Split (2)

train · 226k rows

question stringlengths 3 301	answer stringlengths 9 26.1k	context list
how does a radiation meter work?	There are different types of radiation detectors * Geiger tubes: A tube filled with an inert gas at low pressure, when radiation enters the tube it knocks electrons off of the gas and creates a brief pulse of current that can be detected. * Scintillation counter: Uses a material that releases light upon being struck ...	[ "Any radiation detector is a relative instrument, that is to say the measurement value can only be converted to an amount of material present by comparing the response signal (usually counts per minute, or per second) to the signal obtained from a standard whose quantity (activity) is well known.\n", "\"Radiation...
why does the moon look huge in the distance when poping over a mountain but small on a picture or a video?	The short answer is it's an optical illusion. This is mainly caused by having something to compare the moon's scale too (mountain, building, etc). Many people belive its due to being lower to the horizon and the atmosphere "magnifies" it, however this is incorrect. To test this optical illusion for yourself, hold u...	[ "BULLET::::- \"Finally! Why the Moon Looks Big at the Horizon and Smaller When Higher Up\" by Don McCready, Professor Emeritus, Psychology Department, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Revised 10 November 2004, retrieved 31 October 2015\n", "A full moon at perigee appears roughly 14% larger in diameter than at ...
difference between a think tank and a lobbyist	Lobbyists generally work on the behalf of a specific entity, be it a company or some other interest group. Basically, you tell them what your goals are, and they'll go argue for you for a fee. Think tanks tend to be more dedicated towards a specific ideology or cause, rather than just lobbying for the desires of whoe...	[ "A think tank or policy institute is a research institute which performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most policy institutes are non-profit organisations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada pro...
why doesn't the government build hospital's with the medicare budget instead of acting as insurance?	Because the issue being addressed isn't "there are not enough hospitals". There are plenty of hospitals in the US. The issue is that not everyone can afford medical care. Medicare/Medicaid are intended to help remedy that issue.	[ "However, various private insurance plans such as Medicare, Medicaid, and HMO will take care of the costs of hospice care, helping it be less detrimental on the family. This helps avoid more trauma to the family by reducing the enormous medical bill necessary to support their loved ones who are fighting the illness...
why do carbonated drinks hurt us when we drink too fast?	Carbonated drinks contain dissolved carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide naturally reacts with water (in the drink) to produce carbonic acid (a weak acid). Weak acids such as citric acid (lemon juice) or acetic acid (vinegar) have a sour taste, so carbonating drinks changes their taste along with giving them an interesting t...	[ "Mixing alcohol with normal soft drinks, rather than diet drinks delays the dizzying effects of alcohol because the sugary mixture slows the emptying of the stomach, so that drunkenness occurs less rapidly.\n", "A Brazilian study conducted in 2006 found that combining an energy drink and alcohol \"appears to show...
Why did people pay money to buy officers commissions in the army?	Just to clarify, are you asking why an army would allow people purchase commissions, or why someone would bother paying money for an officer's commission?	[ "The purchase of officer commissions in the British Army was the practice of paying money to be made an officer in the cavalry and infantry regiments of the English and later British Army. By payment, a commission as an officer could be secured, avoiding the need to wait to be promoted for merit or seniority. This ...
how have actions such as the head nod and head shake become universally understood in contrast to languages.	They haven't really. Lots of places won't know what you mean if you shake your head. In India they do a side to side wobble instead of nodding. Stuff like hand signals can mean completely different things in different places, like the OK sign is seriously rude in Thailand.	[ "An early survey of head shake and other gestures was \"The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals\", written by Charles Darwin in 1872. Darwin wrote to missionaries in many parts of the world asking for information on local gestures, and concluded that shaking head for \"no\" was common to many different gr...
What was the vikings' knowledge of contemporary mathematics? (What kind of number system did they use, etc?)	This is a bit of a problematic question, because these theoretical issues are not typically captured in writing of the time period (which is more concerned with narratives and events). We only have the material evidence to go on (the archaeology), and for that it is hard to determine, as noted, what is derived from 'tr...	[ "Knowledge about military technology of the Viking Age (end of 8th- to mid-11th-century Europe) is based on relatively sparse archaeological finds, pictorial representation, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and laws recorded in the 14th century.\n", "Viking Age Scandinavians had a variety of ...
why do human babies take years to raise while other animals like puppies or antelopes take only a few months?	Partially because of life-expectancy - a human lives 75 years, whereas a dogs life-expectancy is more like 10 years. Also, humans traded instinct for a more advanced brain. Animals instinctually know how to do a lot more than we do, but our learning curve beats everything else.	[ "Their 160-day gestation period (typically from November to March) results in the birth of a single young. Offspring are considerably large and well developed (newborns weigh over 200 g and are about a quarter of the weight of the mother) and develop rapidly. Within six weeks, they eat solid food, and at three mont...
home buying terms	> What are points and origination fees? The origination fee is like an upfront payment to the lender for creating the loan. It is usually a percentage (0.5%, 1%) of the loan amount. _URL_1_ > Is earnest money basically just a deposit? Does it get factored into the sale at all? This is also called "good faith" mo...	[ "Another form of Intermediate Rent is known as \"Rent to HomeBuy\". This is where an applicant will be able to live in a property at a discounted rent for a period of three to five years at a subsidised rent, whilst keeping an option to purchase a percentage of the property at any point during the tenancy (typicall...
What causes flesh to rot?	Microbes. Without them you'd just dry out into leather. This is why preservation works. Basically things will eat you unless you can defend and rebuild yourself. The causes could also be internal. Like perforated bowel or infection. Then you got tooth rot, primarily that's the bacteria strep. mutans. The same one ...	[ "Soft rots are those where the pathogen breaks down the host cell walls, resulting in the exudation of juices from the infected tissue. The organ becomes mushy or pulpy and a foul smell often develops due to colonization by secondary invaders. Many fungi and bacteria cause soft rots on several fruits and vegetables...
Celtic Warfare	Does your assignment require you to use primary written sources? Our knowledge of the Celts comes mainly from Greek and Roman writers, from myth and legends ostensibly based on oral traditions and from archaeological evidence. If you are permitted to rely heavily on using secondary and tertiary written sources and ...	[ "The best known Roman source for descriptions of Celtic warfare is Julius Caesar in his \"Commentaries on the Gallic Wars\" (Commentarii de Bello Gallico) in which he describes the methods of warfare of both the Gauls and the Britons.\n", "Celtic tribes fought amongst each other and sometimes they allied themselv...
