question stringlengths 3 301 | answer stringlengths 9 26.1k | context list |
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Is there a "smallest" divergent infinite series? | If you have two sequences f(n) and g(n) (where the nth term of the sequence is the sum of the first n terms in a given series), then one way to define "divergence speed" is to look at lim^(n- > ∞) f(n)/g(n). If it's zero, then f is "slower" than g, and if it's ∞ or -∞ then f is "faster". If it's anything else, then the... | [
"The infinite sequence of triangular numbers diverges to +∞, so by definition, the infinite series also diverges to +∞. The divergence is a simple consequence of the form of the series: the terms do not approach zero, so the series diverges by the term test.\n",
"The smallest superspace is a point which contains ... |
[Math] Would a base-twelve number system be more efficient when calculating higher mathematics? | Just habit. There's nothing special about 10. However, it's not the base that determines whether or not a number can be evenly divided into an integer. 10 can't be divided by 3 in base 12 either, and 12 can be divided by 3 just fine in both base 12 and 10.
Maybe what you mean is that we could divide more easily by 3 ... | [
"Base-12 systems (duodecimal or dozenal) have been popular because multiplication and division are easier than in base-10, with addition and subtraction being just as easy. Twelve is a useful base because it has many factors. It is the smallest common multiple of one, two, three, four and six. There is still a spec... |
why are fire animations, fogs and shadows in video games so demanding for graphic cards? | Imagine your graphics card is a famed renaissance painter named Giancarlo Pasquali Uberti sitting in a room. In this room is a canvas, paint, and a pneumatic messaging tube like they have at bank drive-thrus. Giancarlo also has a brother named Cirino Pasquali Uberti that he works with. Cirino can't paint, but he's grea... | [
"While it has been argued that computer wargame video games lack the realism of traditional games, they may include features that are impractical for tangible games. One such approach is using fog of war, whereby players are unable to see the landscape beyond the simulating viewing distance of their units. This is ... |
Have we mastered genetic modification? Ethics aside, how far are we from being able to design the next stage in human evolution? | We have not mastered it. Targeted somatic gene modification is still pretty far out. In some ways it's still in the early stages. However, we are moving rapidly at reading and assembling genetic information. Some promising technologies were featured in Nature's method of the year 2011. _URL_0_ | [
"A major technological application of evolution is artificial selection, which is the intentional selection of certain traits in a population of organisms. Humans have used artificial selection for thousands of years in the domestication of plants and animals. More recently, such selection has become a vital part o... |
What is an orbital hybridisation? | If you have a grid, then there are two really special directions: Up/Down and Right/Left. Let's specify these directions by U and R. But these are not the only directions, there's a whole continuum of directions that exist in the grid. However, we can use these two special directions to specify *all* the directions. If... | [
"In chemistry, orbital hybridisation (or hybridization) is the concept of mixing atomic orbitals into new \"hybrid orbitals\" (with different energies, shapes, etc., than the component atomic orbitals) suitable for the pairing of electrons to form chemical bonds in valence bond theory. Hybrid orbitals are very usef... |
How is a continuous spectrum produced by a large collection of atoms (of the same element) if each atom only produces a line spectrum? | Imagine a solid piece of metal built up from individual atoms. As you add more atoms together, the interaction between the atoms starts to affect the energy levels such that they are no longer the same as the isolated atoms. These energy levels are still discrete though. However, add even more atoms and eventually the ... | [
"Spectral bands are part of optical spectra of polyatomic systems, including condensed materials, large molecules, etc. Each line corresponds to one level in the atom splits in the molecules. When the number of atoms is large, one gets a continuum of energy levels, the so-called \"spectral bands\". They are often l... |
why does anyone think capitalism is a good thing? | Generally speaking, capitalism does a good job of allocating resources where they are deemed by society to be valuable. This is particularly true of relatively low-cost, high-volume goods - to the best of my knowledge, nobody ever said they thought the government should use taxes to provide toilet roll holders, for ex... | [
"Although the world contains resources which could be made to provide a decent life for everyone, capitalism has been incapable of satisfying the elementary needs of the world’s population. It proved unable to function without \n",
"The reason for capitalism's great vitality is, apart from new technology, product... |
why can we move the ring finger up while placing hand palm down, with the middle finger rolled inside? | The ring and middle finger share a tendon, so placing the middle finger down forces the ring finger to be held in place. | [
"A thumb signal, usually described as a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, is a common hand gesture achieved by a closed fist held with the thumb extended upward or downward in approval or disapproval, respectively. These gestures have become metaphors in , regardless of whether the gesture was actually made.\n",
"In form... |
Can a laser be used to push on something? | Photons have momentum and can give some of that momentum to another object when it collides with it. For more information on this subject, a good place to start is the wiki page on [laser propulsion](_URL_0_). | [
"Laser weapons capable of directly damaging or destroying a target in combat are still in the experimental stage. The general idea of laser-beam weaponry is to hit a target with a train of brief pulses of light. The rapid evaporation and expansion of the surface causes shockwaves that damage the target. The power n... |
Work and Potentials | If you want to apply the work-energy theorem to a situation like this, you can't simply treat the force as uniform. It starts at rest, accelerates, maybe reaches a constant velocity, and decelerates. The total work would be the integral of the force at each height by distance, or the integral of the change in kinetic e... | [
"Potential generally refers to a currently unrealized ability. The term is used in a wide variety of fields, from physics to the social sciences to indicate things that are in a state where they are able to change in ways ranging from the simple release of energy by objects to the realization of abilities in people... |
digging straight through earth. | Here's an askscience thread on exactly the same topic:
> _URL_0_
As the top comment says, you'd either simply fall out of the hole on the other side, or you'd come to a rest at the center of the planet, depending on air resistance. | [
"Sometimes digging simply involves moving a few rocks and some soil. This can be accomplished with the bare hands or may involve the use of folding army shovels, root-pruning saws, small crack hammers, buckets to move the material, and rope to haul the buckets if the opening is being enlarged in a downward directio... |
Were knights/Medieval soldiers as brutal and remorseless as depicted in 'Game of Thrones'? | Well, George RR Martin was inspired by the War of Roses to write the conflicts of Westerosi politics, so using that time frame would probably be more correct than the Hundred Year War. When you look at *Le Morte d'Arthur* (written in the same year as the Battle of Bosworth Field), there is a heavy emphasis on chivalry,... | [
"Knights were expected, above all, to fight bravely and to display military professionalism and courtesy. When knights were taken as prisoners of war, they were customarily held for ransom in somewhat comfortable surroundings. This same standard of conduct did not apply to non-knights (archers, peasants, foot-soldi... |
