki panic to smb 3? | The NES actually has a surprisingly unique development model. Basically, the cartridges provide their own computing power. The NES by itself is a pretty crappy system, even for its time; it only has 2KB of internal RAM (yes, that's about one 512th of one 4096th of the average amount of RAM on most computers today), the... | [
"\"Super Mario Maker 2\" received \"generally favorable reviews\", according to review aggregator Metacritic. It was the bestselling game in Japan during its first two weeks of release, selling 279,357 physical copies. The online multiplayer, however, was criticized for its performance issues. \"Gamespot\", who gav... |
why do cigars smell good, but cigarettes smell horrible? | Cigars and pipe tobacco use real, raw tobacco (of course, dried and all the usual stuff you hear about them doing in colonial times). Cigarettes are ground, processed, and treated with chemicals to make them burn longer and have a taste. Plus, cigars are wrapped in tobacco leaves while cigarettes are just wrapped in ... | [
"Among the factors which contribute to the scent and flavor of cigar smoke are tobacco types and qualities used for filler, binder, and wrapper, age and aging method, humidity, production techniques (handmade vs. machine-made), and added flavors. Among wrappers, darker tend to produce a sweetness, while lighter usu... |
why do freud's theories keep on being validated even if there is no scientific evidence about their reality? | You can't prove Freud's theories right or wrong because they don't make falsifiable claims. As such, they are not science and should not be regarded as such.
However, social sciences are rife with these sorts of dogmas. Remember, at one point people believed disease was carried by 'bad vapors'. Social sciences are muc... | [
"On two occasions Freud wrote that he would be presenting the clinical evidence for his claims, but he never did so, which some critics have contended means that they have had to be taken largely on trust. Freud's clinical methodology at the time, involving the symbolic interpretation of symptoms, the use of sugges... |
Are there other deep water areas of the ocean that we know camparitively far less about due to all the attention given to the Mariana Trench? | We know about [more deep places](_URL_2_), e.g. [Puerto-Rico Trench](_URL_3_) or [Tonga Trench](_URL_1_), but I would say we don't really know much about Mariana Trench or other deep sea trenches. It's just it being known as the deepest point, so it has more attention. But less deep areas are easier to explore and stud... | [
"The Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench is located in the western Pacific Ocean about east of the Mariana Islands, and has the deepest natural trench in the world. It is a crescent-shaped trough in the Earth's crust averaging about long and wide. The maximum known depth is (± ) at the southern end of a small slot-sh... |
why is it easier to open twisty caps by holding cloth between your fingers and the cap? | Friction. I wish I had pictures of a zoomed in surface...,it makes it easier to explain the traction. But basically...the more bum bumps /ridges, the more traction. Hands are oily and this oil coats some of the bumps lowering the grip of hands to cap. Covering it with a cloth keeps the oily hands off allowing better gr... | [
"Some caps have a pull tab for removal but it's claimed that pulling on it should not be done since it the cap tends to adhere very tightly to the cervix. Instead, putting a finger under the rim and pulling with a jerk should easily detach it.\n",
"The sleeves of the jacket are sewn shut at the ends—a significant... |
why doesn't the cost in octane rating change with gas price changes? | This is most likely due to the oil you buy takes time to refine, and the oil retailer bought the expensive oil a long time ago and stored it and slowly selling the remaining stock and wont want to make a loss. thus the price of crude oil is elastic while the price of retail oil is rather inelastic. | [
"The octane ratings below are the lowest allowed by law and may or may not reflect the actual levels offered for sale at most gas stations. Ethanol's effect on octane is not considered--these are ratings that are seen at the pump.\n",
"The effect of ethanol use on gasoline prices is the source of conflicting opin... |
How can you tell the difference between Alzheimer's and Lewy Body Dementia? | Sorry for your loss.