Is is possible to regrow half of your liver?	_URL_1_ Shorter answer: yes. [Oh hey, the wikipedia article 'liver'](_URL_0_) says it grow from as little as 25%, though not in the original shape, but expansion from what's left to the same size and function as the original.	[ "There are two events in which the liver has the capability to regenerate, one being a partial hepatectomy and the other being damage to the liver by toxins or infection . The processes described below deal with the pathways triggered after a partial hepatectomy.\n", "The human liver is particularly known for its...
why do newtonian physics break down at a quantum level?	It's not so much that they break down, rather it's that Newtonian physics is an approximation of how the world works that is not totally correct, but in many cases is accurate enough to be incredibly useful. In such circumstances (like the ordinary motion of a baseball), the inaccuracy is so low as to be practically i...	[ "BULLET::::- Newtonian mechanics was extended by the theory of relativity and by quantum mechanics. Relativistic corrections to Newtonian mechanics are immeasurably small at velocities not approaching the speed of light, and quantum corrections are usually negligible at atomic or larger scales; Newtonian mechanics ...
Could an "electromagnetic black hole" exist?	The answer is no. There are a couple of features of gravity that make it unique and the only candidate force to produce black hole-like phenomena. 1. Gravity interacts with everything on the same way (it's very democratic). And everything is everything, including itself. This is an important ingredient because as soon...	[ "General relativity predicts the smallest primordial black holes would have evaporated by now, but if there were a fourth spatial dimension – as predicted by string theory – it would affect how gravity acts on small scales and \"slow down the evaporation quite substantially\". This could mean there are several thou...
What if you took some simple scuba gear, maybe a weight, and applied a hydrophobic layer?	What stops you from sinking is not friction, but buoyancy. The water pressure supports you with a force equal to the weight of the water you displaced. Having a layer of hydrophobic material doesn't really change this - it's no different to having a layer of clothing or whatever, it's just another surface that the wate...	[ "Some fins designed for surf use have integral straps which can neither be replaced nor adjusted, but are simple and have no projections which can snag or scratch the swimmer's legs. They are much like full foot pocket fins without the back part of the sole, but do not trap as much sand when used in the surf.\n", ...
why the vitamins are named like they are. why do we have 12 vitamin b's but no vitamin j? is there a vitamin b9?	There used to be more vitamin letters, but we later learned that these weren't right, or were the same as others. So, we stopped calling them by things like vitamin J. All of the vitamin B vitamins were once thought to be a single vitamin. When we learned more about them and their different sources, we broken them...	[ "B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism. Though these vitamins share similar names, they are chemically distinct compounds that often coexist in the same foods. In general, dietary supplements containing all eight are referred to as a vitamin B complex. Individ...
How should we remember Captain James Cook?	Really there's nothing stopping him from being both. He did have significant navigation/cartographical skills, sailing thousands of miles that he had no maps for. That said he was an English sailor under the British Navy at the start of British imperialism. His voyages were basically commissioned to see if Australia ...	[ "Captain James Cook, FRS, RN (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European discovery of eastern Aust...
why can’t you hum while holding your nose?	You can if you open your mouth. The air that carries the sound from your vocal cords has to go somewhere.	[ "The usual first difficulty is to inhale through the nose while blowing out air stored in the cheeks. To some this may be a big hurdle, to others it is no problem at all. This technique may be practiced by holding a finger in front of a thin air stream out of the lips and listening to the wind sound.\n", "To get ...
Is it possible to navigate without GPS and satellites using the earth's geomagnetic field instead (like birds do)?	> Now, I've heard about Compasses You are probably thinking of regular old cheap compasses. But there are high accuracy electronic compasses which is what you appear to be talking about. [Like this one.](_URL_0_)	[ "Inconsistencies of atmospheric conditions affect the speed of the GPS signals as they pass through the Earth's atmosphere, especially the ionosphere. Correcting these errors is a significant challenge to improving GPS position accuracy. These effects are smallest when the satellite is directly overhead and become ...
why do separate drops of cooking oil tend to drift towards each other when on water?	Gravity. Water is polar so it forms a strong surface tension, the oil is less dense so it sits on top. Gravity makes the oil naturally tend to "puddle" on top of the water.	[ "The boundary layer of water vapor again serves the purpose of preventing interactions between the oil and the surface of the food. Even as the boundary layer of water breaks down, the initial interactions between the oil and the batter will be minimal. The oil will move into the vacancies left in the batter by the...
How much gasoline is actually wasted at a stop sign?	0.00314248 gallons, or 0.0118956 L. Assumes: car must accelerate to 25 mph after stopping. Car weighs 2000 kg. Efficiency of engine is 30%. Gasoline energy density is 35 MJ/L. No other energy losses during acceleration (e.g. no friction). My work in Mathematica: _URL_0_	[ "As the average vehicle of the time consumed between two and three liters (about 0.5–0.8 gallons) of gasoline (petrol) an hour while idling, it was estimated that Americans wasted up to of oil per day idling their engines in the lines at gas stations.\n", "Gasoline theft (sometimes known colloquially as fill and ...
could a nuclear submarine survive in space? if so, for how long?	It is strong in compression, in tension it's less clear.	[ "BULLET::::- Submarine, a ship capable of remaining underwater for extended periods. Submarines in the world wars could stay under for less than a day, but development of nuclear reactors and air-independent propulsion allows submarines to stay submerged for weeks, even months at a time, with food supplies as the o...
Rhodesia	You might find interesting the following previous answers: * [Why does the story of Rhodesia attract so many racists?](_URL_2_) answered by /u/swarthmoreburke * [What was Rhodesia's end game during the Bush War?](_URL_1_) answered by /u/profrhodes * [The Rhodesian bush war is heavily romanticised by certain groups -...	[ "The term \"Rhodesia\" was first used to refer to the region by white settlers in the 1890s who informally named their new home after Cecil Rhodes, the Company's founder and managing director. It was used in newspapers from 1891 and was made official by the Company in 1895.\n", "Southern Rhodesia became a self-go...
United States officials and politicians grossly overstated Soviet military capabilities in the cases known as the "bomber gap", "missile gap" and "cruiser gap". Did Soviet officials ever have similarly overestimated any U.S./NATO military equipment levels and technologies?	Yes, very much. One example that comes to mind is the "military-technical revolution" of the late 1970s and 1980s. Soviet military leaders during the Reagan years in particular were fairly spooked by Western advances in precision weapons, reconnaissance methods, and other technologies which we would now call 'C4ISTAR,'...	[ "In the US, during the Cold War, the missile gap was the perceived superiority of the number and power of the USSR's missiles in comparison with its own (a lack of military parity). The gap in the ballistic missile arsenals did not exist except in exaggerated estimates, made by the Gaither Committee in 1957 and in ...
how do nature documentaries capture audio?	> I can't help but be bugged by wondering how they manage to capture such pristine audio. Take along a really good microphone with a cover, or even a microphone within a parabolic dish to get audio from far away. Or of course you can dub it in later from audio captured elsewhere in similar fashion.	[ "Radio documentary is a spoken word radio format devoted to non-fiction narrative. It is broadcast on radio as well as distributed through media such as tape, CD, and podcast. A radio documentary, or feature, covers a topic in depth from one or more perspectives, often featuring interviews, commentary, and sound pi...
