Split (2)

train · 226k rows

question stringlengths 3 301	answer stringlengths 9 26.1k	context list
Is a fifty-year-old history textbook still useful?	It might be fun to compare what you read in that older textbook with one that's more current. See what changes in the narrative: whether or not specific events/people get more or less page space, what the tone of each is and how they present their arguments (yes, even textbooks have arguments), and probably the most...	[ "For much of the 20th century, the Modern Library provided a larger convenient list of the Western canon, i.e. those books any person (or any English-speaking person) needed to know in order to claim an excellent general education. The list numbered more than 300 items by the 1950s, by authors from Aristotle to Alb...
Was the fighting on the Eastern Front of WWI as much of a stalemate/trench-warfare type of fighting as it was in the west?	To quote Winston Churchill, "In the West, the Armies were too big for the Land. In the East, the Land was too big for the Armies." The distances were simply too great to permit static, trench warfare; there was not a high enough concentration of troops on both sides to allow that. There were periods in which the armie...	[ "The Western Front became an extremely bloody battleground of trench warfare. The stalemate lasted from 1914 until early 1918, with ferocious battles that moved forces a few hundred yards at best along a line that stretched from the North Sea to the Swiss border. The British imposed a tight naval blockade in the No...
Make hydrogen inert?	Pure hydrogen will not ignite in any way, nor will hydrogen-air mixtures richer than ~75% H2. The reason is that you need a fuel source and an oxidizer to allow for combustion. Without any (or enough) oxidizer, hydrogen will just stay hydrogen because there's nothing preferable for it to turn into (or there's not eno...	[ "Hydrogen is employed to saturate broken (\"dangling\") bonds of amorphous silicon and amorphous carbon that helps stabilizing material properties. It is also a potential electron donor in various oxide materials, including ZnO, SnO, CdO, MgO, ZrO, HfO, LaO, YO, TiO, SrTiO, LaAlO, SiO, AlO, ZrSiO, HfSiO, and SrZrO....
why is american candy/drinks so much sweeter than candy from other countries, like australia?	I'm going to make an assumption that you use either less amounts of sugar or can sugar. In the US high fructose corn syrup is the default sweetener due to its relatively cheap price.	[ "The first candy came to America in the early 18th century from Britain and France. Only a few of the early colonists were proficient in sugar work and sugary treats were generally only enjoyed by the very wealthy. Even the simplest form of candy – rock candy, made from crystallized sugar – was considered a luxury....
(for diy) why is it more common to paint (house) wall with paint rollers but use spray can for cars?	If you google "rustoleum roller paint job" or the like, you'll find plenty of people who have rolled a paint job on their car for ~$50. With the right kind of paint, some thinner, time, and patience, it can totally be done. The hardest parts would be getting in all the tight spaces a sprayer would do better, and highly...	[ "Paint protection film (PPF, also called clear bra, clear film or clear paint film) is a thermoplastic urethane often self healing film applied to painted surfaces of a new or used car in order to protect the paint from stone chips, bug splatters, and minor abrasions. This film is also used on airplanes, RVs, cell ...
if dialysis is essentially used to clean your blood and filter it, can it cure hiv?	Blood is filled with many different cells, proteins, ions and other material. Dialysis is able to remove certain small proteins, ionic salts and other small molecules from the blood. The size of the pores in the dialysis filter is carefully controlled so only the things you want to remove pass through it. HIV virus is...	[ "Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) are medications which stimulates the bone marrow to make red blood cells. They are used to treat anemia due to end stage kidney disease, chemotherapy, major surgery, or certain treatments in HIV/AIDS. In these situations they decrease the need for blood transfusions. The dif...
how can 3 matches in between your lips keep you from crying when cutting an onion	When you're crying about your burnt face you have no time to cry about that onions you've been cutting.	[ "Freshly cut onions often cause a stinging sensation in the eyes of people nearby, and often uncontrollable tears. This is caused by the release of a volatile liquid, \"syn\"-propanethial-S-oxide and its aerosol, which stimulates nerves in the eye. This gas is produced by a chain of reactions which serve as a defen...
what do astronomers use as a point of origin to save coordinates of e. g. stars relative to that point of origin?	Since I don't think this part of your question has been answered: Astronomers are aware that objects move over time, and they factor that in by adding a fourth dimension to their coordinates, called an "epoch." An epoch is basically a snapshot of the positions of everything in the sky at a particular moment. The epoch...	[ "For nearby stars, astronomers use heliocentric coordinates, with the center of the Sun as the origin. The plane of reference can be aligned with the Earth's celestial equator, the ecliptic, or the Milky Way's galactic equator. These 3D celestial coordinate systems add actual distance as the Z axis to the equatoria...
how can windows update itself when my computer is off?	It can't. Updates can only happen when your computer is powered on. However, your computer can certainly detect that it has missed some updates when it comes up and start updating itself.	[ "Microsoft routinely releases updates on the second Tuesday of each month (known as the Patch Tuesday), but can provide them whenever a new update is urgently required to prevent a newly discovered or prevalent exploit. System administrators can configure Windows Update to install critical updates for Microsoft Win...
how to small birds survive cold winters with very little fat or food supply available?	Birds that can't find food, or handle the cold die every year. Only the individual birds that can find food live till spring to reproduce. Some migrate to warmer areas, some manage to survive on whatever food they can find.	[ "Several small passerine species survive freezing winter nights by inducing a lower metabolic rate and hypothermia, of a maximum of below normal body temperature, in order to reduce energy consumption overnight. However, in freezing conditions, it may be that for very small birds, including the tiny goldcrest, the ...
who/what decides the two candidates that will be running for president that we'll vote for?	The short answer is that they're voted for in a series of open elections generally known as "primaries." Primaries take place in the first few months of an election year. The slightly longer answer: Republican and Democrat nominees are voted for at the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention,...	[ "Presidential candidates from smaller states sometimes choose a vice presidential running mate from a state with a large number of electoral votes – as in 1984 when Walter Mondale of Minnesota (10 votes) selected Geraldine Ferraro of New York (then 36 votes). It is preferred, but not legally required, that the runn...
when breathing humid air, what prevents our lungs from filling with water (like a dehumidifier)?	Because you breathe out humid air as well. A dehumidifier requires special equipment to extract the water from the air.	[ "Breathing involves expelling stale air from the blowhole, forming an upward, steamy spout, followed by inhaling fresh air into the lungs; a spout only occurs when the warm air from the lungs meets the cold external air, so it may only form in colder climates.\n", "nasal conchae, thus exposing a large area of nas...
Is there any evidence for prehistoric or pre-literate "empires"?	The Inca empire lacked writing per se. They had methods of recording information, but I don't know their exact capabilities. The Indus river civilization might have lacked writing as well. It's not certain, as their recordings have not been deciphered, so they might be writing or something less.	[ "The first well-known literate civilization in Europe was that of the Minoans. The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the wo...