how does a free app like "lucky day" afford to give out free money with no adds? does anyone actually win? | They have deals with the owners of the apps they represent. That means when someone downloads an app through their service they will get paid. This way all parties have an advantage. You get a nice app. The free app developer gets someone to use their app. And the Free Apps app gets money from the developer they repres... | [
"If users chose the free plan, they did not pay a monthly subscription fee nor did they buy business cards. Instead, they would download the Cheekd app for free, and hand out virtual cards to any appealing strangers that were nearby.\n",
"The app encourages users to add friends, by searching for available contact... |
If you were a Spanish Conquistador heading to the Americas during the 16th Centur, what skills or traits would you look for in a crew? Who do you recruit? | If I may ask a related question, how were those Conquistadors treated back home? Were they hailed as heroes and adventurers, or were they seen along the lines of soldiers and sailors? I am hoping to get a general sense of how they were seen in Spain. | [
"The conquistadors took many different roles, including religious leader, harem keeper, King or Emperor, deserter and Native American warrior. \"Caramuru\" was a Portuguese settler in the Tupinambá Indians. Gonzalo Guerrero was a Mayan war leader for Nachan can, Lord of Chactemal. Gerónimo de Aguilar, who had taken... |
why is it longer for human to adapt from light to night than night to light? | Your eyes work by constantly producing chemicals that is broken down by light. By measuring how much chemicals is in your vision cells you can find out how much light they receive. When it is light there is very little chemicals present and when it is dark there is lots of chemicals. However it takes your cells about h... | [
"In visual physiology, adaptation is the ability of the retina of the eye to adjust to various levels of light. Natural night vision, or scotopic vision, is the ability to see under low-light conditions. In humans, rod cells are exclusively responsible for night vision as cone cells are only able to function at hig... |
how does the court decide who gets to pay child support? | The person who does not have custody of the child has to pay child support to the person that does. Usually the amount is based on how much they make. | [
"In divorce cases, child support payments may be determined as part of the divorce settlement, along with other issues, such as alimony, custody and visitation. In other cases, there are several steps that must be undertaken to receive court-ordered child support. Some parents anticipating that they will receive ch... |
multiplication | Okay, it's simple enough. Long-form digit-by-digit arithmetic splits numbers into columns, so that the number 123 is treated as the sum of three quantities:
123 = 100 + 20 + 3
With that in mind, consider your multiplication:
89 * 56 = (80 + 9) * ( 50 + 6)
Now, if you've ever done any algebra, you'll reco... | [
"Multiplication (often denoted by the cross symbol \"×\", by the dot \"⋅\", by juxtaposition, or, on computers, by an asterisk \"*\") is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the others being addition, subtraction and division.\n",
"Multiplication is the second basic operation of ... |
Didn't Jupiter used to be shown with having rings? | [Jupiter has rings for sure.](_URL_0_) The only thing is you often don't see them in pictures because they are really, really faint. | [
"Jupiter's ring system was the third to be discovered in the Solar System, after those of Saturn and Uranus. It was first observed in 1979 by the \"Voyager 1\" space probe. It is composed of four main components: a thick inner torus of particles known as the \"halo ring\"; a relatively bright, exceptionally thin \"... |
In Norse mythology, is Valhalla (and its counterpart in the goddess Freyja’s field) for all warriors who died in battle regardless of religious leaning, or was it only for Nordic warriors who died in battle? | Your observation about the lack of clarity in sources is quite appropriate because quite simply, there is no consistency to be found in Norse views on the afterlife, various worlds, or really any topic you can imagine.
Now I cannot base my answer off of any close reading of Norse sources because I don't read old Nor... | [
"In Norse mythology, Valhalla (; from Old Norse Valhöll \"hall of the slain\") is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those who die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field Fólkvangr.... |
If I flip a coin a gazillion times, how many streaks of 1000 "heads" will I get? | I don't know what a gazillion is, so let's go with *x* instead, where *x* is an integer presumably no smaller than 1000.
We'll compute the expected number of 1000-head streaks you should expect as follows. Consider any fixed sequence of 1000 tosses. What's the probability that it lands on heads each time? Well, each f... | [
"If we toss a fair coin ten times then the exact probability that no pair of heads come up in succession (i.e. \"n\" = 10 and \"k\" = 2) is \"p\"(10,2) = formula_11 = 0.140625. The approximation formula_12 gives 1.44721356...×1.23606797... = 0.1406263...\n",
"In the case where the special coin is head and the oth... |
Did Europe have a remarkable number of fortifications compared to, say North Africa and the Middle East? | Japan has had as many as five thousand castles built, which is comparable to that of England and Wales on a per area basis. This is, of course, primarily due to the Sengoku era of feuding warlords, or daimyo.
Much of Japan's history had been dominated by a shogunate. Shogunates were the governments of shogun, derive... | [
"In Central Europe, the Celts built large fortified settlements known as oppida, whose walls seem partially influenced by those built in the Mediterranean. The fortifications were continuously being expanded and improved. Around 600 BC, in Heuneburg, Germany, forts were constructed with a limestone foundation suppo... |
Is it true every atom in our bodies came from a star that exploded? | Except some hydrogen, helium *and lithium* atoms , whom have existed since the Big Bang, all elements comes from dead stars, since it's the only place, where it is hot and dense enough, for larger atoms to form.
Edit: Thanks **LoyalToTheGroupOf17** and **demostravius** for letting me know about the lithium. | [
"These interesting objects are born from once-large stars that grew to four to eight times the size of our own sun before exploding in catastrophic supernovae. After such an explosion blows a star's outer layers into space, the core remains—but it no longer produces nuclear fusion. With no outward pressure from fus... |
what is a positron and how come it's positively charged but does not weigh like a proton and is more like an electron? | A positron (also called an anti-electron) is the antimatter version of the electron. So its exactly the same as an electron witb opposite charge.
The amount of charge something has is nothing to do with how big it is.
The antimatter equivalent of the proton is the anti-proton.
| [
"The positron or antielectron is the antiparticle or the antimatter counterpart of the electron. The positron has an electric charge of +1 \"e\", a spin of 1/2 (same as electron), and has the same mass as an electron. When a positron collides with an electron, annihilation occurs. If this collision occurs at low en... |
why is this in the constitution and what is a fair justification for it? | They have to be paid because if they weren't, only rich people could hold the positions. The same way the president cannot refuse his salary.
Senators and congressmen cannot be arrested at/on the way to sessions to prevent authorities from trying to disrupt votes. If someone wanted a certain vote to go a different wa... | [
"\"I would also say that if you believe in something, if you think the Constitution is a good one, and if you think the Constitution protects you, you better make sure that the Constitution is actively operating... and uh, in other words \"constant vigilance\". Otherwise, it's a scrap of paper. We had the Constitut... |
what is the difference between sound and heat? | Sound is a wave. It means it's a perturbation that propagates over time and space without (in general) a macroscopical displacement of particles. If I talk to you, you'll ear me but none of the molecules I had in my lungs have made their way into your ear. A wave also has non-random properties : direction, etc.
