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Why did the California Gold Rush end after only several years? | The Gold Rush produced an incredible amount of gold, which caused the economy to boom, producing wealth of all sorts for the Pacific Coast. Gold deposits were extensive, meaning that no single person or group of miners were likely to become millionaires, but it was possible to "make a pile" in the vernacular of the day... | [
"The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvig... |
why we can't just use photosynthesis to combat climate change? | Algae, for the most part, get eaten by other things and the carbon they fix goes right back into the carbon cycle.
It's only when carbon laden stuff gets buried underground or falls to the bottom of the ocean and stays there that it has much of a chance of staying out the atmosphere or other short term carbon sinks. | [
"One way of using natural photosynthesis is for the production of a biofuel, which is an indirect process that suffers from low energy conversion efficiency (due to photosynthesis' own low efficiency in converting sunlight to biomass), the cost of harvesting and transporting the fuel, and conflicts due to the incre... |
Tuesday Trivia | A wizard's spell allows you to make everyone better understand the history that matters to you by forcing them to read one book. What is it, and why? | Man, I wish I had such a book. Does anybody know of a book aimed at a general audience that dissects/refutes the idea of progressivism in history? Something like that would be my vote. It is, by and large, the number 1 misguided attitude that I run into when talking to non-historians/anthropologists who enjoy reading a... | [
"\"Book of Spells\" is designed to be an interpretation of learning spells at Hogwarts School in the \"Harry Potter\" universe, with the \"book\" itself having been written in the Harry Potter universe over 200 years ago by Miranda Goshawk. At the end of each chapter, a poem will describe a failed Hogwarts student ... |
The Third Reich’s Wehrmacht has a largely modern perception of being vastly technologically superior to the western allies. Was this the sentiment at the time as well? | Whether this applies to the 'Western Allies' is a bit semantic, but - during the first period of the war, Soviet troops did certainly feel overwhelmed. Reports of "tank shock" abounded as Red Army infantry, often caught flat-footed without their own armor support due to endemic maintenance problems, panicked at the sig... | [
"Finally, the industrial centers arrayed against the Axis – in the United States and the Urals and Siberia – were simply out of reach of strategic reconnaissance. As always it was at the tactical level that the Germans excelled, and short-range aircraft were able to hold their own in the East until fuel, pilots, an... |
the movie "the room" | Self funded, self directed, self acted. Tommy wiseau had full control from start to finish and the result was pure glorious garbage.
They are making a movie about it with james franco that I believe airs in theaters today. | [
"Room and a Half (Russian: Полторы комнаты или сентиментальное путешествие на родину) is a 2009 Russian movie. The picture won three Nika Awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Khrzhanovsky) and Best Screenplay. It also received the Best Film award in the East of the West section at the Karlovy Vary Internatio... |
why must tv episodes all air back to back on a weekly basis? why not air them once a month and keep people watching the show year round rather than make people wait a whole year for a new season? | People dont want to wait long for a new episode. For a lot of people waiting a week is already too long, hence the popularity of being able to binge entire netflix show seasons in one go.
Having said that; theres nothing preventing you from watching one episode a month. | [
"In the United States, currently running shows will rerun older episodes from the same season to fill the time slot with the same program. This is often done for headliner shows because the length of the year (52 weeks) is far more than the length of a pick-up (from six to 13 episodes – usually one per week) or a f... |
what do postal services do with all of the christmas wish lists? | They're processed just like other letters and sent to North Pole, Alaska. Then a special delivery truck route from the Distribution Center takes them from the post office to Saint Nick's workshop where elves reply to them and send them back to USPS DC and processed for return.
....
....
They're answered by ... | [
"Some people take the annual mass-mailing of cards as an opportunity to update those they know with the year's events, and include the so-called \"Christmas letter\" reporting on the family's doings, sometimes running to multiple printed pages. In the UK these are known as round-robin letters. While a practical not... |
Where do all the "breakthrough" medicines we hear about go? | It has to do with drug development and treatment testing. As you progress through phases, treatments run into snags. What worked great in an animal model loses steam in a human trial. After the open ended human trial, maybe it doesn't separate from standard treatments in randomised trial. Perhaps a side effect is disc... | [
"We have come a long way since the discovery and commercial production of Penicillin—the world's first miracle drug. In just seven decades, mass production of life-saving drugs has become a living reality and already contributed to saving millions of lives. India played a very important role in this the current gro... |
why do you keep your heart rate low to burn fat? | > Is there an advantage to running slower, or is it just because it's a more sustainable rate for most people?
That's it. Most people can't keep up a 160 heart rate for very long.
If you could keep it up for an hour, you are going to burn more fat than at 130. But if you have to stop after 15 minutes, but could h... | [
"Phillips maintains that aerobic exercise is more effective for fat loss when done first thing in the morning, because it raises the metabolism for the remainder of the day, and because the body draws more heavily on its fat stores after fasting overnight.\n",
"Diet itself helps to increase calorie burning by boo... |
what do those "chaotic good/evil/neutral charts" mean and what purpose do they serve? | They're alignments for role-playing adventures like dungeons and dragons.
You assign your character a personality such a chaotic good or whichever you prefer, and it helps determine your characters decisions during the game. | [
"\"D&D\" 4th Edition, released in 2008, reduced the number of alignments to five: lawful good, good, evil, chaotic evil, and unaligned. In that edition, \"good\" replaced neutral good and did not encompass chaotic good; \"evil\" replaced neutral evil and did not encompass lawful evil; \"unaligned\" replaced true ne... |
What's the earliest known example of "fun running"? | The Odyssey has a footrace in book 8. Not the best translation below but gets the story across...
_URL_0_ | [
"Competitive running grew out of religious festivals in various areas such as Greece, Egypt, Asia, and the East African Rift in Africa. The Tailteann Games, an Irish sporting festival in honor of the goddess Tailtiu, dates back to 1829 BCE, and is one of the earliest records of competitive running. The origins of t... |
at what point does a piece of music composition became public domain, and what does public domain cover? | There actually isn't a simple answer to this question. Basically, it varies from country to country; and this can lead to the bizarre situation of your cover being legal in some countries and illegal in others, [as one composer discovered to his dismay and confusion](_URL_0_).
Most countries are signatories to the Ber... | [
"In the United States, any musical works published in 1923 or earlier, in addition to those voluntarily placed in public domain, exist in the public domain. In most other countries, music generally enters the public domain in a period of fifty to seventy-five years after the composer's death. (Public domain rights ... |
nascar, the rules, pit stops, caution flags and rankings | Basically, they turn left for a living.
With the occasional right turns when a road course is ran, but those are getting fewer and fewer.
So the cars have so much fuel in them. The race is so many miles. They have to stop for fuel every so often or they'll run out on the track.