Of all the people Stalin had purged and executed, who were the people that were closest to him personally?	[Nikolai Bukharin](_URL_0_) is a good start. He helped Stalin take power, and "Socialism In One Country" was his idea. When he was set to be killed he famously left a note for Stalin reading "Koba, why do you need me to die?" Koba was an old nickname of Stalin's. I've heard Stalin kept the note for the rest of his ...	[ "With the exception of Vladimir Milyutin (who died in prison in 1937) and Stalin himself, all of the members of Lenin's original cabinet who had not succumbed to death from natural causes before the purge were executed.\n", "In the 1930s other senior Communists, many of whom had been Stalin's allies were removed ...
why is scotland having a second referendum vote? why does it seem like some people view the possibility of scottish independence as a bad thing, rather than a good thing?	One of the main points of the original "vote no to independence" campaign was that an independent Scotland wouldn't be allowed to join the EU. Many people voted no based on that. The margin in the end was 55% no, 45% yes. Then the Brexit vote happened. Every single constituency in Scotland voted to remain in the EU, an...	[ "The Scottish Government has proposed holding a second referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom (UK). A referendum on Scottish independence was held in September 2014, with 55% voting against the proposal. One of the reasons cited by those opposed to Scottish independence was that it would endang...
what gives objects life?	Life is based on behavioral observations. Something is considered alive when it reproduces, reacts to its environment, adapts through genetic changes over successive generations, grows, metabolizes, regulates their internal environment, and if it's composed of one or more cells. For your robot example, they cannot repr...	[ "According to Van Inwagen a collection of objects are considered parts composing a whole when that whole demonstrates life (Van Cleeve, 2008). This approach guarantees the existence of you and me, while ruling out extraordinary objects consistent with other conservative theories. Detractors of the 'life' criterion ...
Why is it common to have a stroke when you have a heart attack?	Medic here. A lot of the answers below are not entirely complete. Hopefully this helps: A heart attack, no matter the underlying cause, puts you at high risk of stroke in the acute setting for multiple reasons. We can consider those reasons in terms of Virchow's Triad, a cool and easily applicable bit of pathology...	[ "It is important to differentiate the symptoms caused by a stroke from those caused by syncope (fainting) which is also a reduction in cerebral blood flow, almost always generalized, but they are usually caused by systemic hypotension of various origins: cardiac arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, hemorrhagic shock...
Is there any evidence of people using 'gyms' in Renaissance/Medieval/Ancient times?	The word 'gym' comes from the Ancient Greek 'gymnadsomai' which means 'I train myself naked'. Ancient Greece is my thing, so I'll focus on that. It was by no means the same phenomenon as modern day 'working out', where there is an abstract goal of being fit or looking better. In fact, the classical statues that we ...	[ "The first recorded gymnasiums date back to over 3000 years ago in ancient Persia, where they were known as \"zurkhaneh\", areas that encouraged physical fitness. The larger Roman Baths often had attached fitness facilities, the baths themselves sometimes being decorated with mosaics of local champions of sport. Gy...
what exactly is the big problem that prevents governments from being totally transparent?	Negotiations become infinitely harder if they are carried out in the public eye. Diplomatic negotiations in general are not carried out in public and never have been. I think it's a bit unfair to suggest that negotiating in secret on an agreement that will be made public is not being totally transparent. The entire p...	[ "In politics, transparency is used as a means of holding public officials accountable and fighting corruption. When a government's meetings are open to the press and the public, its budgets may be reviewed by anyone, and its laws and decisions are open to discussion, it is seen as transparent. It is not clear howev...
Depression and other mental health disorders seem to manifest more in "creative" types (artists, writers, actors, etc...) than in the general population. Is there any sound evidence or studies to back up this idea?	It does appear that artistic creativity is linked with various mood disorders: > Extremes in mood, thought and behavior--including psychosis--have been linked with artistic creativity for as long as man has observed and written about those who write, paint, sculpt or compose. The history of this long and fascinating...	[ "A study involving more than one million people, conducted by Swedish researchers at the Karolinska Institute, reported a number of correlations between creative occupations and mental illnesses. Writers had a higher risk of anxiety and bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, unipolar depression, and substance abuse, and...
what properties in glass causes the prince rupert’s drop to be possible	Prestress and tempering Glass is usually an amorphous solid. This means there is not repeated arrangement of crystal structure in side it. When you temper glass by heating it up, you add some structure. The warm glass expands. When you cool it rapidly (like by dropping it in water) you freeze the outer layer as it c...	[ "The second unusual property of the drops, namely the strength of the heads, is a direct consequence of large compressive residual stresses—up to —that exist in the vicinity of the head's outer surface. This stress distribution is measured by using glass's natural property of stress-induced birefringence and by emp...
Would putting more objects in a room allow the air conditioner unit to cool the room with less effort?	The key thing is the balance between the heat entering the room, the heat leaving the room, and the heat generated in the room. Generally speaking, adding objects inside the room affects none of these things, so you would not expect it to have any effect. Whatever temperature the objects start out at, they will absor...	[ "Because window air conditioner units have condensers and expansion units, some of them can be used as makeshift dehumidifiers by sending their heat exhaust back into the same room as the cooled air, instead of the outside environment. If the condensate from the cooling coils is drained away from the room as it dri...
In WWI, between agreeing the armistice being signed, and 11am on 11/11, did much fighting take place?	In some sectors, the fighting continued right up until the Armistice came into effect at 1100. For example, combat continued between German and Commonwealth troops around Mons until the last minute. It's been estimated that the morning of November 11 produced around 11 000 casualties, 2700 of whom were killed. These m...	[ "Armistice Day is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France at 5:45 am, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the \"eleventh hour of the ele...
if corn just goes straight through you how does it give you any nutritional value along the way	It doesn't go straight through. It's a partial myth. There is a chance that the hard cores of the seed pockets (The yellow "berries" on the knob) don't get digested properly, but especially if you break them by chewing on them or when you use corn meal to bake things your body can easily digest the mass. Also the yel...	[ "BULLET::::- Most of the corn produced in the US is field corn, not sweet corn, and not digestible by humans in its raw form. Most corn is used for livestock feed and not human food, even the portion that is exported.\n", "BULLET::::- Scientists at Rutgers University find an efficient way to enhance the nutrition...
Poles in (and out of ) Lithuania	First of all what are "ethnic Poles"? That is a bogus definition like most of them since it only makes sense in very distinct ethnic groups. "Poles" were and are comprised of several ethnic groups that more or less identify with the name. "Ethnic Pole" in a political sense is an invention of nationalistic politicians ...	[ "The Association of Poles in Lithuania (; ) is an organization formed in 1989 to bring together members of Polish minority in Lithuania. It numbers between 6,000 to 11,000 members. It defends the civil rights of the Polish minority and engages in educational, cultural and economic activities. It is the largest Poli...