The differences between Alzheimer's and LBD are primarily clinical and symptom-based. Alzheimer's tend to be more insidious with the first clinical symptom failure of recall and memory-based. Lewy Body Dementia usually show up with more loss of visual-spatial and executive functions. (ie. ina... | [
"In the 21st century, a number of other types of dementia have been differentiated from Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementias (these two being the most common types). This differentiation is on the basis of pathological examination of brain tissues, by symptomatology, and by different patterns of brain metabol... |
I am looking for good sources on the history of (USA) Worker's Unions | Check out the work of David Roediger. Also Philip Foner's work is classic. More recent is Philip Dray. What aspects are you looking at? | [
"The Metal and Machinery Workers Industrial Union No. 440 (MMWIU) was a labor union in the United States which existed between 1907 and 1950. It organized workers in the manufacturing industry and was affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).\n",
"McCartin is a historical institutionalist whose r... |
Could a place like Black Mesa (from Half-Life) really exist? | US Government National Labs feel pretty close. They're not quite that huge but the number of just off the wall awesome experiments being conducted make them feel a bit like either Black Mesa or Aperture type of things could be going on.
Los Alamos National Lab has lots of secret stuff going on, many things concerning ... | [
"A place exited on Earth far in the past or a far-flung planet orbiting a black hole, mentioned as birthplace or abode of the Hounds of Tindalos, and described as a lightless world spotted with corkscrew-shaped towers.\n",
"The Black Mesa Research Facility is the primary setting for \"Half-Life\" and its three ex... |
what is actually happening when i'm warming my car in the winter? | You're trading comfort for efficiency and reduced wear. At idle the engine takes considerably longer to warm up to normal operating temperatures; extending the time it's running at ideal temps. Some newer diesel engines are actually so efficient that idling when it's cold out will never get them up to normal operating ... | [
"BULLET::::- extended drives, especially in winter: Heating the internal cabin for the passengers runs counter to the design of the HSD. The HSD is designed to generate as little waste heat as possible. In a conventional car, this waste heat in winter is usually used to heat the internal cabin. In the Prius, runnin... |
Jewish Wine | It actually doesn't have much of a historical reason. The most popular kosher wine in the US is Manischewitz wine, and they add sugar to their already-sweet wine. Frasier is playing off this stereotype. But kosher wine need not be sweet; I'll let someone else answer about historic Jewish wine. | [
"BULLET::::- Wine was very important in early Judaism. The Talmud stated that wine is an alternative to other medicines. Wine is permitted by all Jews as long as it is kosher. In order for wine to be kosher, it has to be made with all kosher ingredients and the entirety of the process from the picking of the grape... |
Is the arrangement of our small intestines fairly similar across humans, or unique to each person like a fingerprint? | Your intestines (specifically small intestine) are attached to the back of your abdominal cavity by a tissue structure called the "mesentery". Basically this is a sheath that surrounds the guts and allows them to move pretty freely around the abdominopelvic cavity. An interesting example of this freedom of movement is... | [
"In dissections by the Greek philosophers, the connection between the ileum of the small intestines and the cecum was not fully understood. Most of the studies of the digestive tract were done on animals and the results were compared to human structures.\n",
"The large intestine is truly distinct only in tetrapod... |
How did Project MKUltra maintain its secrecy so effectively for twenty years? Across 80 reported institutions, how was there not even one whistle-blower? What eventually compelled the government to go public in 1975? | Here's an interesting piece of history that helps us understand:
It was a different time, people going for "weird psychiatric cures" at leading institutions in their city or country would have thought less about the brutal and suspect methods.