During the time they're on the track... | [
"Throughout most of its history, NASCAR held to a very strict rule of their races going only to the advertised distance, as indicated on the entry form, in national racing. The only exception was at The Winston, an exhibition, non-points, \"all star\" event. In that event, caution laps would not count during the fi... |
Do wasps sleep? | Yes ([pdf of a pilot study in paper wasps here](_URL_4_))! Well, to qualify that, they "sleep" in the same sense that other insects sleep. That is, they have periods of the day in which they enter an inactive state. This state lacks some of the characteristics we associate with mammalian sleep, such as distinct rapid e... | [
"The larvae of wasps resemble maggots, and are adapted for life in a protected environment; this may be the body of a host organism or a cell in a nest, where the larva either eats the provisions left for it or, in social species, is fed by the adults. Such larvae have soft bodies with no limbs, and have a blind gu... |
how does an avocado pit keep an avocado green even when removed and stored loosely in a container. what's the pit doing? | It doesn't. The only way to keep an avocado from going brown is to cut it off from oxygen. Or purge your fridge and fill it with nitrogen.
The pit helps when left in the cut half because it's keeping a percentage of the surface area sealed away from oxygen. The concept of it doing anything to help when left loose nea... | [
"The greens are placed in the colander section of the spinner and the container is filled with water. The floating salad is spun and left to sit before the water is poured out. This process can be repeated until no visible traces of dirt or sand remain. Once drained, the greens are spun, which generates a centrifug... |
Inheritance in the Soviet Union. | > *Yes I know you didn't really possess anything in the USSR, I just don't have a better word for it.
But you did "possess things", why wouldn't you? Don't think the USSR was some fairy tale (or nightmare) land where magical property-less communism existed, don't think basic things and facts of everyday life didn't i... | [
"The early Soviet state sought to remake the family, believing that although the economic emancipation of workers would deprive families of their economic function, it would not destroy the institution but rather base family relations exclusively on mutual affection. The Bolsheviks replaced religious marriage with ... |
Why do my eyes water significantly when I yawn? | I googled for "eyes water yawn". These were among the top results:
1. [New York Times - Why do my mouth and eyes sometimes water when I yawn?](_URL_2_)
2. [The Naked Scientist - When you yawn, why do your eyes water?](_URL_1_)
I also used the search field in the sidebar to search AskScience for "eyes water yawn". T... | [
"Still another hypothesis suggests yawns are caused by the same chemicals (neurotransmitters) in the brain that affect emotions, mood, appetite, and other phenomena. These chemicals include serotonin, dopamine, glutamic acid, and nitric oxide. As more (or fewer) of these compounds are activated in the brain, the fr... |
Say our planet revolved around a red giant. Would our perceived colors on a day to day basis be different than those we see when we circle the sun? | I wonder if OP is actually asking:
since the sun emits light of many wavelengths--[but peaks in the visible spectrum](_URL_0_)--it can be argued that humans thus developed sight to see what we have termed 'the visible spectrum'. but if our planet revolved around a red giant, [which emits radiation that peaks in the i... | [
"Although no images from within Jupiter's atmosphere have ever been taken, artistic representations typically assume that the planet's sky is blue, though dimmer than Earth's, because the sunlight there is on average 27 times fainter, at least in the upper reaches of the atmosphere. The planet's narrow rings might ... |
is there a reason you can't see a missile hitting the airplane that was downed today in any of the footage released? | Most interceptor missiles are supersonic. You would have a very difficult time seeing them past the first 5-10 seconds | [
"The film states that the plane was destroyed by three proximity fuse missiles, but does not state which party did it. According to the film, the primary radar data was the key piece of evidence related to the theory, and it discusses this for about three minutes and thirty seconds. The film also stated that shootd... |
Why is mainland SEA predominantly Buddhism and the island SEA practice more of Islam or Christianity? | Not to forestall further answers, but there's a fantastic answer to part of this question by /u/PangeranDipanagara, in reply to the question [How did Indonesia and Malaysia become majority-Muslim when they were once dominated by Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms?](_URL_0_). Hope that helps!
| [
"Sri Lanka is well known for its rich Buddhist culture as well as other religions. Being a religious country, Sri Lanka has many places with religious and historic significance, which attract tourists from all over the world. Anuradhapura, Temple of the Tooth, Sri Pada, Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu and Kataragama, a... |
Why did the Khmer Rouge regime NOT destroy Cambodia's cultural heritage? | The Khmer Rouge's goal was not so much to establish a blank slate, but to return Cambodia to a "mystic state" and recreate what Pol Pot viewed as the essence of pre-Western contact Cambodia. This came largely as a reaction to the US invasion of Cambodia and the huge loss of life that it caused, as well as a general sen... | [
"The Khmer Rouge regime, led by Pol Pot, wanted to return the nation of Cambodia to an idyllic notion of the past by implementing a radical form of agrarian socialism while simultaneously shunning outside aid and influence. In order to build and protect their utopian goals, the regime perceived enmity in anyone tie... |
why can a skateboard take punishment from drops over 50 feet high (+15m) yet, it can't take the force when you stomp it in two pieces with your foot? | When landing from high distances, you want to land over the wheels. They are the sturdiest part.
When stomping on the middle, you are able to break it without something below it. Like a table. If you jumped into the middle, chances are you could break it. If you were to jump right above one of the legs, it will not br... | [
"Skateboards, along with other small-wheeled transportation such as in-line skates and scooters, suffer a safety problem: riders may easily be thrown from small cracks and outcroppings in pavement, especially where the cracks run across the direction of travel. Hitting such an irregularity is the major cause of fal... |
Are there any strong arguments against the existence of black holes? | I don't know what followed, but a while back there was [this article](_URL_2_) As I understand what's proposed here is that before a singularity can form radiation is also released which blows out the star's mass until there is no longer enough to collapse into a singularity.
The original paper, with approximate solu... | [
"Such research has attracted much media attention, as black holes have long captured the imagination of both scientists and the public for both their innate simplicity and mysteriousness. The recent theoretical results have therefore undergone much scrutiny and most of them are now ruled out by theoretical studies.... |
how do calculators perform complex integral and derivative calculations? | From what I remember, they convert the function into a Taylor Series with enough terms so that the margin of error (LaGrange error) is less than however many decimal places the calculator decides to show. From there, they plug in for the variable. | [
"The derivatives provide detailed information for such optimizers, but are even harder to calculate, e.g. approximating the gradient takes at least N+1 function evaluations. For approximations of the 2nd derivatives (collected in the Hessian matrix), the number of function evaluations is in the order of N². Newton'... |
how a president can effect an economy? and how long does it take for a president to actually have an effect after he is in office? | Wich country are we talking about?