Was buried treasure a thing?	There are a lot of parts to OP's question! So I'm going to break it down into two basic parts: first, what do we know about buried treasure in the early modern era. Second, what do we know about the pirate economy. (Much of the second part is from an [earlier answer of mine](_URL_0_). So first: buried treasure! The i...	[ "Treasure trove is an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the heirs undiscoverable. The legal definition of what constitutes treasure trove ...
Why did the U.S. reject the parliamentary system of the United Kingdom and make up a whole new system?	Something mirroring the contemporary British system was actually proposed at the Constitutional Convention and shot down. Let's set the scene for what the country looked like in 1787. Before the War of Independence, the state governments had been largely autonomous, and there was very little tying the new country tog...	[ "The UK has a parliamentary government based on the Westminster system that has been emulated around the world – a legacy of the British Empire. The Parliament of the United Kingdom that meets in the Houses of Parliament has two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords, and any Bill passe...
what is the half-circle at the base of your fingernail and why do people have different sizes of them?	The "little moon" (lunula) is the visible part of the root of your nail - where your nail grows from. If you damage this, your nail will grow permanently deformed. In some people, their bit of skin (nail fold) cover it a bit more. Or they may be anemic or malnourished.	[ "There are several nail shapes: the basic shapes are almond, oval, pointed, round, square, square oval, square with rounded corners, and straight with a rounded tip. The square oval shape is sometimes known as a \"squoval\", a term coined in 1984. The squoval is considered a sturdy shape, useful for those who work ...
Why does water from a garden hose smell different than water from an inside tap?	The materials in your hose and those in your faucet are different, which can affect the water in them. Also, hose water that remains in the hose after the water is turned off can get really hot and grow bacteria, so make sure to let the hose run for a minute before drinking out of it!	[ "A garden hose, hosepipe, or simply hose is a flexible tube used to convey water. There are a number of common attachments available for the end of the hose, such as sprayers and sprinklers (which are used to concentrate water at one point or to spread it over a large area). Hoses are usually attached to a hose spi...
why do dams need spillways? why can't water just flow over the top of the dam?	It depends on the method of dam construction. A lot of dams are just made out of soil (called an earthfill dam). If you have water flowing over the top of an earthfill dam, some of that water will trickle down into the dam, washing away the materials and weakening the dam. On the other hand, if the dam is made out of...	[ "A spillway at the top of the dam is used to regulate the top portion of the dam, the spillway contains walls to maneuver the flow of the water, and a stilling basin is placed at the foot of the spillway to dissipate erosion from the spillway water hitting the base of the dam. The spillway is not used frequently be...
My wife's grandfather passed away this past week and no one knew much about his military service. I have name, rank, troop, company, and rough time/area of duty. What can you help me learn about a US serviceman who fought in the battle of the bulge?	The 90th [Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized)](_URL_13_) was part of the 10th Armored Division. It consisted of a [headquarters](_URL_14_), four [reconnaissance troops](_URL_6_) lettered A-D, an [assault gun troop](_URL_15_) E, and a [light tank company](_URL_2_) F. A [medical detachment](_URL_16_) served the ...	[ "Major General Walter Melville Robertson (June 15, 1888 – November 22, 1954) was a senior United States Army officer. During World War II he received the second highest American military award, Distinguished Service Cross, for his leadership of the 2nd Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge in December 19...
how should you go about getting a patent for a product?	If in the US, you would apply for a patent here: _URL_0_ Basically, you'll need to first verify there isn't already an existing patent on your idea. Then you need to explain with words and/or diagrams what your idea is and why it's innovative enough to be granted a patent. Submit the application, and if approved, you ...	[ "In the United Kingdom, a patent which may be granted for an invention should satisfy several demands: being novel, involved with an inventive procedure, being capable of industrial application and not otherwise excluded from patentability. If the invention is regarded as a product, the patent owner can have the ri...
What would a gravity well look like in three dimensions?	I have no idea how accurate this is, or even if it's what you're looking for but... _URL_0_ EDIT: Just found this as well: _URL_1_	[ "In four dimensions, an object can have circular symmetry, on two orthogonal axis planes, or duocylindrical symmetry. For example the duocylinder and Clifford torus have circular symmetry in two orthogonal axes. A spherinder has spherical symmetry in one 3-space, and circular symmetry in the orthogonal direction.\n...
why do so many companies want to give me access to my credit score?	There are 2 big things it does. First, it encourages you to build your credit score. To do this you need to make your payments on time, and start paying off your debts that you have with the company giving you the information(and others, but the companies providing the scores are more interested in you taking care of...	[ "BULLET::::- Credit scores are already artificially modified; that is, it is a made-up system. There is no difference between adding an authorized user tradeline and opening a new account; they both affect your credit score.\n", "It is very difficult for a consumer to know in advance whether they have a high enou...
with world record calculations of pi, how can we be sure that the digits calculated are accurate to the extent claimed?	Short of, as you hinted, actually calculating it yourself, there are algorithms (google "Bailey-Borwein-Plouffe" if you want the gory details) which allow you to calculate the n-th digit of pi without knowing the preceding digits. Using this, one can spot-check random digits until they're satisfied it looks good.	[ "Later computers calculated pi to extraordinary numbers of digits (2.7 trillion as of August 2010), and people began memorizing more and more of the output. The world record for the number of digits memorized has exploded since the mid-1990s, and it stood at 100,000 as of October 2006. The previous record (83,431) ...
how is a simulation created?	They use 3D animation software such as Blender. The subreddit's sidebar has a [beginner's guide](_URL_0_).	[ "A simulation is the representation of the real world process or system over a period of time. Simulation can be done by hand or on a computer, simulation involves the generation of artificial history of the system and the observation of artificial history to draw inferences concerning of the operating characterist...
Can solar panels run out of electrons?	The electrons get replaced by more electrons, which is why you need a closed system. People have a concept of electrical systems as hollow tubes that electrons get sent through, coming from the generator traveling through your device, and back; but really they are more like a closed hydraulic tubes that are complete...	[ "Solar panels have similar issues due to the speed at which the cell can convert solar photons into electrons, ambient temperature, and a host of other issues. In this case there is a complex non-linear relationship between voltage, current and the total amount of power being produced, the \"I-V curve\". In order t...
is it possible to ingest just caffeine? no coffee; no kind of binder at all?	Caffeine is an alkaloid, a different class of chemical from proteins, carbs, or fats. Many other drugs are alkaloids... vitamins are a range of different types of chemicals. You can buy it in crystal/powdered form, so the direct answer to your question is yes. It would be extremely bitter, based on my experience wi...	[ "Caffeine, a stimulant drug, is extracted from plants including the coffee plant and the tea bush. It is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world, remaining unregulated and generally recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.\n", "Caffeine can also be extracted from coffee be...