In a h... | [
"Second sound is a quantum mechanical phenomenon in which heat transfer occurs by wave-like motion, rather than by the more usual mechanism of diffusion. Heat takes the place of pressure in normal sound waves. This leads to a very high thermal conductivity. It is known as \"second sound\" because the wave motion of... |
When someone says "it went down the wrong tube" when they have choked on water or food, does it actually go down a separate tube? | Here is a good video on what you're talking about: _URL_0_
Basically the esophagus and the trachea are separated by the epiglottis. So when stuff goes down the wrong tube it means your food went down your trachea instead of your esophugus. | [
"A phenomenon called \"tube dependency\" has been discussed in the medical literature, in which a child refuses to eat after being on a feeding tube, but it is not recognized as a disorder in the ICD or DSM and its epidemiology is unknown.\n",
"If the subject has been gagged or can otherwise not verbally communic... |
If a person suffers from Monochromacy (full range color blindness) then trips on a hallucinogen do they see the beautiful colors? Or do they see awesome fractals in black & white as well? | I think it depends on the source of their monochromacy. If it's a defect in the cones in their eyes, I would imagine they would see colors, as that would be directly generated in the visual cortex, independent of actual stimuli. But if there's a problem with the visual cortex in the brain, I would imagine they would ha... | [
"Less common forms of dichromacy include protoanopia (lack of L-cones), and tritanopia (lack of S-cones). If a person lacks two types of photopigments, they are considered monochromats. People lacking the three types of photopigments are said to have complete color blindness or achromatopsia. Color blindness can al... |
how does shaving cream make steam not stick to the mirror? | The mirror is made of glass. Glass is a relatively good conductor of heat. That means heat gets transferred to it quite well.
In a hot shower, water vapour meets the mirror, transferring heat to it and goes through a process called condensation, "steaming" the mirror.
Shaving cream is a terrible conductor of heat c... | [
"In use, the shaving brush is dunked into the wide spout, allowing it to soak into the water and heat up. The soap is placed in the soap holder. When needed, one can take the brush and brush it against the soap, bringing up a layer of lather; excess water is drained back. This allows conservation of water and soap,... |
batteries - generic vs. name brand | Check for an expiration date on the Kroger batteries. Sometimes the no-name batteries have been sitting in a warehouse for years before they get put on a shelf and someone buys them.
From my experiences buying batteries from Amazon, I've seen the big names usually put an expiration date on the pack, as if to show they... | [
"Manufacturers may assign proprietary names and numbers to their batteries, disregarding common, colloquial, IEC, and ANSI naming conventions (see LR44 battery as an example). Often this is done to steer customers towards a specific brand, and away from competing or generic brands, by obfuscating the common name. F... |
Did the medieval war trope of launching rotting corpses and cattle over walls actually occur? | Nemtrif's comment regarding [the siege of Caffa](_URL_0_) is pretty solid and the siege is well studied but we can look at the problem from a more motivational standpoint to understand it.
Seiges generally didn't shake out the way that you see them in Lord of the Rings. That's not to say that they couldn't, but defen... | [
"In the Middle Ages, as an early example of biological warfare, diseased corpses were thrown into castles during sieges using catapults or other siege engines. Individuals near the corpses were exposed to the pathogen and were likely to spread that pathogen to others.\n",
"During the Middle Ages, victims of the b... |
why do they grade some final exams on a curve. how do they figure out the curve? | Imagine a test is 100 points. Usually, a 90/100 would be a 90%. If the exam is graded, the curve could be maybe the top score of the class (usually) or some other number. Say its the top score and the best score in the class is 96/100, all the tests are adjusted. A 96 (96%) becomes 96/96 (100%) an 85 (85%) would become... | [
"In education, marking on a curve (BE) or grading on a curve (AE, CE) (also referred to as curved grading, bell curving, or using grading curves) is a method of assigning grades to the students in a class in such a way as to obtain a pre-specified distribution of these grades, such as a normal distribution (also ca... |
humans land on a new planet, teeming with life. how do we efficiently find out what plants and animals are safe to eat, and what ones are toxic? | I'm reminded of some science fiction stories by Vonda McIntyre, where the ambassadors from Earth and from the Four Worlds (the aliens who were sponsoring Earth's application into the Galactic Civilization) had their first, tentative, gathering: the hors d'oeuvres were water and cotton candy—of all five species present,... | [
"Everything on the planet is deadly to humans. The large animals are strong enough to destroy small vehicles, while the small ones have neurotoxic venom. Even the plants are deadly. All microorganisms consume insufficiently protected tissue as quickly as acids. On top of all this, life evolves so quickly that even ... |
What exactly is a particle's spin? What makes half integer values "special"? | Spin is a form of angular momentum, but it is not produced by anything actually spinning. It is angular momentum that things get to have just because they exist. It is a consequence of how rotations work, and must arise due to relativity.
We typically measure angular momentum in units of *h*/2*pi*, where *h* is Plan... | [
"\"Half-integer spin\" means that the intrinsic angular momentum value of fermions is formula_1 (reduced Planck's constant) times a half-integer (1/2, 3/2, 5/2, etc.). In the theory of quantum mechanics fermions are described by antisymmetric states. In contrast, particles with integer spin (called bosons) have sym... |
why do colleges have weed out classes for different majors? | They aren't officially weed out classes. They are prerequisites. If you can't master algebra you can't move on to calc. If you can't master basic algorithms you can't be a computer scientist.
Think about it like this- if you went to cooking school and couldn't properly fry and egg, why would they waste resources teac... | [
"Students apply to one or more colleges or universities by submitting an application which each college evaluates using its own criteria. The college then decides whether or not to extend an offer of admission (and possibly financial aid) to the student. The majority of colleges admit students to the college as a w... |
How does friction produce noise? | [This site](_URL_0_) does a decent job of explaining it.
Essentially the objects rubbing on each other deform slightly under static friction and then when sliding occurs they relax a bit which causes them to stick again and the cycle repeats. This happens very rapidly and the cyclic deformation translates into cyclic... | [
"Rolling friction generates sound (vibrational) energy, as mechanical energy is converted to this form of energy due to the friction. One of the most common examples of rolling friction is the movement of motor vehicle tires on a roadway, a process which generates sound as a by-product. The sound generated by autom... |
how does little caesars stay competitive when they don't deliver/keep their prices low? | Because if I want a pizza and am willing to drive the short distance to get it, I can have pizza in my mouth in less than 10 minutes. That's magic. | [
"Little Caesars produces a variety of pizzas. Several core menu items are part of the HOT-N-READY menu, designed to make popular items available for immediate carry-out, while others are considered either specialty pizzas or custom pizzas, including the \"ExtraMostBestest\" line of products. Standard pizza options ... |
hydraulic fracturing and the controversy surrounding it | Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as "fracking", is using high-pressure water to open or widen cracks in rock. The reason you do this is because oil and natural gas are often trapped in the rock, so you crack it open to allow the oil or gas to flow out. It has other purposes, but the most popular use is in getting "... | [
"The process of hydraulic fracturing generates significant criticism. Opponents allege that it is inadequately monitored and poses significant threats to water and air quality in surrounding areas, and cite a growing number of incidents of methane in nearby water wells.\n",
"Encana's hydraulic fracturing operatio... |
Does the body naturally build leg muscle as you gain more weight (as in fat/non-muscle tissue) to better support the heavy body? | Your assumption is right. But it does not make them (us) stronger in effect, because it is impossible to put the weight down. And with losing the weight the muscle mass which is then not needed anymore shrinks, too. The obese person would have to carry a backpack with thr weight they lost all day around to keep it. But... | [
"Difficulty building muscle is often associated with the ectomorph body somatotype, however other common reasons also include a lack of proper nutrition, suitable physical activity level or not allowing enough recovery time for the stressed muscles to regain their previous state and then grow bigger (overtraining).... |
why do some trains make a loud “violin-like” sound when they accelerate and decelerate? | That's an electrically powered train with AC induction motors. These motors can produce huge amounts of torque at low rotating speeds. One side effect is that the high currents they use to do this alternate in a speed that's low enough that humans can fear it. You're hearing the harmonics caused by starting current i... | [
"Train noise on curves is caused by the wheels slipping along the rails. This slippage also causes noise and surface damage called \"corrugation\". The process by which the noise and corrugation occur is:\n",
"Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacer... |
why is there never stars in the backgrounds of planet photos? | Photographer here. Because the stars are too dim.