When did people start realizing that the Soviet Union was going to imminently collapse?	> Reviewing the history of international relations in the modern era, which might be considered to extend from the middle of the seventeenth century to the present, I find it hard to think of any event more strange and startling, and at first glance more inexplicable, than the sudden and total disintegration and disa...	[ "There were few, if any, who believed that the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse by 1985. The economy was stagnating, but stable enough for the Soviet Union to continue into the 21st century. The political situation was calm because of twenty years of systematic repression against any threat to the country ...
What was the system for giving African American Slaves or Ex-Slaves second names?	Howdy! The first census of the United States that attempted to count slaves precisely was the 1850 census. The census wanted the name, age, sex, and color of each person (among other things), which would have us to find the name of slaves in each household. For thirty years before that, there were just numbers. How...	[ "African Americans, most of whom are descendants of slaves, often used, or were given, the name of their owners. In some Southern states, between one-quarter to one-third of slaves after the American Civil War adopted the surnames of their last owners.\n", "Many African Americans have their origins in slavery (i....
what will pot businesses look like in washington and colorado?	Coloradan here. The dispensaries, or medicinal marijuana stores, here are not weird or shady places. Many neighborhoods have multiple dispensaries. The recreational marijuana stores will be modeled after dispensaries. In fact, current medicinal dispensaries will have first dibs on licenses to open recreational stores. ...	[ "Colorado is now 1 of 8 states that have legalized both medical and recreational marijuana, allowing them to tax the product. As of July 2014, six months after recreational shops began sales of marijuana in Colorado, the state has enjoyed a tax revenue of 45 million with 98 million expected by the end of the calend...
watts vs va	For a purely resistive load, like a light bulb or heater, volts times amps equals watts. But many loads are not purely resistive; they can also be capacitive or inductive. By far the most common of the two is inductive: most motors, for example, are inductive loads. These loads consume power but "return" some of it wit...	[ "The P Scale or Psi Scale is a method of measuring telepathic power used by the Psi Corps with lower ratings being more common than higher ones. However, the stronger the telepath's P-level, the more control and discipline is needed, as it becomes much harder to block out the random thoughts and voices of others; a...
Do alcoholics develop kidney stones as often as non-drinkers?	Good question, I googled and found this: & #x200B; > While no direct causality has been found between drinking alcohol and the formation of kidney stones, alcohol can contribute to increased risk for the formation of stones through a variety of avenues. Beer and grain alcohol have an especially high purine count. ...	[ "There are no conclusive data demonstrating a cause-and-effect relationship between alcoholic beverage consumption and kidney stones. However, some people have theorized that certain behaviors associated with frequent and binge drinking can lead to dehydration, which can, in turn, lead to the development of kidney ...
if a nuclear bomb were being tested, and it didn't go off... how is it approached and dismantled?	Chances are they'd shoot another (small and conventional) bomb at it to blast it into tiny, no-longer explodable pieces, then pick those up and dispose of them.	[ "Five of the six nuclear bombs have been successfully installed, but during the installation of the sixth, an earthquake occurs, and a warhead is lost. Nolan tries to set it manually, but is pinned by the warhead.\n", "Only Germany, the US and Russia may research the atomic bomb, and this takes several stages, in...
Will bacteria always find a way to become resistant in the end?	> Is it scientifically possible that this method could create plasma resistant bacteria? I assume you are referring to [this](_URL_1_) article, or a similar one. Quote from the article: > Importantly we have shown that plasma is able to kill bacteria growing in biofilms in wounds, **although thicker biofilms sho...	[ "However, due to selective pressure, bacteria can develop resistance through mutations in the porin gene. The mutations may lead to a loss of porins, resulting in the antibiotics having a lower permeability or being completely excluded from transport. These changes have contributed to the global emergence of antibi...
what causes bond interest rates to fluctuate?	The more you want a bond, the less the government has to pay you in interest to buy it. How much do I have to pay you per day to pick up dog poop? A lot. Now how much do I have to pay you per day to pet kittens? Very little, because everyone wants to pet kittens! If everyone wants a 10-year bond, they don't need t...	[ "Interest rate changes can affect the value of a bond. If the interest rates fall, then the bond prices rise and if the interest rates rise, bond prices fall. When interest rates rise, bonds are more attractive because investors can earn higher coupon rate, thereby holding period risk may occur. Interest rate and b...
why doesnt your soda get "shaken up" when it falls out of the vending machine?	Two reasons that both contribute: 1) The vending machine acts as a fridge, and at a colder temperature the CO2 gas requires more force to seperate from the liquid But more importantly: 2) The "drop" you see in these machines isn't as dramatic as you may think. There are [columns](_URL_0_) of each different type of d...	[ "The gas pressure in a siphon drives soda water up through a tube inside the siphon when a valve lever at the top is depressed. Commercial soda siphons came pre-charged with water and gas, and were returned to the retailer for exchange when empty. A deposit scheme ensured they were not otherwise thrown away.\n", ...
What is the evolutionary background behind Temperature Dependent Sex Determination?	Let me preface that while I'm a grad student of evolutionary bio, my understanding of the topic is relatively shallow and half of what I'm saying is just an educated guess. Why mostly reptiles? Well, consider the environment of the developing embryo. TSD would make sense for organisms that develop at variable tempera...	[ "It is unknown how exactly temperature-dependent sex determination evolved. It could have evolved through certain sexes being more suited to certain areas that fit the temperature requirements. For example, a warmer area could be more suitable for nesting, so more females are produced to increase the amount that ne...
What are the chances that a ray, if projected outwards in a random direction, will hit a planet before it exits the observable Universe?	Let's say that there's a planet every 5 light years (an overestimation, certainly), and let's say that planet is the size of jupiter. For objects much smaller than their distance away, the angular size is approximately the diameter of the object/distance to the object. So let's take the infinite sum (diam/dist+diam/dis...	[ "Our star will likely not be directly affected by such an event, but the Earth may be easily affected by a nearby collision. Astronomers say that if a stellar collision happens within 100 light years of the Earth, the resulting gamma-ray burst could possibly destroy all life on Earth. This is still very unlikely th...
what is the rationale behind kicking out a business from a strip mall/shopping center and leaving the space to sit for months/years?	If it’s empty, they get tax write offs. Maybe they want to empty out the whole place and sell it for multi-family housing development.	[ "In 2012 a community theater, Central New York Playhouse, opened. This was part of a trend in which local businesses and community groups filled some of the space created by the loss of national retail tenants. Between 2015 and 2016 the mall lost three of its four anchor tenants, Macy's, Dick's Sporting Goods, and ...
how does a game like call of duty have practically no online delay at all while when playing a game like nba 2k17, multiplayer modes experience about a full second of delay between when the button is pressed and when the game responds?	Err. I haven't noticed this to happen in any online game so thought I'd start with that. Video games online don't use much bandwidth so getting a faster connection doesn't really impact them that much. (Unless it comes with better latency) Games are mostly impacted by latency or ping, this is how long it takes for a...	[ "Combat time in V2 is run on an expanding scale, something unique to EABA. In most RPGs, time in combat is broken down into small manageable chunks: a combat turn in GURPS is always one second, for example. A combat round is EABA starts at one second, the next is 2 seconds, then 4, 8, 15, 30, and one minute. The go...