What was the earliest "serbs" have been mentioned throughout history? What about Serbia itself?	I'd like to point out that the Iranian origin theory mentioned by /u/intangible-tangerine is often expounded by white-supremacists and nationalists. For examples, just look at [this thread](http://www._URL_0_/forum/t84315/) on _URL_0_. It's as much an issue of racial purity and celebrating military dominance as anythin...	[ "The Serbs trace their history to the 6th and 7th-century southwards migration of Slavs. The Serbs, as the other South Slavs, absorbed Paleo-Balkan peoples and established various states throughout the Middle Ages; Serbian historiography agrees on that the beginning of Serbian history started with the forming of Se...
how do chameleons work?	most chameleons change their color to show "emotions", not to blend in multiple layers of skin with different cells of color that expand to show a color and retract to hide a color. edit: oops, forgot relevant media: [Scishow](_URL_0_)	[ "Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are highly adapted as ambush predators. They can change colour to match their surroundings and often climb through trees with a swaying motion, probably to mimic the movement of the leaves and branches they are surrounded by. All chameleons are primarily insectivores and feed by ...
Does the oversupply of food provided by bird feeders interfere with normal migratory patterns or otherwise harm birds?	I'm not an ornithologist specifically, but as an ecologist, I think I can help answer this question. I couldn't find anything on Google Scholar that would suggest bird feeders are affecting migration patterns, but [this article](_URL_2_) does suggest that birds are more attracted to areas with feeders. However, [this...	[ "While it is a popular practice to feed wild birds from bird feeders, they can carry potential risks for the birds that feed there, such as disease, malnutrition, and predation by domestic animals. Researchers recommend that bird feeders be disinfected every time they are refilled.\n", "The use of bird feeders ha...
Does your body reabsorb urine?	No. Once the kidneys release the urine to the bladder, no further water resorption is possible. The kidneys are highly optimized to filter and resorb water. The bladder is just an impervious storage unit until you pee.	[ "In renal physiology, reabsorption or tubular reabsorption is the process by which the nephron removes water and solutes from the tubular fluid (pre-urine) and returns them to the circulating blood. It is called \"reabsorption\" (and not \"absorption\") both because these substances have already been absorbed once ...
Is it just popular history's image of her, or is the story of Joan of Arc as weird and unlikely as I think?	She was a morale booster to be sure, but by no means the strategic leader of the army. There was a similar question here recently, to which I answered: > Joan of Arc was a tremendous asset to French morale, but she was by no means the principle strategist of the French war effort. The infamous Gilles de Rais (baron,...	[ "Graeme Donald argues that much of the story of Joan of Arc is a myth. He says there are no accounts or portraits of Joan of Arc's victories during her time period, nor is she mentioned as a commander of the French army by Chastellain. He also states that the most definitive work of her life was written by Jules Qu...
why is file sharing illegal?	In short: You've purchased the rights to use and enjoy a product, you Dan even use and enjoy a product with others. However, you have not purchased the rights to give that product to others to use and enjoy. Additionally the courts believe, with some evidence to back it up, that if there's no profit motive for content ...	[ "The act of file sharing is not illegal per se and peer-to-peer networks are also used for legitimate purposes. The legal issues in file sharing involve violating the laws of copyrighted material. Most discussions about the legality of file sharing are implied to be about solely copyright material. Many countries h...
I recently watched a video about the spreading of worlds religions and noticed that Islam spread in northern Africa and middle East way more faster than any other religion, why is that?	_URL_0_ link to the video.	[ "Besides the spread of Islam through Arabia by prophets it spread through trade routes like the Silk Road and through conflicts of war. Through the Silk road traders and members of the early Muslim faith were able to go to countries such as China and create mosques around 627 C. E. As men from the Middle East came ...
if tomatoes and cucumbers have so much water in them, how do they get their unique taste that water doesn't have?	From the parts of them that aren't water. Even if they are mostly water, we can still taste the other parts. Some things need only a very small amount for us to taste. Cooking with a single little bit of garlic for example can make food have a definite taste of garlic, for example.	[ "In Majorca, \"pa amb oli\" is prepared with tomato called \"Tomàtiga de Ramellet\", a specific variety of tomatoes on the vine, smaller and with a taste that is slightly more intense and sour taste than normal tomatoes because of the loss of acidity in the tomato.\n", "Tomato juice is frequently used as a packin...
Why don’t rockets use outside air as an oxidizer while they are in the atmosphere?	Rockets change altitude very very quickly. Airplanes will be designed with max efficiency at a certain altitude. But they can maintain that altitude for 90% of their flight time. As you get higher air gets thinner. So rockets would be at their max efficiency for less than a second	[ "Both the fuel and oxidizer can be stored without special precautions, and they do not burn when brought together without a significant source of heat. This makes the rocket far safer than conventional liquid or solid rockets. It is also relatively non-polluting: the combustion products are water vapor, carbon diox...
What was the role of Manifest Destiny in the U.S. invasion of Canada in the War of 1812?	You are correct in your impression that the concept of “Manifest Destiny” had not yet been articulated in 1812. It may be anachronistic to apply the term to this time period. Some of the concepts which later became encapsulated in the phrase “Manifest Destiny” might have already existed, but one would need to do some...	[ "In the War of 1812 the Americans launched another invasion of British North America, and again expected the local populace to support them. That failed invasion is now regarded as a significant event in Canadian history; it has even been claimed as the birth of modern Canadian identity.\n", "BULLET::::- the U.S....
Does anyone know of any detailed reference sites for Viking longships?	You might ask the folks at /r/Norse.	[ "The Viking Ship Museum overlooking the inlet of Roskilde Fjord was built in 1969 with the main purpose of exhibiting the five newly discovered Skuldelev ships. In the late 1990s, excavations for the shipyard expansion of the museum uncovered a further 9 ships from the Viking Age and early medieval period. It is th...
why do some airlines serve free alcohol on flights?	Where is this airline you speak of?	[ "The airline offered soft drinks that are free on all flights. Beer, liqueurs, spirits, and wine were free of charge in BusinessFirst and Business Class on all flights, and for a charge in economy class on all flights. On flights within North America and to or from the Caribbean and Latin America, the airline offer...
Why Nazi Germany could capture various Soviet cities but they couldn't capture Stalingrad, Moscow and Leningrad?	Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad were confronted by the Wehrmacht under different conditions than the cities taken the initial advance of Barbarossa. It's worth noting here that cities like Brest, Zhitomir, Odessa, Riga, Kiev and Smolensk were the sites of pretty heavy fighting. In the cases of Moscow and Leningra...	[ "The plans were never fulfilled as the German military's plans to capture Moscow and central Russia in the Operation Typhoon failed. The transfer of conquered territories to Nazi civilian rule was therefore never completed.\n", "The administrative capital was tentatively proposed as Moscow, the historical and pol...