Longer explanation: taking photos of things with very wildly differing levels of illumination is very difficult. You can picture a sensor as a bunch of buckets that catch photons. If you wait too long, the buckets overflow and everything comes out an uniform white. If ... | [
"Besides star maps, the Chinese also made celestial globes, which show stars' positions like a star map and can present the sky at a specific time. Because of its Chinese name, it is often confused with the armillary sphere, which is just one word different in Chinese (渾象 vs. 渾儀).\n",
"There are no markings on th... |
what is the actual significance of the notre dame cathedral? | " I get that it's a huge loss of culture and history, but I just cannot bring myself to wrap my head around why it's actually so significant. "
& #x200B;
It's a huge loss of culture and history. That's why it's actually so significant. Read particulars here:
[_URL_0_](_URL_0_) | [
"The cathedral is one of the most widely recognized symbols of the city of Paris and the French nation. As the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame contains the \"cathedra\" of the Archbishop of Paris (Michel Aupetit). In 1805, Notre-Dame was given the honorary status of a minor basilica. Approximately... |
SI Units - why the metre and kilogram? | Originally the meter was defined based on some fraction of the distance from the equator to the north pole, and the gram was based on the amount of mass of water in a 1 cm^3 cube.
Eventually, these measures were deemed not accurate enough, and less convenient to standardize. For a while we used "prototype" definition... | [
"The standard International System of Units (SI) unit of mass is the kilogram (kg). The kilogram is 1000 grams (g), first defined in 1795 as one cubic decimeter of water at the melting point of ice. However, because precise measurement of a cubic decimeter of water at the proper temperature and pressure was difficu... |
how do plants generate heat, how to they stop freezing when the droplets of water that are on them are frozen, when they plants are made up, mostly of, water? | Plants generally do not generate meaningful amounts of heat. They deal with freezing temperatures by: dying, like orange trees; freezing, but in a way that doesn't cause permanent damage, like most deciduous broad-leaf trees; or pumping themselves full of antifreeze, like most conifers. | [
"The formation of frost flowers is dependent on a freezing weather condition occurring when the ground is not already frozen. The sap in the stem of the plants will expand (water expands when frozen), causing long, thin cracks to form along the length of the stem. Water is then drawn through these cracks via capill... |
What happens when lightning strikes in an ocean? | The current density definitely decreases with distance. Because lightning is such a brief event (about 70uS for the main strike), the [skin effect](_URL_0_) has significant influence on the distribution of the current. The skin effect is the tendency of rapidly changing current to be concentrated near the surface of a ... | [
"A typical cloud-to-ground lightning flash culminates in the formation of an electrically conducting plasma channel through the air in excess of tall, from within the cloud to the ground's surface. The actual discharge is the final stage of a very complex process. At its peak, a typical thunderstorm produces three ... |
Has there ever been a "vote of no confidence" in the United States? | To my knowledge no. I guess impeachment is as close as it gets to a vote of no confidence in the U.S.
In an impeachment scenario, articles of impeachment are brought before the House of Representatives. (A government official can be brought up on charges of impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors.) Once the art... | [
"The vote of no confidence to the Government was unsuccessful as only 47 legislators supported no confidence when 101 were needed. 105 Members of Parliament voted against no confidence and 32 MP's abstained. 16 legislators did not attend the meeting of the Chamber of Deputies.\n",
"A no confidence vote was last s... |
Can our senses of smell and taste be overloaded? | It has to do with the reasons why those senses get overloaded.
In hearing loss, there are hair cells in your cochlea (inner ear) that will move when sounds are transmitted from the tympanic membrane down into the cochlear fluid. Which cells move, and by how much, tells your brain what frequencies and amplitudes of sou... | [
"A decrease in the ability to smell is a normal consequence of human aging, and usually is more pronounced in men than in women. It is often unrecognized in patients except that they may note a decreased ability to taste (much of taste is actually based on reception of food odor). Some of this decrease results from... |
Photons have no mass but are affected by gravity. Do photons themselves affect gravity, e.g. could one make a black hole solely from photons? | Photons or light are affected by gravity because they are only following the curvature in space-time caused by a large mass and NOT because they are feeling individual gravitational forces on each particle. This was the main difference between Newtonian and Einstein's physics of gravity.
Photons cannot have rest mass... | [
"The photon, the particle of light which mediates the electromagnetic force is believed to be massless. The so-called Proca action describes a theory of a massive photon. Classically, it is possible to have a photon which is extremely light but nonetheless has a tiny mass, like the neutrino. These photons would pro... |
Why were chariots more prevalent in ancient warfare as opposed to horseback cavalry and why did Chariots fall out of use? | First we should draw a distinction between light cavalry, a skirmishing force equipped with bows or javelins, and medium/heavy cavalry, which fights at close range with lances or swords. Horses were domesticated c. 3,000 BCE and were probably used in warfare soon after, but medium/heavy cavalry was a later innovation. ... | [
"However, the rise of cavalry in the 1st millennium BC meant that by the 7th century BC, the chariot was demoted to combat duties only; lighter chariots consisting of two to three horses were later upgraded under the reign of Ashurbanipal to heavy four-horse chariots. Such chariots could contain up to four men. Hea... |
How many average modern nuclear weapons (~1Mt) would it require to initiate a nuclear winter? | It depends. Nuclear winter is currently still a guess, which is centered around how much soot would be injected into the stratosphere. If enough is sent up, we could end up with a scenario like the dinosaurs experienced. Soot of that magnitude would require a significant event - like continuous firestorms, with perhaps... | [
"Several studies led by Alan Robock of Rutgers University describe this possibility. A 2007 analysis using contemporary climate models found that a hypothetical nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan involving 100 Hiroshima-size bombs (less than 0.1% of the explosive yield of the current global nuclear arsenal... |
if locks are based on the point of the pins, does that mean that my house key can open someone else's house, since there's only a certain number of different combinations? | Yup. There's usually 5 or 6 pins and they have maybe 6 or 7 possible lengths. So that's 7^6 combinations or 117,649. However, with some jiggling and twisting as you insert the key, that number drops dramatically. It's not too uncommon for you to be able to open a lock with the wrong key. From personal experience, I'd s... | [
"The large variety of keys and locks from the settlement is remarkable. They indicate that people had property worth protecting, and that the cohabitation of so many people in a small area made physical measures necessary to that effect. Different locks appear to have been used for gates, doors, or furniture.\n",
... |
how do (did some) hunting tribes survive living of an all-meat-diet (like some inuit tribes)? | They eat a lot of things like organs, fat, and bone marrow that contain more nutrients than the normal cuts of meat you'd find at the grocery store.