| [
"On 29 January 2018, in his first annual message to the national legislature, he reduced his salary and other benefits by 25% with immediate effect. \"With the assessment that I gave you earlier of the poor condition of our economy, I believe that it is appropriate that we should all make sacrifices in the interest... |
Were all or most well known communist leaders in the early 20th century Jewish or are anti-Semitic people cherry picking communist leaders to perpetuate this narrative? | Jews were overrepresented in early 20th Communist leadership, but so were many other well-educated minorities for obvious reasons. Left wing politics offered a way towards social equality in aristocratic societies, and also offered an alternative to the popular nationalist movements which generally excluded minorities... | [
"In 1956 Nikita Khrushchev secretly denounced Stalinism in his speech \"On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences\". This speech went unreported in official Party organs, so the Stalinist Japanese Communist Party did not offer any reaction. But copies of it circulated around the world and had a great impact o... |
Is there a consensus on what happened to the victims of the Dyatlov Pass incident that don't involve a Yeti or aliens? Is the radiation (if there actually was radiation) on some of the bodies explained? | There is no consensus, sadly. It's even hard to say what facts about the event are true or not. The incident effectively amounts to something like a crime scene, and the evidence is long gone. What evidence that was there was subject to fallible and biased human perception. I do not believe there are enough solid facts... | [
"According to the Russian human rights group Memorial, the operation was accompanied by gross and massive violations of human rights and of Russian law. Accusations included pillage and wanton destruction of civilian property, desecration of a mosque, massive robberies and extortion, and beatings and torture of aro... |
Does sipping water vs 'chugging' water impact how the body processes water? | Ok, this will likely get buried, but I'll give an explanation.
After you ingest (swallow) water, it goes to your stomach. There, it is slowly released to your small intestine to be absorbed and pass to your bloodstream.
It takes water between 10 and 40 minutes to pass to your small intestine and be absorbed. The speed... | [
"Carbonated water may increase irritable bowel syndrome symptoms of bloating and gas due to the release of carbon dioxide in the digestive tract. It does not appear to have an effect on gastroesophageal reflux disease. There is tentative evidence that carbonated water may help with constipation among people who hav... |
why does ac electricity need to be converted to dc for electronic gadgets? why don't they just use ac? | AC is an alternating current -- your AC appliances may say 120v, but AC current isn't a *constant* 120 volts -- it has peaks that reach 120, but in each cycle it actually crosses zero and goes -120. This helps for transmission and generation (Tesla was da man), but for circuitry doing complex calculations, it needs a... | [
"AC voltage conversion uses a transformer. Conversion from one DC voltage to another requires electronic circuitry(electromechanical equipment was required before the development of semiconductor electronics), like a DC-DC converter. Mains power (called household current in the US) is universally AC.\n",
"The ele... |
why were the crews for the apollo missions always different? | Each mission had a huge amount or procedures that had to be memorized. Since each mission did different things, the procedures were different. Crews were learning their mission while other missions were being conducted. The astronauts didn't just play poker waiting their turn to ride the rocket. Every day was fille... | [
"Apollo 7 went well, and the crews were switched. The crew swap also affected who would be the first astronauts to land on the Moon, for when the crews for Apollo 8 and 9 were swapped, so were the backup crews. Since the rule of thumb was for backup crews to fly as prime crew three missions later, this put Neil Arm... |
why does it take days to figure out the passenger list after a plane crash? | It doesnt. It takes days to notify next of kin and to ensure no errors on the manifest. They have a list of all passengers before the thing takes off. Just because they dont release it, or you dont see a list of names right away, doesnt mean they dont know...especially on Luftansa. | [
"Faced with a lack of reliable basic flight instrument readings, constant contradictory warnings from the aircraft's flight computer (some of which were valid and some of which were not) and believing that they were at a safe altitude, the crew decided to begin descent for the approach to the airport. Since the fli... |
why does an old tv screen or some lights flicker when you look away from them, but when you look right at them it seems the light is stable. | The center of your eyes field of vision is attuned more for detail while the edges are more for sensing movement. | [
"A problem is that without the back light the screen looks very dark and it's hard to see the image, so the backlight must run continuously except when it's not necessary to look at the screen (for example, when using the console as an MP3 player).\n",
"In everyday life it is easy to see that light dims as it get... |
How accurate is the idea of "jail or the military" as a sentencing measure in the US, historically? | This is an extremely difficult question to properly source, as it is so often difficult to prove a negative and unofficial agreements tend to be...well...unofficial so they don't leave paper trails. There ARE, however, some parts of the question we can answer without the mods here getting too bent out of shape, I hope... | [
"Criminals and army soldiers have been imprisoned throughout history. In English law, imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty. The 17th century book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:\n",
"Imprisonment (from , via French , originally from Latin , arrest, from , , \"to seize\") in law ... |
If the escape velocity of the sun is 600 km/s then are the voyager and pioneer space probes slowing down? | The escape velocity from the Sun is 617.5 km/s. That means that if you were on the surface of the Sun and wanted to escape the Sun's gravity then you would need to travel 617.5 km/s. This number is much lower as you get farther away from the sun. Also look at the path that the [Voyagers took](_URL_0_). They were in orb... | [
"Any future spacecraft that escaped the Solar System with a velocity of 25.4 km/s would reach this star 37,000 years from now, when the star just passes its nearest approach. By comparison, the \"Voyager 1\" has an escape velocity of 16.6 km/s.\n",
"In order to leave the Solar System, the probe needs to reach the... |
Is there any historical evidence of any bastards or illegitimate children of royalty taking an English throne? | Well William the Bastard became William the Conqueror after he defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings and took the English throne. | [
"If Edward were indeed illegitimate, then he and his descendants would have had no valid claim to the throne, so the programme suggests that the 'real' monarchs were the heirs of his legitimate brother George, Duke of Clarence. At the time, this line was represented by The 14th Earl of Loudoun (who usually styled h... |
How does alcohol work as a muscle relaxant? Are there any other substances that have the same effect? | Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, not a muscle relaxant.
It relaxes muscles by acting on the brain, and by suppressing pain response.
There are chemicals that act specifically on the muscle action, but as they affect ALL muscles including heart, they aren't available over the counter.
| [
"Alcohols, in various forms, are used within medicine as an antiseptic, disinfectant, and antidote. Alcohols applied to the skin are used to disinfect skin before a needle stick and before surgery. They may be used both to disinfect the skin of the patient and the hands of the healthcare providers. They can also be... |
How many years was it from the first humans to basic tribes, then from the basic tribes to the first true civilizations? | I'm no anthropologist but may be able to help you with your second part, what do you mean by 'true civilisation'? | [
"Archaeologists identify a Meso-Indian period from 7000-5000 B.C.to 1000 A.C. In this period, hunters and gatherers of megafauna started to turn to other food sources and established the first tribal structures.\n",
"Between 1800 and 300 BC, complex cultures began to form. Many matured into advanced pre-Columbian... |
why are power poles above ground? | No because you'd have to deep 6 a power line. If something goes wrong it's much harder to actually fix anything.