How did the German public react to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and how did the Nazi regime justify it publicly before Barbarossa?	The general response of the German public to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was a mixture of both relief and confusion. There was very little enthusiasm for the war with Poland and many Germans feared that the invasion would prompt another war in which Germany would be surrounded. The appearance that the Third Reich was a...	[ "The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact governed Soviet–German relations until June 1941 when Hitler, having occupied France and neutralised Britain, turned east and attacked the Soviet Union. Molotov was responsible for telling the Soviet people of the attack, when he instead of Stalin announced the war. His speech, broadcas...
Is there a maximum of possible "places" an atom can be?	You seem to be asking if space itself is quantized. As far as scientists can tell right now, the answer is no. There are some interesting thoughts and hypotheses floating around about a quantized spacetime, but they are essentially ungrounded speculation at this point. Objects move smoothly and continuously through spa...	[ "If Ω is uncountable, still, it may happen that \"p\"(\"ω\") ≠ 0 for some \"ω\"; such \"ω\" are called atoms. They are an at most countable (maybe empty) set, whose probability is the sum of probabilities of all atoms. If this sum is equal to 1 then all other points can safely be excluded from the sample space, ret...
how do companies like 'jack threads' make profit?	They only buy excess inventory at steep discounts. This allows them to sell a small inventory at very low prices and still generate a profit.	[ "In 2008, Threadless was featured on the cover of Inc. as “The Most Innovative Small Company in America.” Though Nickell did not disclose revenues for the article, Inc. estimated $30 million sales and a 30% profit margin. \"Threadless completely blurs that line of who is a producer and who is a consumer,\" said Kar...
Was there any Mona Lisa's of the Ancient World?	The Aphrodite of Knidos was a relatively famous sculpture of Aphrodite, quite a lot was written of it because of how well made it was, as well as how risque the subject matter was. It became a tourist attraction and there is a story about a young man sneaking in to see the statue at night and trying to have sex with i...	[ "Although there are dozens of surviving replicas of \"Mona Lisa\" from the 16th and 17th centuries, the Prado's \"Mona Lisa\" may have been painted simultaneously by a student of Leonardo in the same studio where he painted his own \"Mona Lisa\", so it is said to be the replica with the most historical value. Among...
Why didn't the English become reliant on Potatos in the 18th century, like the Irish?	The Irish became dependent on the potato because the Irish tenants had large families and largerly used second-rate land for their own crops. The potato can be grown in very marginal land that will not yield that much with other crops and offers a lot of calories (and other nutrients) for a rather low labour effort. T...	[ "Potatoes were slow to be adopted amongst Welsh folk, despite being introduced to the UK in the 16th century; only in the early 18th century did they become a Welsh staple, due to grain failures. Once the potato did become a staple, it was quickly found in Welsh dishes such as cawl, and traditions grew around their...
If the Earth suddenly stopped spinning, would the magma below the crust come flying it in an "Exploding Earth" type fashion?	Your title is poorly worded friend. Are you asking if the magma would come flying "out"?	[ "53 million years ago tensions in the earth's crust and mantle (see Laying down of the bunter sandstone), so that magma was able to rise and break out onto the surface along the fractures. During an initial explosive phase an explosive funnel (\"Sprengtrichter\") formed which filled with loose volcanic material. Th...
what exactly do artist do in video game design with the programmers to make the game complete?	Artists provide the 3d renders and models that respond to the programmed code. A programmer writes a code "if W is pressed: model A does X action" the artists create the model and animate the action that occurs; as well as they create the landscape that the model walks on.	[ "A game artist is a visual artist who creates video game art. The art production is usually overseen by an \"art director\" or \"art lead\", making sure their vision is followed. The art director manages the art team, scheduling and coordinating within the development team.\n", "The art director/lead artist are p...
why do some people with adhd seem to outgrow it as they age?	Its not really that they grow out of it it's more the fact that as you age most 0eople get better and better at dealing with their ADHD that to all outwards appearances they don't have ADHD, But what a lot of people fail to understand is it takes a lot and I mean a whole lot of energy and mental stress to keep it unde...	[ "It has been suggested that some of the symptoms of ADHD present in childhood appear to be less overt in adulthood. This is likely due to an adult's ability to make cognitive adjustments and develop compensating or coping skills to minimize the impact of inattentive or hyperactive symptoms. However, the core proble...
Why did Greek city states choose to colonize and found new city states instead of conquering new territory?	If you've been there, you'll have noticed mainland Greece is rather sparse, very mountainous, and far less fertile than other areas of the Mediterranean. The tradition of city-states founding overseas colonies is just as old as city-states themselves, if not older. Rather than marching inland and liberating more usele...	[ "During the 7th century BC, the Greek city-states were expanding and establishing new colonies. The Dorian city-state of Megara, near Athens, was also searching for sites to set up yet another colony. After asking the oracle of Delphi, the Megarean king Nisos sent his son Byzas in search of \"the land opposite the ...
how does a clicky top pen prevent the point from drying up? isn't it still exposed to just as much air?	The ink doesn't dry, because the little ball at the tip of the pen provides pretty much an airtight seal. The holes in pen caps are there in case you choked on it - to let air through.	[ "The \"Tipp-Ex\" correction fluid is a white liquid. It is used for painting over mistakes in a piece of writing. A brush (which was later replaced by a foam applicator) is attached to the cap, so when the bottle is closed, the brush is immersed in the \"Tipp-Ex\". When unscrewed, the brush is covered in liquid \"T...
Is there a reason why red and purple fruits like red and purple grapes, and red apples tend to taste sweeter than their green counterparts?	From everything I can find, there is no reason why green apples or grapes are (generally) less sweet than their red cousins. How sweet a fruit tastes is based on how much sugar is present in the fruit, and the color of the skin is based on the pigments present in the skin. (I'm sure you knew this, just being thorough)...	[ "Based on that research, bicolored apples proved to be more popular than monocolored ones. However, there was shown to be no difference in preference between apples that are red and green or red and yellow. For example, a combination of red and yellow was associated with such terms as sweetness, freshness, juicines...
what’s the difference between hot and spicy?	Many people will say "hot" when they mean spicy. Spicy would be something like curry or hot sauce. Hot usually just means warm temperature, but as I said, many people will say hot in place if spicy.	[ "For instance, a pumpkin pie can be both hot (out of the oven) and spicy (due to the common inclusion of spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, mace, and cloves), but it is not \"pungent\". (A food critic may nevertheless use the word \"piquant\" to describe such a pie, especially if it is exceptionally well-se...
why do american writing conventions (chicago, mla, etc.) mandate that periods and commas directly following quotations should lie within them?	It's all just convention, there's no reason behind any of it. A publisher has that convention and they gotta stick to it, and they need to have a standard, any standard, or else it will be impossible to properly copy edit. If you publish a journal or edited volume and everyone uses random conventions and standards th...	[ "Writers have traditionally written abbreviated dates according to their local custom, creating all-numeric equivalents to dates such as \" () and \" (). This can result in dates that are impossible to understand correctly without knowing the writer's origin and/or other contextual details, as dates such as \"10/11...
how is the average life of long-life products calculated? some led bulbs have a 24.8 year life. that seems unusually specific for a product that hasn't existed that long.	The lifespan for an LED bulb is actually measured in hours of use and on/off cycles, not years. Primarily we're concerned with hours of use, which is almost always the limiting factor but on/off cycles do have some effect. There's then a set standard of hours per day that a bulb is expected to perform - eg an assu...	[ "BULLET::::- Lifetime: LEDs can have a relatively long useful life. One report estimates 35,000 to 50,000 hours of useful life, though time to complete failure may be shorter or longer. Fluorescent tubes typically are rated at about 10,000 to 25,000 hours, depending partly on the conditions of use, and incandescent...