It's entirely possible to meet your nutritional requirements on a totally carnivorous diet if you're willing to eat the "gross" parts of animals. | [
"Southeastern Native Americans also supplemented their diets with meats derived from the hunting of native game. Venison was an important meat staple, due to the abundance of white-tailed deer in the area. They also hunted rabbits, squirrels, opossums, and raccoons. Livestock, adopted from Europeans, in the form of... |
why do they usually keep the train tracks when filling in new areas of cement? | They could. But that would cost additional money in labor to remove and transport it away. | [
"The project plan had called for lining to be done once all excavations had been completed, but deteriorating rock, especially at the western end, meant that the plan had to change. The problem was solved by pumping concrete under high pressure behind steel liners. Once this was finished, the concrete track bed was... |
How do Historians rate military leaders? | Historians are all about context - measuring things against their own time periods, the judgments and opinions of contemporaries, the challenges that individuals faced within their own times. So we don't generally rate people on any kind of objective scale (there *isn't* any way to do this objectively, as there's no 'p... | [
"By some historians he is considered the most effective general of his generation as well as one of the greatest in military history. Although a tough leader, he was respected by his troops. He touched their sentiments e.g. by addressing them in his speeches as \"gentlemen soldiers\" (señores soldados), but was als... |
[Physics] Is time dilation and length-contraction an illusion? | Nope. They are very, very real. They're based in the fact that length and time are not absolutes - they depend on who's measuring them (in particular, how the measuring device is *moving*).
Now, there's probably a way you could look at them as an illusion (insofar as we make these measurements using light, and you can... | [
"Length contraction, like time dilation, is a manifestation of the relativity of simultaneity. Measurement of length requires measurement of the spacetime interval between two events that are simultaneous in one's frame of reference. But events that are simultaneous in one frame of reference are, in general, not si... |
why can't an electric car power itself? | No, because taking energy away from the wheels as they're turning will make the car slow down. You can never get back the same amount of energy you put in and still have the car move forward.
What you can do is charge the battery a bit when you *want* to slow down. Electric cars can do that, but it cannot ever be eno... | [
"An electric vehicle, also called an EV, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion. An electric vehicle may be powered through a collector system by electricity from off-vehicle sources, or may be self-contained with a battery, solar panels or an electric generator to convert fuel to electr... |
how does the taliban avoid widespread retaliatory violence from the communities they victimize? | You mean, why don't the good people in Taliban-controlled villages rise up and throw them out? Because there's a civil war going on. The Taliban are terrorists, sure--but the Pakistani Air Force's gunships are pretty damn terrifying, too.
Many civilians living in Taliban-controlled villages are *terrified* of the Pa... | [
"According to a 55-page report by the United Nations, the Taliban, while trying to consolidate control over northern and western Afghanistan, committed systematic massacres against civilians. UN officials stated that there had been \"15 massacres\" between 1996 and 2001. They also said, that \"[t]hese have been hig... |
why do humans need vitamin d to survive, but nocturnal animals do not? do they find vitamin d somewhere else? | Even when we are talking about mammals - we still have very different metabolism and some mammals can produce biological stuff that other mammals can't.
Take cats for example: they are incapable of producing taurine while most mammals can. | [
"Sunlight, fortified foods and supplements are the main sources of vitamin D for humans. Unlike plant-foods, some animal products naturally contain small amounts of vitamin D, such as salmon and other oily fish, egg yolks, some dairy products, and various organ meats. Furthermore, vitamin D3 used in some supplement... |
What distinguished Jacksonian Democracy from American politics prior to that? | It's the era when property restrictions keeping white men from voting were eliminated. I don't know why credit for this belongs to Jackson. I guess because people without land tended to vote for him? | [
"Jacksonian democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that expanded suffrage to most white men over the age of 21, and restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh president, Andrew Jackson, and his supporters, it became the nation's dominant political wor... |
Physics - If trying to do the most damage should I swing a glass bottle as hard as I can or as hard as I can without the bottle breaking? | Yes you are correct in that when the bottle breaks, part of the energy is dissipating by the breaking glass.
However, breaking bottle does not necessarily mean that the blow is weaker than a blow that you pull in order to keep the bottle intact.
If you hit somebody (or something) with the kinetic energy of the bottle... | [
"Heat-strengthened glass can take a strong direct hit without shattering, but has a weak edge. By simply tapping the edge of heat-strengthened glass with a solid object, it is possible to shatter the entire sheet. \n",
"A Bologna bottle, also known as a Bologna phial or philosophical vial, is a glass bottle which... |
Would it ever be successful to have gills transplanted on a human? | Using a [rebreather](_URL_1_), you can stay under for bloody hours and hours, until you get really cold, have to shit in your drysuit, or have some other reason to leave the water. So, in a very real way, you wouldn't need the gills anyway.
One of the many drawbacks of rebreathers are that they are heavy as fuck. Adva... | [
"Artificial gills are unproven conceptualised devices to allow a human to be able to take in oxygen from surrounding water. This is speculative technology that has not been demonstrated in a documented fashion. Natural gills work because nearly all animals with gills are thermoconformers (\"cold-blooded\"), so they... |
What determines the Units in E=MC^2 | If your mass is in greenflies and the speed is in the rate of beard growing, your energy would be in units of greenfly beard growth rates squared (GBGS). So one greenfly at rest has an energy of about 10^32 GBGS. | [
"The meaning of the symbol 'percent' is , therefore the accurate meaning of the notation 'mg%' is 'mg/100', which is a unit of mass, not a concentration. Therefore, for dimensional analysis purposes, when denoting a concentration of mass divided by volume, it has largely been replaced by units such as 'mg/dL' or th... |
what is ethereum and how is it different/related to btcoin? | It's a wallet. A way to store, send, and receive bitcoin. Many people buy bitcoin from say, Coinbase, send them to Ethereum, tumble them, and use em for the darknet. | [
"Ethereum Classic is an open-source, public, blockchain-based distributed computing platform featuring smart contract (scripting) functionality. It provides a decentralized Turing-complete virtual machine, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which can execute scripts using an international network of public nodes. ... |
why is everybody supporting caitlyn jenner's transsexuality but up in arms about rachel dolezal's transethnicity? | There are thousands of cases of transgendered people, doctors agreeing that it's a real condition that requires treatment, scientific studies suggesting that trans people have different brain chemistry, and organized groups working to promote transgendered rights.