Also zoning with roads would be a nightmare when you need to place new or unexpected powerlines underneath them.
Feasibility. It's much easier to place powerlines on pools around the country than it is to... | [
"Electrical wires and cables are routed overhead on utility poles as an inexpensive way to keep them insulated from the ground and out of the way of people and vehicles. Utility poles can be made of wood, metal, concrete, or composites like fiberglass. They are used for two different types of power lines; \"subtran... |
Was Singapore ever a bigger country then it is today? | Singapore, as a city, was a creation of the British. In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore as a trading post of the East India Company (with permission from the Sultanate of Jahore).
There were settlements there previously, (though not very substantial). In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settleme... | [
"Singapore is an island city-state in Southeast Asia. About 5.2 million people live and work within , making Singapore the 2nd-most-densely populated country in the world after Monaco. Singapore was part of Malaysia before it was expelled from the federation in 1965, becoming an independent republic, a city and a s... |
Are tribes really a thing? | You're absolutely right and you've touched upon a number of key critiques of old fashioned cultural anthropology. Unfortunately, although those critiques have been accepted within anthropology for decades, adjacent disciplines and the mass media still largely use the outdated terminology and concepts when talking about... | [
"The tribal people are rich in cultural heritage and skill of art and craft but they are still marginalized in respect to higher education as well as in other walks of life. Now in the present age of globalization the world has shrunk into a village as the society has advanced in technology. But the tribes, who are... |
honey (and bee biology). why does bee's "vomit" taste delicious? why doesn't anything else's? | What does your vomit taste like? Mine tastes like beer, jagermeister, red bull, schmirnoff ice, and stomach acid. It tastes like whatever I consumed, plus some of the digestive fluids that my body keeps in my stomach.
If you were to eat nothing but sweet flower nectar, your vomit would taste like sugar and stomach aci... | [
"Antibacterial properties of honey are the result of the low water activity causing osmosis, hydrogen peroxide effect, and high acidity. The combination of high acidity, hygroscopic, and antibacterial effects have led to honey's reputation as a plausible way to mummify a human cadaver, despite lack of concrete evid... |
why is it that i wake up feeling sick whenever i sleep with the a/c on the cool setting? | Could have bacteria in it. One summer I got sick with a lung infection twice after using my window ac unit and I put it together and got the unit replaced, haven't had a problem getting sick after using the ac again. Mold can grow inside them and the spores can get blown out with the cold air and when that gets breathe... | [
"In a cool night, always in the same summer, the feeling of distress evolved in the heart of Poucy, it does more emotions and decided it was time to leave home .While Thumb was sick, she met a young man who comforted and gave him the strength to follow in Poucy the return trip.\n",
"Second wind (or third wind, fo... |
how do tiny phone cameras take such good pictures? | Sensor technology has progressed greatly in the last three or so years, allowing small CMOS sensors to capture images with really nice clarity. In addition, most cell phones in the higher price range have very nice optics...usually at an f2 or similar to allow a large amount of light to enter the lens and strike the se... | [
"Recent mobile phones have the ability to store thousands of photos and can be used to take photos with resolutions up to several megapixels. Viewing the photos is restricted by the phones' small displays. Projector phones allow photographs to be shared with a larger audience. One study found that people preferred ... |
why are many painkilling pills coated with something? doesn't it delay the effect? | To ensure that the pill doesn't break apart before it reaches its intended destination. Once it's in your gut, it'll be easily dissolved. | [
"By delivering drugs almost directly to the site of action, the risk of systemic side effects is reduced. However, skin irritation may result, and for some forms such as creams or lotions, the dosage is difficult to control.\n",
"BULLET::::- Medication: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or acetaminop... |
More prime numbers: Why can't we make a formula to determine every prime number, or "predict" which numbers will be prime? | What do you mean "determine every prime number"? We do have all of the following:
1. Proof that there are infinitely many prime numbers
2. Algorithm for proving definitively whether any given number is prime, in a finite amount of time.
3. Algorithm for enumerating all of the prime numbers; we can find the *n*th prim... | [
"It is possible for a prime to be a strong prime both in the cryptographic sense and the number theoretic sense. For the sake of illustration, 439351292910452432574786963588089477522344331 is a strong prime in the number theoretic sense because the arithmetic mean of its two neighboring primes is 62 less. Without t... |
In terms of political movements, why wasn't the presence of fascism/Nazi ideology in America treated with the same degree of hysteria and urgency as Communism during the Red Scare? | One way to approach this question is to examine the reasons that the United States had such a strong reaction to communism in the period following World War II. First though, I shall set the stage with a little background. Communism was hardly new to the United States time. The Communist Party of the United States had ... | [
"During the Second Red Scare which occurred in the United States in the years that immediately followed the end of World War II, the term \"premature anti-fascist\" came into currency and it was used to describe Americans who had strongly agitated or worked against fascism, such as Americans who had fought for the ... |
Did ancient societies have "Black Markets"? | If you pick a date range for "ancient societies", we can give you simpler yes/no/maybe.
A black market is a market which operates outside the scope of, and in violation of, the law. So we can safely safe there weren't any black markets until the first laws regulating the sale of goods. | [
"Markets have existed since ancient times. Some historians have argued that a type of market has existed since humans first began to engage in trade. Open air, public markets were known in ancient Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenecia, Greece, Egypt and on the Arabian peninsula. However, not all societies developed a syste... |
Why is condensation formed above the wings of an airplane? | The drop in air pressure likely causes the temperature above the wing to drop as well. If it's not too dry, this drop in temperature can have a more significant influence on the dew point than the drop in air pressure, resulting in condensation.
Hope this helps. | [
"The same kind of condensation is sometimes seen above the wings of jet aircraft at low altitude in high-humidity conditions. The top of a wing is a curved surface. The curvature (and increased air velocity) causes a reduction in air pressure, as given by Bernoulli's Law. This reduction in air pressure causes cooli... |
why are we harder to move when unconscious? | When we're conscious but are still being moved by someone (I'm going to guess it's because they're trying to help you because you're extremely weak/tired/injured?)
We still comply with the movements, and often try to assist with the movement as much as we can.
When we're unconscious we won't comply with the movement ... | [
"The adaptive unconscious is defined as different from conscious processing in a number of ways. It is faster, effortless, more focused on the present, and less flexible. It is thought to be adaptive as it helps to keep us alive. Processing information without us even realising then feeding any we do need to know t... |
how does the brain convert audio signals to recognizable sounds/speech? | Pattern recognition: which is a way of saying converting non-specific inputs into specific outputs.
The brain analyzes the rythm of speech, pitches, as well as context cues to identify the most likely meaning.