During the Second World War Evacuations, how were the families where the Evacuees went to chosen?	Over three days from September 1st 1939 one and a half million people (mostly mothers with young children, schoolchildren with teachers and helpers, and expectant mothers) were evacuated by the British Government from areas considered at high risk of bombing. Many more made their own arrangements, moving or sending chi...	[ "During wartime, civilians who have been evacuated from a city in danger of attack are billetted in communal shelters or in the homes of individuals. The practice of billetting evacuees was widespread in Britain during World War II, particularly during the Blitz, when children and other non-essential persons in maj...
How is the speed of light affected by relativistic travel?	The short of it is "It's not". The entire theory of special relativity is based on the idea that the speed of light in a vacuum - indeed every law of physics - is the same for all observers (in a non-accelerating reference frame). Ship A sees the transmission from ship B traveling at the speed of light and vice versa...	[ "Relativistic effects on the speed of light are simulated, in areas such as redshifted galaxies, the gravitational redshift exerted by black holes, and the theoretical redshift produced by the warp drive.\n", "According to the theory of relativity, no information can travel faster than the speed of light in vacuu...
Why would male snowboarders go downhill faster than female snowboarders?	The terminal velocity of an object is proportional to the square root of its mass, controlling for shape and cross-section. Men are typically heavier than women, so even though they experience a comparable or slightly higher drag force, the acceleration due to that force is smaller because of their greater mass, and th...	[ "Downhill longboarding involves riding down hills as fast as possible and keeping the board under control. Speeds in excess of 80 mph have been obtained. UK rider, Pete Connolly, is the current Guinness world record holder, for the fastest man on a longboard, with a staggering top speed of 91.17 mph. These boards a...
why banks offered much higher interest rate in the past?	Bank interest rates are based on the interest rate set by the central bank. In the US, that's the Federal Reserve. Interest rates have been very low since the 2008-09 financial crisis. This encourages banks to lend, which hopefully spurs economic growth. The downside is that savers have had a pretty shitty time.	[ "Higher interest rates intensified the deflationary pressure on the dollar and reduced investment in U.S. banks. Commercial banks converted Federal Reserve Notes to gold in 1931, reducing its gold reserves and forcing a corresponding reduction in the amount of currency in circulation. This speculative attack create...
Do cigarettes (inhaled smoke) have water vapor in them?	Most certainly! Fuel (organic, which is what tobacco is) + O2 = H2O +CO2 H2O being your water vapor. Also there is water vapor being inhaled from the ambient environment.	[ "The particles in tobacco smoke are liquid aerosol droplets (~ 20% water), with a mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) that is submicrometer (and thus, fairly \"lung-respirable\" by humans). The droplets are present in high concentrations (some estimates are as high as 10 droplets per cm). Most cigarettes today ...
When and how did the use of ‘baby’ and ‘babe’ first become acceptable/commonplace in the English language when used about one’s SO?	The Oxford English Dictionary finds one use of “baby” to mean “A lover; (also) a spouse. As a term of endearment: darling, sweetheart” in 1684: > A. Behn Love-lett. between Noble-man & his Sister I. 328 Philander, who is not able to support the thought that any thing should afflict his lovely Baby, takes care fro...	[ "The term originated as an abbreviation of the word \"baby\" or \"babe\". It has been suggested that the term originated as an acronym for \"before anyone else\", but this is unlikely and this false etymology is probably an example of a backronym.\n", "Infants begin to understand words such as \"Mommy\", \"Daddy\...
why do eye drops make my eyes not red?	It could be because the redness was irritation caused by dryness. If your eyes are too dry, stuff that gets in them isn't washed out as quickly (to the corners of your eyes) and your eyelids rub more on the eyes themselves.	[ "Because blinking coats the eye with tears, symptoms are worsened by activities in which the rate of blinking is reduced due to prolonged use of the eyes. These activities include prolonged reading, computer usage, driving, or watching television. Symptoms increase in windy, dusty or smoky (including cigarette smok...
why do words like "xylophone" and "xenophobe" start with an x instead of a z?	They come from Greek, and has almost the same spelling as the Greek words. Greeks love (or loved, since it's an old word) x-s. It hasn't been changed to something more logical because.. well, English isn't logical or easy.	[ "For the sounds /z/ and /ʤ/, there is no distinction between them in this language. They occasionally can be used inter-changeably and are considered semi-allophones. An example of true allophones are the /v/ and /w/ sounds. /v/ is occasionally pronounced as a /w/, and in this language are allophones of each other ...
How does time reversal symmetry apply to quantum mechanics ?	Lots of good questions. Time-reversal is an important discrete symmetry in quantum mechanics. Not all quantum systems are symmetric under time-reversal, it depends on your Hamiltonian. For example, if the Hamiltonian for the nuclear force were symmetric under time-reversal, certain electromagnetic multipole moments in...	[ "Several theories have been proposed which modify the equations of quantum mechanics to be symmetric with respect to time reversal. (E.g. see Wheeler-Feynman time-symmetric theory). This creates retrocausality: events in the future can affect ones in the past, exactly as events in the past can affect ones in the fu...
A question of mass(not a great one I fear)	I assume you mean gravitational potential energy. If the objects are at the same height, then the answer for all intents and purposes would be yes. If they are different heights then the answer is no.	[ "According to Field, it is impossible to decide which of these two affirmations is true. Prior to the theory of relativity, the term \"mass\" was \"referentially indeterminate\". But this does not mean that the term \"mass\" did not have a different \"meaning\" than it now has. The problem is not one of meaning but...
Why did Japanese historical figures change their names so often?	Historical Japanese names have always been a source of interest for me. It's something that can get fairly complicated but fortunately the case of Tokugawa Ieyasu's name, while more extreme in its changes than most, is pretty straight forward and can be used as an illustrative example. Ieyasu's given names over the co...	[ "Japan was heavily influenced by the naming taboo. In modern Japan, it concerns only the Emperor of Japan, whom people only refer as Tennō Heika (天皇陛下, his Majesty the Emperor) or Kinjō Heika (今上陛下, his current Majesty). Ancient Japanese people had so much respect for this custom that historians forgot the actual n...