how does saudi arabia make sure all of their expats like engineers, businessman, and english teachers follow their religious laws?	It only 'counts' inside the country. If you hang out with Arabs, you quickly learn they are all hypocrites and will happily travel to a less restrictive country where they get to drink and party.	[ "Saudi Arabia allows Catholics and Christians of other denominations to enter the country as foreign workers for temporary work, but does not allow them to practise their faith openly. As a result, Catholics and Christians of other denominations generally only worship in secret within private homes. Items and artic...
mountains are brown, yellow, and green and definitely not blue or purple, yet they look purplish-blue from far away. why is this?	Because if they are far away, there's more stuff i.e. atmosphere between you and the mountains and thus it gets a slight bluish tint. It's the same reason why the sky is blue. Blue wavelengths are scattered less easily than red ones so they 'dominate'. You'll notice that not only mountains appear bluish at a distance ...	[ "The area is called \"Blue Mountains\" based on the fact that when atmospheric temperature rise, the essential oil of various eucalyptus species evaporates and disperse in the air, then visible blue spectrum of sunlight propagates more than other colours. Therefore, the reflected landscape from mountains seems blui...
now that mother teresa is saint teresa, how does her image change in the minds of christians?	Catholics and Christians already held Mother Teresa in a Saint like regard, so her getting actual Sainthood doesn't actually change very much. As for her position, technically she isn't "worshiped", but she will be prayed to for people seeking guidance, and she now has a "Feast Day" (September 5th) where Catholics Bis...	[ "In \"Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity?\", Gëzim Alpion explores the significance of Mother Teresa to the mass media, to celebrity culture, to the Church and to various political and national groups. Drawing on new research on Mother Teresa's early years, Alpion charts the rise to fame of this pioneering religious...
Why are peasant rebellions so present and successful in Chinese history as opposed to European history?	I think the success is an impression. Because of China's myriads of historical peasant rebellions, only two can be called successful - the Red Turbans who overthrew the Mongol Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty, and the communist revolution which established the PRC (and even that one, you can argue either w...	[ "Chapter 3 analyzes the situation of the peasantry and its contribution to the great Revolutions. Attention is given to the conditions for and against peasant insurrections. Skocpol states that societal political crises alone were not sufficient enough to produce social-revolutionary situations in France, Russia, a...
What is alcohol actually doing to our brains when we drink? And why does it improve moods so quickly?	Ethanol (common drinking alcohol) is a drug that interacts with a variety of neurotransmitter systems; most importantly GABA-a, but also serotonin and NMDA receptors. Your body produces a molecule called GABA(gamma aminobutyric acid), which acts as a neurotransmitter. Neurons with GABA receptors are ubiquitous through...	[ "Alcohol can be a depressant which slows down some regions of the brain, like the prefrontal and temporal cortex, negatively affecting our rationality and memory. It also lowers the level of serotonin in our brain, which could potentially lead to higher chances of depressive mood.\n", "Alcohol also impairs and al...
When and how did the names for aircrafts go from being nouns (Hurricane, Spitfire) to alphanumeric codes (F-16)?	You’re confused. The two planes you listed with names are British. The British have retained the name only system (e.g. the Eurofighter Typhoon). Meanwhile the US Army air corps/air Force has used a type-number designation since after the First World War (e.g. the F-16, B-52). The letters stand for the type of aircra...	[ "During the First World War no official standards existed for the naming of aircraft and so all designations at this time were assigned by the original manufacturer and both numbers and names were used.\n", "By 1950, tropical cyclones that were judged by the US Weather Bureau to have intensified into a tropical s...
uk vote on leaving the eu - brexit	* What is a referendum? A referendum is when the electorate (general public who can vote), or the parliament (although usually MPs can't vote, but not in this specific referendum), vote on a specific issue, such as, for example, a law. Usually, it's basically that you choose "yes" or "no" on a particular law, for ex...	[ "Following the referendum result and the verdict of the R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union case in January 2017 the UK Government led by Prime Minister Theresa May passed the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 which legally allowed the UK to formally begin the process a...
Do babies remember their parent's faces and voices before four months?	I haven't read it in a while and don't have a copy to answer your question directly, but a fantastic book called "The Self Illusion" by psychologist Dr. Bruce Hood goes into great detail about this topic. If someone doesn't answer the question to your satisfaction then I highly recommend checking it out. Very readable ...	[ "If day-old babies are presented with their mother's voice speaking normally, abnormally (in monotone), and a stranger's voice, they react only to their mother's voice speaking normally. When a human and a non-human sound is played, babies turn their head only to the source of human sound. It has been suggested tha...
Explain to me the science behind something I witnessed this morning in my water bottle	You most likely experienced a [supercooling](_URL_0_) phenomenon. This happens, simplistically, when the liquid has nothing to grab onto (a bit of dust, something like that) to form crystals or other ordered structure like ice. When you took it out, you probably agitated it enough that it found something to form crysta...	[ "BULLET::::- A dowser, Forrest Bayes, claimed that he could detect water, even in a bottle inside a sealed cardboard box. He was shown twenty boxes and asked to indicate which boxes contained a water bottle. He selected eight of the boxes, which he said contained water, but it turned out that only five of the twent...
What evidence is there, that Carthage sacrificed humans?	Historically, the practice of child sacrifice is attested by Greek historian Plutarch, and Carthaginian Christian historian Tertullian, and Orosius, Philo, and Diodorus Siculus. Some scholars contend that these records are exaggerated remembrances and propaganda by the Romans against their arch-nemesis. However, arch...	[ "French-led excavations at Carthage began in 1921, and from 1923 reported finds of a large quantity of urns containing a mixture of animal and children's bones. René Dussaud identified a 4th-century BC stela found in Carthage as depicting a child sacrifice.\n", "The religion of Carthage in North Africa was a dire...
Scissors' effect on a molecular level	Both are happening.	[ "This phenomenon draws its name from a graphical illustration of its effects over time. Plotting time on a horizontal axis against price level on a vertical axis, with agricultural prices and industrial prices shown in two separate curves, the graph should appear like a pair of opening scissors. Historically, the p...