It does this with a massive set of neurons linked together almost in logic gates, in sort of if/then pairs. T... | [
"When sound waves reach the ears, the energy they contain is converted into electrical signals, which are sent via the auditory nerves to the brain. Sound processing begins when these electrical signals reach the primary auditory receiving area in the core part of the temporal lobe. Signals then travel to the area ... |
why is it more environmentally friendly to use regular dishes vs paper products? | Water can be thought of as an infinite cycle. Very little water ever actually leaves Earth's system, and mainly through the atmosphere, not any type of everyday activity. Most water we have now is the same we had a billion years ago, it's just passed through different forms a million billion times.
& #x200B;
Paper i... | [
"A 2007 report into shopping bag alternatives noted that paper bags were less environmentally friendly than plastic bags due to a higher carbon footprint. Similarly, cotton bags were unsuitable due to the pesticides used and high volume of water needed to create them. The \"greenest\" option was using recycled plas... |
Why is the tip of the probe of an atomic force microscope sharp/pointed? | The answer has to do with the "spatial resolution" of the AFM image you're trying to produce. Long story short, a cone tip is superior since it allows for the smallest radius of curvature (ideally, a single atom at the tip). Indeed, if the surface you're investigating has topographic features that are SMALLER than the ... | [
"A probe tip in scanning microscopy literally is a very sharp piece of metal or non-metal, like a sewing needle with a point at one end with nano or sub-nanometer order of dimension. It can interact with up to one molecule or atom of a given surface of a sample that can reveal authentic properties of the surface su... |
how can the national unemployment rate be just 5.1% yet at the same time there is an extremely high number of people on food stamps? | Because being employed is no guarantee of being able to afford food, shelter, and other basic necessities. You can look to any number of threads talking about raising the minimum wage for more details. | [
"The unemployment rate in the U.S. grew to 8.5 percent in March 2009, and there were 5.1 million job losses by March 2009 since the recession began in December 2007. That was about five million more people unemployed compared to just a year prior, which was the largest annual jump in the number of unemployed person... |
Is it true that soldiers did not want to kill before World War 2 and the military training became more rough as a result? | This question has come up before, so you will likely be interested in [this answer](_URL_0_), which references the book "Men Against Fire" which that particular episode took its name from. | [
"The new men were often not even proficient in the use of their own weapons, and once in combat, could not receive enough practical instruction from veterans before being killed or wounded, sometimes within the first few days. Under such conditions, many soldiers suffered a crippling loss of morale, while veterans ... |
Why are elements like bismuth not unstable if there's such a large discrepancy between their proton and neutron count? | At low masses, the valley of stability follows closely to the N = Z line in the (N,Z) plane. However at very high Z, the repulsive Coulomb forces between protons start to make it favorable to have more neutrons than protons, and the valley of stability bends in the direction of N > Z. | [
"Usually unstable nuclides are clearly either \"neutron rich\" or \"proton rich\", with the former undergoing beta decay and the latter undergoing electron capture (or more rarely, due to the higher energy requirements, positron decay). However, in a few cases of odd-proton, odd-neutron radionuclides, it may be ene... |
How big of a nuke would be needed to disperse jupiter? | **Short answer:** You'd need about 10 quintillion nukes, which is 4x the mass of the moon, to destroy Jupiter. That, or, a pile of TNT approximately equal to the mass of the sun should do the trick.
**Long answer:**
> Please be serious.
I make no promises.
The gravitational binding energy of a spherical mass i... | [
"The force of the explosion on Jupiter was thousands of times more powerful than the suspected comet or asteroid that exploded over the Tunguska River Valley in Siberia in June 1908. (This would be approximately 12,500–13,000 Megatons of TNT, over a million times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.)\n... |
why is it legal for cops to release mugshots? | police budgets are paid for by tax dollars and subject to open their documents for transparency.
police and legal proceedings are a matter of public record. anyone can go request public records. | [
"Kent Police released mugshots of Fransen and Golding, taken when they were originally in custody, because of \"the nature of the offences committed and the impact they had on the wider community\". The usual procedure is that only offenders sentenced to a year or more in custody have their mugshots released.\n",
... |
how the alternative minimun tax (amt) works. | The purpose of the AMT is to make sure that really rich people can't just give all their money to charity instead of paying taxes. So if your income is high enough, you have to calculate your taxes twice -- once the normal way, and once a second time to make sure you are paying "minimum" taxes for your income level. ... | [
"The AMT is a tax of roughly 28% on adjusted gross income over $186,300 plus 26% of amounts less than $186,300 minus an exemption depending on filing status after adding back in most deductions. However, taxpayers must also perform all of the paperwork for a regular tax return and then all of the paperwork for Form... |
What is the link between futurism and fascism? | Not an expert, but I'll relay some information from [*Art in Theory: 1990-1910*](_URL_0_) in case someone doesn't come through with a better explanation.
Futurism was founded in 1909 by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti with the publication of the *Manifesto of Futurism*. *Art in Theory* claims that "politically[,] Marinetti'... | [
"BULLET::::- \"Futurismo\" - \"Futurism\", an ideology created by Marinetti that advocated a total modernization of society in the economy, politics, and culture, supported elimination of all old antiquated traditions, opposed democracy, supported political violence as being normal in society, and opposed feminism.... |
If the sum of energy in the universe = zero, then how is the universe expanding? | Keep in mind that expansion is independent of the sum of energy in the universe, whether or not the [zero-energy universe *hypothesis*](_URL_0_) is true.
The expansion is [metric](_URL_1_), not inertial -- meaning, things are not moving outward into pre-existing or newly-created space. Instead, the expansion is based... | [
"The law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system cannot change. The zero-energy universe states that the amount of energy in the universe minus the amount of gravity is exactly zero. That is the only kind of universe that could come from nothing, assuming such a zero-energy univ... |
what exactly is a mentalist" and how real are they? | Hi, amateur magician here. Mentalism is regarded as a form of magic. There's card magic, coin magic, mentalism etc. Mentalism is not all about hypnotism. Mentalism is the form of mental magic. The kind of magic where the mentalist predicts what object the audience will pick.
Hypnotism is considered to be a form of men... | [
"Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may appear to include hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognition, psychokinesis, mediumship, mind control, memory feats, deduction, and ... |
why maps aren't "upside down". | Early maps were made at all sorts of orientations, it wasn't unusual to see east at the top for example (chosen, we believe, because that's where the sun rises).
Over time maps became more important as boundaries became clearer and especially because charts began to be made for navigation at sea. The standard that eme... | [
"BULLET::::- Reversed maps, also known as \"Upside-Down maps\" or \"South-Up maps\", reverse the \"North is up\" convention and have south at the top. Ancient Africans including in Ancient Egypt utilised this orientation, as some maps in Brazil do today.\n",
"South-up map orientation is the orientation of a map w... |
why do some people talk in their sleep? what causes it? | Since no one answered yet, I'll tell you a bit (I work in a Sleep clinic). I don't have much time, so I'll keep it truly ELI5.