Coins were an important tool for spreading political ideology in the Roman Reublic and Empire. Were they ever means of campaigning? Could they be used to “prepare ground” for a succesor or to revise a public image of an event? Were coins minted as an ideological countermeasure to existing coinage?	Your life will be happier and more complete if you don't ask that question. Okey lets start with the standard disclaimer when it comes to ancient coinage. The study of ancient coinage is a bit of a messy since it is split between 3 groups (although there is a fair bit of crossover) . You've got the archaeologists who...	[ "Historically, the coins issued by any state have always reflected the current political or economic situation. Many ancient and pre-modern coins certainly commemorate events in contemporary times. For instance, Roman coins often have references to military campaigns and the defeat of foreign powers. These reverse ...
George Washington: Land Swindler?	It is decidedly true that Washington wound up with a good deal of quality land, and was certainly in a position to acquire the best land merely from being the surveyor. The idea that the one who surveys the land gets the choicest land would not have been particularly galling or offensive to anyone back then, much like ...	[ "In 1770, George Washington is believed to have acquired of land from his neighbor John Posey in exchange for forgiveness of debt. Washington was an absentee landlord and treated the property as a land investment. Today, this parcel of land includes what is now known as the Hickory Heights community located in the ...
what makes a safe crackable or uncrackable?	Whether it has a mechanical fault that would allow you to determine the combination without just brute-forcing and trying them all, or a mechanical fault that allows you to disengage the deadbolt or whatever else prevents it opening without needing to input the code at all. There is no uncrackable safe. Some people ...	[ "Other methods of cracking a safe generally involve damaging the safe so that it is no longer functional. These methods may involve explosives or other devices to inflict severe force and damage the safe so it may be opened. Examples of penetration tools include acetylene torches, drills, and thermal lances. This m...
when discussing the causes of cancer, why do researchers rarely talk about the hundreds of nuclear test that have been done across the world throughout history?	The carcinogenic effect of those tests are negligible compared to other main factors like the sun or smoking. It's pretty easy to measure whether that particular nuclear radiation has spread and to what level. It's ionizing radiation and it sticks relatively close to the impact radius.	[ "Since the primary cast and crew numbered about 220, and a considerable number of cancer cases would be expected, controversy exists as to whether the actual results are attributable to radiation at the nearby nuclear weapons test site. Statistically, the odds of developing cancer for men in the U.S. population are...
How do neurons stay in close proximity for chemical synaptic transmission to be possible?	In the brain and the peripheral nervous system there is a variety of neuronal cells other than neurones. These glial cells such as astrocytes serve many functions but are also thought to create the structure of the nervous system. I think these cells support the neurones helping to maintain there connection.	[ "Neurons communicate with one another via synapses. Synapses are specialized junctions between two cells in close apposition to one another. In a synapse, the neuron that sends the signal is the presynaptic neuron and the target cell receives that signal is the postsynaptic neuron or cell. Synapses can be either el...
Does Gamma Radiation refract?	It does, except the index of refraction through most materials at that energy is like 1.00000001. If you were able to find a material that had a higher index of refraction at x-ray and gamma wavelengths, you would make a lot of money in the semiconductor industry. [Here](_URL_0_) is a paper looking at the gamma-ray i...	[ "Gamma ray emission follows the previously discussed modes of decay when the decay leaves a daughter nucleus in an excited state. This nucleus is capable of further de-excitation to a lower energy state by the release of a photon. This decay follows the relation:\n", "Gamma rays are produced during gamma decay, w...
how do antihistamine anxiety meds (like hydroxyzine hydrochloride) work differently than other anxiety medications?	This is one of those cases where we use what was originally a side effect as a primary effect. Benadryl, the most commonly known first generation antihistamine, causes some pretty significant sedation. First generation histamines like Benadryl and hydroxyzine do this because they cross the blood brain barrier, much mor...	[ "Anxiolytics and antidepressants are other pharmacotherapies that have been offered to people in conjunction with other psychotherapy modalities, or if these patients experience high levels of anxiety from their condition. Results from these medications have not been consistent.\n", "ACE inhibitors may also be us...
How were the mentally ill treated differently between the Age of Faith and the Age of Reason?	You might want to be more specific with regards to time period and cultures.	[ "Religion is an important factor used by the elderly in coping with the demands of later life and appears .more often than other forms of coping later in life. Religiosity is a multidimensional variable; while participation in religious activities in the sense of participation in formal and organised rituals may de...
why does rubbing a magnet against non-magnetic metal make it temporarily magnetic?	When something is magnetic, the unpaired electrons are all spinning in parallel. Normally, materials that can be magnetized (iron, nickel, cobalt, etc.) won't exhibit this because the spins are randomly distributed. When you apply an external magnet, it causes those spins to line up. Anywhere the spins are lined up, it...	[ "When an external magnetic field is applied to a ferromagnetic material such as iron, the atomic domains align themselves with it. Even when the field is removed, part of the alignment will be retained: the material has become \"magnetized\". Once magnetized, the magnet will stay magnetized indefinitely. To demagne...
Does the TV show "Manhattan" accurately convey the situation for nuclear scientists working on the Manhattan project?	I haven't had a chance to see the show yet (which is sort of inexcusable, because I did a little informal consulting for them early on — things like "what did the first samples of plutonium look like and how were they shipped"), but: 1. The entire point of Los Alamos being where it was was to keep the scientists isola...	[ "Though the TV show is not intended to be historically accurate, but inspired by history. The show does reference many aspects of the actual Manhattan Project, and some historical figures such as head scientist Robert Oppenheimer. Other contributors to the Manhattan Project, such as Nobel Laureates Enrico Fermi (wh...
Why does shipping by water use less energy than by rail?	I don't really know for sure, just giving my assessment of it. I suspect a part of the answer might be due to scaling. Efficiency increases as size increases, because of the [square cube law](_URL_0_). Drag goes up by the surface area (square), but cargo goes up by the volume (cube). Ships are bigger than trains. Mayb...	[ "The ability to move more cargo per shipment makes barge transport both fuel efficient and environmentally advantageous. On average, a gallon of fuel allows one ton of cargo to be shipped by truck (e.g. @ 30 ton load, by railway, and by barge. Carbon dioxide emissions from water transportation were 10 million metri...
Did the Celts practice Cannibalism?	Celtic speaking people did practice ritualistic sacrifice and did practice head hunting, but I'm not sure there's much evidence besides hearsay that Celts practised cannibalism. St Jerome, for example, wrote that Irish soldiers serving in the late Imperial Roman army would eat children but AFAIK there's no real archaeo...	[ "This is a list of incidents of cannibalism, or anthropophagy, as the consumption of human flesh or internal organs by other human beings. Accounts of cannibalism date back as far as prehistoric times, and some anthropologists suggest that cannibalism was common in human societies as early as the Paleolithic Era. H...
why do tobacco products not require a label as to what they are made with, and other products do?	lobbying by the tobacco industry. If people say all the different added chemicals they would be more likely to quit.	[ "The EU Tobacco Products Directive which took effect on 1 July 2017 removed all branding, description and attractive colourisation from tobacco products, leaving only government health warnings, disturbing pictures of tobacco-related illnesses, and only the manufacturers name and 'brand' is allowed to distinguish o...