How socially liberal was the Middle East before Wahhabism?	You're making the assumption that Wahabism is widely spread across the middle east. It is not, and it never was. It has always been a Saudi phenomenon, and even then not all Saudi citizens are Wahabists. The movement was founded in the Nejd region of Saudi Arabia; Bahrain (eastern Arabia) is Shiite and the Hedjaz was ...	[ "In the Middle East, liberalism led to constitutional periods, like the Ottoman First and Second Constitutional Era and the Persian constitutional period, but it declined in the late 1930s due the growth and opposition of Islamism and pan-Arab nationalism. However, there were various examples of intellectuals who a...
what does this joke mean? i've been staring at it and i just don't understand it.	The doctor is supposed to be objective and not influenced by personal opinion/judgement when dealing with patients. The fact that the doctor, whose duty is to the patient's care and wellbeing, joined the waiting room group in belittling the protagonist is where the self-deprecating part comes into play.	[ "The joke, which plays on the similarity of the phrases \"fishsticks\" and \"fish dicks\" when spoken, becomes a hit throughout South Park. When Cartman begins taking half credit for the joke, Kyle tells Jimmy he should stand up to Cartman. When Jimmy tells Cartman he feels he wrote most of the joke, Cartman fears ...
when a sound or person wakes you up while dreaming, is it just me or is the noise always perfectly timed with an event in the dream?	Memory of what happened in dreams is quite inaccurate. Your brain can actually construct the memory afterward, for example showing you that something happened simultaneously that didn't.	[ "During the night, many external stimuli may bombard the senses, but the brain often interprets the stimulus and makes it a part of a dream to ensure continued sleep. Dream incorporation is a phenomenon whereby an actual sensation, such as environmental sounds, is incorporated into dreams, such as hearing a phone r...
what did wells fargo do?	Imagine you went to the bank to open a checking account and the banker tried everything possible to get you to sign up for a credit card and maybe even a second checking account to "help you manage your finances" but you just kept saying no. After you left the bank, the banker opened those accounts anyways and just ...	[ "Wells Fargo operates under Charter #1, the first national bank charter issued in the United States. This charter was issued to First National Bank of Philadelphia on June 20, 1863, by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Traditionally, acquiring banks assume the earliest issued charter number. Thus, the ...
What were some common phobias throughout history that don't exist today?	I wouldn't call it common, as there's only a handful of well documented cases in the literature and much of the other evidence for its prevalence is anecdotal, but I'll mention it because it's wonderfully weird... From the 15th to the 17th century in Europe wealthy and educated people were struck with [glass delusion...	[ "BULLET::::- Phobias Found in people of all ages. Characterized by an abnormal response to fear or danger. Persons diagnosed with Phobias suffer from feelings of terror and uncontrollable fear, exaggerated reactions to danger that in reality is not life-threatening, and is usually accompanied by physical reactions ...
why is it that you are able to start a manual car by popping the clutch in second gear?	No-one is really addressing the why portion. In short there are several ways to ignite fuel. One is by a spark, another other is by compressing the fuel/air mix. Boyle's law tells us that when you compress a gas the temperature increases. If you compress the fuel/air mix enough it will ignite, just as though the ...	[ "Starting the car in gear with the clutch engaged causes it to lurch forwards or backwards, since the starter motor by itself produces sufficient torque to move the whole vehicle; this can be highly dangerous, especially if the parking brake is not firmly applied and can be injurious to the starter and drivetrain. ...
how can colleges legally create "customized" textbooks and not be found guilty of unlawful monopoly/duopoly?	Your college isn't the only one offering BIO 101 or whatever the course is. It's not exclusionary because you could have chosen a different college, so they aren't doing anything anti-competitive. It's sort of like how a bank can charge you a fee that no other bank charges, but they get away with it because they can sa...	[ "In the U.S., college and university textbooks are chosen by the professor teaching the course, or by the department as a whole. Students are typically responsible for obtaining their own copies of the books used in their courses, although alternatives to owning textbooks, such as textbook rental services and libra...
What exactly are VPN’s and how do they work?	Imagine you have to do everything by mail, and you don't feel safe sending postcards due to your post office being staffed by your overprotective mother. A VPN is like putting the postcard in an envelope to your buddy who is away at college. Your buddy opens the envelope and resends the postcard. He gets a response via...	[ "A VPN maintains an authenticated, encrypted tunnel for securely passing data traffic over public networks (typically, the Internet.) Other VPN types are IPsec VPNs, which are useful for point-to-point connections when the network endpoints are known and remain fixed; or SSL VPNs, which provide for access through a...
if we die after roughly 3 weeks without eating, why do eat 3 times a day?	Eating three times a day is actually a modern invention (modern in terms of human history as a species). It wasn’t uncommon, or even unhealthy to eat once a day, or sometimes skip a day every few days. It still isn’t unhealthy to do that today, you are just so used to eating three times a day that it would be difficult...	[ "There is insufficient scientific data on exactly how long people can live without food. Although the length of time varies with an individual's percentage of body fat and general health, one medical study estimates that in adults complete starvation leads to death within 8 to 12 weeks. Starvation begins when an in...
How much 'real time control' did pre-20th century generals have over the battlefield?	Depends on when and where. Pre-20th century, after-all, covers over 2500 years. While I've not read anything explicitly stating it, it seems to me command style changed with the size of the army and battlefields. In Classical Greece, commanders could basically only lay out a battle plan before it starts. Once all the ...	[ "\"The Commanders\" was described by History as an \"anthology scripted series envisioned as an annual television event ranging from four to 10 hours in length. It will dramatize pivotal moments in U.S. history that defined the legacy of the men who served as Presidents of the United States — from the first one, Ge...
Why is it better letting banks loan 10x of bonds they hold (fractional reserve banking), than letting people to spend 10x of bonds they hold?	The short answer is bank loans are generally supposed to be done in a manner which is controlled, conservative and carrying a large chance of return. Banks also usually have large diversity of revenues streams, which means they are supposed to be relatively stable in the case of minor problems in the markets - neither ...	[ "Lower interest rates may also help banks \"earn their way out\" of financial difficulties, because banks can borrow at very low interest rates from depositors and lend at higher rates for mortgages or credit cards. In other words, the \"spread\" between bank borrowing costs and revenues from lending increases. For...
the strength of currency	You're right. It's a common misconception to say, for example, that since you get more Canadian dollars in exchange for US dollars, the US dollar is worth more. If prices were the same in both countries that would be the case, but prices are not even consistent from one city to the next within the same country, let alo...	[ "Currency strength expresses the value of currency. For economists, it is often calculated as purchasing power, while for financial traders, it can be described as an indicator, reflecting many factors related to the currency; for example, fundamental data, overall economic performance or interest rates. It can als...
why wont an xbox dvd work on a playstation, or computer?	its just different hardware. DVD machines are made to be able to be played on multiple different systems (theres sortof a standard), while thats just not the case for console gaming. They have no need to keep a standard so they dont. > It would, however, destroy the whole "console exclusive" thing. and there you ha...	[ "The Xbox has a specific function: Non-booting or non-reading from CDs and DVD-Rs as a method of game copy protection. Also, the Xbox is said to use a different DVD file system (instead of UDF). It has been theorized that the discs have a second partition that is read from the outside in (opposite current standards...