**Short Version:** We are not supposed to talk in our sleep, so when it does happen it's cause something is going wrong. And usually the reason it is happening is because of the body's fai... | [
"Sleep-talking by itself is typically harmless; however, it can wake others and cause them consternation—especially when misinterpreted as conscious speech by an observer. If the sleep-talking is dramatic, emotional, or profane it may be a sign of another sleep disorder (see above). Sleep-talking can be monitored b... |
How did formerly enslaved people in America learn to read after the Civil War? | The main way was through schools established by various northern aid societies with and in some cases for the Freedmen’s Bureau (Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands).
In some cases, before the Freedmen’s Bureau came and became involved, missionaries from Northern States had already established Schools.
... | [
"Although literacy was forbidden to slaves prior to the Civil War, Heard attended Sunday School and trained his memory by learning large amounts of the Bible by rote. After emancipation, while living with his father, he paid a white schoolboy ten cents a lesson to teach him basic literacy. He also began working for... |
How did ancient or medieval armies deal with things like thirst and heat stroke during what might be hours or days long combat? | As Aspergent summarized, in terms of pitched battle where two armies would engage in combat, there was nothing you really *could* do when the forces met. Hopefully the army has had enough preparation before the actual engagement to be at a level where they wouldn't be thirsty enough to effect their combat capability, a... | [
"Night fighting between standing armies was rare in ancient times. Night logistics were mostly limited to the carrying of torches, or navigation by what little light was provided by the stars or moon. However, circumstances occasionally necessitated fighting at night. Usually due to the massive nature of the battle... |
What was the most important port in Medieval Spain? | According to Olivia Remie Constable's *Trade and Traders in Muslim Spain: The Commercial Realignment of the Iberian Peninsula, 900-1500*, the VIP Iberian ports were Seville, Valencia, Almeria, and Cartagena. The key factor was control of Mallorca and the other Balearic islands, since basically all sea trade had to pass... | [
"The incorporation of the later medieval kingdoms of Spain into European trade routes between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean stimulated not only seafaring technology and the associated map-making and astronomical studies, but also the introduction of new commercial and financial institutions. Examples from the ... |
why do people like demi lovato who are in the hospital from drug overdose, not get arrested for doing an illegal substance? | Typically, it is not the *use* of the substance that is criminalized, but the possession. Also: prosecutorial discretion. | [
"Another risk with club drugs is one shared by all drugs, from legal drugs like alcohol to abused over-the-counter drugs (taking large amounts of dextromethorphan cough syrup) and illegal drugs (BZP, amphetamines, etc.): while impaired, the user is more likely to be injured, engage in dangerous or risky behaviour (... |
why do gaming apps like steam and origin update so often? | because software is complicated. and it runs on a wide variety of environments. some customers run in environments where they encounter bugs. other customers don't run in those environments. a release is made to fix the program so it runs bugfree in all environments.
they release it fast because it solves t... | [
"Source was created to evolve incrementally with new technology, as opposed to the backward compatibility-breaking \"version jumps\" of its competitors. Different systems within Source are represented by separate modules which can be updated independently. With Steam, Valve can distribute these updates automaticall... |
why do cables have speed limitation? | A copper line works by transmitting electrical currents. You have your equipment at the receiving end and it is looking at the phase of the incoming signal, the intensity and detecting changes. If there are distances involved, there is degradation of signals and there are many workarounds and hacks in place to get t... | [
"The standard does not define a maximum cable length, but instead defines the maximum capacitance that a compliant drive circuit must tolerate. A widely used rule of thumb indicates that cables more than long will have too much capacitance, unless special cables are used. By using low-capacitance cables, communicat... |
For people who suddenly develop short-term memory loss; are they able to build new long-term memories again? If so, how? Wouldn't all new memories considered "short-term"? | Dori doesn't have "short term memory loss", Dori has a caricature of [anterograde amnesia](_URL_0_).
Briefly, the phrases "short" and "long" term memory aren't really defined (or defined well) scientifically or medically. They are more colloquial than anything.
[Memory](_URL_4_) is largely broken down int explicit ... | [
"The research teams at USC and Wake Forest are working to possibly make this system applicable to humans whose brains suffer damage from Alzheimer's, stroke, or injury, the disruption of neural networks often stops long-term memories from forming. The system designed by Berger and implemented by Deadwyler and Hamps... |
why do flip flops make that sound when you walk? | Because of the heel of the sandal “flipping” up and hitting the heel of your foot, making a “flop” sound.
Is this a serious question? | [
"The term \"flip-flop\" has been used in American and British English since the 1960s to describe the thong or no-heel-strap sandal. It is an onomatopoeia of the sound made by the sandals when walking in them. They are called \"thongs\" (sometimes \"pluggers\") in Australia, \"jandals\" (originally a trademarked na... |
how are different foods and substances poisonous to different animals e.g dogs and chocolate | There is a substance found in chocolate called Theobromine to which dogs and cats are allergic. Theobromine is a stimulant present in chocolate -- in humans the effect of theobromine is similar to that of caffeine. Dogs cannot process theobromine as well as humans can, so the stimulant effects are longer-lasting and m... | [
"A number of common human foods and household ingestibles are toxic to dogs, including chocolate solids (theobromine poisoning), onion and garlic (thiosulfate, sulfoxide or disulfide poisoning), grapes and raisins (cause kidney failure in dogs), milk (some dogs are lactose intolerant and suffer diarrhea; goats' mil... |
why is it so difficult to make an electronic voting machine without all sorts of bugs and other problems? | It's not, really. There is a lot of fishy bullshit with voting machines and the whole process is pretty sketchy. | [
"Many insecurities have been found in commercial voting machines, such as using a default administration password. Cases have also been reported of machines making unpredictable, inconsistent errors. Key issues with electronic voting are therefore the openness of a system to public examination from outside experts,... |
do astronauts experience "weightlessness" during space transit? if so, what are they falling towards? | You experience weightlessness in free-fall anywhere. It just means you're not *resisting* the pull of gravity by an active acceleration. On the ground, for example, you are resisting it - the ground is pushing up on you in response to the pressure you place on it. But in space you can end up in an orbit or trajectory w... | [
"Astronauts experiencing weightlessness will often lose their orientation, get motion sickness, and lose their sense of direction as their bodies try to get used to a weightless environment. When they get back to Earth, or any other mass with gravity, they have to readjust to the gravity and may have problems stand... |
why are men and women's recommended calorie and alcohol intake different? | The recommended is based on averages... And on average males are physically larger and more active than average females... Sure there are body building women that could bench press me and have super active lifestyles, they require more calories than me... However... They are not *the average*. | [
"Alcohol affects male and female differently because of difference in body fat percentage and water content. On average, for equal body weight, women have a higher body fat percentage than men. Since alcohol is absorbed into body water content and men have more water in their bodies than women, for women there will... |
Why is Greenland almost fully glaciated while most of Northern Canada is not at same latitude? | Average temperature is correlated with latitude, but it is not directly controlled by it. See [this map](_URL_0_) of average temperature across the globe.