Vs one woman who is lying about her ethnicity for reas... | [
"Tuvel began writing the transracialism article after noticing the contrast, in 2015, between the reception given to Caitlyn Jenner's coming out as a trans woman in April and that given in June to Rachel Dolezal, a white woman who identifies and had been passing as black. Jenner became one of \"Glamour\" magazine's... |
Were battles on Christmas Eve during the Revolutionary War "off limits" due to an unspoken truce? | It isnt so often that there was something special about respecting the Christmas or Winter season to not fight, but that it was incredibly impractical to.
Pre-modern forces would almost always stop campaigning, go into winder quarters, and await better weather come Spring when hey could march again. Snow, the cold, mu... | [
"The Christmas truce occurred during the relatively early period of the war (month 5 of 51). Hostilities had entered somewhat of a lull as leadership on both sides reconsidered their strategies following the stalemate of the Race to the Sea and the indecisive result of the First Battle of Ypres. In the week leading... |
how is dyeing the chicago river safe and how does this process not damage the ecosystem? | Think of the dye they use to turn beer green for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s food grade, safe for consumption. They don’t dye the River using industrial textile dyes that are toxic. | [
"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlawed the use of fluorescein for this purpose, since it was shown to be harmful to the river. The parade committee has since switched to a mix involving forty pounds of powdered vegetable dye. Though the committee closely guards the exact formula, they insist that it ha... |
why does my internet upload speed double when i use a vpn? | Because your isp sucks and your government is too stupid to mandate net neutrality. | [
"VPN can be used to protect ones data from ISPs or theoretically to subscribe to foreign ISPs with better privacy protections. However good VPNs generally cost money, take some effort and minor technical skills to set up, and will slightly degrade the connection speed.\n",
"The P2P industry also says that P4P may... |
What name did the Sassanids use for the Roman empire and/or it's people? | I have a very scarce knowledge of Middle Persian, but I do know that in both the pre- and post-Islamic eras, Greece and Rome were both called Rome. The introduction [Book of Arda Viraf](_URL_0_), which is one of the few Middle Persian sources I know of, refers to Alexander the Great as Aleksander ī Hrōmāyīg or Aleksand... | [
"The Dacians were known as \"Geta\" (plural \"Getae\") in Ancient Greek writings, and as \"Dacus\" (plural \"Daci\") or \"Getae\" in Roman documents, but also as \"Dagae\" and \"Gaete\" as depicted on the late Roman map \"Tabula Peutingeriana\". It was Herodotus who first used the ethnonym \"Getae\" in his \"Histor... |
why are taxes in the north generally higher than taxes in the south? | That's a good question, and the answer is rather complex. [THIS](_URL_0_) site should help explain a few things.
For example, the south has a significantly lower average income, a much higher poverty rate, they're also more unhealthy (more overweight, lower life expectancy), have a much lower high school graduation ... | [
"The South financed a much lower proportion of its expenditures through direct taxes than the North. The share of direct taxes in total revenue for the North was about 20%, while for the South the same share was only about 8%. A major part of the reason why tax revenue did not play as large a role for the Confedera... |
Is it possible to use a vacuum as a power source? | > Technically, this is unlimited energy using only a vacuum, right?
No, it is not, because your device will not work at all, and will not have water in it for very long.
A vacuum does not "suck" water at all. Air pressure "pushes" it. When you suck on a straw, you lower the pressure within the straw, and the higher... | [
"The most ubiquitous vacuum-powered accessory is the booster for the power brake system. The vacuum is only an assist and the brakes can still function, requiring greater force, if the booster vacuum is used up.\n",
"Vacuum is useful in a variety of processes and devices. Its first widespread use was in the incan... |
the mike duffy scandal in canada. | Basically, Mike Duffy (an independent senator) spent about $90k and illegally charged it to the government. He expense claimed personal items (like living expenses, vacations etc), and had the taxpayers pay for them. When he was ordered to pay the money back, he was unable, and his friend, the Prime Minister's Chief of... | [
"On May 27 2009, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled Duffy violated Canadian broadcasting codes during the 2008 Canadian federal election. It concluded that Duffy’s decision to air ‘false starts’ of an interview with then-Liberal leader Stephane Dion “was not fair, balanced, or even handed.” The Panel al... |
Can someone please explain superluminal jets to me? | Spinning Black holes have an interesting property where if two particles collide near the event horizon and one of the particles falls in as a result of the collision and the other one escapes, then most of the rest mass energy of the particle that fell in will end up as kinetic energy of the escaped particle rather th... | [
"Mechanisms behind the composition of jets remain uncertain, though some studies favour models where jets are composed of an electrically neutral mixture of nuclei, electrons, and positrons, while others are consistent with jets composed of positron–electron plasma. Trace nuclei swept up in a relativistic positron–... |
why would stocks drop after something like the boston bombings? | Anything that causes fear of economic disturbance of any type will cause people to reduce risk by removing money from volatile sources of wealth (like stocks) to something more stable (like cash). There is also a bit of self fulfilling prophecy involved, because people are fearful that the price might go down because ... | [
"The London Stock Exchange bombing occurred on the morning of 20 July 1990 with the explosion of a 5 to 10 lb bomb of high explosives inside the London Stock Exchange building in the City of London, England, planted by the Provisional IRA. The building and surroundings were evacuated after the IRA gave a telephone ... |
What purpose does leg jiggling/bouncing serve? | There is no clear answer to this question. However, there are some who hypothesize (myself included) that "leg jiggling" *does* serve a purpose. We understand that persons with attentional deficits have an underactivation of certain brain networks. Meaning, those brain areas don't activate at the same level as they ... | [
"The most common objects used in joggling are juggling balls, or sometimes juggling clubs, but any set of three or more objects can be used. However, in competitions or long term events, most jogglers prefer to use palm-size beanbags stuffed with birdseed because they are light enough for long distances but heavy e... |
Is 1421 by Gavin Menzies a reputable book? | Essentially, everything Menzies says is terrible and Admiral Zheng He ***Did Not*** discover the New World. Here are some previous answers in the FAQ:
[Is Gavin Menzies' assertions in his books, 1421 and 1434, taken seriously by the history community?](_URL_2_)
[Did Zheng He reach the Americas?](_URL_0_)
[Accuracy o... | [
"\"1408\" is a short story by Stephen King. It is the third tale in the audiobook collection titled \"Blood and Smoke\", released in 1999. In 2002, it was collected in written form as the 12th story in King's collection \"Everything's Eventual\". In the introduction to the story, King says that \"1408\" is his vers... |
How is telomere length "magically" refreshed to be the normal length for children/babies? | Well in answer to the first question, germ cells like sperm and eggs can express the enzyme telomerase. Which has the capacity to repair damaged/shortened telomeres. Its not common to see this expressed generally though, as cells generally have a dictated lifespan, and shortening telomeres leads to chromosomal damage a... | [
"The existence of a compensatory mechanism for telomere shortening was first found by Soviet biologist Alexey Olovnikov in 1973, who also suggested the telomere hypothesis of aging and the telomere's connections to cancer.\n",
"However, a study of the comparative biology of mammalian telomeres indicated that telo... |
if we have the ability to see beyond our own galaxy, why aren't we certain about "dwarf planets" and other objects at the edge of our solar system? | It has to do with how bright the objects are. It's like being outside at night, and being able to easily see a clump of billions of burning candles several miles away (another galaxy) while not being able to see a small pebble 10 feet away in the dim light of the single candle you're holding (a dwarf planet at the edg... | [
"Due to skyglow, people who live in or near urban areas see thousands fewer stars than in an unpolluted sky, and commonly cannot see the Milky Way. Fainter sights like the zodiacal light and Andromeda Galaxy are nearly impossible to discern even with telescopes.\n",
"Planets are usually observed with the aid of a... |
why can people find jokes, movies, etc to be funny or entertaining more then once? | I'm no expert. But I think laughter is the mind's way of coping with the absurd. The same thing can still seem absurd even after witnessing it multiple times.