**Exhibit A.**
Montreal Neurological Institute / McGill and the Peter ... | [
"Perry Fellwock revealed the existence of then ultra secretive National Security Agency (NSA) and its global mass surveillance apparatus and activities, including domestic spying, in a 1971 \"Ramparts\" exposé. This was the first wide exposure of the NSA, which had for decades prevented public knowledge of its abil... |
what changes happen to make "adult foods" (e.g. asparagus) taste good later in life, but not when you're a kid? | Kids have increased sensitivity to bitter foods. Veggies taste bitter to kids. Adults have reduced sensitivity to bitter foods. The veggies will taste better to them. | [
"The process of acquiring a taste can involve developmental maturation, genetics (of both taste sensitivity and personality), family example, and biochemical reward properties of foods. Infants are born preferring sweet foods and rejecting sour and bitter tastes, and they develop a preference for salt at approximat... |
why do sugarcane plants produce so much sugar? do they need sugar or is it a by-product? | Plants need sugar for energy. Sugar is no different than other plants in that. Some just produce a lot, or at least easily extractable like maple syrup or beets or fruits (slightly different sugar) | [
"Sugar from sugarcane is natural and has been grown by farmers for hundreds of years; it is a natural and environmentally gentle crop. Sugar balances flavor, preserves foods and provides the necessary moisture to keep foods fresh. In its refined state, sugar is a pure commercially produced organic substance, contai... |
Is it true that anyone who grew up in the walkman generation and beyond will most likely need hearing aids when they are old? | Hearing loss? Maybe. Full blown deafness? Unlikely. This isn't a particularly new phenomenon, I found papers going back to the 60s on whether the kids are going to damage their ears with loud music, including [this](_URL_0_) adorable paper from 1968. Opening line: "Rock and roll music is generally considered to be very... | [
"Hearing loss is a common condition among ageing adults. Common conditions that can increase the risk of hearing loss in elderly people are high blood pressure, diabetes or the use of certain medications harmful to the ear. Hearing aids are commonly referred to as personal amplifying systems, which can generally im... |
why are some boats pointy on both ends, while other boats are pointy in the front and flat in the back? | The ideal high speed ship is infinitely long and infinitely skinny, this gives the least amount of drag but is impossible to build.
The practical high speed ship is fairly long and fairly skinny at the water line, but this also makes it relatively unstable.
A ship that is fairly wide relative to its length will be ve... | [
"The flat hull also makes the boat more stable in calm water, which is good for hunters and anglers. However this design becomes less stable in choppy water. This is because it causes the boat to travel \"on\" the water, instead of \"through\" it, as a boat with a rounded or V-shaped hull would.\n",
"The boats al... |
do gas giants such as jupiter and saturn have plate tectonics? | As far as we know, no.
They don't really have a true "surface" and the behavior of the upper layers are dominated by gas dynamics.
Once you get deeper into the mantle of these planets the gas is dense enough for fluid dynamics to take over and they behave more like liquids.
Way down below the thousands of kilometers... | [
"Jupiter and Saturn consist mostly of hydrogen and helium, with heavier elements making up between 3 and 13 percent of the mass. They are thought to consist of an outer layer of molecular hydrogen surrounding a layer of liquid metallic hydrogen, with probably a molten rocky core. The outermost portion of their hydr... |
When was the word "tyrant" given a negative connotation? | About 2500 years ago. In fact, the Greeks started portraying tyranny as a universally negative and hated thing pretty much immediately after the early tyrants your textbook told you about.
In his brilliant article 'Before *turannoi* were tyrants', Greg Anderson showed that "tyranny" was not a negative term when it was... | [
"A tyrant (from Ancient Greek , \"túrannos\"), in the modern English-language usage of the word, is an absolute ruler unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped legitimate sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their position by oppressive means. The original Greek term, however, merely meant an... |
Logistics of the mongol army during ghengis khan’s conquests | I cover some of the logistics and tactics of the Mongol army [here](_URL_0_). And then I talk about some basic taxation and administration [here](_URL_1_).
The administration aspect of my second post is really broad, and it was because the question was broad in and of itself and diving into specifics *can* bore some p... | [
"In preparation for his invasion, Hulagu raised a large expeditionary force, conscripting one out of every ten military-age males in the entirety of the Mongol Empire, assembling what may have been the most numerous Mongol army to have existed and, by one estimate, 150,000 strong. Generals of the army included the ... |
since a person's skin is constantly being renewed and growing back, why don't moles simply fall off after so long? | ::Borrowed text::
Your skin contains several different types of cells. The skin cells you're thinking of that regenerate and slough off every so often are called keratinocytes. The cells that make up moles/birthmarks are a different cell type called melanocytes. Melanocytes do not get replaced by keratinocytes.