How hot and cold air are able to move across land matters a lot. So things like plains and mountains change where the air can go. Ocean temperature also matters, an... | [
"Greenland is not part of North America politically, which leads some people to assert that the most easterly point of the continent is the easternmost point in Canada − Cape Spear located at 52°37'W near St. John's, Newfoundland. However, both of these headlands are located on islands on the North American contine... |
what will happen to me if i eat spider webs? | You should be fine. They're made of silk proteins. It depends on how many/much you eat I suppose. One bit of web, fine no problem. 2 pounds of webs could lead to potential intestinal blockage.
I feel like i think about intestinal blockage too much. It comes up on my auto complete. | [
"As these spiders live in constant proximity to humans, they are not usually aggressive and will even let a human hand approach their web. Like any other spider, however, they are afraid of bigger foes, and, in most cases, will retreat behind an obstacle (such as a dried leaf or prey remains) upon perceiving more t... |
how is society not on the brink of collapse within 30-50 years, given the rising demand for (and dependence upon) oil? | First, "peak oil" will happen (if you keep pulling something from a bucket, it stands to reason that the bucket will eventually empty), but nobody has a real good estimate as to when this happens because we are constantly finding more and more sophisticated ways of extracting what amounts to dead plant and animals from... | [
"According to the Hirsch report prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy in 2005, a global decline in oil production would have serious social and economic implications without due preparation. Initially, an unmitigated peak in oil production would manifest itself as rapidly escalating prices and a worldwide ener... |
how were ancient huge theatres like ephesos able to have the spectators hear everything without sound systems? | Acoustics. They were designed to magnify the sound coming from the stage. So that it would be heard. Also,speaking loudly assisted this. | [
"The theatres were built on a large scale to accommodate a large number of people on stage and in the audience—up to fourteen thousand. Mathematics played a large role in the construction of these theatres, as their designers had to be able to create acoustics in them such that the actors' voices could be heard thr... |
why does bacon like to curl and bubble up while it's cooking? | Curling of any material is due to different parts expanding & shrinking at different rates. With cooking meat, the outer edges harden 1st & therefore change size much less than the inner portions. This causes curling due to bacon being fairly thin. | [
"Bacon is often used in cooking filet mignon because of the low levels of fat found in the cut (see barding), as fillets have low levels of marbling, or intramuscular fat. Bacon is wrapped around the fillet and pinned closed with a wooden toothpick. This adds flavor and keeps the fillet from drying out during the c... |
How do our eyes spot green screen background effects in TV/film? | You can't, not universally.
I guarantee you've seen movies with green-screen effects and had no idea they were there.
They only look fake when they've missed something in the perspective and lighting that gives it away - different people will necessarily have different awareness of such things.
| [
"This method most often appears as bright spots and reflections of surroundings that can contain entire images in the subject's eyes. This property is sometimes used as a plot point in movies and television. Typically, this trope (or cliché) is represented by computer magnification of an image to gain information a... |
why is it hard to breath through a straw? | The straw restricts the amount of air that can be sucked in. Like how a bucket takes a long time to drain through a small hole in the bottom, but can be emptied quickly if you tip the water out. | [
"Ideally such straws should be made of a material that is chemically inert, biocompatible and have physical characteristics that make them resistant to ultra-low temperatures and pressures created by their storage conditions, resulting in the expansion of liquids and liquid nitrogen.\n",
"Straw is a soft, dry sta... |
why does the toothpaste taste strong/minty? does it have to be that way really? | The Febreeze portion of Power of Habit also beautifully illustrates this phenomenon. I thought it was interesting that toothpaste manufacturers add acid to their toothpaste- not to increase it's cleaning power, but to in effect burn the consumers' mouths so that they feel the "tingle!"
They then associate this with be... | [
"Mint essential oil and menthol are extensively used as flavorings in breath fresheners, drinks, antiseptic mouth rinses, toothpaste, chewing gum, desserts, and candies, such as mint (candy) and mint chocolate. The substances that give the mints their characteristic aromas and flavors are menthol (the main aroma of... |
What plane "won" the battle of Britain? | Allow me to direct you first to this answer of mine to a similar question: _URL_1_
Let's consider that answer an introduction and now let's get to your specific question. However, I don't think it can be answered with just one name. As you rightly indicate with the inverted commas, speaking of an aircraft (henceforth... | [
"There is much speculation on the possible results of a German victory at the Battle of Britain including how the war might have progressed if the Germans had achieved their objective of suppressing the British air defences. The Battle of Britain (German: \"Luftschlacht um England\" or \"Luftschlacht um Großbritann... |
Why didn't Japan or Korea ever get into the commercial aerospace industry? | Japan has very much tried to get into the commercial aerospace industry. Their attempts have not been very successful, but try, they did, with Mitsubishi taking on the lion’s share of the effort.