Also... Than | [
"You can assess laughter. I get pleasure out of making a movie, but to listen to people laughing at what we have made – this is great. I'm a natural pessimist. Comedies are difficult. You can make a good adventure story if you have the money, good actors, and a good story (more often than not a best-selling book), ... |
how come when you skydive they tell you to pull your parachute at 5000-6000 ft altitude but people that base jump pull their parachutes at like 2000 ft altitude? | The reason they have you pull the parachute at about 5000 feet is solely for your own safety. You *could* pull it at a much much lower altitude, but the lower you get the more risk there is of something going wrong.
Parachutes sometimes get tangled and need to be untangled, sometimes they fail and you need to deploy t... | [
"A parachute-style harness secures the pilot to the balloon. By pushing off the ground with his or her legs, the pilot ascends in the balloon to a maximum height of about 120 feet before gradually descending due to the positive weight of the pilot. Optional tether lines held by persons serving as the ground crew pr... |
Why did Jesus of Nazareth, as opposed to some other prophet, become a central figure in a religion that still exists today? | *Partially quoting myself from an answer to a similar question*
Firstly, martyrdom tends to have a pretty powerful effect, regardless of other factors. The death of a beloved leader might just be the kind of spark capable of initiating the kind of spread that we see in Christianity.
Beyond that though, there was a lo... | [
"Jesus of Nazareth is the central figure of Christianity. Christians believe that he was (and still is) divine, while Islam considers him to have been a prophet, messenger and the Messiah. Since the time in which he is said to have lived, a number of noted individuals have criticised Jesus, some of whom were themse... |
Why did Henry VIII tax beards? | I think you may have more luck searching under the term of 'sumptuary laws', which were the clothing and fashion laws levied across Europe from the medieval period onwards. Sumptuary laws regulated pretty much everything any person wore, and looked mostly to tell everyone which strata of society could wear which fabric... | [
"In 1535, King Henry VIII of England, who wore a beard himself, introduced a tax on beards. The tax was a graduated tax, varying with the wearer's social position. His daughter, Elizabeth I of England, reintroduced the beard tax, taxing every beard of more than two weeks' growth, although it was poorly enforced. Co... |
how do we know where to search for precious metals? how do we know that 100 ft underneath my yard isn't the largest gold deposit in the world? | Certain rock types are more likely to have certain minerals than others, but for the most part they look around where they found some precious metals and hope there is more. Lot's of guesswork, gambling, and sampling. Maybe you find nothing, maybe you strike it rich. | [
"Deeper placer deposits may be sampled by trenching or drilling. Geophysical methods such as seismic, gravity or magnetics may be used to locate buried river channels that are likely locations for placer gold. Sampling and assaying a placer gold deposit to determine its economic viability is subject to many pitfall... |
Can someone explain how this image is
possible? | First off, the tires on MotoGP bikes have a much, MUCH larger contact patch than normal road motorcycle tires, so they are able to maintain their grip on the road over a much wider angle.
Secondly, the reason he can do this is due to angular momentum, which is more commonly known as the gyroscope effect. When the ride... | [
"An image (from ) is an artifact that depicts visual perception, such as a photograph or other two-dimensional picture, that resembles a subject—usually a physical object—and thus provides a depiction of it. In the context of signal processing, an image is a distributed amplitude of color(s).\n",
"The essence of ... |
how do shirt sponsorships etc actually make a company money? | The mere fact that you know that fly Emirate exists as a brand is proof that their advertising worked.
Advertising increases future sales through brand recognition. People is more likely to buy something they recognize regardless of value or quality. | [
"Like most football clubs, significant commercial income is generated from shirt sponsorship deals. Past shirt sponsorship deals were as follows: Tatung (1982–86), Benjamin Perry (1986), Staw Distribution (1986–88), Manders Paint & Ink (1988–90), Goodyear (1990–2002), Doritos (2002–04), Chaucer Consulting (2004–09)... |
Is is true that in the past 150 years earth magnetism has depleted 6%? | Actually, it's nearer 10-15% and the rate of depletion is accelerating. What those tricksy creationists have neglected to tell you is that the Earth's magnetic field is variable. Geological records show that it has fluctuated in strength and changed direction any number of times since the rocks (in which the evidence r... | [
"According to the BBC, the \"global map shows the variation in strength of the magnetic field after the Earth's dipole field has been removed (Earth's dipole field varies from 35,000 nano-Tesla (nT) at the Equator to 70,000 nT at the poles). After removal of the dipole field, the remaining variations in the field (... |
the federal reserve is increasing the money supply to create jobs? how does this work? | US Treasury bonds are considered the safest possible investment historically. Risk/Reward trade offs in investing means that the absolute lowest risk will have the lowest rewards. Treasuries therefore generally set the baseline 'reward' for lowest risk investment in the form of interest on your principle investment. ... | [
"The Federal Reserve has responded to a potential slow-down by lowering the target federal funds rate during recessions and other periods of lower growth. In fact, the Committee's lowering has recently predated recessions, in order to stimulate the economy and cushion the fall. Reducing the federal funds rate makes... |
How does de-icer work? | Isopropanol has a lower melting point than pure ice. When you pour it over ice that has formed over your car, the system (isopropanol + water) will reach a phase that is energetically favourable - a liquid solution, rather than separate as solid water and liquid isopropanol. | [
"Pumpable ice (\"PI\") technology is a technology to produce and use fluids or secondary refrigerants, also called coolants, with the viscosity of water or jelly and the cooling capacity of ice. Pumpable ice is typically a slurry of ice crystals or particles ranging from 5 to 10,000 micrometers (1 cm) in diameter a... |
the us federal reserve system and effectively how much of it is under private control and how much under public control? | 0% of the Fed is under private control.
The Fed uses its own set of terminology in which it uses words in a manner that is totally inconsistent with those words' dictionary definitions. For example, the Fed uses words like "stock holder" to refer to a non-ownership relationship that it has with banks.