... | [
"In the overall population, a slight majority of melanomas do \"not\" form in an existing mole, but rather create a new growth on the skin. Somewhat surprisingly, this also applies to those with dysplastic nevi. They are at a higher risk of melanoma occurring not only where there is an existing mole, but also where... |
Were Counties named for Counts, or Counts named for Counties? | OK, I think firstly there's a misconception in your post that a count 'owns' his county, or has control over all the land within it. This was never the case in medieval Europe. Counts very often owned substantial amounts of property outside of the counties they ruled, and could (in theory if never in practice) rule a c... | [
"In the post-Middle Ages era, anyone granted the title of \"Count\" by the emperor in his specific capacity as ruler of the Holy Roman Empire (rather than, e.g. as ruler of Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, the Spanish Netherlands, etc.) became, \"ipso facto\", an \"Imperial Count\" (\"Reichsgraf\"), whether he reigned ov... |
why are so many endangered animals used in chinese "medicine"? | The rapid industrialization of Asian economies means that there are a lot more people in the Asian middle class who want to be able to show off their means. As a result, demand for "traditional" remedies (they aren't actually that old, but that's a story for another time) has skyrocketed.
Those remedies were from rare... | [
"Traditional Chinese medicine often incorporates ingredients from all parts of plants, the leaf, stem, flower, root, and also ingredients from animals and minerals. The use of parts of endangered species (such as seahorses, rhinoceros horns, binturong and tiger bones and claws) has created controversy and resulted ... |
What factors led to the emergence of city-states in Ancient Greece and during the Italian Renaissance? | While Classical Greece and Communal Italy are two completely different time periods in two different geographic spaces, there are some communalities in Mediterranean urbanization. I brought that up in a podcast episode about communal Milan [here](_URL_0_).
Regarding the specifics of Italy, the development of urban-cen... | [
"During the 14th and 15th centuries, some Italian city-states ranked among the most important powers of Europe. Venice, in particular, had become a major maritime power, and the city-states as a group acted as a conduit for goods from the Byzantine and Islamic empires. In this capacity, they provided great impetus ... |
Why can I see star clusters better when they’re in my peripheral vision? | There are 2 types of photoreceptor cells in the eye: rods and cones. Rods are more sensitive to light than cones, and they are more concentrated on the edges of the retina. Thus peripheral vision is more sensitive to faint lights. When you look straight at the stars the light falls on centrally located cones which are ... | [
"Because of the dense material that surrounds the stars, they appear obscured in visible light but can be observed using other sections of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as the near-infrared and X-rays that can see through the cloud material. In our Galaxy, embedded clusters can mostly be found within the Galac... |
why do kids and adults with kids seem to get vomiting type stomach bugs so often? | The sorts of bacteria which cause that type of gastrointestinal illness are easily controlled by handwashing and good hygiene. Children are bad at that kind of thing so they speak those bacteria quickly, and then spread them to their parents who become ill themselves.
Edit: *handwashing, not hanging. Equally effective... | [
"Babies with viral meningitis may only appear irritable, sleepy or have trouble eating. In severe cases, people may experience concomitant encephalitis (meningoencephalitis), which is suggested by symptoms such as altered mental status, seizures or focal neurologic deficits. The pediatric population may show some a... |
How are cures for poisons developed and how are people treated when a poison is unknown? | The symptoms would be managed. If they go into shock, they'll receive adrenaline and fluids to boost their blood pressure. Cures are developed in many ways, usually through rigorous biochemical studies. A slightly newer way to make cures for venom is through antibodies.
The short version is this. A new venomous snake... | [
"BULLET::::- In some situations elimination of the poison can be enhanced using diuresis, hemodialysis, hemoperfusion, hyperbaric medicine, peritoneal dialysis, exchange transfusion or chelation. However, this may actually worsen the poisoning in some cases, so it should always be verified based on what substances ... |
Sending Energy to Space? | Nothing technically says the earth has to expend the equivalent energy it gains from outside sources, mainly the sun. But the energy does get expended through radiating heat, and reflected light. Radiation is one (atleast at a most basic level) of the only heat transfer methods that work in a vacuum. | [
"Former NASA physicist John C. Mankins's vision of launching thousands of satellites into space, gathering solar energy from the Sun and beaming it down to Earth as microwave energy. The energy will then be collected by antennas on the ground, which will convert it into electricity.\n",
"Space has an abundance of... |
why does it hurt our eyes to look at the extremes of our vision? | Your eyes can't rotate themselves, obviously - it must be done by muscles.