The first Japanese commercial aircraft to enjoy a measure of success (and one of the first Japanese post-war aerospace desi... | [
"Japanese space development was started by Tokyo University professor Hideo Itokawa. Many aeronautical engineers lost their jobs after World War II as aircraft development was banned under the US Occupation of Japan. This changed after the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, which once again allowed ... |
what does the amygdala do? | That's still a subject of much investigation, but one of the things it appears to do (very strong evidence) is provide the emotional content of memories. Without the amygdala, you could still remember events and people, but there would be no emotional connection. Your mother would be just another person. Your dog would... | [
"The amygdala is an almond-shaped group of nuclei found deep and medially within the temporal lobes of the brain. Known to be the area of the brain responsible for emotional reaction, but plays an important role in processing of memory and decision making as well. It is part of the limbic system. The amygdala proje... |
when a fridge defrosts itself, where does the water go? | The water is sent through a pipe or tube to a drain pan. Next to this pan is the motor fan. As the motor runs, the fan pushes hot air over the drain pan, causing the water to evaporate. | [
"A defrosting procedure is generally performed periodically on refrigerators and freezers to maintain their operating efficiency. Over time, as the door is opened and closed, letting in new air, water vapour from the air condenses on the cooling elements within the cabinet.\n",
"The defrost mechanism in a refrige... |
Where does the "Africans are the only real Jews" theory come from and does it have a factual base to stand on? | It might be helpful if you provide a link or something to the claim because it be referring to the Black Hebrew movement, or Beta Israel, or some other thing and each one would require its own explanation | [
"There is a persistent belief in some quarters that Africanus was actually an African. However, being the son of a Gallic chief he was a member of a Celtic tribe. This confusion probably arises from an incorrect belief that the Roman cognomen Africanus means from Africa (i.e. born in Africa) rather than the correct... |
how does a game like skyrim have enough content for people to play hundreds of hours? | Well part of it is just there is really that much hard coded content in the game. It takes them years and years to make these games and bethesda the developers had actually been working on skyrim since oblivion which came out in 06. I mean they took some time with it on the back burner to make fallout 3 but afterwards... | [
"The game's producer, Louis-Pierre Pharand, said that the single-player game will \"potentially have close to 50 hours of game play.\" Lead designer Clint Hocking stated that at least 100 hours are needed to experience all of the game's content.\n",
"The game could be played as single-player (in practice matches,... |
why is gas more expensive in some states than others, even if there is no oil production in either? | Different states levy different taxes on gasoline. | [
"Another component of the hypothesis is that the price of petroleum is more stable in the U.S. than anywhere else since importers do not need to worry about exchange rate fluctuations. Since the U.S. imports a great deal of oil, its markets are heavily reliant on oil and its derivative products (jet fuel, diesel fu... |
what is isis | They call themselves the Islamic State because they believe the Middle East (and in theory the world) should be under homogenous Islamic rule. They have referred to Sykes-Picot, a Western agreement to divide the Middle East into the countries it's in today, as something they want to undo. This is why they say they ha... | [
"ISIL is a theocracy, proto-state and a Salafi or Wahhabi group. ISIL's ideology represents radical Salafi Islam, a strict, puritanical form of Sunni Islam. Muslim organisations like Islamic Networks Group (ING) in America have argued against this interpretation of Islam. ISIL promotes religious violence, and regar... |
Is slow acceleration always more efficient than fast acceleration? | In the case you're describing (both approaches using the same spaceship with the same thruster configuration, but you have a choice of firing multiple thrusters simultaneously or firing one thruster at a time sequentially) the answer is 'it depends what you consider efficiency.' You can see directly from the [rocket e... | [
"Note that the acceleration of a car is an interesting issue in terms of value. High acceleration is associated with expensive sports cars (Porsche, Ferrari). But people who buy these fast cars hardly use it. For these people acceleration is more part of the image of the product than it is part of the product quali... |
why do taste testers use gold cutlery? | Gold is one of the least reactive substances in the world. As a result when your job is tasting extremely subtle things that neutrality is vital. More reactive things like plastic, steel, or silver have a chance of altering the flavor of the food for them. While you and I may not have sophisticated enough tastes to tel... | [
"Historically, pickling caused health concerns for reasons associated with copper salts, as explained in the mid-19th century \"The English and Australian Cookery Book\": \"The evidence of the Lancet commissioner (Dr. Hassall) and Mr. Blackwell (of the eminent firm of Crosse and Blackwell) went to prove that the pi... |
What's the difference between soft snow and hard snow? | "Hard" snow, from what you describe, is normally referred to as "wet snow", whereas soft snow is "dry snow". As you probably know, snowflakes [look like this](_URL_0_) when they form in the clouds. When they land on the ground and pile up, because they are "spiky" and not round, there is a lot of air space between the ... | [
"BULLET::::- \"Snow hardness\" (\"R\" ) is the resistance to penetration of an object into snow. Most snow studies use a fist or fingers for softer snows (very soft through medium) and a pencil (hard) or knife (very hard) below the hardness boundary of ice.\n",
"Small loose snow avalanches can even be a sign of s... |
is mbit/s a rate of speed? | Speed.
Also I'm sure you mean Mbit/s (remember metric "m" and "M" are different)
To explain further, Mbit/s is Megabit per second, and it describes the rate of transfer of data over some medium, most often your internet connection. Not to be confused with MB/sec, which is megaBYTE per second. A byte is 8 bits, so 10... | [
"For low-speed (1.5 Mbit/s) and full-speed (12 Mbit/s) devices the shortest time for a transaction in one direction is 1 ms. High-speed (480 Mbit/s) uses transactions within each micro frame (125 µs) where using 1-byte interrupt packet results in a minimal response time of 940 ns. 4-byte interrupt packet results in... |
sharia law in germany | there is no such thing.
some idiots in the town of wuppertal tried to enforce that shit and will be tried for it.
or possibly get beat up if they do it again | [
"Sharia or sharia law is the basic Islamic religious law derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the opinions and life example of Muhammad (Hadith and Sunnah) which are the primary sources of sharia. For topics and issues not directly addressed in these primary sources, sharia is de... |
Is it possible for humans to design an entirely new protein to perform a new function? | In theory, yes it is. In practice, the solution space is still very limited although we are getting better at it everyday. There's an entire field dedicated to this prospect called [Synthetic Biology](_URL_2_). Craig Venter, who was instrumental in mapping the human genome, formed the company [Synthetic Genomics](_U... | [
"In a protein redesign experiment, an existing sequence serves as the starting point for directed evolution. In this way, old proteins can be redesigned for increased activity or new functions. Protein redesign has been used for protein simplification, creation of new quaternary structures, and topological redesign... |
what causes exercise, specifically intense cardio, to trigger asthma? | The body requires more oxygen during vigorous exercise, and asthmatic people have constricted airways. Asthmatic lungs are much less efficient to begin with and it is made worse by the body demanding additional oxygen | [
"Exercise-induced asthma, or E.I.A., occurs when the airways narrow as a result of exercise. The preferred term for this condition is exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB); exercise does not cause asthma, but is frequently an asthma trigger.\n",
"More generally termed \"exercise-induced asthma\", the preferr... |
How were a handful of Spaniards able to subdue the populous and powerful Aztecs and Inca empires? | /u/Mictlantecuhtli has provided some excellent links on this subject, but I'd like to just briefly touch on a few points.
**1. A handful of Spanish didn't subdue the Aztecs**
During the war against the Mexica there were about 1000 Spanish in Mesoamerica (with resupply and reinforcements coming from Cuba to replace lo... | [
"Because the rapidly expanding Inca Empire was internally weak, the conquest was remarkably easy. After the Inca Huayna Capac died in 1527, his sons Huascar and Atahualpa fought a civil war over the succession. Although Atahualpa defeated his brother, he had not yet consolidated his power when the Spaniards arrived... |
Do people that lose their sight when young have earlier visual memories? | This is an interesting question, but I would emphatically say no. Regardless of maintaining or losing vision at such a young age would not affect the ability of children to later recall these memories due to [childhood amnesia](_URL_0_). Essentially, adults cannot recall memories before 4-4.5 years of age (taken from... | [
"Jastrow found that people who had lost their eyesight after age six still were able to see in their dreams, and that people who had lost their eyesight before the age of five could not. This same difference in perception and age was true for people with partial vision loss. Jastrow concluded that sight was not inn... |
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