How much influence had Fake News to cause the Spanish–American War of 1898?	I think this is an incredibly complex question, and really one that has gained added depth the further we have gone from the events as more has been learned. In particular I want to focus on two areas, the reporting of pre US intervention newspapers from Cuba, and the reaction to the loss of the Maine. Men working on...	[ "(1934). He stated that \"In the opinion of the writer, the Spanish–American War would not have occurred had not the appearance of Hearst in New York journalism precipitated a bitter battle for newspaper circulation.\" It has also been argued that the main reason the United States entered the war was the failed sec...
why is the fetal position so comforting?	Simple answer: We don't know. Postulation: The fetal position may be a learned response, similar to how some people sit and sway back and forth when distressed. Since we associate the position with fetus's, or young babies, it may be a visual cue to others, expressing "I am not a threat" or a request for attention ...	[ "Infants whose mothers are more sensitive are more likely to display secure attachment relationships. Because the maternal figure is generally accessible and responsive to the infant's needs, the infant is able to form expectations of the mother's behaviour. Once expectations are met and the infant feels a consiste...
How was sovereignty and colonialism different 2000 years ago?	You're talking about whether states had the same sense of external sovereignty as we do today, and the answer is generally no. The modern idea of noninterference in another state's affairs, at least in Europe, was only cemented in 1648 after the Peace of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years' War. Before this, the Chu...	[ "The concept of sovereignty was spread throughout the world by European powers, which had established colonies and spheres of influences over virtually every society. Positivism reached its peak in the late 19th century and its influence began to wane following the unprecedented bloodshed of the First World War, wh...
why are the front and back cameras on smartphones not the same to begin with? why do they need to differ in quality?	cost and size. if all other variables remain constant, a bigger lens allows for better photos, as well as a bigger image sensor (the light sensing chip behind the lens). since they’re intended for different things, they just use different cameras. smaller cameras are also better at taking pictures of things closer to t...	[ "The front and rear cameras' combined standout feature is an advanced dualphotographic image camera (rebranded \"Bothie\" by Nokia), where the cameras can be used simultaneously by dividing the screen into a split-image setup, a technology Nokia calls Dual-Sight mode. Both the front and main cameras use ZEISS optic...
Why are gamma rays so hard to stop?	> But gamma rays are extremely high energy photons, they should have enough energy to excite any electron, so why doesn't every material absorb them? Gamma rays typically have more than enough energy to excite atomic electrons. They have enough energy to ionize atoms (kick electrons out of their bound states) or ev...	[ "Because their energy is strongly focused, the gamma rays emitted by most bursts are expected to miss the Earth and never be detected. When a gamma-ray burst is pointed towards Earth, the focusing of its energy along a relatively narrow beam causes the burst to appear much brighter than it would have been were its ...
If you flip a coin an infinite amount of times, will you also at some point have an infinite streak of heads?	For any fixed n, you will (almost surely, aka with probability 1) have a string of n heads in a row sometime; if you divide up your throws in sets of n, you have probability 2^(-n) of getting all of them heads in that set - so prob. of never getting n successive heads in k*n throws is at most (1-2^(-n))^k, and as the a...	[ "However, if instead of an infinite number of flips we stop flipping after some finite time, say a million flips, then the all-heads sequence has non-zero probability. The all-heads sequence has probability formula_29, while the probability of getting at least one tails is formula_30 and the event is no longer almo...
how does an epipen work to help severe allergies and why don’t we use it for moderate/mild allergies?	An epipen contains epinephrine, commonly known as adrenaline, one of the main hormones released by the body when PANICKING OMG THERE'S A LION. It's great for doing things like restarting your heart, lifting a car off your child, or removing blood flow from parts of your nose and throat that might be blocked by an all...	[ "Epinastine (brand names Alesion, Elestat, Purivist, Relestat) is a second-generation antihistamine and mast cell stabilizer that is used in eye drops to treat allergic conjunctivitis. It is produced by Allergan and marketed by Inspire in the United States. It is highly selective for the H receptor and does not cro...
if oil has a finite supply and is steadily running out, why does the price per barrel fluctuate?	It comes down to basic economics of supply and demand. The amount of oil in the ground is finite but the amount of oil that has been pumped to the surface and available for use changes on a regular basis. Currently the US, Iraq and Libya are pumping more oil than in the past. Combine that with the fact that Saudi Arab...	[ "More recently, between 2011 and 2014 the price of crude oil was relatively stable, fluctuating around $US100 per barrel. It dropped sharply in late 2014 to below $US70 where it remained for most of 2015. In early 2016 it traded at a low of $US27. The price drop has been attributed to both oversupply and reduced de...
what causes cars to sometimes explode when they flip over in a crash?	As a 25+ years firefighter / Paramedic I have NEVER seen a car that has exploded in an accident. And have rarely even seen cars catch fire. The few that I have seen catch fire are usually because the fuel line or gas tank has ruptured, and the fuel comes in contact with hot metal (Catalytic converter or engine block) Y...	[ "When a vehicle is hit on the side by another vehicle, the crumple zones of the striking vehicle will absorb some of the kinetic energy of the collision. The crumple zones of the struck vehicle may also absorb some of the collision's energy, particularly if the vehicle is not struck on its passenger compartment. Bo...
What is the history of Rome's Colloseum from post-roman times through to modern time?	The emperor Honorius abolished man vs man gladitorial games in AD 404. There were some animal games (venationes) in 503, and in 508 the place suffered earthquake damage. Rome's population had plummeted by about two thirds over the previous century and although there were idle rich about, these spectacles were not che...	[ "Different scholars have attempted to identify the theatre described in Eclogue VII with different historical theatres in Rome. Merivale, Gibbon and (more recently) Hubbard identify it with the Colosseum (referring to the mosaics and marble walls described in Eclogue VII); Keene and Armstrong identify it with Nero'...
why we get sleepy in situations that sleeping can kill us	The bit of your brain that decides when to be sleepy can't access higher rational thought, it's based on the brain's physiological status. Your brain gets sleepy when the chemistry in your brain indicates that it needs to sleep, along with some hormonal inputs from the body like adrenaline which tell it that somethi...	[ "However, in a subset of cases sleep deprivation can, paradoxically, lead to increased energy and alertness and enhanced mood. This effect is most marked in persons with an eveningeness type (so called night-owls) and people suffering from depression. For this reason it has sometimes been used as a treatment for ma...
Why was Henry 1 Charter of liberties largely ignored by monarchs until the issuing of Magna carter?	To answer the question in depth we first have to look at the circumstances of the charter. After William II. Rufus died on August 2nd of 1100, Henry hurried first to Winchester - to secure the royal treasure - and then to Westminster, where he was crowned king on August 5th, despite only a handful of nobles being prese...	[ "In England, Henry I's proclamation of the Charter of Liberties in 1100 bound the king for the first time in his treatment of the clergy and the nobility. This idea was extended and refined by the English barony when they forced King John to sign \"Magna Carta\" in 1215. The most important single article of the \"M...