If you try to rotate/move any muscle past the point it's built to rotate to, it'll hurt - for an example, hold your arm out in front of you, then swing it 180* so that it's pointing directly behind you.
You can't do it without moving your shou... | [
"Eye injuries, most often occurring in people under 30, are the leading cause of monocular blindness (vision loss in one eye) throughout the United States. Injuries and cataracts affect the eye itself, while abnormalities such as optic nerve hypoplasia affect the nerve bundle that sends signals from the eye to the ... |
So what's the real difference between an archaeologist, historical geographer and a historian? | Easy, one digs up old maps, one redraws old maps, whilst the other debates old maps until the ends of time. But no seriously, I think that is it at a fundamental level. Archeology seems a lot more hands on though, and therefore the most rewarding I think. I know a dutch specialist in Meso-America. He gets to spend ever... | [
"Although closely related and often grouped with archaeology, anthropologists and archaeologists perform differing roles, though archeology is considered a sub-discipline of anthropology. While both professions focus on the study of human culture from past to present, archaeologists focus specifically on analyzing ... |
What exactly is happening in a meteor shower like the geminids? | Your answer is pretty much it.
A short time ago, a comet would have flown through our orbit, and it left a cloud of dust and particulates behind. Now, the earth is flying into the cloud, and those particulates are burning up in the atmosphere as we run into them. This is what makes it look like all the comets are '... | [
"The Geminids are a prolific meteor shower caused by the object 3200 Phaethon, which is thought to be a Palladian asteroid with a \"rock comet\" orbit. This would make the Geminids, together with the Quadrantids, the only major meteor showers not originating from a comet. The meteors from this shower are slow movin... |
how does a casino make money on poker if the dealer doesn’t play a hand? | They take a "rake" of every hand. So if everyone combined puts in $100 in chips there might only be $98 in the pot. The other $2 is taken by the casino. | [
"In most casinos, players are not allowed to hand anything directly to dealers, and vice versa. Items such as cash, checks, and chips are exchanged by laying them down on the table; for example, when \"buying in\" (paying cash for chips), players are expected to place the cash on the layout: the dealer will take it... |
When we feel emotions due to music, is it conditioning from prior experiences, or do certain sounds have the ability to make us feel certain emotions? | There is a lot of scientific speculation about the ultimate nature of music. Musicologists have pointed out that there are types of music that are alien to our western culture, particularly Gamelan orchestra music, which most people find incomprehensible. It follows that at least to some extent, our response to music... | [
"Recent developments in cognitive neuroscience of music have led to a new way of looking at music and emotion. Neurologist Oliver Sacks states that music occupies more areas of the brain than language does, and that humans are primarily a musical species.\n",
"The ability to perceive emotion in music is said to d... |
how do we exactly know we and everything around us is in three dimensions? isn't the universe just one dimensional line curved so much we can't really tell if we live in 3d or this one dimensional line? | We don't really *know* this, but it certainly looks like it for practical purposes. [Minutephysics explains one test here.](_URL_0_) | [
"Dimensional analogy was used by Edwin Abbott Abbott in the book \"Flatland\", which narrates a story about a square that lives in a two-dimensional world, like the surface of a piece of paper. From the perspective of this square, a three-dimensional being has seemingly god-like powers, such as ability to remove ob... |
why are unpaid interns bad but unpaid volunteers good? | Volunteering is considered to be done as an act of charity. As in, you aren't supposed to be doing it for money, but because it is a good act.