If all motion is relative, does that mean kinetic energy is also relative? Could you create energy by changing your reference frame?	Kinetic energy is not a Lorentz-invariant quantity. It does indeed change between reference frames. (Momentum does, too) You can construct a 4D quantity called [4-momentum](_URL_0_) P = (P^(0),P^(1),P^(2),P^(3)) = (E/c,p^(x),p^(y),p^(z)) and then define an inner product such that A·B = A^(0)B^(0) − A^(1)B...	[ "II. The kinetic energy in the direction of motion of a dynamic system is only recovered if the system is stationary (e.g. a bridge structure), or the recoverable energy is negligible in comparison with the power required for motion (e.g. a low powered sensor).\n", "The speed, and thus the kinetic energy of a sin...
Given that the public's first introduction to PSTD came from the large amount of traumatized veterans from WW1, why was it notably less severe in returning vets from WW2, a much longer, even more destructive war?	I would question the assumption here in several ways. For one, we just do not have the data to say for certain that PTSD was less severe from WWII vs. WWI. It's not as though modern therapists and psychiatrists are time traveling back to the 1910s or the 1940s to talk to veterans contemporaneously and collect statistic...	[ "The NINDS was created in 1950 to study and treat the neurological and psychiatric casualties of World War II. Many service people had returned with serious brain injuries, nerve damage, and psychic trauma. According to one estimate, \"neurologically disabled veterans in the postwar years accounted for about 25 per...
why is it that most people get more emotional when they see animals get hurt as opposed to seeing other humans get hurt?	In part, because domesticated animals tend to explicitly trust us and most feel that we have a responsibility to treat them appropriately. Also, they for the most part are truly innocent, whereas we tend to assume humans deserved what they got in some way, or at least that they had the power to avoid it at some point. ...	[ "Many animals also exhibit more complex behavioural and physiological changes indicative of the ability to experience pain: they eat less food, their normal behaviour is disrupted, their social behaviour is suppressed, they may adopt unusual behaviour patterns, they may emit characteristic distress calls, experienc...
how do some websites know that i reached them directly with their ip instead of help from a dns server.	Part of a standard HTTP request includes sending the name of the host from the URL. This allows a single webserver to host multiple sites and serve up different pages based on the domain used in the request. If you do a reverse DNS lookup on that IP, you'd see what other domains are hosted there. There might be multip...	[ "When a user tries to access a website, the ISP will automatically send their data through the best connection possible. If the user is trying to access a website hosted at an internet address that the DIA claims to have the best connection to, the ISP will divert the traffic to the DIA.\n", "In the IMS it is pos...
why is it that when you watch someone go through something uncomfortable/painful, you have a physical reaction (ex. in text) quite like theirs?	Its called mirror neurons. It's the same reason why you cringe when you see a hardblow in football, or when you jump and cheer on a buzzer beater 3-pointer!	[ "Observing video clips that displayed facial expression of feeling disgust activated the neural networks typical of direct experience of disgust. Similar results have been found in the case of touch. Watching movies that someone touched legs or faces activated the somatosensory cortex for direct feeling of the touc...
How common were civilian casualties during medieval conflicts?	It varies quite a lot but more common than you might think. Medieval conflicts in Europe basically consisted of three distinct types of warfare: pitched battles, castle sieges and raiding/scorching lands. Pitched battles were relatively rare, at least compared with ancient and classical times, because both sides were ...	[ "At the local level, levels of violence were extremely high by modern standards in medieval and early modern Europe. Typically, small groups would battle their neighbors, using the farm tools at hand such as knives, sickles, hammers and axes. Mayhem and death were deliberate. The vast majority of people lived in ru...
With the big bang theory of inflation, what caused matter to slow down?	I'll let actual experts answer your questions, simply wanted to note that this > I would assume the stars that made it further away from the big bang were moving at a higher rate of speed than the ones who didn't quite make it as far from the point of origin. is based on an incorrect premise. There is actually no "p...	[ "Inflation resolves several problems in Big Bang cosmology that were discovered in the 1970s. Inflation was first proposed by Alan Guth in 1979 while investigating the problem of why no magnetic monopoles are seen today; he found that a positive-energy false vacuum would, according to general relativity, generate a...
When did leaving politics and the public eye become the norm for former presidents?	Just to clarify your question: By "involved in politics", it sounds like you mean "held public office"... is that a fair assessment? Many modern former Presidents have played the role of the "elder statesman" (Hoover, Nixon, Clinton) with great gusto, staying involved in an informal capacity with American politics and ...	[ "After the Watergate scandal of 1972 and his subsequent resignation in 1974, 400 million people worldwide watched Nixon leave the White House. Among them is British journalist David Frost, currently recording a talk show in Australia, who decides to interview Nixon.\n", "In the 1870s in the United States, in the ...
polygons in video games - what they are, what they do, why people rave about them, etc.	Computer graphics work in terms of "points on space". If you connect those points with straight lines (computers are not good at curves, as they are difficult to calculate) you get blocky looking graphics ([example on the bottom](_URL_1_)). You can easily see how this makes circles and curves look bad. To better this,...	[ "Polygons are uniformly triangular, and although they are two-dimensional, they have the ability to rotate in three dimensions. They are constantly taking part in jousting matches, in which two polygons attempt to bisect each other. This is also their means of procreation, as the two parts of the loser each become ...
why are many highways winding and not straight?	They have to go around hills and valleys without going up and down to much. Therefore, they gently curve around to keep the road relatively level.	[ "Hairpin turns are often built when a route climbs up or down a steep slope, so that it can travel mostly across the slope with only moderate steepness, and are often arrayed in a zigzag pattern. Highways with repeating hairpin turns allow easier, safer ascents and descents of mountainous terrain than a direct, ste...
If I was in an airtight room would I die first from buildup of CO2 or depravation of oxygen?	On average, you generate ~13L of CO2 per hour and use up ~15L of oxygen per hour. Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) isn't an issue at all until you hit ~16%. According to the [CDC](_URL_0_), you are at immediate risk at 40,000 ppm CO2 (4%) So let's take a sealed room and figure it out... Say it's 3m x 3m x 2m. You have 18000L ...	[ "Since COHb releases carbon monoxide slowly, less hemoglobin will be available to transport oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Conversion of most Hb to COHb results in death - known medically as carboxyhemoglobinemia or carbon monoxide poisoning. Smaller amounts COHb lead to oxygen deprivation of the bo...

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