For those who know a bit about the Arthurian legends..	The Arthurian stories have been retold and recycled for centuries (if not over a thousand years - it depends on how we date the Welsh Arthurian stories). Thus they have amalgamated into a mish-mash of features. Any tatoo or image of Excalibur will not be historical but only representative of one particular tradition or...	[ "Most of the events in the book take place in Britain and France at an unspecified time (the historical events on which the Arthurian legend is based took place in the late 5th century, but the story contains many anachronisms and makes no effort at historical accuracy). In some parts, the plot ventures farther afi...
What is the biochemical origin of caffeine dependence?	Caffeine is a nonselective adenosine receptor antagonist, acting at A1, A2a, A2b, and A3 receptors (it also binds to a few other receptors, but we’ll ignore those for simplicity’s sake). From knockout studies in mice, it appears A2a is critical for the stimulating effect of caffeine. In the brain, Adenosine levels fluc...	[ "Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine), the substrate in the above reaction, is a purine alkaloid found in a variety of plant species, such as coffee, cacao, cola, and tea leaves. Caffeine has also been used as a cardiac, neurological, and respiratory stimulant. Because of its prevalence in the modern world in the for...
Is there more oxygen in water or air?	I am not sure of the question, but if you mean whether an equivalent volume of air or water holds more oxygen, the answer is (under typical conditions assuming the dissolved oxygen is at equilibrium with the air) the air. Oxygen only dissolves to the extent of a few milligrams per liter of water (around 8mg/L at 20C). ...	[ "A high surface area is crucial to the gas exchange of aquatic organisms, as water contains only a small fraction of the dissolved oxygen that air does. A cubic meter of air contains about 250 grams of oxygen at STP. The concentration of oxygen in water is lower than in air and it diffuses more slowly. In fresh wat...
A couple universe related questions from a layman - can you explain any of these things?	Couple corrections that weren't made. The universe does not create new dark matter as it expands. It appears you are confusing dark matter and dark energy, two largely unrelated concepts. Overall dark energy increases because the energy density of empty space is constant. New space has as much energy density as old sp...	[ "The question is posed comprehensively, rather than concerning the existence of anything specific such as the universe or multiverse, the Big Bang, mathematical laws, physical laws, time, consciousness or God. It can be seen as an open metaphysical question. \n", "One reason this is plausible is that there are ma...
how can a single pixel on a tv screen change to so many different colors?	You remember mixing paint colours when you were a kid? A single pixel is made up of a tiny blue light, a tiny red light, and a tiny green light. It can be any colour just by controlling how strong each of these colours shines inside it. More modern screens (e.g., Liquid Crystal Display) have fancier technology but let’...	[ "Many display and image-acquisition systems are not capable of displaying or sensing the different color channels at the same site. Therefore, the pixel grid is divided into single-color regions that contribute to the displayed or sensed color when viewed at a distance. In some displays, such as LCD, LED, and plasm...
if insects and arachnids don't have feelings, than what would trigger them to act if in danger?	Because reflexes and involuntary reactions often have little to do with emotion. Just like when a doctor hits you in the knee with the rubber mallet or when you stub your toe in the dark. Your reaction is to make a jerking motion but it doesn't necessarily trigger any significant emotions. Except maybe you'll get pi...	[ "The hostile aliens (known as \"Xenos\") come in different forms. There are \"Eggs\" (similar to the eggs in \"Alien\"). If an Egg hatches, it creates a \"Critter\" which can attach itself to the player and drain health. If a Critter is not killed, it eventually matures into a \"Roller\" (a cross between a lizard, ...
the us and why israel is important to the us.	After the Holocaust in the 1930s-40s, it became clear that the Jewish people needed a homeland that could protect their culture and their people in the event that another group decided to attempt to exterminate them. Many began returning to their ancestral homelands near Jerusalem, which was part of a British colony k...	[ "In 2011, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (a think tank founded by \"a small group of visionary Americans committed to advancing U.S. interests in the Middle East\") argued that the U.S.-Israel relationship is \"A Strategic Asset for the United States.\" In discussing their report, Walter B. Slocombe ...
Which (living) professor or scientist do you find most inspiring?	RobotRollCall. Seriously. As far as public personalities, a number of people inspired me to go back to school: Dean Kamen, Tyson, and Sagan.	[ "Prof. Elad appeared in the for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, published by Clarivate Analytics (formerly Thompson-Reuters). These lists include the ~3500 world’s most influential minds in science, covering various disciplines, from Immunology and Agriculture, through Chemistry and Physics, all the way to C...
how is tesla able to improve the efficiency or performance of their cars with over-the-air updates?	It's the future, man. Nowadays, computers control every aspect of cars from running the engine to turning on the interior lights when you open the door. Electric motors are controlled by changing the voltage and current running to them. More voltage means more torque (twisting force) and more current means faster speed...	[ "In February 2008, Tesla reported improved plug-to-wheel efficiency after testing a validation prototype car at an EPA-certified location. Those tests yielded a range of and a plug-to-wheel efficiency of 199 Wh/km (32.1 kW·h /100 mi).\n", "Since the 1980s, manufacturers of HVAC equipment have been making an effor...
I'm looking for video footage of 1919-1946 Germany, Can anyone help?	You may want to look into ripping DVDs of classic german art films? edit: HA! I found it! I present to you, "[Berlin: Symphony of a Great City](_URL_0_)". It's basically just a sort of documentary of a generic day in Weimar-era Berlin (with some pro-socialist/communist imagery thrown in for good measure.) But y...	[ "The image archive houses a collection of preserved paper photographs, pictures, photo postcards, photo albums, picture negatives, and slides of German and international military history. Nearly one million artifacts are housed in this section which focuses on everyday life of the German armed forces. The images ar...
If Romans relied upon local forces as auxiliaries, what language would be used on the battlefield? Were front-line soldiers required to learn Latin or were orders relayed through translators (and at what point in the chain)?	In “The Middle East Under Rome,” Maurice Sartre discusses the concept of lingua-franca in the Mesopotamia and Anatolia. Although all high ranking Roman officials were asked to learn Latin, the majority of the known-world spoke Greek due to the Hellenization that occurred during the conquest of Alexander the Great and t...	[ "By the outbreak of the Second Punic War, the Romans were remedying the legions' other deficiencies by using non-Italian specialised troops. Livy reports Hiero of Syracuse offering to supply Rome with archers and slingers in 217 BC. From 200 BC onwards, specialist troops were hired as mercenaries on a regular basis...
what is a social construct?	Something that only exists solely because a bunch of humans agree it exists. Consider the value of cash, for example. A couple of sheets of cotton and some mostly zinc coins you have in your pocket aren't of much practical use to anyone. However, because we all agree they have value, they do.	[ "Social constructions are human created ideas, objects, or events created by a series of choices and interactions. These interactions have consequences that change the perception that different groups of people have on these constructs. Some examples of social construction include class, race, money, and citizenshi...