Interning isn't like that. You aren't working 8 hour days fixing 20 year old code that makes no sense out of the goodness of your heart. | [
"They believe that unpaid internships are exploitative, exclusive and unfair. By asking people to work without pay, employers exclude those with talent, ambition and drive who cannot afford to work for free. They campaign that employers and young people alike benefit from the best graduates getting the best jobs. T... |
What are the odds of winning an expert Minesweeper game ? | I don't think it's feasible to ever compute these odds. The total number of possible Minesweeper boards is astronomical, making exact computation impossible even if you had a fast method for finding the odds that a particular board will be won.
You could sample a smaller number of boards to estimate the odds of winni... | [
"Like poker sites, many skillgame sites take a rake from head-to-head and tournament games; however, this oft-ignored practice is de facto illegal in the U.S. Unlike casino games or games of chance, the outcome of a skill game is predominantly determined by the user's skill level. In many U.S. states, the outcome m... |
when we focus on a moving object we can smoothly move our eyes however if nothing is there we cant smoothly move them from left to right? | Horizontal saccades (eye movements) feel like they are smooth, but they aren't.
They are always somewhat jerky, but your brain corrects the visual input so that you interpret it as smooth movement.
When you have a moving object this allows the brain's "correction software" to do a more convincing job of making you thin... | [
"Intermediate directions are controlled by simultaneous actions of multiple muscles. When one shifts the gaze horizontally, one eye will move laterally (toward the side) and the other will move medially (toward the midline). This may be neurally coordinated by the central nervous system, to make the eyes move toget... |
why can some people withstand more spice than others? | there's actually an interesting Vox video just about this question. ["Why we learn to love spicy food"](_URL_0_) | [
"Because they tend to have strong flavors and are used in small quantities, spices tend to add few calories to food, even though many spices, especially those made from seeds, contain high portions of fat, protein, and carbohydrate by weight. However, when used in larger quantity, spices can also contribute a subst... |
Would Segregation Have Been Abolished Without Brown v. Board of Education? | Actually, there was a looooong history of chipping away at [Plessy vs. Fergouson.](_URL_4_). Essentially it largely came down to before BvB.E., that you had to provide equal but seperate, which meant that the states had to provide a black law school. I know that in [Sweattv.Painter](_URL_1_), they basically made Texa... | [
"After \"Brown vs. Board of Education\" ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional, the implementation of desegregation was discussed in a follow-up Supreme Court case termed \"Brown II\". Though the NAACP lawyers argued for an immediate timetable of integration, the Supreme Court issued an ambiguous order ... |
What alternative historical lenses have been growing in popularity among historians? | Those books on salt, cod, etc are usually lumped under "microhistory" which is actually one of my favorite easy-reading history categories, I would read a popular microhistory on just about anything. HOW JARRED MAYONNAISE MADE THE MODERN WORLD AND EVERYTHING IN IT! I just love reading those out-there arguments in micro... | [
"The progression of lens design for later emulsions is of practical importance when considering the use of old lenses, still often used on large-format equipment; a lens designed for orthochromatic film may have visible defects with a color emulsion; a lens for panchromatic film will be better but not as good as la... |
what is cultural marxism? what does a cultural marxist do? | A cultural marxists uses what is called critical theory to analyse history, traditions and culture from a marxist perspective.
Most importantly, they believe that not only it is the upper classes oppressing the lower classes by means of set "rigged systems" that keeps the poor poor, but also that traditions and values... | [
"In contemporary usage, the term Cultural Marxism is a right-wing, antisemitic conspiracy theory according to which the Frankfurt School is part of a continual academic and intellectual culture war to systematically undermine and destroy Western culture and social traditions. As articulated in the 1990s, the conspi... |
When our bodies burn a gram of fat, protein, or carbohydrates, what percentage of the mass is converted to energy? | When we consume food we extract energy from that food but we don't actually convert any mass into energy. Of the food we can metabolize (ignoring things like fiber and salts) more than 90-95% of it is absorbed and metabolized. Of the energy we obtain from metabolism all of it is either converted into heat are used to... | [
"Thus the young adult human’s fat stores average between about 10–20 kg, but varies greatly depending on age, gender, and individual disposition. By contrast the human body stores only about 400 g of glycogen, of which 300 g is locked inside the skeletal muscles and is unavailable to the body as a whole. The 100 g ... |
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