In short, inte... | [
"According to the board of governors of the Federal Reserve, \"It is not 'owned' by anyone and is 'not a private, profit-making institution'. Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects.\" The U.S. Government does not own shares in the Federal Reserve ... |
Can photons perform work? | One of my favorite examples of photons performing physical work (F*d, i.e. moving an object) is in a [solar sail](_URL_1_). The japanese satellite [IKAROS](_URL_0_) has already used this technology. | [
"Much research has been devoted to applications of photons in the field of quantum optics. Photons seem well-suited to be elements of an extremely fast quantum computer, and the quantum entanglement of photons is a focus of research. Nonlinear optical processes are another active research area, with topics such as ... |
is there actually a solution to 'this statement is false'? (liar's paradox) | The solution is pretty simple, but unsatisfying.
"The assumption you can create a logical system where all propositions are either true or false is incorrect." | [
"The liar paradox (\"This sentence is false\", or \"The next sentence is true. The previous sentence is false\") demonstrates essential difficulties in assigning a truth value even to simple sentences. Many philosophers attempting to explain the liar paradox - for examples see that article - concluded that the prob... |
how can the cdc trace the exact specific source of an e. coli outbreak? | Pretty much. Supply chains are tracked and catalogued pretty extensively, so when dozens of people get sick with the same (relatively rare) bacterial infection spread across multiple states, it's relatively easy for investigators to find a common denominator. | [
"The outbreak is the largest ever reported in North America. Enterovirus infections are not rare; there are millions of isolated infections every year. One possibility is that CDC began looking for the virus only after the outbreak. CDC received specimens for lab testing after the outbreak-related hospitalizations.... |
Would Rome have continued expanding if it wasn’t for the battle of Teutoburg Forest? | Rome did continue to expand after Teutoburg Forest, just not east of the Rhine (a region typically called "Magna Germania"). In the following decades, Rome expanded in almost every direction by taking control of client kingdoms (Thrace, Cappadocia and Mauretania for instance) and under emperor Claudius conquered parts ... | [
"From the time of the rediscovery of Roman sources in the 15th century the Battles of the Teutoburg Forest have been seen as a pivotal event resulting in the end of Roman expansion into northern Europe. This theory became prevalent in the 19th century, and formed an integral part of the mythology of German national... |
To what extent were the administrations of the early Roman Empire aware of civilizations occupying modern day China, Japan, and Korea? | China and Rome certainly had some knowledge of each other, and they each occupied different ends of the Eurasian trade network. For what it is worth, the oldest Chinese document describing Rome, from the third century, is a great deal more accurate than Pliny's description of China, but it is difficult to infer much fr... | [
"Detailed geographical information about the Roman Empire, at least its easternmost territories, is provided in traditional Chinese historiography. The \"Shiji\" by Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BC) gives descriptions of countries in Central Asia and West Asia. These accounts became significantly more nuanced in the \"Book ... |
How was spying handled before any major developments in communications? | I don't have any sources handy (I'll try to find some later) but the Mongols (Of Genghis Khan's empire) used horse riders as relay messengers with each point where a message would be passed to the next carrier being how far a horse could ride at full speed before tiring (or there-abouts)
Romans would also use riders (... | [
"The birth of signals intelligence in a modern sense dates from the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. As the Russian fleet prepared for conflict with Japan in 1904, the British ship HMS \"Diana\" stationed in the Suez Canal intercepted Russian naval wireless signals being sent out for the mobilization of the fleet, ... |
if you can get gingivitis so easily, how did people survive before proper dental hygiene existed? | My dentist once attributed it to the high amount of sugar in modern diets, where it was pretty scarce historically.
Also, people *did* clean their teeth in various ways, like with a rag or by rinsing their mouths or by chewing on a stick from a specific kind of tree. | [
"Gingivitis is reversible with good oral hygiene; however, without treatment, gingivitis can progress to periodontitis, in which the inflammation of the gums results in tissue destruction and bone resorption around the teeth. Periodontitis can ultimately lead to tooth loss. \n",
"In the Western world, the primary... |
How does Oxygen get to the Mitochondrial Matrix? | It surely is the case. The inner membrane of mitochondria is chalk full of proteins and is, like you mentioned, rather restrictive. However, O2 and other small dissolved gasses and water can still easily pass through the membrane^1.
Cited:
1._URL_0_ | [
"In peripheral tissues, oxygen again diffuses down a pressure gradient into cells and their mitochondria, where it is used to produce energy in conjunction with the breakdown of glucose, fats, and some amino acids.\n",
"In vertebrates, oxygen is taken into the body by the tissues of the lungs, and passed to the r... |
Was there as much fuss among the public going from the year 999 to 1000 as there was from 1999 to 2000? | As an additional related question, when did Europeans start using this date format? | [
"The day of the opening was May 13, 1894. Huge crowds wanted to see the painting, the biggest attraction of the millennial exhibition in Hungary, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the conquest. Today, most historians accept 895 as the year of the conquest; however, the millennial celebrations were held in 189... |
Did Gorbachev want to disband or democratize the Soviet union? | [Archived Post](_URL_1_) with a discussion that covers this.
u/JSX13
And [another discussion here](_URL_0_) that talks about the intentions behind Glasnost and Perestroika.
u/Subs-man | [
"Gorbachev's efforts to streamline the Communist system offered promise, but ultimately proved uncontrollable and resulted in a cascade of events that eventually concluded with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Initially intended as tools to bolster the Soviet economy, the policies of \"perestroika\" and \"glasn... |
Why did North-Brabant and Dutch Limburg choose the Netherlands in the Belgian revolt? | First of all you have to understand what the situation was *before* the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created by the European powers at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
Before this "united kingdom" was created, the Northern and Southern Netherlands (roughly what is now the Netherlands and Belgium respectively) ... | [
"After the Union of Utrecht was signed in 1579, Brabant became a battlefield between the Protestant Dutch Republic and Catholic Spain, which occupied the southern Netherlands. As a result of the Peace of Westphalia, the northern part of Brabant became part of the Netherlands as the territory of Staats-Brabant (Stat... |
how does the foreign exchange program work? | What context please?
Like in an educational institution? You go to another country to study, while the other school sends students to your school?
If so,
* Choosing who goes / Requirements
- Typically academically excellent, active in co-curricular activity
- Knowledge of the language used in the target countr... | [
"Foreign exchange programs provide students with an opportunity to study in a different country and environment experiencing the history and culture of another country,as well as meeting new friends to enrich their personal development. International exchange programs are also effective to challenge students to dev... |
Why did humans lose the opposable "thumbs" on their feet like the ones that other apes retain? If two opposable thumbs are good, aren't four better? | If I remember my biological anthropology correctly then it may have to do with several factors: 1) There is less muscle force used for bipedal motion in the human foot, and 2) there is less force due to the increased arch that comes with the human foot.
In human evolution it became essential as our ancestors began to ... | [
"Opposable thumbs are shared by some primates, including most catarrhines. The climbing and suspensory behaviour in orthograde apes, such as chimpanzees, has resulted in elongated hands while the thumb has remained short. As a result, these primates are unable to perform the pad-to-pad grip associated with opposabi... |
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