how can lonely cloud survive in a crystal clear sky?	In the absence of winds in the atmosphere, the "lonely cloud" would certainly dissipate. However, the rotation of the Earth and the different gradients of heating (of the soil and water) that the Sun causes, result in the atmosphere having currents of wind, and areas of higher and lower pressure and temperature. Wa...	[ "The cloud unexpectedly decelerates as it approaches and comes to rest around the Sun, causing disastrous climatic changes on Earth and immense mortality and suffering for the human race. As the behaviour of the cloud proves to be impossible to predict scientifically, the team at Nortonstowe eventually come to the ...
when holding hands, why does it feel so much better to be the "under" hand than the "over" hand (since neither position is actually ~~physically~~ uncomfortable)?	Supposedly has to do with left and right brained. Which may or may not be a thing. For me the left thumb has to be over the right when I clasp my hands and its same for holding hands. There's a thing with preference in crossing your arms and a couple others. I'm a bad example b/c I'm evenly split on which side is domin...	[ "Both the Muslim and Hindu faiths somewhat abhor the use of the left hand. It is considered 'unclean'; the left hand is traditionally perceived as the hand used to clean yourself in the toilet. So when shaking hands, offering a gift, handing or receiving something, eating, pointing or generally touching another per...
how can uranium be used for "peaceful" purposes (as iran wants to do)?	Uranium can be used to generate nuclear energy, which can be used as an alternative for fossil fuels to provide buildings with electricity.	[ "Iran states it has a legal right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes under the NPT, and further says that it \"has constantly complied with its obligations under the NPT and the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency\". Twelve other countries are known to operate uranium enrichment facilities. Iran ...
why do people become traumatized	Your brain is a processing center that takes various stimuli and decides what to do with it. Say you're sorting toys into various bins and every time you pick a certain one up it gives you an electric shock and you drop it. It bothers you to leave it lying there when it should be sorted, but you can't get it into the r...	[ "Instances of transgenerational trauma where the trauma affects a large population of people and their role in society can be identified as cultural trauma. This form of trauma results in a greater loss of identity and meaning, which in turn affects generations upon generations as the trauma is ingrained into socie...
How big of a problem was alcohol abuse/alcoholism in the Red Army during WW2?	The atrocious conduct of the Red Army following their conquest of Eastern Europe and East Germany was largely influenced by their blatant abuse of alcohol. In fact the NKVD allegedly reported back to Moscow complaining that 'mass poisoning from captured alcohol is taking place in occupied Germany' as it was seriously l...	[ "At the start of World War II, alcohol consumption was widespread among members of the Wehrmacht. At first, high-ranking officials encouraged its use as a means of relaxation and a crude method of mitigating the psychological effects of combat, in the latter case through what later scientific developments would des...
What are the bones that fuse together as we become adults?	This is kind of a misconception. It's not as if babies have more bones when they're born, it's just that bones aren't completely ossified at birth, so if you took an xray (for example) you'd see some areas where there were "transparent" areas in bones that aren't there as an adult. If we don't count each little islan...	[ "Each hip bone consists of 3 sections, ilium, ischium, and pubis. During childhood, these sections are separate bones, joined by the triradiate cartilage. During puberty, they fuse together to form a single bone.\n", "Eventually, the bones of the joint will become involved, causing arthritis, pain, stiffness, and...
Did America's founding father's engage in acts that would be considered to be terrorist actions?	I would like to point out a quick note that things can get messy with terminology: as it was a ‘civil’ conflict at first, terms like ‘partisan group’ comes to mind. Then, after independence, anachronistic requisites would have it be that they were at war; I’d check out the letters between Germaine and Howe(authorized p...	[ "One of the earliest groups to utilize modern terrorist techniques was arguably the Fenian Brotherhood and its offshoot the Irish Republican Brotherhood. They were both founded in 1858 as revolutionary, militant nationalist and Catholic groups, both in Ireland and amongst the emigre community in the United States.\...
why don't any of the american ebola patients have privacy dealing with their sickness? aren't patients supposed to have medical privacy?	The medical staff protect their privacy, news teams have no such inhibitions	[ "Patients who are uninsured or with Medicaid are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage vaginal cancer than those with private insurance. Patients diagnosed at more advanced stages of vaginal cancer tend to have poorer survival outcomes. Studies have revealed that African Americans have a higher likelihood...
how can hackers have more power in gta online than the makers of the game (rockstar)	It's eather two things. One is that there is so much traffic that they can't find the hackers or they don't care enough to fix it.	[ "\"Hacker II\" is more difficult and involved than the first game. In \"Hacker II\", the player is actually recruited based upon his (assumed) success with the activities in the original game. Once again, they are tasked with controlling a robot, this time to infiltrate a secure facility in order to retrieve docume...
Given what we know about the human genome, how many genetically unique offspring is one pair of parents capable of producing?	First, each parent has two copies of each chromosome they can give you. So already we are at 2^46, or 7 x 10^13 Now let's add in crossing-over: [This paper](_URL_0_) states that oocytes have, on average, 70 crossovers, and spermatocytes have, on average, 50 crossovers So let's simplify and say all humans hav...	[ "The genes can reveal from what part of the world the oldest ancestors of the paternal and maternal line of a person came from. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is present in all human beings and passed down through the maternal line, i.e. the mother of a mother of a mother etc. The Y chromosome is present only in mal...
what exactly makes sunlight hot on a nice sunny day? is it the temperature of the sun itself radiating through space or some form of refraction of the light itself?	Sunlight hitting the atmosphere is always the same. It's local weather conditions that change. Warm dry conditions, open sky, the sun is going to continue to warm up the already warm air. Warmth (or lack of) from previous days is stored in the ground and water and moves across the area in pressure systems.	[ "Very hot objects emit UV radiation (see black-body radiation). The Sun emits ultraviolet radiation at all wavelengths, including the extreme ultraviolet where it crosses into X-rays at 10 nm. Extremely hot stars emit proportionally more UV radiation than the Sun. Sunlight in space at the top of Earth's atmosphere ...
Is it possible to explain magnetic fields in terms of electric fields?	Yes, but it requires a pretty solid understanding of relativity. Imagine two long string of charges, one with charge per unit length +Q/L, one with charge per unit length -Q/L. Lets say that these string of charges are right on top of one another and moving in opposite directions with velocities +v and -v. Because they...	[ "There are different mathematical ways of representing the electromagnetic field. The first one views the electric and magnetic fields as three-dimensional vector fields. These vector fields each have a value defined at every point of space and time and are thus often regarded as functions of the space and time coo...
If you have a cold container (soda, water, etc.) and you place it in front of a fan, is it being cooled more/kept the same temperature by the fan or is it being warmed up faster?	A fan moves air, and heats it up slightly because the fan itself is hot. More air passes over the container due to being the target of the fan, so the container will become the temperature of the air more quickly. If the air is a lower temperature than the container, the container will cool down. If the air is a higher...	[ "Fin fan coolers use air to cool gases and liquids. The temperature of fluid is controlled (TIC) by opening or closing dampers on the cooler or adjusting the speed of the fan or the pitch angle of the fan blades thereby increasing or decreasing the flow of air.\n", "Attaching an internal fan to a motor is a fairl...

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.